Welcome to Day Seven, Cosmere Chickens! Things are certainly heating up on a lot of fronts this week. The war on the Shattered Plains is growing more desperate, Azimir is in deep, deep trouble, and Queen Fen of Thaylenah and Jasnah face a difficult decision. Meanwhile, in the Spiritual Realm, Shallan, Renarin, and Rlain are having to face some hard truths about their pasts. We have a lot to delve into this week (as always), so please join in for this week’s installment of the Wind and Truth Reread!
The book has been out long enough that most of you will hopefully have finished, and as such, this series shall now function as a re-read rather than a read-along. That means there will be spoilers for the end of the book (as well as full Cosmere spoilers, so beware if you aren’t caught up on all Cosmere content).
Paige’s Commentary: Plot Arcs
It’s Day 7, and we’re drawing ever closer to the contest of champions! Let’s dive in with chapter 78, “A True Radiant,” which opens with Sigzil planning out the next phase of his defense. He doubts himself, as he always does, but he speaks up for what he believes they should do and the other generals listen to him. They’re trying to keep the singers and Fused away from Narak Prime and the Oathgate, so they concoct a plan to draw the enemy where they want them to go, in order to keep the focus off of the Oathgate. At least for the time being. But as Sigzil knows all too well, they’re dangerously low on Stormlight and doing all they can to conserve it. This plotline is full of desperation, as are most of them in this book, but somehow the circumstances surrounding Sigzil and his troops and the situation in Azimir feel the most precarious as things stand at the start of Day 7.
Sig heads out and speaks to a few soldiers, trying to bolster their confidence, and it feels remarkably like what Adolin often does in terms of remembering names and speaking to as many soldiers as he can. It’s quite heartwarming. As he seeks out Leyten, he asks Vienta about how long they might last with the Stormlight they have. Her answer is not encouraging: She doesn’t think it likely that they’ll last three more days. When he finds Leyten, his friend is in a reflective mood, asking Sigzil, “[D]o I belong here?” He’s doubting himself, and doesn’t feel like he’s a true Radiant, but Sig invokes Kaladin and since Leyten respects their former commander, he accepts that Kaladin trusted them to be in charge. As he encourages Leyten, Sigzil realizes that he’s found himself. It’s extremely satisfying to see him accept what he’s become and embrace the challenge of leading:
Sigzil was, at long last, the man he’d always wanted to be.
POV Shift!
Venli and her comrades are in the chasms with the chasmfiends, heading toward Narak. They encounter an obstruction and the chasmfiends just pick them all up and carry them over it. Those big guys are quite handy! Venli talks with Leshwi, who doesn’t think she can go on, feeling useless and purposeless. Venli assures her that she was strong enough to walk away from Odium—and that was the hard part—and tells her that if she stays with the listeners, Leshwi won’t be a god among them, but she will be free.
Then there’s a cool moment, when Venli feels Curiosity from the big daddy chasmfiend; Venli guesses that he wants to know the source of the song as much as the listeners do. The chasmfiend, Thundercloud, finds a bridge wedged in the chasm and lifts Venli up to look at it. Another cool bit is how she projects to Thundercloud what the bridge would have looked like when it was new. I love the way they can communicate in these ways!
POV Shift!
Jasnah and Fen receive a message from the Windrunners who went to scout out the singer fleet on its way to Thaylen City. They confirm that the ships are full of rocks and that it’s a fake force. Fen knows that Jasnah now wants to move Radiants to the Shattered Plains, but she’s worried about her city and the likelihood of her people being attacked without those forces to protect them. Jasnah says she has Dalinar’s authority to send the Radiants and Fen doesn’t like that answer. Jasnah, however, is determined to do the most good, and she feels certain that means assisting the forces at Narak.
Chapter 79 is titled “The Rhythm of Longing” and features POVs from Shallan, Renarin, and Rlain. They’re each in a vision, embodying a past version of themselves, watching scenes transpire from their youth or, as in Rlain’s case, their relatively recent past. It’s a pretty straightforward chapter, with events we’ve read about before: Shallan remembers telling stories to her frightened brothers as they’re all hiding during a fight between their parents; Renarin is remembering a time Adolin rescued him from bullies; and Rlain is remembering when he “volunteered” to take dullform and be a spy among the humans. They’re all sad memories, but these experiences got our Radiants to where they are now.
Chapter 80 is titled “Seeing the Future” and starts with Adolin learning how to use binoculars. He thinks they’re incredible and says he wants a hundred of them, but Colot breaks it to him that there’s only one pair, and that Adolin is holding them. Peering through the binoculars, they observe some Heavenly Ones in the distance, and Adolin gets the feeling that something is going to happen today.
POV Shift!
Navani is in the past at Urithiru and she and Dalinar see people leaving with all of their belongings. They find the Tower Bondsmith of that day trying to mediate a talk between a Windrunner and a group of a hundred Skybreakers. Navani names him Melishi and Dalinar tries to send her close to him using Connection, but instead she finds herself in Melishi’s body.
The Windrunner is telling one of the Skybreakers that they need to stay together but one Skybreaker speaks for the others and she says that “the fight” is not their fight. The Windrunner disagrees and both he and the Skybreaker spokeswoman look to Melishi—Navani—to mediate. She doesn’t know what to say so she asks to discuss it in a calmer setting, which sets off the Skybreaker. She accuses the Windrunner of deception and running cons, and demands to know what he’s hiding. She knows where they came from and how humankind destroyed their old world and complains that the Windrunner and Melishi refuse to let her tell everyone. Then she reveals that they’ve already told everyone else the truth before she abruptly departs.
The Windrunner speaks with Melishi/Navani and he tells her he’ll gather the Radiants but that a fight is coming. Before he goes, Navani tries to get more information and asks him about the accusations that he’s been lying, and what he’s been lying about, but the Windrunner remains cold and unyielding, leaving without explaining.
POV Shift!
Back to Adolin, where he consults with Kushkam and they try to make a plan out of a seemingly hopeless situation. They discuss plugging the tunnels into the dome over the Oathgate and Kushkam says he’ll work on it. Adolin hears Maya saying that help is coming and, of course, thinks she’s bringing Windrunner spren. Kushkam doesn’t know what good that will do them, and Adolin feels much the same way.
As Adolin goes to check on his Plate, he encounters the young girl who wanted to join the Alethi army. He had sent her to May to learn archery but, unfortunately, she’s not very good at it; she’s just too small to draw a bow. May sends her off and has a pointed word with Adolin about the necessity of getting enough sleep. She’s too funny; she says she’s his ex, so she’s the closest thing his wife has to an advocate. It made me like her a lot more when she said that!
Notum shows up and says that he can see glimpses into Shadesmar but suddenly sees something very unsettling: a thunderclast soul. Adolin immediately runs outside, shouting and calling for his armor. Then he sees the hulking form rising from the field: The thunderclast has arrived.
Lyndsey’s Commentary: Character Arcs & Maps
Chapter 78 has an interesting blend of Heralds portrayed on its deteriorating arch. Battah, patron of the Elsecallers and the Counselor, serves two purposes here: She’s symbolic of a chapter in which Jasnah appears, and her role is also emblematic of Sigzil, who is functioning as a strategic counselor. Sig (and Queen Fen) are also displaying attributes of leadership, which accounts for Jezrien’s inclusion. And Kalak is here for Venli’s POV, in his position as patron of the Willshapers.
Chapter 79’s arch Heralds are Shalash, Palah, and Jezrien. This is a VERY heavily character-driven chapter, with deep dives into Shallan, Renarin, and Rlain’s pasts and events which shaped them into the people they are today. As such, Shalash (patron of the Lightweavers) and Palah (patron of the Truthwatchers) make sense to be included here. But why Jezrien? As has happened often times over the last couple months, I’m mystified as to his inclusion. We see no leadership (except in Eshonai’s actions, but that would be a stretch) or Windrunners here.
Finally, we have Jezrien, Vedel, and Battah heading up chapter 80. Jezrien likely represents Adolin, who’s making some big leadership and strategy decisions over in Azimir, as well as the Windrunner we see in Navani’s vision over in the Spiritual Realm. Battah can also stand for Adolin, as he’s serving as a wise counselor, carefully going over the tactics and studying the battlefield in order to hold out as long as possible. Vedel often appears on Adolin chapters, as the order he’s most closely aligned with are the Edgedancers.
Leyten
“He died, you know,” Leyten said, with a half smirk. “Two bridge runs later. Gabaron, the man who consigned me to the bridge crews? Dead.”
We can hardly blame Leyten for a touch of schadenfreude here. When someone sends you off to literally die for an imaginary offense, only the very best of people wouldn’t feel a touch of justice in watching this fate unfold.
“I’m not a true Radiant, Sig. I’m a guy who likes to sit and count how many uniforms we need before we run out. I don’t belong in the sky, glowing.
Ah, imposter syndrome. And maybe a touch of survivor’s guilt as well.
“Sig… I miss him, Kaladin. But you should know, I’m just as proud to serve under you.”
Nothing like a heartfelt discussion in which two characters really connect and share their deepest insecurities to signal that one of them’s about to die.
Sigzil
As the camp rushed to execute his plans, and his generals found his ideas worthwhile, Sigzil discovered something remarkable.
This was him. This man who could lead.
And, speaking of things that narratively foreshadow the reader to coming events… What’s this, Sigzil, believing in himself? Well, obviously he’s about to get knocked down a peg (or in this case, a whole ladder). Otherwise how will he climb back up?
Here, beneath red lightning and on a plain full of chasms he’d claimed as his own, Sigzil found himself. In a way that training with Master Hoid, or learning beneath Kaladin, had never done for him.
On the one hand, I’m happy for him that he’s finally found acceptance of his place and his value. On the other, knowing full well what’s about to happen to him… this is utterly heartbreaking.
Venli
Even with all that, she found she loved this place.
This whole sequence of observations from Venli is truly beautiful. She has grown enough that she’s not focused on herself, but rather on the beauty of the nature around her. Her journey from self-absorbed jerk only out for herself to a fully realized, empathic individual is quite a thing to witness.
Leshwi/Venli
“You were strong enough,” Venli said to Praise, “to turn against your orders, your own kind, and your god because you knew it was right. That was the difficult part, Leshwi. Just keep going.”
It’s wild, knowing where Venli started her character journey, to see her displaying this level of empathy for another.
On Leshwi’s side, I can only imagine how difficult it must be to change yourself when you’ve spent literal millennia as one thing… then having that taken from you, and having to not only rebuild who you are, but to lose the things you loved most (namely, flight). Leshwi is learning to grapple with a disability; it’s the equivalent of someone losing the ability to walk.
Queen Fen
But what if by listening to you now, I throw everything away, Jasnah?
I’m glad that Jasnah doesn’t immediately discount this fear, because it is a valid one. Queen Fen has a lot at risk here, and a huge amount of responsibility as the leader and protector of her people.
Jasnah
Do the most good, she thought to herself. When decisions grew difficult, she relied on this guiding philosophy.
Interesting, and perhaps we can see a parallel here to Hoid, and a glimpse into why they were initially drawn to one another. Hoid has said that he’d be willing to watch one world burn to save the Cosmere as a whole; the “lives of the many outweigh the lives of the few” concept.
Shallan
She was a child. Hiding in a corner. Crying while her parents shouted at each other.
Hers wasn’t a unique story, she knew.
But a new piece of information for us. We knew that Shallan’s childhood wasn’t a happy one, of course, but this all-too-real experience of a child watching their parents’ love fall apart is a revelation—especially given what we now know about Shallan’s mother. It seems as though Chana was trying to force herself into a new mold, to recreate herself, and it… was not going well. Was this because of her growing mental instability, or just because she’d spent so much of her long, long, long life as a soldier that her attempt at constraining herself to the bounds of a housewife simply wasn’t sustainable?
As an adult, she sometimes told herself the lie that everything had been wonderful up until her mother’s death; but as with many lies in her life, she had let that one live too long.
As a child of a broken family, I understand this all too well. Some of us do have a tendency to try to look back with rose-tinted glasses; we don’t want to think ill of the people who raised us and loved us.
This memory was authentic joy. The looks her brothers gave as she ignored her own pain and fear and told them a tale she’d imagined…
A beautiful memory, and a beautiful gift she gave to her brothers. A moment of peace in a tumultuous household, and a thing that many storytellers and entertainers can relate to. Sometimes, as with people like Robin Williams, those carrying the heaviest burdens can also bring to others the greatest joy.
Together, despite parents who seemed not to care, they became a family anyway.
In a way, this almost seems like a melding of blood family and found family. They’re related by blood, but still actively choosing one another. In my opinion, this is the strongest bond there can be; shared history, blood, and experience alongside an active effort and choice to continue nurturing the relationship and one another.
Renarin
[…] the elder him saw something new he’d missed when younger. Those nervous postures, the way the boys kept glancing to one another, feeding their actions with nods? These boys… they were afraid.
How perceptive of him! I’m not surprised that he missed it when he was younger; he was so focused on his own fear that the fear and pain of others wouldn’t be as obvious.
Why would his friends—people he perceived as his friends—treat him this way? Where had these sudden emotions come from? What had he done wrong, and could he be sure to never do it again?
These social anxieties are so real, and reveal a deeply kind and naive little boy. Betrayal often hits people like Renarin the hardest.
And storms, Renarin loved him for it. He didn’t need saving as he once had, but he remembered how it felt when Adolin had shown up. Like a hero from some story…
You know, Sanderson could have gone the route of Renarin resenting Adolin for saving him, but I’m glad he went with the less cliché one. It also makes Renarin a more kind and relatable character, I think, that he resents himself rather than the person coming to his aid.
What will this day do to the young you?
“Show me that I can’t trust people,” Renarin said. “Because I can’t read them. For years I was afraid that every friend would turn out to secretly hate me.
Hoo boy. This is an anxiety I’m intimately familiar with. When someone you trust betrays you, it cuts deep and leaves a scar that never really heals.
Adolin
Adolin Kholin had been protecting the weak since he could walk. Strange, that Renarin was now the knight.
This is an interesting observation, and one that several characters voice. I think what it all comes down to is that pesky “I am what I see myself to be” aspect of the Radiant powers. Adolin doesn’t ever see himself as a Radiant; he doesn’t want to take the Oaths, to be beholden so tightly to his word. And so he becomes something else, still protecting those who cannot protect themselves, but in his own way.
Rlain
They’d just been talking about how the parshmen were invisible to humans, but they treated him the same way a lot of the time.
He waited for the objections, or at least for someone to say they’d miss him. Instead they all perked up.
Poor, poor Rlain. It seems like he’s unwanted and stuck on the outside wherever he goes. With the singers… with Bridge Four… with the people in Urithiru…
I went to see Elio (the new Pixar film) with my son this week and I can see some parallels here between how Elio felt unwanted and wanted to escape to an alien world. (Side note, but if you’ve enjoyed Pixar films in the past or have small kids, definitely go check Elio out, it’s one of their stronger films and doesn’t seem to be getting much of a media push.) In the past, we’ve discussed in this reread how Rlain’s exclusion is often due to unconscious racism, especially within Bridge Four. And his exclusion from his own people also appears to be, at least partially, because of prejudice; this time for his sexuality. It’s stated that he’d had an unfortunate encounter with another malen while in mateform, and the other singers never treated him the same afterward. Rlain says that he thought they found it amusing, but they’re still treating him like an outsider. Different. Not willing to conform, and unwanted because of it.
No, they simply… well, they didn’t know him. They didn’t care to know him. He was always there, but never relevant. The quiet one at the edge of the conversation.
Don’t misunderstand me; It isn’t all due to prejudice. Part of it does just seem to be Rlain’s personality. But I don’t think the mateform incident helped any. The only person who’s ever really, truly wanted him around…
…is Renarin. ::swoon::
[…] he remembered how not a single one of his friends had spoken up to request he stay.
Ouch.
Navani
“Any fight to defend people is our fight.”
The Skybreaker sniffed and rolled her eyes. It seemed that dealing with Windrunners was the same regardless of the era.
This is an interesting take, and not one I’d expect of Navani, to be quite honest. She has never seemed the type to trivialize protecting the downtrodden.
Zabra
“So…” she said softly. “You’re saying I need to get me a set of Shardplate.”
I appreciate her drive, and I understand her need to be useful, to prove herself worthy, to protect her people. I also appreciate how she does listen to Adolin. Once he gives her a logical reason for why she can’t do certain things, she accepts it. She obviously doesn’t like it, and immediately comes up with a new idea that needs to be shot down, but she does listen.
Strategy
[…] what we need to do is make them think that by attacking Narak Three, they’ll be getting what they want: a way to demoralize us.
In this chapter, we see Sigzil debating with the other generals on the Shattered Plains over what to do with Narak. It is vital that they retain control of Narak Prime, and they go back and forth a bit on whether to pull their troops to defend that plateau alone, or guard the Oathgate on Narak Two.
Eventually Sigzil convinces them that the best strategic plan is to fool the enemy into thinking that they have reserves of Stormlight on Narak Three, drawing them to attack it in an effort to demoralize the troops in the remaining three days. In reality, those Stormlight reserves are an illusion, leading the enemy to waste precious time attacking a plateau with no strategic value.
Azimir
The bronze fortification at the center, roughly circular with a rounded top, had expanded further. […] Outside it was a long, wide ring of stone ground that […] was coated in crusted blood and corpses. … That wide field was also strewn with debris that had been pushed outward, in columns, thirty or forty yards by the attackers as they made their assaults: forming barricades behind which the defending soldiers sometimes took up positions. All together, it formed a star pattern.
The idea was to fill some of the hallways with Soulcast bronze, so when the enemy battered down the door, they found the path had turned solid. Trouble was, if they plugged too many, their own forces couldn’t make it in to fight.
[…] see that larger corridor across the way, where they’ve pushed debris to the sides more than others? I think that happened intentionally, not as part of a failing line. I suspect they’re preparing that corridor for a large assault today.”
In my little diagram here, I’m assuming those columns to be horizontal rather than vertical, based on the “star pattern” description. I’m also going to assume that the Azish still have a ring of defenders along the outer edge, to stop the singers from leaving the dome. I’ve also drawn a super basic idea of how the hallways likely function; a twisting, labyrinthine warren intended to slow the enemy and force them into close-quarters fighting should they manage to exit the inner dome.
Adolin knows the Fused are on the way, which is going to strain their already weak defenses to the breaking point. And, even worse…
Here comes the thunderclast.
Drew’s Commentary: Invested Arts & Theories
I’m sorry.
I feel like I’m the one who should be saying this, because the epigraphs in this part of the book aren’t all that exciting. Once upon a time, I harbored a hope that this letter was from Hoid to Valor, laying the groundwork for an epic Shardic-scale tragedy and love story. But I very quickly had to admit that, no, this is Hoid’s reply to Jasnah’s breakup letter.
Alas.
This is extra disappointing because my section this week is going to be so thin. These three chapters are packed to the brim with character development, introspection, and growth…but they hardly touch on the magical elements of the story and world at all. After a beefy write-up last week, we’ve got slim pickings now.
But that doesn’t mean we’ve got nothing.
A theory: the meeting of storm and storm had never again been so violent as it had been that first time, when plateaus had been destroyed. Was that another clue? Had this location caused the violence of that convergence? Were others weaker because they happened elsewhere? Or was it what they’d guessed originally: that the violence of that first convergence had been caused by the Everstorm’s exultant inception?
On reread, we understand that Odium’s perpendicularity, hidden below Narak, was the main cause of the more violent meeting of the storms, back in Words of Radiance. Presumably, the growing strength of Odium is also why the Everstorm just plain defeated the highstorm over Narak earlier in Wind and Truth.
This has my mind thinking about other potential interactions between Shards, and the importance of perpendicularities. If Sazed had been more capable of action during The Lost Metal, what would have happened in Bilming? Would he have set off some kind of reaction by trying to intervene directly over Autonomy’s shardpool? What about Odium on Sel, or, perhaps most intriguingly, on Threnody? According to Khriss, Threnody doesn’t have a regular shardpool, but rather intermittent and temporary perpendicularities that pop up when some “morbid” event happens (possibly the creation of Shades). If Odium—or Retribution, now—went back to Threnody, we could see some truly crazy stuff happening.
Our new leader has told us where we came from, what humankind did to its homeworld, and you two refuse to let me tell everyone.
A minor tidbit here, but an interesting one: Nale took over the Skybreakers shortly before the Recreance. He spent quite a long time after Aharietiam doing who-knows-what, before returning to the fold in his own twisted way.
And it seems it was his testimony about Ashyn and the destruction there that put some of the first cracks in the Radiants’ resolve.
Unfortunately, that’s all I’ve got, as far as noteworthy lore and theories go. Lyn’s expansive character breakdowns are the real feature this week, but never you worry—there’s plenty more to come!
We’ll be keeping an eye on the comment sections of posts about this article on various social media platforms and may include some of your comments/speculation (with attribution) on future weeks’ articles! Keep the conversation going, and PLEASE remember to spoiler-tag your comments on social media to help preserve the surprise for those who haven’t read the book yet.
See you next Monday with our discussion of chapters 81, 82, and 83!
In my opinion, one of the most fascinating things at the beginning of book 6 will be how the fauna (especially non-human and non-singer fauna) and flora on Roshar (at least those outside of Azish and Urithiru) have changed during the 10-15 year gap between the end of WaT and the start of Book 6. As there will be constant rain/moisture, I wander if the plants will lose the ability to retreat into rocks. I especially want to see how huge fauna (like Chasmfiends and the great shell islands in the Reshi seas) adapt.
I have trouble imagining how any wild flora and fauna can even survive the gap, given how it is adapted to and relies on plentiful investiture in the environment for survival. Coupled with the lack of sunlight and constant rain, there should be a massive die-off and nuclear winter. I hope that it doesn’t happen, since I love Rosharan ecosystems, but I struggle to see how it could be avoided.
On to other things:
I was really disappointed that Shallan’s brothers have been whisked away in RoTW before she could admit the truth of their mother’s death to them. I thought that it would have been an important step on her path, but apparently not. Now there is even more to tell, but they are lost somewhere in Retribution’s territory? And could become a terrible liability both for Shallan and for certain Herald. Also, I suspected that Shallan’s happy childhood before she started bonding Testament was another lie, but I now wonder why her brothers, particularly Helaran, were so devoted to her mother.
Re: Rlain being treated as an outsider among the listeners due to his sexuality, I used to think that Eshonai’s brief attempt at mateform turning out to be “a disaster” was something along these lines, but maybe she just really hated losing control…
It is rather interesting that apparently the Windrunners have been the ones to condemn Kazilah (to death?) and the Skybreakers were against it. Not what I expected concerning this mystery and we still don’t really know what it was about!
I really love Adolin’s segments, but him having just 2 Shardbearers against all the singers in the expeditionary force and a number of Fused, now including the Heavenly Ones, really strains my suspension of disbelief. The Heavenly Ones handily defeated Shardbearers during the Battle of Thaylenah. And yes, Adolin himself is an exceptional fighter, but we learned nothing about the quality of his 2 understudies, or the Azish team, really. I really wish the former had been some bit characters, who appeared earlier in the series, rather than complete ciphers.
And Shardplate gets damaged and it should have taken time for it to repair itself. This was wholly ignored during the defence of Azimir. Having a couple of extra Shardbearers – perhaps Cord, who kinda vanished from the narrative, and some low-level Lightweavers, who had nothing to do during the battle on the Shattered Plains anyway, wouldn’t have made Adolin’s battle any less heroic and heart-pounding, but much less contrived, IMHO.
Speaking of the battle on the Shattered Plains, I really expected to see some new fabrial weapons evening the numbers imbalance between the Radiants and the Fused a bit, but no, the Radiants were just that much more powerful, along with Sigzil’s clever strategy and tactics, of course.
Fabrials powered with what haha? Barely had enough for the radiants, which are a million times more important.
I do agree about adolins fight, but they didn’t have a Stormlight shortage to repair the armor with direct help from the emperor
The sigzil scenes are doubly depressing because just when he finds himself, he loses his Spren and then goes off to be chased as Nomad..sure he becomes a Skybreaker but takes possibly a century, and he hasn’t seen his friends. Really hope he meets back up with bridge 4, thanks to the dilation.
We always wondered what it meant when he thought he saw Kal when hoid appeared, if he was long dead, just surprised he was off world, etc