Happy Monday to our loyal readers, our cherished Sanderfans and Cosmere Chickens! And welcome to another Wind and Truth read-along discussion. Last week we discussed the events of chapters 23 and 24, where a disguised Shallan managed to gain entry into the secret lair of the Ghostbloods, and young Szeth danced in our first flashback! This week, we’re here to discuss what’s going on with Shallan and Dalinar in chapters 25 and 26. Check out the social media section at the end of the article to see if we spotlighted one of your comments!
Note that this post will possibly contain full Cosmere spoilers, so beware if you aren’t caught up on all Cosmere content. And please remember, when posting or commenting about these preview chapters on social media, to follow your platform’s spoiler rules. Your comments here, however, don’t need to be spoiler tagged, so feel free to comment as you will down below!
Paige’s Summary and Commentary
Chapter 25 is titled “Purposeful Danger” and opens with Shallan descending into the depths of Narak to a large underground room filled with Ghostbloods. Oh, it’s real now! The Thaylens she admitted to the hideout while masquerading as a guard stop to admire several of Mraize’s prizes that he’s collected from various worlds. Shallan turns to find Sja-anat looking at her, reflected in the glass of another display case. Sja-anat smiles at her and then vanishes. Rather unsettling, isn’t it? Considering that we know little about Sja-anat’s plans or endgame. What is she doing there? Working for the Ghostbloods or spying, as Shallan herself is? It’s interesting to think about.
Shallan skulks around the edges of the group, scoping out the room and noting both people she had known were in the society and those who were new to her. She sees Iyatil crouched, surveying the room, and when she attracts the woman’s gaze, Shallan crouches as well, mimicking her posture, hoping to avoid Iyatil’s attention.
Mraize plays with some kind of contraption that shoots large, heavy-looking arrowheads, and another Ghostblood mentions that it’s a Thaylen weapon, intended to deliver a payload. Shallan sees Mraize with a bolt with a gemstone on it and she realizes that with anti-Stormlight, it could be used to kill a spren or a Radiant.
Mraize also pulls out his seon, which takes on the likeness of Felt, who tells those assembled that Mishram’s prison is in the Spiritual Realm. Shallan can’t stop the shockspren from manifesting around her. She realizes that Felt and the seon, Ala, had been Ghostblood spies all along.
Mraize announces that Cultivation has visited Dalinar, who will go to the Spiritual Realm and that he, Mraize, will follow him, along with Iyatil. Then Iyatil herself crosses the room, approaching Shallan; she bends down and speaks to her in a language that Shallan doesn’t know.
We jump to Dalinar, of course, because we must be left in suspense, worrying that Shallan may have been discovered by Iyatil after just a few minutes!
Dalinar is speaking with Navani in the garden room and she asks him if she’ll lose him if he ascends to Honor, which is quite a heartbreaking possibility to contemplate. After how many years of a loveless marriage to Gavilar, and all the years of being alone after he died, she finally gets together with Dalinar only to lose him again? Hasn’t Navani been through enough? Hasn’t she sacrificed enough? Does she have to give up Dalinar, as well? ::Paige has sad feels:: Navani asks why it has to be him that does this and, of course, Dalinar thinks that he’s the only one who can do it. He feels that something has been guiding him and that the contest may not be the most important thing right now.
Wit pops in and offers his thoughts. He thinks that Dalinar needs to see—to relive—the history of Roshar since the humans arrived, which will allow Dalinar access to truths and revelations that even Wit doesn’t know. And bloody hell, but Wit knows a lot—to think about the secrets that even he doesn’t know about is kind of mind-boggling. Wit also mentions that he doesn’t know why the Stormfather would lie. I thought that was unsettling back in the prologue when he lied to Gavilar; it’s still concerning to know that he’s lied to Dalinar.
Navani again wonders what would happen were Dalinar to take up the shard, and Wit chimes in:
“Dalinar would Ascend,” Wit said. “His mind would expand to see with the eyes of deity. The Shards are not omniscient—it is relatively easy to hide things from them. But they are . . . blessed with a near-infinite capacity to understand. To see into the future, in its many permutations, and to comprehend what that means.”
We saw Taravangian’s ascension, and frankly, it was alarming. Of course, the pruned Blackthorn isn’t as scary as Taravangian was—smart Taravangian, at least. So perhaps Dalinar ascending wouldn’t be as frightening? Perhaps. What do you all think, Sanderfans? What unexpected realizations might Dalinar have if he takes up the shard of Honor? Will he also think he has a plan to save everyone and fix everything? Or might he really be able to solve the problems of Roshar without being a creeping, creepy creep?
I just don’t know. He speculates that if it doesn’t work, he could find another to give the shard to but Wit says that’s not a likely scenario… that once one holds the power of a god, it’s not so easy to give it up. I mean, could you see Taravangian seeing reason and deciding to give up Odium’s shard because he’s just a little crazy with all of that knowledge and power? Yeah, neither could I.
Forgive me from highlighting another section, here, but it’s better read from Brandon than from me:
“Surely it has been done,” Dalinar said.
Wit grew distant, a faint smile on his lips. “Once. It wasn’t a full Ascension, but a mortal did give up the power once. It proved to be the wrong choice, but it was the most selfless thing I believe I’ve ever witnessed. So yes, Dalinar, it is possible. But not easy.”
Is he talking about Vin? I kind of feel like he’s talking about Vin. I could be wrong, but she did take up Preservation for a minute, right? So that’s got to be who Wit’s talking about, right? Or am I overlooking something, Sanderfans?
Moving on, Navani tells Dalinar that she’s going with him. Because of course, she is. And is he really going to argue with her? No. No, he’s not. Wit wants to stage a test run into the Spiritual Realm and suggests that they find a place lower in the tower, in case it doesn’t work. That way, they won’t have as far to fall. …I’m sorry, what?
Chapter 26 is titled “Hunting the Hunter” and thankfully, we return to Shallan, who tries to think of how to field Iyatil’s question or order, which the woman repeats after a moment. After Iyatil glances toward the other mask-wearer, the man, Shallan takes a chance and simply responds with “a curt nod,” which seems to satisfy Iyatil. She goes to speak to the other off-worlder and Shallan follows. Iyatil and the male Scadrian have a hurried conversation and Shallan understands none of it.
To save her own… assets, her interior Veil voice encourages her to find a distraction, so Shallan stares at a doorknob and when it’s obvious that it’s her turn to speak, she points and whispers, “Sja-anat.” This has the desired effect of pulling Iyatil’s attention from the conversation that Shallan doesn’t understand. Iyatil checks out the doorknob and seeing nothing, she leaves the others to go talk to Mraize. Shallan is left alone when the male Scadrian follows Iyatil, leaving her to pretend to study the doorknob.
Then, who should show up in the shiny doorknob but Sja-anat. She tells Shallan that she’s clever for managing to get out of that conversation without being able to speak their language. Shallan holds a whispered conversation with the Unmade and flat out asks her whose side she’s on. Hey, someone’s being direct and trying to get useful info? Well done, Shallan!
Sja-anat says that she fights for “survival” and that Odium has proven that he doesn’t care about her or her children. She basically suggests that Shallan should join her. It’s rather refreshing to see her lay the cards out on the table this way. How do you feel about Sja-anat and her seeming rejection of Odium, Sanderfans?
Iyatil and Mraize approach and, surprisingly, Sja-anat does not hide. Iyatil tells the other Scadrian, Lieke, to stay and entertain the others while she and Mraize (with Shallan following) enter the alcove occupied by Mraize’s trophy case. Only it’s not his, it’s Iyatil’s, who points to the glass and Sja-anat’s reflection. She asks Sja-anat why she’s there when she’s supposed to be watching the Bondsmiths. The Unmade answers that she would draw attention from the Sibling so her children watch instead.
Then… ::drumroll:: Mraize drops a bomb right on Shallan’s head. He reminds Sja-anat, who is questioning why they’d want to risk becoming lost in the Spiritual Realm, that she had told him that “our spren could guide us.”
Yup… they’re Radiant, bonded to Sja-anat’s children. Shallan remembers being the one to arrange Sja-anat’s meeting with the Ghostbloods. Radiant reassures her and tells her not to be too hard on herself for this unforeseen consequence.
Meanwhile, Sja-anat warns Mraize and Iyatil that Mishram is not “fond of humans,” which we gleaned when she appeared to Shallan in Shadesmar. Angry Unmade is angry.
Then Mraize asks Sja-anat if Shallan is hunting them. The Unmade confirms that she does hunt them and does not look at Shallan! She’s totes covering for her. I love it! Then Iyatil tells Mraize that he fixates too much on Shallan, that her attention will be on protecting her loved ones. She sends Mraize away and tells Shallan (still in disguise, of course) that something is wrong with him:
“I do not think he has been replaced with a duplicate, but I do question his loyalty to our cause.”
Wait, what? Replaced with a duplicate? She’s his Babsk and she thinks it’s possible to “replace” someone that she knows so well? To the point that she can’t tell if it’s really him? How…?
Then Iyatil talks of finding Mishram for her purposes and says that Thaidakar can protect his land if the Shards can be controlled. She asks Shallan if this will fit her plans as well and Shallan doesn’t know how to answer so she nods again.
Then Iyatil focuses on Shallan and, presumably, realizes that her eyes are wrong. Shockspren appear as she realizes it’s not her cohort behind that mask. She shouts:
“Radiants! We are discovered!”
Wait. Radiants? Are they ALL storming Radiants? Holy guacamole on a chouta, Sanderfans… the Ghostbloods have leveled up in the most dangerous way. How can Shallan and her Unseen Court go head to head with Radiant Ghostbloods? What do you all think of this development?
Please, please discuss all the things in the comments because we want to see your thoughts on these super interesting developments!
Lyndsey’s Commentary
For chapter 25, all four Herald portraits are of Jezrien (Jezerezeh), Herald of Kings, patron of the Windrunners. His attributes are Protecting/Leading, and his role is King. This doesn’t seem to relate to Shallan’s section, but it does relate to Dalinar’s part. He’s talking about ascending to hold the Shard of Honor, and leading/protecting the entirety of the world, if not the Cosmere.
Chapter 26 is also a pretty obvious choice, with all four portraits being of Battah (Battar), patron of the Elsecallers. Her attributes are Wise/Careful and her role is Counsellor, and if Shallan’s not the embodiment of care and wisdom in this chapter, I don’t know who is.
The Almighty has given us the limbs to move and the minds to decide. Let no monarch take away what was divinely granted. The Heralds also taught that all should have the sacred right of freedom of movement, to escape a bad situation. Or simply to seek a brighter dawn.
I continued on my way, contemplating dust and the nature of desertion. For I, as king, had walked away from my duties, and it was different for me. Had I not renounced a throne the Almighty had granted, and in so doing, undermined my very own words? Was I abandoning that which was divinely given me?
—From The Way of Kings, fourth parable
Interesting that these excerpts are coming now, when Dalinar is considering abandoning his duties as “king” and seeking a higher power.
Felt
Felt was a Ghostblood.
Reminder that Felt was one of the men that went with Dalinar to visit the Nightwatcher, and was with Adolin and Shallan on their trip to Lasting Integrity. I’ll let Drew go into more detail about his status as a worldhopper.
Dalinar
From Jasnah or Adolin, perhaps those words would have been a challenge. A question why he always put himself in the center of the issue. He found such questions ridiculous—who else could he trust with a problem of such magnitude? Someone needed to walk the difficult roads, and—as ruler—it was his duty.
Hubris vs. responsibility… it’s a fine line to walk, to be sure, and a fundamental part of Dalinar’s personality. Where does the line between tyrant and leader fall? Is he right about his understanding of when to lead vs when to delegate responsibility… or is his ego getting the better of him?
Sja-anat
I am on the side of preserving a world for my children.
And who can blame her for that, truly? The more we see of her, the more I question whether she’s the villain she’s been labeled. Though… that said, what villain really considers themselves to be a villain? Taravangian also only wanted to protect his own, and look at the atrocities he committed to provide that protection…
Iyatil & Thaidakar (Kelsier)
He works to protect his homeland above all else, but once we find Mishram for my purposes, he will see. Master Thaidakar can only protect his land if the Shards can be controlled.
Something gives me the feeling that Kelsier wouldn’t be terribly pleased with this secret being withheld from him. He always has been the type to appreciate his compatriots having plans and agency, but this seems to be going too far.
Drew’s Commentary: Invested Arts & Theories
All right, Cosmere fans. Here we go.
Straight away, we follow Shallan down into this new Ghostblood lair, and we’re treated to Mraize’s Cosmere Goodies 2.0. (Well, not Mraize’s. Iyatil’s. We’ll get to that.) First, we have to break down what exactly we’re looking at, here.
Housed in a small room full of glass-fronted cases, each unlabeled artifact had its own shelf lit by a handful of chips. A silvery horn or claw from some great beast.
Brandon leads off with something sure to get some eyebrows raised: Dragonsteel. This is almost certainly from a dragon, just like we’ve previously seen in Tress of the Emerald Sea on the great scholar dragon Xisis.
A chunk of light red crystal, like pink salt—though of a deeper, more vibrant color.
Here we have some Roseite Aether, again as seen in Tress of the Emerald Sea (and The Lost Metal). This actually showed up in Words of Radiance as well, the first time Shallan saw Mraize’s collection. Knowing what we do now about how Aethers work, though, raises the question of whether this is the same bit of Roseite Aether, or if Mraize/Iyatil/the Ghostbloods have another source of it on Roshar. It sure doesn’t seem like TwinSoul is visiting them, given what we find out in The Lost Metal.
A violet stone egg, partly crystalline, with silver swirling around its shell.
Then we get our first big question mark. This object doesn’t resemble anything we’ve seen in published canon (or really anything in readily available unpublished canon, either.) My gut instinct upon reading this was that it’s a dragon egg, hence the silver swirl. That’s an easy leap to make, with a Dragonsteel claw or horn sitting right next to it.
But there’s a wrench in that possibility. This Word of Brandon indicates that his plan, at least a couple years ago, was to have dragons be born like humans and live the first stretch of their lives entirely in human form. But curiously, he waffles a lot while answering the question, leaving room for some changes.
What if the birth of a dragon depends on who the parents are? Maybe a female dragon mating with a human male could end up with a hatching situation, and the inverse being a live birth?
Or perhaps this is a Sho Del egg. In canon, we’ve still seen very little of them—just a couple brief glimpses in The Sunlit Man and Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, along with the MeLaan epilogue in The Lost Metal. They certainly have some draconic qualities, and they don’t seem to have the same ability as dragons when it comes to shapeshifting.
It could also be something entirely new, something Brandon is saving for something more in the future. Maybe The Isles of the Emberdark will hold an answer? Maybe we have to wait for the Dragonsteel series itself…
A fat, succulent leaf that pulsed red and seemed to radiate heat.
Another one that doesn’t have an easy answer. There are a couple of places in the known Cosmere with noteworthy vegetation, and Words of Radiance showed that the collection includes the Tears of Edgli flower from Nalthis. But this leaf, emitting heat, doesn’t really line up with anything we saw in Warbreaker; nor does it immediately fit with the local flora of Patji in Sixth of the Dusk.
It seems we have a couple new things to keep our eyes peeled for in forthcoming Cosmere publications.
A vial of pale sand she now recognized as having a very practical application.
Unfortunately the final item named in the collection is a well-known quantity at this point, so there’s not much room for speculation. White Sand has become more and more of a ubiquitous tool in the Cosmere, though that brings its own ramifications.
The Lost Metal shows that Autonomy is aggressively moving against Scadrial, yes, but Wind and Truth takes place before Mistborn Era 2—and Arcanum Unbounded indicates that there was some sort of blockade or closure, preventing visitors from reaching the world. Word of Brandon is that that was only temporary, but we don’t know when the restriction was lifted. Certainly during the events of Secret History it was still closed off, which we know thanks to Khriss’ comments to Kelsier.
How long has Iyatil been working on this? Perhaps she visited everyone’s favorite tidally locked planet before Autonomy said “no thanks” to foreigners?
A quick aside for a random theory on a throwaway line:
If there is room for my children, there will be room for yours.
Is Shallan pregnant? Anyway…
“My trophy case. I see her reflection.”
And there’s the boom. Of course all this was Iyatil’s rather than Mraize’s. She’s the boss, after all—Shallan just gets fixated on Mraize because he’s the one who steals the spotlight. Speaking of stealing the spotlight, it’s easy to forget all the neat little things in the trophy case when this just happened:
“You said our spren could guide us,” Mraize said, stepping closer to the mirror.
Whoo boy, things just got a whole lot more difficult for Shallan and the Unseen Court. Mraize and Iyatil, bonded to Enlightened spren sent by Sja-anat… they have a serious Investiture arsenal at this point. Mraize holds Breath, as we saw in Rhythm of War. He’s got an Aviar, he’s got anti-Light, and now he’s in control of two indeterminate Surges.
And now the jig is up, and Shallan is surrounded by a bunch of Ghostbloods.
Fan Theories
Lyn: In the weekly discussion thread over on Reddit, Saruphon has this interesting theory based on the epigraphs:
From this i predicted that someone will get to leave Roshar at the end of WAT, maybe Odium (in case odium lose) or the knights radiant (in case Dalinar lose). … This is Alethi Right of Travel, but BS putting this here foreshadow that someone or some group will get right of travel to leave Roshar even if their team lose (likely Knight Radiant)
As for hilarious off-the-wall tinfoil hat theories that will cause me to eat one of my many renaissance faire hats if it’s right, we’ve got redshadow310 speculating:
What if Stick is a shardblade? In an earlier chapter it’s mentioned that abandoned blades fade in the physical world after time. What if they don’t fade completely but the perception of them changes? A deadeye radiant spren, abandoned on an isolated beach for millennia begins to perceive itself as a stick like all the other driftwood around it and changes form.
I’m not saying it’s impossible. Sanderson’s thrown some pretty wild curveballs at us, after all. But mark my words, if this turns out to be true, I’ll be consuming a cap.
I think Mastpar speaks for us all when they say “I would die for Bippy!” I have similar thoughts about Molli the ewe which can be summed up thusly.
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 choose to wait for the full release. See you next Monday with chapters 27 and 28!
So the duplicate would be a kandra, masters of seemless replacement. And I think Iyatil was more yelling that there are Radiants at the gates, not summoning her own. But that’s just my interpretation.
A kandra or someone with a Soul Stamp like from the Emperor’s Soul. The whole premise of that book was using magic to create a perfect impostor basically from scratch
And wit was definitely talking about Vin
I thought he was talking about Kelsier
I’m not sure it could be Kelsier. Wit specifically. mentions a mortal, and Kelsier, as a cognitive shadow at the time he held the power, likely wouldn’t be considered mortal by Hoid. Probably.
And also, Wit said that as admirable as it was, that it was the wrong choice at the time. So definitely talking about VIN. When Kel gave it up to Vin that was the right thing to do.
Moreso, Hoid severely dislikes Kell, I doubt he would praise that so much. He was around when Vín freed Rúin but likely not when Kell held it
Agreed on both points.
Yeah agreed – I got the sense that Iyatil’s cry of “Radiants!” was an identification of Shallan & co., not a call to arms for the rest of the Ghostbloods.
With regards to Wit talking about giving up power, I think he’s talking about Vin at the Well of Ascension, I don’t think it could be anyone else, though considering how it worked out in the end I don’t know if I’d agree it was the wrong decision
He’s talking about himself.
It’s the word “witnessed” that’s throwing me. Hoid wasn’t *there* when Vin took up the power. Unless he means he sensed it via the Cognitive realm or something?
But he was at that perpendicularty nót long before (Secret History), he very well might have
He was on planet when it had happened, and had been at the well getting his Lerasium bead just before she went through. Even had he passed through the perpendicularity into Shadesmar, he would have been able to see the event from Shadesmar.
He definitely witnessed it. Maybe not with his eyes, but via proximity.
I think so too, but didn’t kelsier also hold the power and give it up? Edited to add: maybe hoid didn’t witness kelsier’s brief moment with the power.
“And bloody hell, but Wit knows a lot”
Tell me you’re not British without telling me you’re not British…
I agree with other commenters who thinks that “Radiants!” is a shout of alarm at the presence of radiants, not a summons to other Ghostbloods.
I wonder if Mraize and Iyatil’s spren are the two in gemstones given to Taravangian to draw Odium in RoW.? I don’t think he ever got the chance to destroy them before Szeth let Nightblood do its thing, and I would imagine it was a bit too small scale for Taravangian to worry about at the time.
I have no real evidence, but I can’t think of any other enlightened spren we’ve seen that are neither bonded, destroyed, nor regular non-radiant varieties. Can anyone think of any others?
Those got smashed against the wall by Szeth, right before killing Taravangian. Transparent red windspren… (ROW, chp. 113 Emotion)
The gemstones got smashed, releasing the spren and thus drawing ROdium. But the spren were not, as far as we know, destroyed — just the gemstones.
I was thinking the same thing
Yeah I got to jump in here like everyone else. This is great for engagement, but *all* of the Ghostbloods are *not* Radiants. That cannot be what Iyatil meant by that. She’s calling out that the Radiants are onto them. It’s a raid.
But if I’m wrong……
I saw it the same way someone would yell ‘Assassins!’ or ‘Thieves!’ or ‘Fused!’ – She’s calling the alarm – letting her team know the source of the alarm.
Hm, so it seems that nobody in this Ghostblood group has a Tin Metal Art, naturally or via spikes. This is disappointing. Also, Mraize’s Aviar is suspiciously MIA.
And all you need to de-couple stormlight from Roshar is to blank it. I have long thought that that’s what removing Honor’s Tone from it, like during the intermediate step of creating anti-Light, does. Yet, in TLM the GBs on Scadrial don’t seem to have it, hm…
And, apparently, Iatyl thinks that BAM could be used to control the Shards?! But Kelsier wanted her for something else, since Felt and Ala are his people, yet they helped Iatyl, however reluctantly.
And, of course, the bombs – Iatyl and Mraize are bound to enlightened spren of some kind and work with Sja-Anat! But also, her “children” who watch Dalinar can only be Glys and Tumi, right? I doubt that the Sibling would let any other Voidish Investiture in. So, is this how Renarin and Rlain will get involved in the search for BAM?
I assume bam is directly correlated with ADONALSIUM, and this is the reason for the assumed control. In some point of the early literature, BAM is called the “High Princess of the Cosmere”, I don’t know how she’d get that designation without her having some notch above the Shards, the Cosmere reference being shards instead of one shard, and the lore about Adonalsium going to roshar before the Shattering leads me to the assumption she’s of Adonalsium. 🤷
Isn’t the Aviar now with Lift? I kept waiting for something to happen with the Aviar and then recalled characters mentioning that Lift was walking around with a bird on her shoulder.
There were two Aviar. One belongs to Mraize, Lift saved the other one he hunted.
I thought it was interesting what Sja-anat said to Shallan that Honor destroyed and betrayed them. Is she referencing the Unmade? Or her spren?
I feel like we have been told that odium was the one to ‘unmake’ the Unmade, but if it was Honor it would explain why most of the Unmade side with Odium against the humans.
I think we just assumed Odium broke them because of what was happening to the Sibling last book, and that is what we were told by the admittingly very bias information from oathbringer. of course, we should question what exactly happened since finding out that Re-Shepnir might be a Aether, since it can create midnight essence.
I’ve said this on the comment chain for the chapters, but here’s my 2¢ on the artifacts:
I’m willing to bet the horn/claw is off a dragon, which would make it Yolish.
The crystal looks to be aether. I can’t remember where they come from, but IIRC the world of Tress *isn’t* their original world.
The violet stone egg, I dunno. Maybe a Sho Del egg, if they even lay eggs…? If so, that’d *presumably* make it Yolish as well, but maybe Iyatil got it on UTol.
The “leaf” sounds an awful lot like a sunheart from Canticle. That’d be my guess, especially if you remember that the flora Shallan is used to differs greatly from that on Earth. The red pulsing glow and radiated heat also line up.
The pale sand, I’m sure everyone knows by now, is white sand from Taldain.
I assumed the pale leaf that radiated heat was flora from Komashi.
I hat about a Larkin? Could that be the egg?
Yeah, maybe it could. Although it seems those trophies are mostly from offworld, likely from places Iyatil was before Roshar.
For the Egg, a third possibility is the Pern Inspired Dragon Riding world Sanderson has mentioned a few times. My own personal theory is that since they won’t be “full dragons” that they won’t have proper dragonsteel and instead have other invested metals worked through them. With the bond with their riders allowing them to use investiture determined by their dragons metal. (ie Brass dragons let the rider breath fire etc) this egg could be from there.
What about a Larkin egg?
Wit talking about giving up a shard couldn’t be vin..that WASNT a mistake it saved the planet haha, ruin was about to nuke everything, and she just killed herself to beat him, not the same.
Kelsier gave up the power willingly to vin though, it wasn’t a full ascension since he was a cognitive shadow and used the Ire Orb to forge Connection..but again that wouldn’t have been a mistake either..unless he means long term, leading to Sazed getting it and becoming discord haha.
He could also be referring to himself, we always knew he turned down the shards after the Shattering, don’t think he ascended partially, maybe touched a shard and was like NOPE.
I agree he probably means himself haha
I believe the point Hoid/Wit is talking about would actually be Vin at the end of Book 2 (Well of Ascension) when Vin gives up the power at the Well despite Elend bleeding out in front of her, leading to Ruin being released from his prison. At the time it was the wrong choice even though it ultimately worked out for Scadriel.
I mean “replaced by a duplicate” shes likely referring to Kandra, she’s descended from southern Scadrians in silverlight and works with Scadrians she definitely would know about them. Haha if only this was a few years later she could make a comment worrying if it’s that legendary Wayne in costume 😆
Haha Ilyatil isnt saying hey, other radiants, we’ve been discovered
She’s saying they’ve been discovered by radiants. Like oh sh*t! Radiants are here!
yeah, why would she call her people radiants?
Mraize cosmere goodies 2.0 haha, I love it. We did spend years theorizing and getting WoBs about all the artifacts in WoR and eventually got answers for most of them..here we go again!
I am going to say my theory again from last week- can two people hold a shard? Especially if they are bondsmiths? I feel like this is strengthened with Navani now going to the spiritual realm with Dalinar.
I was wondering the same thing.
This is a suuuuuper interesting theory. I don’t see why not. Woah. Could you hypothetically connect a GROUP of people to shard?????? A shard-city???
My comments to Chapters 25 & 26
Chapter 25
· It says a lot about Shallan’s circumstances that she has more to be worried about the Ghostbloods than one of the more intelligent Unmade.
· Compared to Stolen Purse and Icy Tongue, Little Knife is not bad. Almost too cliché-ish. I disagree with Shallan. I think Mraize knows that these nicknames are stupid. I am sure there is some deeper purpose that all secret agents and villain types need a nickname.
· Somehow I feel better that Navani is going with Dalinar to the Spiritual Realm. I cannot explain exactly why. Perhaps it is because in epic fantasy, the protagonists have their greater success when they have help rather than when they try something on their own. (For example, in LoTR, Frodo needed Sam’s help; he could not have succeeded on his own. In WoT, the characters (both in the history of the WoT lore and the story itself), always achieved more when working together than alone).
Chapter 26
· I cannot wait to find out what Iyatil’s purpose is with Ba-Ado-Mishram
· My guess. Both Mraize and Iyatil have bonded with a one of Sjan-anat’s Enlightened Inkspren. I think they are Elsecallers. Elsecallers have the most affinity to Shadesmar. It would make sense that Inkspren also have affinity to the Spiritual realm. My theory also fits that all four portraits on the column are Battar.
· I believe that Sja-anat will have a role to play in WaT before the end of the book. Otherwise, Brandon would not have had her appear in these two chapters. She is playing a game just as long (if not longer) than Cultivation.
That would actually align really well with the fact that Mraize was completely blase about actually getting into the Cognitive Realm in order to sneak into the perpendicularity and thus the Spiritual Realm. (Recall that Iyatil tells Sja-anat that they need to “get into Shadesmar and be ready to enter Dalinar’s perpendicularity”, and I do not think they would have an easy time using either the Oathgates or Dalinar’s perpendicularity to get into the Cognitive Realm.)
Agreed about Sja-anat – I thought the Enlightened Oathgate spren were a clever way to keep us thinking about her. I think she’s going to be a major part of this book.
Is anyone else concerned that Dalinar will take up Honor and still lose?! Presumably that’d be leagues worse than losing as “only” Dalinar the Bondsmith.
Im actually thinking the person that is going to leave Roshar, as foreshadowed by the epigraphs, will be Syl. There is all this speculation that she is going to be pulled into the physical realm by Ishar, in addition to her display of human-like characteristics and mannerisms lately. If you look at Syls icon in the previous books when it was her perspective, she looks human, has a large pack and is looking behind her, almost like she is travelling somewhere. This would also tie into the themes of the autonomy of spren Brandon has been bringing up, demonstrated in the disagreement between Navani and the Sibling, Maya and the other “broken” spren etc.
idk tho !
That is certainly possible; I think it’s also possible to interpret the icon as reflecting her having set off all alone into the Physical Realm to seek Kaladin and looking back to what she left behind to do so. It will be interesting to see what happens!
Paige, I believe Wit is talking about himself hahaha
The thing about freedom of movement might have to do with Spren being able to leave roshar at the end of this book. They do something with the shards or with mishram maybe
uuugggghhh. I could never be a lightweaver. I am stressed out just reading that. I am surprised anxiety spren didn’t hop universes just to stare at my emotions.
Ok, the fact they are going into the actual details of what it means to hold a shard is telling me that Dalinar is NOT gonna bond with it. you don’t set up expostion like that and have the hero succeed espescially with something that powerful. what’s the other secret?
I really don’t look forward to seeing that crossbow in action (which seems imminent), and I worry about how it’s been stressed that Shallan has two spren now; if one were killed she would still be in the game as far as Radiant powers go. What would happen if we lost Pattern, or even a re-awakening Testament?? Brandon has a nasty habit of breaking someone’s mind (or coming real close) in every book, and this would probably do the trick. Don’t do it man!
I didn’t get a chance to comment last week, but I was mentioned in the READ ALONG DISCUSSION!
Yay me!
I think sja-anat is on the “good” side, and is against odium, but why, oh why, is she giving ghostbloods radiant spren?
Seems like she’s chaotic / neutral. Also wonder if she aligns with Autonomy?
The Stormfather has been lying to people since at *least* WoR. He told Kaladin, “You killed [Syl]”, but she wasn’t dead. Or if she was dead, we already have an example of Radiant spren being revived.
Man, these ghostblood chapters are getting interesting. I have a few theories of what could happen with them if Kelsier realizes that Ilaytil’s group has gone rogue, but he doesn’t seem too concerned in the Lost Metal. I wonder if Ilatyil’s theory of Mraize being a “doppelganger” aka Kandra is correct and if so, if the kandra is working for Kelsier. Another thing about the reveal that they have members bonded with Spren, I wonder if Felt is not bonded, or has both Breath AND a bond that we just don’t see. if so, does that mean that the ghostbloods can have access to Breath as well?
Wit’s description to Jasnah about how he knew that Odium had tampered with his memory in effect said that Breath is readily available (just expensive). So I think it’s not particularly remarkable to see Ghostbloods with Breath since they are known to be Cosmere-aware and have lots of worldhoppers who could travel to Nalthis and back.
Weren’t Felt and Ala looking forward to finally leaving Roshar? I doubt that it is currently possible with a spren bond. Personally, I think that Felt must have some Metallic Arts, innately, hemalurgically or both. Someone should and as one of the rare native Scadrians in the Ghostbloods, he would be a logical choice.
BTW, I noticed that the masked woman whom Shallan impersonated _also_ wasn’t a native Scadrian, but presumably a descendant. Iyatil spoke to her about Thaidakar protecting _his_ homeland, not “yours”. This woman also apparently has a pretty low opinion of Thaidakar’s intelligence!
This makes me wonder if there was an exodus from newly cooled South Scadrial through a newly appeared Harmony’s Perpendicularity after Catacendre.
well we do know from Word of Brandon that Illatyil is not actually from Scaldriel directly, she’s from Silverlight. So it could be possible that this group of ghostbloods are also from silverlight as well, thus the talk of “his” homeland and not “our” homeland.
The Felt’s spren would have had to hide somehow the entire Shadesmar journey
Agree. I don’t think Felt has a spren. He was using awakening when he captured Kalak.
I will try one more time as I can’t figure out how to post. Doesn’t anyone else feel Kal is the one to ascend. Sunlit man Sigzil thinks he see kal. Also, sando-man is isolating him and not making him fight physically anymore.
Tien and szeth pick up the same Rock. Obviously they are related and szeth is the new tien.
Shallans pregs love it.
Also, Sanderson keeps mentioning times. Dalinar will be odiums champion, but it won’t be for years. By then lift will be awesome.
What if Dalinar and Navani get lost in the Spiritual Realm, and their return is the starting point of the second arch/back 5 books?
They likely miss out on the contest of champions and everything else over the time skip, and return to a whole new Roshar?
I thought “Radiants” was Iyatil identifying Shallan as a Radiant.
Excited to be caught up!
I’ve been playing for some time with the idea that the Ghostbloods are seeking not Mishram herself but Mishram’s prison. (Though this chapter makes it clear that we can’t really treat the Ghostbloods as a single entity in that regard!) Taking that tinfoil-hat theory to another level, what if Mishram’s prison is literally made of Honor’s power? Way back in WoK when Syl was starting to remember that she was an honorspren (not a windspren) she describes herself as binding things. Would not binding Mishram qualify as being aligned with the Intent of that power? This would align reasonably well with needing Melishi specifically to bind her (which my previous version of this theory involving a big perfect gemstone did not cover very well) in order to Connect to the power and form the prison. There’s a bit of an analogue from Mistborn where Preservation’s power was used to bind Ruin. It gives some plausible explanation for why the power hasn’t developed sentience from sitting around unbound for so long (i.e., because it’s bound in the prison form … though it seems equally possible that it actually has developed sentience and we just haven’t noticed yet). If the’re some lingering connection between Honor’s power and Tanavast’s CS and Stormfather then being partially in the spiritual realm could explain his confusion about time. It also seems plausible that Thaidakar, and for that matter Mraize, would be cagey about saying that they are going to try to find and control literally the power of a god, just in case some other Ghostblood gets tempted and tries to take it for themself. When Sja-anat says that Mishram is unlikely to be an ally, Iyatil says “we are not seeking an ally”, which would be very natural if they were not actually looking for Mishram in the first place (just the prison).
I noted that Icy Tongue said “how does chasing down some ancient spren further Master Thaidakar’s orders” which focuses on the spren rather than the prison (most previous mentions have been about “the location of Mishram’s prison” rather than “location of Mishram” herself), but it’s also telling that Mraize carefully did not answer, and that when he does continue speaking he says “will most likely lead us to the prison”. Mraize/Iyatil know that Dalinar is seeking Honor’s power and yet somehow think that seeking Honor’s power will end up leading to Mishram’s prison? That would be very natural if the prison is the power itself, and a pretty strange coincidence if the power is not (though it’s possible that it is Stormfather’s “our shame” that Mraize expects to be what will lead to Mishram’s prison).
(self-replying because the post over 3000 characters was not going through)
However, it’s also worth noting that when Iyatil has Shallan alone at the end, she says “once we find Mishram for my purposes, [Thaidakar] will see. Master Thaidakar can only protect his land if the Shards can be controlled.” It is possible that this is about trying to control Honor via the latent power, but it is a bit of a stretch to try to genericize that level of control to all the shards; maybe Iyatil wants Mishram for controlling shards and Mraize wants to find Honor’s power (but doesn’t care about Mishram)?