Books Wind and Truth Reread

Wind and Truth Reread: Chapters 144-146

Honor is gone; Retribution reigns… and a new, better Oathpact is forged.

By Paige Vest, Lyndsey Luther, Drew McCaffrey

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Published on January 5, 2026

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Happy new year, dear Cosmere Chickens, and welcome to the penultimate article in the Wind and Truth reread! It’s been a wild ride, but we’re not quite done yet! Some major character and plot arcs are wrapping up while others are being unraveled or transformed, and the new world in which our characters find themselves as they continue onward is starting to look very, very different from the Roshar we’ve come to know and love. Dalinar is gone, and Shallan is lost. Kaladin ascends to become a Herald, Taravangian has taken up the Shards of both Odium and Honor and thereby gained the attention of all the other Shards in the Cosmere, and everyone else has had their lives irrevocably changed by the conclusion of the pact. Join us as we dig into all the details and share our theories about what it all means…

The book has been out long enough that most of you will hopefully have finished, and as such, this series is intended as a reread 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

Chapter 144 is titled “The Tower, the Crown, and the Spear,” and we get a Nale POV! He feels good. Or at least better. Then he feels not so good, and Ishar tells him that the Stormfather has died. Ishar can see what’s happened with Dalinar and Honor, and he knows that Taravangian has taken up Honor and joined it with Odium to form Retribution.

All seems hopeless, yet the Wind tells them there may be a way to bind Retribution in some small way, with a circle of ten and new oaths. Nale tells Ishar he can’t go back to the way it was, the torture. The Wind tells Ishar that there is a way to isolate their minds so they feel no torture, so they know peace between Desolations.

Nale sets the swords, only nine of them, in a circle and they go to Szeth, whose arm is burned away to the shoulder. Nale has a fabrial for Regrowth but there is no Stormlight, and the Wind tells them that Szeth can’t speak the Words.

Then they see the sky growing dark… A storm is coming. Nale thought there would be no more storms but Ishar replies there are no more highstorms, that there is now only one storm:

Nale says there’s no sense in fighting, that the Stormfather is gone and Honor is dead.

SHIVERS! Did anyone else get shivers when Kaladin stepped up? Everyone should have gotten shivers! Kaladin is going to fulfill his true destiny and I am HERE for it!

POV Shift!

Kaladin goes to Syl and she tells him that her father is dead. She tells him she cannot protect the spren, that Odium holds Honor’s power and that they are a part of him… and he will unmake them. Kaladin replies that the Wind has a solution to this problem. Kaladin asks the Wind if an Oathpact can stop what will happen with Retribution in control. The Wind explains exactly what has happened, and what it means for Roshar. Kaladin asks what the Wind needs him to do, and Syl is crying real tears.

He knows that the people have nothing left, no storm, no god, no king… so he wants to give them some hope. Nale tells Kaladin that he doesn’t know what he’ll be getting himself into, that they may be going to torture for centuries. He insists it should be Szeth, with no more Connections. Kaladin responds that he can’t protect everyone, but that he can protect Szeth, who chose peace over war.

Ishar asks Kaladin if he thinks he can truly replace Jezrien—because Ishar really doesn’t think he can. Kaladin removes the cloak that Dalinar gave him from his pack and dons it.

Kaladin remembers all of the previous versions of himself that are still a part of him and then he speaks, saying simply that he accepts this journey. Syl’s voice accepts his Words. He approaches the ring of swords and both Kaladin and Syl thrust their hands forward and a spear of light forms. They ram it into the ground and when the light fades, a silvery spear is there, not made from Syl—like the Honorblades, it’s made from Honor.

The other Heralds appear and go to their swords. Kaladin knows he can help them and he feels a Connection inside of him. Gloryspren appear and windspren spin in a ring of light above him. Kaladin starts glowing and the Wind thanks him. Kaladin’s eyes revert to brown, because of course, they do!

A moment later all of the other Heralds have vanished, leaving Nale and Ishar with Kaladin. Nale says he can feel the Oathpact and Ishar welcomes Kaladin as a new Herald of kings and of the Wind.

Ishar says he must now make Kaladin immortal, and then they must leave Roshar.

Chapter 145 is titled “To Weep for the End of All Things,” and it begins with a Navani POV. She feels love… and then a farewell. The Sibling tells Navani that Dalinar is dead and Navani asks if he serves the enemy. The Sibling tells her that he shattered the contract and Honor. She says that it was a brilliant move, but adds that the enemy holds both Shards and is now Retribution, and that Cultivation has fled. The Sibling fears that they could be destroyed.

Navani resolves to grieve later and asks what to do. The Sibling tells her they must keep Retribution out of Urithiru, that he may destroy the spren but not them if they can create defenses. It will be Navani’s will, and the Sibling’s, against Retribution. And guess who’s on his way?

POV Shift!

Shallan is asking the Oathgate spren to transfer her but they say they can’t without Stormlight. They’re shrinking and they say the enemy has drawn all the Stormlight back to him. They say that there is no more Stormfather, no more Honor, no more Stormlight—that their era has ended. Shallan tries to wrap her mind around the absence of Stormlight and asks how long this will last; the spren tell her it’s gone forever.

POV Shift!

Retribution is loving life. He is so powerful, more powerful than anything. Only Harmony comes close and those powers are misaligned. But Honor and Odium want nearly the same things and they would work together. He senses that Rayse had killed other gods but never taken up their power. Taravangian thinks Rayse must have been a fool as he revels in all his newfound glory.

He prepares to deal with the spren, a remnant of Honor and a potential problem in the future. He tries to draw he spren to him… and nothing happens. His power tells him they are protected by and oath and a circle.

Taravangian then notices that the other Shards can see what he’s done and understands that the battle for the cosmere has begun, though he is not ready. He blames Dalinar for this and turns to confront him only to find him dead, his body sheltering an unconscious Gavinor.

Taravangian thinks of what is happening and what to do. He is so angry with Dalinar and realizes that part of him still exists, on the other side… Dalinar’s soul. He seizes it and it falls into his power as Dalinar is an oathbreaker. Yet Dalinar’s soul slips away from him and the powers tell him that Dalinar’s soul is claimed by another.

But Taravangian finds part of Dalinar in the Spiritual Realm, a part of him that is the Blackthorn.

And with his general secured, Taravangian begins to search for Wit.

POV Shift!

Kaladin is on his knees before Ishar, who touches him on the sides of his head. Something burns inside of Kaladin and he can suddenly feel the others, who are worried that they’re heading toward torture.

The Wind tells him that it’s working, that the Oathpact preserves the spren.

Ishar expresses his concern that he might lose himself again, that he is weak of mind. Kaladin promises to help. Nale evaporates and his sword disappears from the ring. Ishar explains that when they Return, they use bodies of power.

Kaladin’s soul vibrates and light surrounds him. He feels Syl grip his hand. Ishar tells him his soul will be pulled with the rest of the Heralds but his body will be left behind… and it might hurt. Fire rips through him and he feels his eyes burn away. Then…

Nothing.

Chapter 146 is called “Night of Sorrows.” Sigzil is with Lirin, who is examining him, though he knows there’s nothing a surgeon can do about a Radiant who has lost his spren.

Then the door slams open and Wit is there. He tells them Dalinar is dead, that the Sibling is going into a coma to protect themself, and the world is ending. Wit shoves Lirin out of the room and tells Sig that he really needs his help. He says that the power that Odium now holds will identify Wit as the only thing on the planet that can harm him. He tells Sig that he’s holding something dangerous, that Odium absolutely cannot get access to. Wit needs someone to take it until he can return, and he’s chosen Sig as he’s no longer a Radiant.

Sig agrees to take the Dawnshard, thinking it will make up for his failings—that he’ll redeem himself. Wit tells him to get off of Roshar as soon as he can and to keep the Dawnshard away from Odium at all costs. Wit promises that he’ll find Sig.

Sig feels a force overlap him, an ancient, wonderful, terrible power.

Then Retribution is there and it vaporizes Wit.

Sig falls into Shadesmar, surrounded by light and spren.

POV Shift!

Renarin is in Urithiru, watching Navani floating in the center of a crystal. She’s glowing, eyes closed, in the green-blue light. The tower continues to function as it had when it awakened, and Towerlight is available to Radiants, but they can’t communicate with Navani or the Sibling. Rlain and Jasnah are there, and Jasnah says she’s never seen anything like this but that her mother must survive as Jasnah needs her.

(Paige is totally not crying right now.)

An impassable dome of light surrounds the entire tower. The Oathgates are also inside the dome but, of course, they don’t work. Renarin and Rlain had transferred from Shadesmar at the last possible moment, leaving Shallan behind. Renarin had heard that Adolin was alive but with no more Stormlight or spanreeds, he isn’t sure of this.

They go to another room where Sebarial and Aladar are waiting, and they look to Renarin now, with Navani indisposed and Renarin’s father… well, you know.

He announces that he will not be their king, then Renarin tells Jasnah he wishes to adopt her system, a representative government. Jasnah says she will show him how. Renarin says they will have an elected senate and a Ministerial Exemplar. Renarin is surprised at his confidence. I’m super proud of the kiddo! The prince, the man that he’s become!

They all go to the roof where Gavinor, fully grown, sits with Oathbringer in his lap. Renarin kneels by his father’s corpse and hugs his father for the last time. He thanks Dalinar for being proud of him, for showing him the heights they’re able to reach.

Aladar states that Dalinar failed, that he lost the world. Renarin knows that Dalinar will be remembered as a hero who failed.

Renarin has asked Jasnah to Soulcast his father to stone so he can be set with the ancient kings of Urithiru. Rlain embraces him. Although he’s somewhat embarrassed at embracing in front of others, he knows they need to see that singer and human can truly work together.

POV Shift!

Szeth awakes to find the land covered in darkness, covered by the Everstorm. Szeth finds Kaladin’s corpse and thinks that Ishar killed him. He calls out to Sylphrena but she doesn’t answer. Nightblood does, however. Nightblood thinks it killed Kaladin but Szeth assures the sword that isn’t the case—at most, Kaladin lost a few fingers. Nightblood points out Szeth’s missing arm and he says it was a price he paid to save his family and that it was Nightblood who freed them.

The horses and wagon are gone and all that’s left is Kaladin’s pack. Szeth looks through it and finds a carved wooden horse along with the small woolen sheep his mother had made for him from Molli’s wool. And he weeps. Szeth asks about the Heralds and Nightblood says they were destroyed by something powerful, a new god in the sky.

Nightblood asks him what they are going to do and Szeth replies that he was told to live better and that he will. His people will need help, and there are still Skybreakers to be found.

POV Shift!

Jasnah walks through Urithiru feeling like she’d failed Dalinar, and herself, as well as failing to protect Thaylen City. She’d given up the Shattered Plains, though they still had the treaty… but without the Oathgates, she thinks that the treaty is inconsequential. She had hoped to rebuild Alethkar as a nation in the Unclaimed Hills but, without working Oathgates, they couldn’t travel there and Alethkar is truly lost.

She does have one touchstone that’s still stable: her opposition to the Vorin religion. But her whole moral philosophy is basically kaput.

She realizes that the whole philosophy of the greater good had never been the answer and that she’d dedicated her life to an ideal she didn’t believe. Exhausted, she lays down in bed and finds a note.

Jasnah laughs, though she wishes she had someone to hold in that moment. She feels more alone than she has since being locked away when she was a child and she sobs.

POV Shift!

Venli sits in Narak, looking toward a sunset blocked by black clouds and red lightning that stretches in all directions. It’s been a day since Odium Ascended to Retribution and he had spoken to them via messenger. He says he’ll be in touch but, for now, the listeners may use his Light to fuel their powers and to grow crops. She thinks of her sister and feels peace.

She hears Bila calling to her and they go to the pool, which had been empty, to find it refilling with a thick, black-blue liquid which pulses with a new rhythm: The Rhythm of War. Thude asks what it means and Venli replies that they have a powerful duty, that their land will be important to the coming world.

Lyndsey’s Commentary: Character Arcs

Kaladin

I find it difficult to put into words what emotions the ending of Kaladin’s journey brings up in me. He was always my favorite character, the one I related to the most, the one who I tried to be, the one who went through the same struggles I had. His struggle to figure out who he was, what he should be, how to balance his desire to help others with his own self-preservation, resounded within me in ways I didn’t know I needed.

As such, this ending is… bittersweet, but with more sweet than bitter. Kaladin has become the hero that we all knew he has been this whole time. He sacrifices himself to save others, giving up the potential of a human life in order to repay that debt to the spren, who had already given so much on humanity’s behalf. He sacrifices himself to save Szeth from having to endure that fate, to protect his friends and family, and ultimately to help the Heralds in their new life. From the very beginning, I wanted peace for him… but I also wanted him to remain the hero I knew he was, the hero that would stand up for the oppressed, the beaten, the broken. And he’s found both of those things, though not in the way he (or I) expected.

Dalinar

It’s fitting that Dalinar’s final act was one of love. He sacrificed himself to save the boy whom he had failed.

Kaladin and Dalinar: Thematic Bookends

In these chapters, we find two beautifully crafted, perfectly deployed bookends to the journeys of both these characters. First, Kaladin’s:

And then in the next chapter, Dalinar’s:

Kaladin first spoke these words right before the duel when he jumped in to save Adolin in Words of Radiance, and Dalinar originally voiced the same question when he traded his Shardblade for the lives of Bridge Four in The Way of Kings. In each case, Sanderson was laying the groundwork for the overall character arcs and major themes that would play out through these characters, and here he’s tied up those ends in neat little bows. Kaladin is doing what he can to protect others, Honor be damned. And Dalinar is accepting that human life is worth far more than anything else, and worth doing anything to protect. Both men are doing everything they can to preserve life.

The Blackthorn

Oof. The creation of this… this amalgamation of all the worst parts of Dalinar’s personality, being set loose to wage war on the Cosmere at whole, is a terrifying concept. It lacks everything that made Dalinar human—his ethics, his love, his fear. All that’s left is cold-blooded violence.

It’s like we’re in a video game and now we have to face the shadow-version of our favorite character.

Sigzil

It’s nice to see that Sigzil has grown enough that he can be this truthful and flippant to Wit, whom he’s always held in such reverent regard. Maybe it’s just his depression talking, but I like to think that he’s grown beyond his blind idolization of Hoid.

And off he goes, into the pages of The Sunlit Man.

Renarin

Renarin has grown, too. He’s faced monsters and ancient horrors, and—perhaps worst of all—the demons of his own past. He’s lost his father and mother, and found love in the most unlikely of places (unlikely in the sense of his own expectations, of course). This is an entirely different man from the shy, timid boy we met in The Way of Kings.

I love that this is the lesson he’s come away from this book with. It’s very… Bridge Four.

Neurodivergence recognizing neurodivergence. It’s very fitting that Renarin would understand and respect Jasnah’s dislike of casual physical contact.

Szeth

He’s not letting what he thinks is Kaladin’s sacrifice go to waste.

Jasnah

Two key quotes, here:

And a few moments later:

And so her character arc truly begins. Everything we’ve seen of Jasnah up until now was setting her up for this fall, laying the groundwork for her to find herself in the back five set of books. (Or so I assume, since it’s been said that she’s to be one of the main characters of the upcoming novels.) Will Jasnah become a hero? A villain? What path will she find that resonates within herself? What Words will she find? Only time will tell.

Venli

I’m not sure if Venli should get the “most improved” character award, but she’s definitely a contender.

Venli is still seeking to help her people, but now she’s doing so by being open and listening, and not by just doing what she thinks is right.

Drew’s Commentary: Invested Arts & Theories

In typically shifty Sanderson style, we get the obvious conclusion in the least obvious manner. For years, debate raged in the fandom about Kaladin or Dalinar or Shallan (or all the main characters) becoming the new wave of Heralds, and the Oathpact being reforged, and whether the Everstorm had made the Oathpact pointless.

It did make the Oathpact pointless, of course. It circumvented the Fused rebirth cycle on Braize, just like one side of the argument claimed. But now we have a new Oathpact and Kaladin steps up, just like the other side of the argument claimed.

There’s a lot of great imagery and symbolism in this chapter, too. Kaladin’s eyes go back to brown, signifying a return to a truer, more authentic state of being. He forms an Honorspear, rather than an Honorblade, signifying his uniqueness amongst the old Heralds. He dons the Kholin cloak, fulfilling the “Tower, Crown, and Spear” death rattle from allllll the way back in The Way of Kings. Syl forms the Honorspear with Kaladin, signifying a new equality between them.

Lots going on here.

This is heading into the realm of pure speculation, now that we’re in the final chapters of the book. The Cosmere stories we’ve gotten so far that take place after Wind and Truth have been very delicate in revealing any information about the status of Roshar, Retribution, and Cultivation—even Isles of the Emberdark, which came out only months ago. There’s nothing we know about new Unmade (perhaps this was prevented entirely by the new Oathpact, though I somehow doubt it). We have no clue where Cultivation went, or if/how the other Shards banded together against Retribution.

Sure, there’s a Cosmere-wide cold war happening between Roshar and Scadrial, but despite the many references to that, we have heard remarkably little about the two combination Shards central to those worlds post-Wind and Truth. Does Retribution still exist during Emberdark? Is Taravangian still behind the steering wheel? And what about Sazed, and Harmony/Discord? Presumably that’ll be the focus of Mistborn Era 3, if not Era 4, but we’ve gotten essentially zilch about his status in the various secret projects.

Some eagle-eyed readers may have noticed that, this whole time, I’ve never mentioned “Stormlight Book [#]” when referring to the back half of the series. Well, that’s because I’m 99% certain that, while Book Six may say “The Stormlight Archive” on the cover, it’s going to open with “Prelude to the Voidlight (or Warlight) Archive.”

There’s no more Stormlight. How can it be the Stormlight Archive without Stormlight?

An interesting wrinkle to this is a conversation I had with Brandon at Dragonsteel Nexus 2024. Sadly there’s no official audio recording/Arcanum entry for this, as it occurred at the pre-event dinner for the beta readers, but we talked about the endpages of The Way of Kings… and the Voidbinding chart. He mentioned that, when that book was in production (and during the time when he wasn’t the mega superstar bestseller he’s become, with all kinds of artistic control over the books), he was under the impression that the endpages would be the same for every one of the ten books. So he chose art that would fit for both the beginning and the end of the series.

Thus, the mysterious and confounding Voidbinding chart that had no impact whatsoever on the contents of The Way of Kings.

This made me perk up. Everything around the creation of the new Oathpact talks about Honor, but this line (and the surrounding sequence in general) indicates that even the Odium spren are protected. Ba-Ado-Mishram is hidden. “Nothing happened” when he pulled at them all.

Did Ishar’s Connection with Odium’s perpendicularity inadvertently include the Unmade and the voidspren?

And of course we have Dalinar, and the Blackthorn. I admit that I’m not the biggest fan of how this was handled here. It feels a little bit like having your cake and eating it too, that Retribution gets his supergeneral while Dalinar gets to slip off into peaceful oblivion/the afterlife/Beyond—but this line in particular is another possible hint toward Nohadon being much, much more than he seems.

Lots going on, once again, all of it in quick succession. Wit has to make one final gamble before Retribution gets his hands on him, and that means dumping the Dawnshard on Sigzil.

For those who read the Cosmere books in publishing order, we knew that Sigzil held a Dawnshard at some point between Rhythm of War and The Sunlit Man. I’m not sure how many people were expecting him to get it right here, but such is the way it goes. He gets a fun new toy (Note: Not actually very fun), and we get a second Dawnshard command to go with Rysn’s Change. And so begins a crazy sequence of events that’ll end with the Night Brigade showing up on Canticle many years later.

We’ve talked a bit throughout these readalong posts about the splinter factions of Skybreakers. I doubt, given what we know about the focus characters in the Voidlight Archive (natch), that we will get much of Szeth and Nightblood, Attorneys at Law, but I at least hope that they have some big moments. It’ll be frustrating if Nightblood once again shows up in someone else’s hands with no explanation, as happened with the journey from Vasher to the Nightwatcher to Nale.

As Venli rightly points out, it means the Listeners are super important now. They control the only perpendicularity on Roshar.

They also have a tremendous opportunity at hand, thanks to their treaty with Jasnah. While Navani is on ice, the Radiants have only one real access point to Investiture, and it’s the Listeners. (Lift notwithstanding, but we already knew she was gonna be EXTREMELY important in the Voidlight Archive.) Whether it’s the Listeners building up stores of Warlight to share with Urithiru or giving the Radiants direct access to the perpendicularity, they now have a stranglehold on the magical economy of Roshar.

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 final reread discussion, covering chapter 147 along with the Epilogue and Postlude, and our wrap-up on the book in general![end-mark]

The post <i>Wind and Truth</i> Reread: Chapters 144-146 appeared first on Reactor.

Books The Wheel of Time

Reading The Wheel of Time: Cadsuane, Perrin, and Siuan Wrestle with Control in The Gathering Storm (Part 12)

We’re checking in with Cadsuane, Perrin, and Siuan this week.

By Sylas K Barrett

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Published on December 16, 2025

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For the final Reading The Wheel of Time of 2025, we’ll be covering chapters 17 and 18 of The Gathering Storm. The title of chapter 17, “Questions of Control” is applicable to the following chapter as well, as we see first Cadsuane, then Perrin, and finally Siuan, struggle with figuring out what they can control, what they should control, and where their blindspots are.

It’s a fascinating little section, and I’m excited to get recapping.

Cadsuane sits with the women maintaining Semirhage’s shield while, in the other room, Sarene interrogates the captive Forsaken. Cadsuane is able to eavesdrop now that she knows the trick of inverting her weaves to make them invisible to others.

Cadsuane is one of the few Aes Sedai who hasn’t taken a turn at interrogation yet; she is being careful not to bruise her larger-than-life image. She is also frustrated with the way everything is slowly spinning out of control, how she can’t spare time for the “squabbles” in the White Tower because of the nearness of the Last Battle and the need to make Rand al’Thor ready for it.

Sarene is getting nowhere, and Cadsuane is considering once again how much the Forsaken reminds her of herself, when a servant arrives with a meal for Semirhage. Cadsuane listens as the food is delivered, only to be flung to the floor, startling everyone. Semirhage announces that she won’t eat the garbage that she has been given, and demands proper food. Sarene asks whether better food will persuade Semirhage to talk. 

As she sends the servant to bring something else, Sarene returns to her interrogation. Cadsuane can hear how unsettled the other woman is. Everyone is jumpy around the Forsaken, of course, but Cadsuane suddenly realizes that the awe they all feel around such a legendary, evil monster is the reason they can’t get anywhere with her.

She goes into the room, ordering Sarene to release the weaves restraining Semirhage, and calling Semirhage a child before knocking her to the ground by kicking her feet out from under her.

Cadsuane puts her knee in Semirhage’s back and orders her to eat the food off the floor, so as not to waste it. Cadsuane ignores the oaths and threats, choosing instead to take Sarene’s chair and drag Semirhage over her knee. She also has Sarene bring in all of the Aes Sedai in the hall, as well as any servants who might be nearby, to watch her spank Semirhage thoroughly. Sermihage’s threats and curses devolve into cries of outrage and pain. When Cadsuane stops and asks if Semirhage is ready to eat the food, Semirhage threatens to find and torture anyone Cadsuane has ever loved. So Cadsuane begins again. Eventually Semirhage starts to cry from the humiliation of her experience. And then, finally, she eats the food off the floor.

Cadsuane reminds her witnesses that Semirhage is only human, and that having secrets doesn’t make her special. She also advises Sarene to keep a hairbrush on hand for future punishments. Then she leaves the room, turning her mind back to the problem of Rand al’Thor.

Perrin is relieved that the Shaido army hasn’t followed him and his refugees, but administering and caring for such a large group or followers is difficult. Balwer has made it clear that most would not care to leave Perrin’s company, even if the Asha’man were recovered enough to make Gateways big enough, and hold them open long enough, to move a large group of people.

Perrin feels guilty for using Grady and Neald too hard, and for all the responsibilities and people he neglected while trying to get Faile back. He knows he has to stop pushing aside his problems, even as he tries to figure out how to get back to Rand, how to be ready to march to the Last Battle.

Finishing his inspection of the camp, Perrin reflects on the rumors about him, the different way his is viewed by different factions, and his distaste for the name Goldeneyes. He also thinks about the way he seems to lose control in battle, and of the first time that happened, fighting the Whitecloaks.

When Faile was missing, he had continually insisted that nothing else mattered. Now, he feels like he must acknowledge all the things that are still wrong. It is time, he thinks, to stop avoiding his responsibilities, and to stop avoiding the wolf dream. He thinks there might be answers in his dream that he needs.

Siuan is carrying her laundry—which she has realized she can outsource to a servant or novice, even though she still has to do Bryne’s laundry—when she notices that all the novices, Accepted, and Aes Sedai are all gathered around the pavilion where the Hall meets. She sets her basket down in a safe place and hurries over, finding Sheriam waiting outside the tent flaps.

Sheriam informs Siuan that Elaida has Traveling. The rebels have been using some of their contacts to collect tribute for the White Tower from various sources, and recently that money was collected by Elaida’s representatives first, who were seen departing “through a hole in the air.”

Some of the other Aes Sedai standing by Sheriam begin discussing the events, but Siuan wastes no time. She grabs the nearest novice and sends her running to fetch one of the messengers Gareth Bryne stationed in camp. The rest of the novices she sends on their way to lessons and duties, telling them off for gawking. There’s nothing she can do about the Accepted, however, whose privileges include more freedom than novices have.

Briefly, Siuan worries that Elaida gained the knowledge of the weaves by breaking Egwene, then realizes it must have been Beonin who betrayed them. She also asks Sheriam why the meeting wasn’t Sealed to the Flame, but the Keeper doesn’t know. Siuan worries aloud over keeping the secret from the Seanchan, at least, and needing every advantage when they attack the White Tower.

Siuan waits impatiently until the courier arrives, and gives him the message for Bryne to: “…watch his flanks. Our enemy has been taught the method we used to get here.” 

Siuan explains to Sheriam that she is making sure they don’t wake up to an army in their midst. The siege is finished now, of course—something Sheriam hasn’t thought of yet, it seems. Siuan is annoyed that Sheriam won’t be the only one; many of the Aes Sedai will be more concerned with professional pride first, and will only think of the practical implications later.

Eventually, someone inside the tent does call for the meeting to be Sealed to the Flame, and Siuan withdraws, going back to fetch her laundry. As she does, she considers how the problems of politicking and in-fighting are not all Elaida’s doing, that they exist here in the rebel camp and existed in Siuan’s White Tower, as well. She feels partially responsible for this. She knows that every rift in the Tower can probably be traced back to cracks that were there for a long time, and wonders what would have happened if she had been more of a mediator during her time as Amyrlin. If she could have strengthened her Aes Sedai, and prevented them from turning on each other.

She is approached by Sharina, who offers to carry Siuan’s laundry. Sharina carefully points out the kerfuffle that the news has caused, and how the news could be used to cause anxiety in the camp. She reveals that the information was first delivered to Lelaine, who let the news slip to a passing family of novices. Lelaine also deflected several early calls for the meeting to be Sealed to the Flame.

Siuan grasps the implication at once: Everyone will soon realize what Siuan has already realized, that the siege is useless now. And the more anxious and in peril the women of the camp feel, the easier it will be for a firm hand to seize control. It’s a clever ploy, and Siuan realizes that she should have seen it coming.

She asks why Sharina told her this, and Sharina remarks that she isn’t blind; in Siuan she sees a woman working very hard to keep the Amyrlin’s enemies occupied. Sharina also points out that her own fate, and that of all the novices, is tangled up with the Amyrlin’s. She offers to take Siuan’s washing to have it done, and Siuan thanks her.

Siuan watches her go, reflecting that it is not only the novices but every one of them whose fates are tangled up with Egwene’s. In her mind, she urges Egwene to hurry up and finish her work in the Tower.

Ugh, I love Sharina so very much. I’m really pleased, in a story that is all about young people (and people who look and act young, even when they aren’t) that Jordan included some really great examples of elder characters in the likes of Sharina, and Setalle Anan, and Damer Flinn. It’s fascinating to see the perspective brought to channeling by older folks who have other lives, and other contexts, than the channelers who began their journey working with the One Power when they were quite young.

I turned 40 this past week, and it has been on my mind a lot lately the way western society makes us believe that human potential lies exclusively in the young, and that we have one purpose, one role in life, that we are supposed to find in our early twenties, or at least by thirty. In Flinn and in Sharina, he gives us two people who have had full, and fulfilling lives. We are never told that either regrets their path or wishes they had come to channeling in their youth instead of after having lived a long life.

Flinn’s passion for healing is clearly influenced by his experience as a soldier, seeing death in many forms and sometimes being responsible for it. Sharina brings a lifetime of wisdom and understanding of people to her position as an initiate of the White Tower, which we see is not an impediment to her ability to be a novice but actually a strength, both for her sake and others.

And in Satelle, we see someone who lost channeling, lost the beautiful, life-giving connection to the True Source that few who touch it can survive without, and yet she has had a good life, has experienced pleasure and love and fulfillment, and is in many ways wiser than the Aes Sedai she used to be a sister of. We see her bringing that wisdom, both from her life in the Tower and her life in Ebou Dar, to bear as she worked with Tuon, finding common ground on which to stand so that she can challenge some of Tuon’s beliefs and positions from a place of respect and friendship, rather than antagonism. How many Aes Sedai, even Gray sisters, could manage so well?

We even get some really interesting perspectives from Cadsuane, despite the fact that she is more or less establishment Aes Sedai. I was particularly struck by the description early after we met her about how she had always heard that with age comes with patience, but that she found the opposite to be true—that the older she got and the less time she had left, the more impatient she became. I have heard, anecdotally, both from older women I know personally in my life and also from older female influencers that as they age they realize how much they don’t have, or want, to put up with anymore, especially when it comes to societal expectations of women.

Robert Jordan was only 59 when he died—old enough to have some experience and perspective about aging, which he clearly brought to bear in his work, but also young enough that I’m impressed with his reflections on the lives and perspective of his elder character, and particularly with his characterization of older women. Jordan has some blindspots and misogyny in his writing that comes up from time to time, but even still, he is deserving of his reputation for writing interesting and complex (and flawed) female characters, and I think he particularly shines when he is writing women like Sharina and Cadsuane.

Siuan’s personal revelation about her own failure to repair divisions in the White Tower during her own tenure as Amyrlin is a perfect counterpoint to everything that Egwene has been tackling, both in her own mind and in the mind of the White Tower Aes Sedai. Egwene herself has to reorient from a place of anger and combativeness to a place of compassion and diplomacy as she realizes her task is not to fight Elaida but to repair the division between the Ajahs. To restore, not to tear down. Elaida has to be removed, of course, but Egwene even goes so far as to admit that it would be better if Elaida was a good Amyrlin, if she could be what the White Tower needs. That if she was, Egwene would be content to step aside.

Siuan is now having the same realization, and I wonder how much of the Black Ajah’s influence she recognizes in her own failure to mediate and repair division between sisters during her time as Amyrlin. After all, Siuan spent her entire tenure beset by enemies. She and Moiraine watched a previous Amyrlin and all those in her confidence be secretly murdered by the Black Ajah, and knew full well that their own safety rested entirely on the fact that no one knew that they had witnessed Gitara’s Foretelling. She and Moiraine had to carry this heavy burden alone, the only two who knew the secret and the only two who could help the world by finding the Dragon Reborn, but Moiraine got to carry that burden mostly outside of the Tower. Siuan had to do it while interacting with the rest of the Aes Sedai, knowing that any one of them could end up being of the Black.

It’s hardly surprising that she failed to catch some of the animosity between the Ajahs or the widening of the divisions in the Tower during her tenure. She was constantly on guard against every single person around her, not only from the general political issues that probably beset most Amyrlins (looking at the animosity between the Blue and the Red, here) but also because she knew about the Black Ajah, and because she knew that revealing her secret to the wrong person, even if she wasn’t Black, could spell disaster for the world in unfathomable ways.

It speaks to her character that she is paying attention to these details now. I think it also speaks to the fact that her burdens are different now, and to the fact that she has a few people she can share things with. She still keeps many secrets, and her goals and determination remain unchanged, but she doesn’t have to guard the secret of the Dragon’s rebirth, and she has a few people in her life (Egwene, Bryne, and now Sharina) who she feels she can fully trust.

Meanwhile, Perrin is in a very different position. He has Faile back, but he is very much facing the question of who he wants to be now, and how to step up and be the leader everyone needs. He admits to himself that Faile’s kidnapping allowed him to distract himself from important personal issues, like his own discomfiture with leadership, and the difficulty of managing his wolf brother nature.

It is continually fascinating to me that Perrin equates his battle rage and murderous impulses with the wolf side of himself, rather than the human side. The wolves of this world are magical, in a way. They are sentient in a way that no other animals have been shown to be, and have a special place in Tel’aran’rhiod, just like the Heroes of the Horn. They are even meant to fight the Shadow and participate in the Last Battle like the Heroes.

No doubt the unique mystical nature of wolves in this world is why wolf brothers exist. These are humans connecting to something special about creation, differently, but not wholly unlike, ta’veren connect to the Pattern in unique ways, or someone like Min has visions from it. But the wolves aren’t the same as humans: They don’t think the same way, don’t have the same motivations, and in particular, do not appear to share in most human emotions and motivations. They kill, but not out of hatred; they fear, but don’t seem to experience bigotry or hold grudges. They defend themselves, but they don’t hold onto bitterness when the fight is over.

We do see some human-like emotions from them; the most blatant, I think, is their disdain for dogs letting themselves be tamed and be subservient to human beings. Hopper’s frustration with Perrin is somewhat human too, I suppose.

Perrin thinks of his battle rage as being a wolf part, something animalistic and terrible that will take him over if he isn’t careful. But his anger and hatred towards the Shaido, driven by his fear of losing Faile or having her hurt, is very, very human. Wolves don’t wage war the way humans do. They don’t keep slaves. If anything, I think Perrin’s relationship to violence is much more human that it is wolf, and he might benefit from letting a wolfish perspective take over a little more, in this respect.

Nature is violent, after all. Animals kill each other for food, and sometimes in fights for resources or mating rights or other aspects of survival. But even these magical, sentient wolves don’t hate the way men hate. They don’t swear to the Shadow out of a desire for power, or immortality, or to protect themselves from loss. And they are good at thinking about the needs of the pack, not just the needs of the individual.

I’ll be interested to see where this journey goes for Perrin, now that he’s finally decided to face this issue head-on, and whether or not Jordan’s (and Sanderson’s) appraisal of the wolf vs. human dynamic matches my own. It also looks like Perrin is going to try to learn to navigate Tel’aran’rhiod, which will be really interesting. Could be very helpful in being able to communicate with his friends, since Egwene and Rand can also both visit the Dream World. In the past, we have seen Perrin be very impatient when it comes to learning to navigate the Dream, so it’s also likely that there will be some friction between him and Hopper.

(Side note: Can someone please message me on Bluesky or leave a comment below for the Reactor team to pass on to me, because I cannot for the life of me figure out where this reference to Perrin trying to kill Hopper in the Dream comes from? Is this something that happened at some point that I just forgot about? I don’t have anything in my notes, and that seems like a huge thing for me not to have written down and commented about. But it also seems like a bizarre thing to have happened “off screen?” Someone help me.)

I’m a little surprised we’ve not had a scene between Perrin and Faile now that she is back. They didn’t have time to talk when they were reunited, since they were in the middle of a battle/escape and time was of the essence. But they were separated for months and both have gone through so much, I feel like they would want some kind of sit down and catch up as soon as possible. I’m not sure if we just didn’t see that happen because we the reader already know everything they would want to tell each other, or if things are a little strained between them now that they both have been through so much.

That would be reasonable, I suppose. I don’t doubt that they will be fine in the end, but since they have both changed, they might need to refind the balance between them again.

And of course, Perrin is very aware of the nearness of the Last Battle, and can feel Rand’s need for him pulling him on. If only that pull was like a compass, actually giving him a direction to go in.

I did have a little giggle at Perrin worrying that the Queen of Andor probably wouldn’t welcome him. He has no idea of what is going on with Andor, or how Rand is Warder to the new Queen, who is also having his child.

And then there’s Cadsuane and Semirhage.

Semirhage is a pretty boring character—she’s just really evil and gross—but she does serve a really great narrative purpose here. Not only does she help Cadsuane understand that, as powerful as they are, the Forsaken are human beings, fallible and prone to the same types of weakness as any other human being, she also serves as a narrative foil to the strength of people like Egwene and even Perrin and Rand himself.

Semirhage is powerful, strong, and possessed of so much knowledge that was uncommon even in her time, nevermind in this one. She is one of the Chosen, which means she believes that she will one day rule over a large swath of the world, and even has ambitions towards being Nae’blis. (Let’s be honest, every single Forsaken except for Asmodean believe or at least believed at one time that they could and would come out on top, whether that was a realistic belief of not.) She has everything going for her, and yet, it took only a few moments of indignity to have her eating off the floor like a dog.

Egwene, on the other hand, is young, was raised in a small village and had limited ambition. But when she is faced with indignity, imprisonment, torture, and humiliation, she continually finds new sources of strength and ways not only to endure, but to grow and thrive. Yes, she was fortunate to have the Aiel teachings to bring to bear during her time as Elaida’s prisoner, but it still took great inner strength to learn those lessons and to apply them successfully, and I don’t know how many people in her position could have done as well. And perhaps it is because she comes from so little, because she possesses confidence and self-reliance but also humility, that she is able to find strength. Semirhage’s strength is based, apparently, entirely on the image others have of her.

Cadsuane reflected in earlier chapters that the way to break Semirhage would be the way she would break herself, but I don’t doubt for a moment that Cadsuane would have lasted a lot longer than Semirhage did. Cadsuane’s image is very important to her (I am fascinated by the revelation that she partially hunted men who can channel to increase her reputation among the other Aes Sedai) and losing that might indeed break her in the end, but I think Cadsuane would also be aware of the power of enduring punishment and humiliation and presenting an unwavering countenance. Just as Elaida looked overwhelmed and foolish while beating Egwene, it would be possible for someone with an iron will to make their jailors look like the ones struggling, even as they themselves were beaten.

I don’t think it’s something a prisoner could keep up indefinitely, of course. It just feels very significant to me that Semirhage folded immediately. That the moment any of these people, who she sees as nothing more than uncivilized bumpkins and technologically-backwards children, suggest that they might not be awestruck and terrified of her, she can’t hold onto the image.

It makes me wonder if some, or most, of her terrible words were a front, and if she wasn’t pretty scared the whole time. After all, the Dark One doesn’t take very kindly to his servants getting captured, especially if he believes they have given up information. Semirhage has seen what happened to Moghedien, after all. Even if her current captors couldn’t do more than hold her captive, that might be enough to seal her to a very unpleasant fate.

And now that Cadsuane has solved the Semirhage problem, she can turn her full attention back to the Rand al’Thor problem. This, too, comes into the themes of control. Every Aes Sedai who has encountered Rand has attempted to exert some kind of control over him. Some have done it more gently, like Moiraine. And I would argue Cadsuane herself falls in this category. Others have done it more forcibly, or at least wished to, and that has resulted in increasing Rand’s general paranoia and specific distrust of Aes Sedai.

Egwene points out to Ferane and the other Whites that the best way to handle Rand would have been with the utmost subtlety, making sure to show him how accepting advice and guidance would be helpful and safe, without ever forcing him and putting him on the defensive. It’s far too late for that strategy to work now, of course, given how far gone Rand is and how many reasons (some very justified, others less so) to be distrustful of Aes Sedai. But Cadsuane does need to find an approach that is spiritually on par with Egwene’s point. She needs Rand to believe that she wants to help him, and that she can help him.

Cadsuane doesn’t know that the small bit of ground she has gained with Rand has nothing to do with her own actions. He has given in to her demands for a certain outward respect and certain accommodations because of Min’s vision. That is what he trusts. Min’s vision told him that Cadsuane would teach him something he needs to know, and so he has forced himself to acquiesce to her. He knows he needs that lesson. 

But that doesn’t mean he trusts her, and it certainly doesn’t mean he thinks she has his best interests at heart. He almost certainly believes that the thing she is going to teach him is something about managing people or war or winning the Last Battle, not something about himself, about his own need to be a human being with feelings, both for his own sake and for the world’s. I don’t think it would ever occur to him to question his belief that he must be hard and cold in order to be successful in his goals, or to think that any Aes Sedai wouldn’t generally agree with that belief.

Cadsuane knows that Rand is getting worse, that she has made very little progress with him at all, and none in the area she most needs to. The question is how she will approach the problem, and whether she will recognize the need to think outside the box as quickly and relatively easily as she did with Semirhage. 

I’m also curious about what’s going on with Sheriam, now that she’s not getting tortured by Halima’gar anymore. Siuan notes that she seems less distraught and more put together again, but I wonder how much of her earlier influence she has been able to regain, after being under Halima’gar’s thumb for so long. There are surely other Blacks in the camp, but I don’t know if any of them are known to Sheriam or under her orders—probably not. And with Egwene gone, she has limited ways to ply her influence among those in charge in Salidar.

I’m not surprised Sheriam doesn’t believe in Egwene’s ability as a Dreamer, but she also might not care if the Seanchan attacked the White Tower, as long as she herself was safe. It’s possible even a Black would object in principle to a sister being collared, but the Dark One does want the White Tower destroyed, and if the Seanchan were very successful in their attack, the Aes Sedai might not be able to recover.

I can’t deny that I am getting anxious about that attack. Feels like it might come very soon, although with Rand trying to meet the Daughter of the Nine Moons, the Seanchan might be distracted, dealing with that before anything else.

We may find out more about in the next post, which will come in the new year, because we’re going to have a Tuon chapter! There will also be some new Mat content, which is always something to look forward to.

I hope everyone has a lovely winter break, and I am sending my very best wishes for a wonderful holiday(s) to anyone who is celebrating. As always, it is a joy and a privilege to get to write Reading The Wheel of Time, and I am very grateful to each and every one of you. I’ll see you all in January for chapters 19 and 20 of The Gathering Storm![end-mark]

The post Reading The Wheel of Time: Cadsuane, Perrin, and Siuan Wrestle with Control in <i>The Gathering Storm</i> (Part 12) appeared first on Reactor.

Books Wind and Truth Reread

Wind and Truth Reread: Chapters 141-143

Nightblood evolves; Dalinar makes an unprecedented decision, and the Cosmere is forever changed.

By Paige Vest, Lyndsey Luther, Drew McCaffrey

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Published on December 15, 2025

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Greetings, Sanderfans, and welcome to our final article of the year! So much is going on in this three-chapter section as the great Wind and Truth Sanderlanche reaches its climax: We’ve got Szeth kicking ass, Nightblood destroying evil, Dalinar ascending… and then descending almost immediately. So much happening in these three chapters, so let’s get to it!

Be sure to check out the social media section at the end of the article to see if we spotlighted one of your comments!

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

Chapter 141 is titled “That Which Was Lost.” We begin this chapter with Kaladin who, with Syl, is watching Szeth utterly DOMINATE all six Honorbearers. Kaladin thinks aloud that the Wind is helping Szeth, but then he hears a voice that says no, they fear Szeth.

Kaladin realizes that his armorspren is visible around him. In fact, there are many, many windspren. Too many for just his armor. He feels as if they’re all watching Szeth’s battle, that all the wind on Roshar is holding its breath. Then he feels a tremor from the east, and senses that something terrible is happening at Urithiru.

POV Shift!

Dalinar feels the moment in which Mishram is released from her prison, which sets right something that has been wrong for so long. He sees honor in what Renarin and Rlain did, in what people all over Roshar have done, Kaladin, Adolin, Jasnah, Shallan, Renarin, Rlain… He even sees honor in himself, for if he can be redeemed, can’t anyone?

Now, with Mishram released, the power of Honor suddenly desires a vessel… one who truly understands it.

POV Shift!

Szeth is dancing, wielding Nightblood and leaving chinks in Honorblades right and left. He gets down to the work of eliminating the human Fused created by Ishar. Pozen and Moss are the first two to go, and Szeth dispatches them with tears in his eyes.

POV Shift!

Rlain is cloaked in darkness with the release of Mishram. When the darkness settles, so to speak, she immediately focuses her ire on Renarin, but Rlain jumps to shield him and protect him. He argues with Mishram that some men are good, but that many have both good and evil within them, just as many singers have.

He attunes the rhythm of Love as he holds Renarin and Mishram screams. She kicks them all out of the Spiritual Realm into Shadesmar, and they find themselves on an Oathgate platform at Urithiru.

POV Shift!

Szeth dispatches the third Honorbearer and is left with just the Truthwatcher, his sister, and his father. The Truthwatcher sends shadows from his past to drive him mad, visions of people he’s killed, but he doesn’t succumb.

His sister tells him he deserves to die for what he did. He replies that he does, but that she doesn’t deserve what’s happened to her. She’s no longer Elid, and he ends what Ishar has made her into. It causes him pain, but what was left of her is no longer suffering and I feel that in releasing her, Szeth will be able to find peace in the act eventually.

Chapter 142 is titled “A Man Stands On A Cliffside.” Dalinar ascends and realizes that there is a third option besides the two offered by Odium. He can destroy Odium, thus ending the contest and Odium’s hold on Roshar.

A small voice tries to call out to him but he ignores it again and again. Suddenly, he realizes that it’s the Stormfather trying to speak to him, and Dalinar suddenly understands that the clash of power between Honor and Odium will destroy everything. He backs off and is suddenly taken into a vision.

POV Shift!

Kaladin is trying to rouse Ishar so the Herald can open a perpendicularity to refresh their Stormlight; Nightblood is taking all he had gained from leveling up. Unfortunately, black veins are beginning to creep up Kaladin’s hand and Ishar has no surges, though Kaladin takes what Stormlight he had left.

The Wind warns him that something’s about to happen and asks if he’ll curse it if he continues to live… and if he’ll be there when the Wind needs him. So cryptic! (No, not that kind of Cryptic…)

Then Kaladin feels intense pain in his hand as the black veins begin to stretch up his forearm.

POV Shift!

Dalinar ends up in a vision with Nohadon, where they eat Shin bread and discuss how to defeat Odium. I won’t recount the whole conversation but basically what it boils down to is that Dalinar figures out that he can’t defeat Odium, but Kaladin and the others he mentioned, the next generation, can.

And he knows he must give Honor time to grow and change.

Dalinar knows there will be a cost, however, and he accepts this. And so he exits the vision and renounces his oaths.

Chapter 143 is titled “One Of Them Will Destroy Us,” opening with Szeth dispatching the Truthwatcher and cornering his father. Neturo tells him through gritted teeth that a year into Szeth’s training he knew of the new god, but that he followed Szeth because he thought his son would find the right answers; he weeps. Szeth rams Nightblood through his chest. His father thanks him for releasing him as he disappears.

As he tries to sheath his sword, he feels that Kaladin’s Stormlight has run out. Szeth feels Nightblood reaching for his soul, but decides not to let Nightblood kill him and pries his fingers from the sword. Finally free, he flings the weapon away, but it still stands upright, screaming to destroy evil.

POV Shift!

Kaladin, helpless, watches as Szeth begins to disintegrate. Nale asks Ishar to help but he’s unable to. Kaladin then hears a voice.

And here, Kaladin’s therapy with Szeth over the course of this quest saves them all as Nightblood, having absorbed those lessons, chooses not to kill his friends.

Kaladin is relieved—but then all the spren cry out, and the soul of the world tears apart.

POV Shift!

Shallan finds Sja’anat near the Oathgate and speaks with her for a moment, learning that the spren had been hoping all along that whoever freed Mishram, her sister might remember her role in it and be merciful in doling out retribution.

There’s a clash in the skies and Sja’anat tells Shallan she needs to get out of Shadesmar now. Shallan runs toward the Oathgate as one of the Oathgate spren screams. She’s too late—there’s a flash and Rlain and Renarin disappear just as the sky goes insane.

POV Shift!

Taravangian demands that Dalinar repeat himself so, again, Dalinar says he renounces his oaths. The power of Honor feels betrayed and eventually, with a little encouragement from Dalinar, it allows Taravangian to take it up. And in taking up the power of Honor, Taravangian proves that he’s just plain power hungry after all. And because he’s always been a big stupid jerk, he destroys the Stormfather right away.

And of course, Odium and Honor together create Retribution. At long last, the other shards in the cosmere wake up to the danger of a new enemy.

Dalinar is ready to die but then he hears Gavinor weeping and he rises to his feet, thrashed by the storm, to see what he can do.

As Dalinar’s arc nears its end, we can look back on his journey and see how remarkable it really was. He’s set down his burden, leaving it for the others to pick up the struggle, leaving it for them to fight against Retribution. He’s sent his love and pride and courage out to his family and friends, and now he goes to his last task.

Lyndsey’s Commentary: Character Arcs

This isn’t strictly a character arc thing, but it doesn’t seem like it fits in either Paige or Drew’s sections either, so I’m going to address it here, before getting into the character breakdowns.

I find it interesting that Szeth is essentially a Mistborn, but with Stormlight powers. The Mistborn, if you need a reminder, could use all of the allomantic powers, not just one. Szeth, who has been trained with all of the Honorblades in turn, has the knowledge of how to utilize every single surge. He’s the… Stormborn. Okay. I’m manifesting that out into the fan circles. Szeth, the Stormborn. Let’s make it happen.

This reminds me a lot of a certain passage in Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. (Wolves of the Calla Part 1, Chapter VII if you were also reminded and wanted to revisit that lovely rose in the vacant lot.)

Regarding Nohadon… every time he shows up, all I can see in my head is Uncle Iroh from Avatar: The Last Airbender. I keep expecting him to offer Dalinar tea rather than bread.

Dalinar

Dalinar certainly has come a long way… but I do wonder if everyone would say that he’s completely redeemed himself. It’s great that he’s forgiven himself… but has he sought forgiveness and atonement from all those he harmed?

In this moment, Dalinar ceases to see clearly. He’s allowing himself to fall victim to the allure of power, to become the very thing he’s fought for so long to overcome. He is letting his emotions overshadow his logic and clarity. Thankfully, he has the Stormfather here to pull him back from the brink.

Oof. Well, that sounds all too similar to what Taravangian’s been saying all this time, doesn’t it… But then he follows up later with this:

Lots of this going around in this book, isn’t there…

Aww. Father and son, agreeing on something at long last.

Well, I’m tearing up. Fitting farewells for them all.

He’s given up his pride, at long last.

Rlain/Renarin

I can’t get over how sweet this relationship is. The two of them are supporting and protecting one another in even this, the darkest and most dangerous of moments.

Szeth

I’m so glad that Szeth is getting this final closure. He gets to admit to his failures, to apologize to those he loved, and to bring them peace in the end.

Interesting, isn’t it, how one person can see something in us that we don’t see ourselves? Szeth always sought guidance, wanted to be told what to do… but his father saw in him the exact opposite.

Yet another character coming full circle on their growth.

Kaladin

Has there ever been a line that’s more quintessentially “Kaladin” than this?

Honor

In the Cosmere, the personification of power or ideals isn’t so strange, is it? And so here we are, discussing the very power of Honor as a character with its own goals and flaws.

This is utterly fascinating from a psychological perspective. The power is still learning to be… well… a person. With all the intricacies and nuances of a human’s mind. All it could understand before was its own power, so Dalinar trying to get it to experience empathy here is a huge step forward.

Nightblood

I’m sure that Drew’s going to dive into Nightblood in depth down below, but I just want to take a moment to note that even he is exhibiting some amazing character growth in this book. He’s always been sentient (or sapient, which is the term Sanderson prefers), but he lacked empathy and nuance. He’s learning to control himself, which is really saying something, considering what he is.

Drew’s Commentary: Invested Arts & Theories

All righty. So we get to probably the biggest WTF sequence in the book. Nohadon, the eternal question mark. What is this guy’s deal? Who is he really? What is he really?

It’s easy enough to take him at face value, from the visions in The Way of Kings up till now, that he’s just a neat dude who became king and came up with some good ideas to organize the Knights Radiant and make Surgebinding safer. But with some thought, it gets harder and harder to accept that.

People have been asking Brandon questions about Nohadon for over a decade, and he has been resolutely cagey with his answers—when he doesn’t outright say to “read and find out.” He won’t answer whether or not Nohadon was a Bondsmith. When people try to pin him down obliquely, he refuses to elaborate.

And when people ask straight out if Nohadon is in some way or part Adonalsium, he goes back to the tried-and-true RAFO.

One thing is clear: Nohadon is not a simple conundrum. By all evidence, the visions Dalinar has with Nohadon in both Oathbringer and here, in Wind and Truth, are not sent by the Stormfather like the visions with Nohadon in The Way of Kings. It’s possible the strange golden light vision at the end of Words of Radiance is connected to Nohadon as well—though I’ll get to that one in a bit.

One possible interpretation, and one Brandon himself offers in a recent Q&A, is that Nohadon is a construction of Dalinar’s Bondsmith powers, where he’s creating a sort of mirror for himself. That Dalinar is searching for answers, and without anyone to truly give him advice, he is subconsciously forming conversations with himself to explore his options. Thanks to his abilities with Connection and the Spiritual Realm, he can go “shazam!” and make Nohadon, based on his impression of the man through the Stormfather’s visions and the in-world Way of Kings, appear to serve as a sounding board.

This explanation feels a little hollow to me, though. For one thing, it doesn’t explain the golden light vision at the end of Words of Radiance; for another, Nohadon thinks in ways that are strongly antithetical to Dalinar’s mindset. He’s not really the kind of guy to think laterally, to stop and even subconsciously consider out-of-the-box options, even while he’s in the process of changing as a person. He basically decides he’s gonna change in a certain way, and grinds it out.

And then there’s the bread, an experience which Dalinar has plainly never had. How could he create the taste and sensation of something he’s never experienced?

On top of that, this final vision feels somehow more than such a straightforward explanation would allow. This is during a cataclysmic surge of Investiture, during the moment of Ascension and during a showdown between two Shards. There isn’t anything in the text to indicate that Dalinar is making this happen; on the contrary, he feels relief that it’s happening.

So what are the other options?

One, that I find myself coming back to again and again, is that he is a construction of the abandoned power of Honor, a sort of unconscious accident of the power being left alone for so long after Tanavast fell.

This feels right to me where the Words of Radiance vision is concerned: The Stormfather is not responsible for it, and indeed seems confused that Dalinar is experiencing it. Given Honor’s rejection of Tanavast, I could see it unconsciously repelling him even in the Stormfather form.

There’s also the familiarity that Nohadon has with the nascent awareness of Honor during this sequence at the end of Wind and Truth. He has an almost paternal attitude toward it; might that not make sense, for a consciousness that has watched this power slowly gain awareness and volition over the centuries?

Another is, of course, what Ángel Palomo asked about this past July (linked above): Nohadon is some fragment or shadow or reflection of Adonalsium itself.

This is a compelling possibility, and there is some circumstantial evidence to support it. Most directly, the fact that Odium did not notice Dalinar getting pulled into the vision. There’s also the fact that Nohadon speaks with such a fatherly attitude toward both Dalinar and the Shard of Honor itself, in its infancy as a self-aware entity:

There’s also a fair amount of speculation out there around the name Nohadon itself, in the Vorin almost-palindrome construction warping Nodadon—Adon, mirrored. It’s evocative, at the very least.

Perhaps my favorite Nohadon/Adonalsium theory is that he is not a Cognitive Shadow of Adonalsium, but rather a Spiritual Shadow, an imprint not of mind but power. It would make a certain amount of sense that the most powerfully Invested entity to ever exist—presumably—would leave an impression upon the Spiritual Realm in the same way that powerfully Invested people can leave impressions upon the Cognitive Realm.

What that actually means is, of course, still nebulous. Even after Wind and Truth, the Spiritual Realm is hard to pin down, and Spiritual aspects remain some of the least understood principles in the Cosmere and Realmatic Theory.

And after his encounter with Nohadon, he makes an unprecedented decision: relinquishing the Shard and offering it up to Taravangian.

I say “unprecedented” because we have no information about any other Vessels ever willingly letting go. Some have been splintered, some lost their minds, Tanavast was rejected—but the idea of giving up literal divine, cosmic power is just not something that fits the assumed personalities of the Sixteen. They Shattered Adonalsium and wanted the Shards, for various reasons.

But this occurrence makes me wonder about the future of the Cosmere. Sazed, as Harmony, is struggling to both reconcile and use his double Shard. Discord is on the horizon. Could he be on a similar path as Dalinar, heading toward a conclusion where he must step down and let the Shards split?

What about the other Shards? Many of the Vessels seem content to let Odium be someone else’s problem, but how many of them are brave enough to confront Retribution? There are already Shards out there, hiding. Would Euridrius think the logical solution to survival is abdicating the power of Reason?

But enough about this sequence; there are other Momentous Things that happen in this week’s reading.

Nightblood takes a huge step here. It’s a heartwarming moment, this utterly destructive weapon choosing to identify and protect its friends. But I think this is also reflective of Honor: Nightblood is an incredibly Invested object, with its own awareness and rudimentary intelligence. As Dalinar noted, they can all change and grow.

Nightblood didn’t just learn how to grant all ten Surges in this book. It didn’t just learn how to be friends with people. It learned how to act independently, right here. That has frankly terrifying implications.

We know that, later in the Cosmere, the Night Brigade is actively hunting for Dawnshards. Do they have tunnel vision, or would they also be interested in getting their mercenary hands on a Shardblade of such potency?

I can’t wait to see what happens with Nightblood in the future.

That said, I can’t wrap this thing up without at least a nod to the final event in these three chapters:

Hello, Retribution. Welcome to the next chapter of the Cosmere.

Fan theories via Social Media:

Drew dug up a fascinating theory by Any_Jacket_9361 over on the Cosmere subreddit.

They go on to list examples, and the theory is a great one and well worth a read! Check out the whole discussion here.

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.

That’s all for 2025—we’ll be taking a break for the holidays, and returning on January 5th to finish up the book with two final articles. Happy holidays, Cosmere Chickens! We hope that you get all the items on your Dragonsteel wish lists![end-mark]

The post <i>Wind and Truth</i> Reread: Chapters 141-143 appeared first on Reactor.

Books The Wheel of Time

Reading The Wheel of Time: Egwene Makes a Stand in The Gathering Storm (Part 11) 

Egwene breaks her silence around Elaida in dramatic fashion…

By Sylas K Barrett

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Published on December 9, 2025

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This week in Reading The Wheel of Time, we are finishing up Aviendha’s little portion of chapter 15 and then moving on to chapter 16, in which Egwene’s fight against Elaida finally comes to a very dramatic peak. It’s a very exciting chapter, and very well written, and I’m excited to get into it.

Aviendha is carrying out her newest pointless punishment when she is startled by the approach of Amys. Amys comments on Aviendha’s dedication to her work, and Aviendha can’t figure out why Amys would shame her so. She replies that she only does as duty demands, and Amys answers that she does… and she also does not.

Aviendha has no idea what the proper response to this comment is, but she is saved from responding when she notices a light by the Traveling grounds. They move closer, and find that Flinn and Bashere have returned from their meeting with the Seanchan. A maiden, Corana, informs them that the Seanchan have agreed to another meeting with the Car’a’carn, but Corana doesn’t think he should sue for peace with such people. Amys and Aviendha are horrified to learn that the Seanchan have collared a number of Shaido Wise Ones, who were put on display when Rand’s delegation arrived.

Amys asks for Aviendha’s assessment, and Aviendha admits that, however it pains her, the Last Battle must be faced first before anything else, even this grave insult, can be addressed. After Corana has left, Amys and Aviendha discuss the disturbance this news will cause among the rest of the Aiel, and how many will call for Rand to give up his attempts to make peace with the Seanchan. Amys declares that it is time to stop coddling Aviendha.

In the White Tower, Egwene has been called to attend the white sisters Ferane (a Sitter), Miyasi, and Tesan. After an hour of shelling walnuts, she is finally asked how she would deal with the Dragon Reborn. Ferane tries to make it sound like she is giving Egwene a lesson in logic, but Egwene realizes that this is a test; Ferane has heard of Egwene criticisms of Elaida and is trying to feel her out.

Egwene answers carefully, first explaining how she would handle it in a purely theoretical sense, and then, when called to, how she would handle it as herself, with the knowledge that she has of growing up with Rand. She points out that Rand should have been worked with, guided and supported, not pressured and fought and attacked, and that all of the “terrorizing” he has done fits with what prophecy says he will and must do. She compares Rand to a river, “calm and placid when not agitated, but a furious and deadly current when squeezed too tightly.”

She outlines how she would approach Rand, the delegation she would send, and which Ajahs would send the right signals to him. She also points out that the Reds’ experience is in “dealing with” men who can channel, “which is different than ‘working with.’” She reminds the Aes Sedai of their history as master guiders and manipulators, subtle and clever, and asks why now, of all times, they abandoned that way for beating kings and locking them in boxes.

She also points out that they cannot deal with Rand until they fix the White Tower, and lays out everything she has thought about the situation, both the split between rebels and Elaida’s followers and the decay inside the Tower that has happened since. She talks about the way the Ajahs have allowed themselves to be torn apart and lays out the conversations that she has had with members of other Ajahs, some of whom have been reasonable while others have been stubborn, and encourages the three Whites to make overtures to members of other Ajahs.

By the time she has finished talking, the three all seem to be listening and taking her advice seriously, and she is even praised for her logic. Ferane remarks that Egwene would make an excellent White, a compliment Egwene accepts while also reminding her that the Amyrlin has no Ajah.

As she leaves, she inclines her head to Ferane, and receives the same gesture in return. Egwene is elated, right up until Katerine comes to collect her and informs Egwene that she will have no more lessons. Elaida has decided that Egwene’s refusal to curtsy to sisters is the last mark of her defiance, and that Egwene will be given no more lessons, only work, until she lets go of her pride. Egwene is dismayed, not at the work but at the fact that not having lessons cuts her off from being able to do any work with the Aes Sedai.

Set to clean out one of the fireplaces by Laras, Egwene considers giving in and starting to curtsy, in order to regain her access to the rest of the sisters, but she realizes that giving in won’t solve her problems. It will only show Elaida that an all-work detail is an effective way to get Egwene to submit.

After hours of working, Egwene is surprised when Laras, quietly and secretly, shows her a hidden room in the kitchen floor, offering to hide Egwene there and smuggle her out of the city. She tells Egwene that she finds the beatings she is undergoing shameful. Laras has served loyally for many years but won’t be party to breaking someone’s spirit.

Egwene is tempted for a moment to return to her allies having rescued herself, especially now that she doesn’t know if she’ll have any more success in the Tower. But she can’t sit outside and watch the Tower fall, so she refuses.

They are almost caught by Katerine, but Egwene’s quick thinking covers Laras’ deception. She is told to clean herself up so that she can serve Elaida for dinner.

After an hour of scrubbing away soot, Egwene makes her way to Elaida’s rooms. She has decided that she will take the same tactic with Elaida as last time, remaining silent so as not to anger her, but not showing undue deference, either. However, when she goes in she finds that Elaida is entertaining a group of Sitters, including a representative from every Ajah except the Red and Blue, including Yukiri and Doesine, as well as Ferane.

Egwene thinks for a moment that Elaida might be trying to mend some of the division in the Tower, but it quickly becomes clear that she is showing off her breaking of Egwene. Elaida makes derogatory comments about the different Ajahs and gives Egwene the job of refilling her wine every time it is slightly less than full. She even makes comments about the “stink of soot” on Egwene.

When conversation turns to the Seanchan, Elaida tries to dismiss concerns about them as laughable, but Shevan, a Brown, has interviewed Egwene about them and thinks that the Aes Sedai should be concerning themselves with the danger to Sisters. Elaida accuses Egwene of being a liar and orders her to admit it.

Egwene realizes that she cannot keep to her plan of silence and keeping her head down. She engages in a debate with Elaida, reminding Elaida of her Dream and stating that the assembled women know that Egwene doesn’t lie. Elaida must admit that the Seanchan are a threat. Elaida orders Egwene to kneel and beg forgiveness for her words and actions, but Egwene refuses.

She points out that the Amyrlin should be able to convince people to obey her, and should not have to resort to force. She points out how Elaida has treated every sister who displeased her, and mentions her idea for a fourth Oath, an oath of obedience to the Amyrlin Seat. Egwene relies on the knowledge Siuan taught her, pulling a quote from the first Brown to be raised to the Amyrlin Seat and pointing out all the flaws in Elaida’s plans to capture and cage the Dragon Reborn, quoting The Karaethon Cycle and pointing out all the flaws in Elaida’s logic. She even calls Elaida a coward for refusing to attempt to mend the division in the Tower.

Elaida loses herself completely and begins to beat Egwene with flows of Air, causing Egwene to fall and cut herself on the broken pitcher. She screams that Egwene and the rebels are the Darkfriends, continuing to beat her even as the other sisters tell her to stop, that she is violating Tower Law by using the One Power to discipline an initiate.

But when Elaida turns, she sees Egwene standing, calmly, and watching her. She is shocked into silence, one hand pressed to her breast, as Egwene calmly tells her that she wishes she could give in, that the Tower could find a good leader in Elaida. That she would accept execution if it meant leaving the White Tower whole.

Elaida only declares that death is too good for Egwene and shouts for guards to come and throw her in the deepest dungeon the Tower can provide. She orders that it will be announced in the streets that Egwene is a Darkfriend.

As Egwene falls into unconsciousness, she feels a deep sorrow, knowing that, one way or another, her fight to save the White Tower has come to an end.

You know who would really love Egwene? Cadsuane.

I was fully cheering Egwene on out loud at the end of this chapter. I know she was (rightfully) worried that speaking her mind to Elaida would ruin any chance she had to keep working with the Aes Sedai in the Tower, but it must have felt so good to finally stop holding back all her opinions and righteous fury towards the woman who has done so much to destroy the Aes Sedai. Elaida is petty, vainglorious, power-hungry, and, while she may not actually be stupid, she is very dumb about people. This has always been true, even before Siuan was deposed, and before being touched by Mordeth-Fain messed with Elaida’s head. I honestly think she was doomed to be a poor Amyrlin no matter what. But of course, as Egwene pointed out, she is uniquely unsuited to be Amyrlin in this time, particularly.

As a Red, Elaida represents the world’s distrust and fear of men who can channel. And to those men, she represents pain and a slow death. But even outside of Egwene’s very salient point about how Rand would never trust a Red, any Red living during the Dragon’s time has a particularly difficult struggle ahead of her in accepting that the traditional way of “dealing with” men who can channel cannot be applied to the Dragon Reborn. This is even more true now that Rand has cleansed saidin, but even if he hadn’t, even if there weren’t Asha’man to deal with, the simple fact is that the Dragon Reborn must not be gentled, and he must not be restrained, either, since the prophecies say he must do so many things before the Last Battle.

Most people in this world are struggling with the fear of the Dragon and what he is prophesied to do, and many have struggled to recognize what Egwene knows: that the devastation the Dragon is prophesied to bring is inevitable, and perhaps even necessary to his success. This is as true of the Aes Sedai as of any other group. While it is understandable that everyone would struggle with such a difficult, frightening situation, for a Red Sister, whose entire Ajah is founded on the need to gentle such men to protect the world, it would be particularly difficult to adapt to this new reality. I agree with Egwene that any Red would make a poor Amyrlin for such times.

Though to be fair, it isn’t just the Reds. Any sister might find the idea of allowing the Dragon Reborn to become a leader on the world stage difficult to swallow, because of the taint and because of the prophecies, even though the prophecies say he will and must do the very things everyone fears. We know that Moiraine and Siuan worried over the White Tower’s ability to engage with Rand’s existence, which is the other reason (aside from fear of death by Darkfriend) they kept his birth and identity a secret. From everyone, not just Reds.

Of course, Elaida’s issues are deeper than that. As I said, I don’t think her personality is particularly well-suited to being Amyrlin in any era, but she probably would have gotten away with it if she’d been raised to the Amyrlin Seat normally, had not governed during Rand’s time, and hadn’t so many dark forces interfering with the White Tower during her tenure. Elaida is absolutely responsible for contributing to the distrust between the Ajahs and the general state of the White Tower, and if she was a stronger leader she might have done some work to combat the work of the Black Ajah—however, even outside of what she has or has not done, the Black has been very successful in creating an atmosphere of fear and danger in the halls of the White Tower. Alviarin forcing Elaida to pass certain regulations and decrees was a big part of that, but not the whole thing by any means. As we know, the Black have been at work undermining the White Tower for a very long time, since before Siuan and Moiraine were even students. Probably long before.

This is why the search for the Black is so important, and will be particularly so when/if Egwene is put on the Amyrlin Seat and can actually work with the Black Ajah hunters directly. If she can unseat Elaida, unify the Aes Sedai, and get rid of the influence of the Black, we will have a very different White Tower on our hands, and hopefully just in time to help set a few things up before the Last Battle breaks.

I have to applaud the way the end of the chapter was written. It was beautifully cinematic; I could see everything so clearly in my mind’s eye. Egwene, stoic and strong and regal despite her injuries and the flurry of blows falling upon her. Elaida, looking wild and crazed and paranoid, wide-eyed and rumpled, almost like she is the one being struck, rather than the other way around. The two facing off together, while the Sitters look on, horrified but also, perhaps, realizing a truth about Elaida, and about Egwene, they had been unwilling to recognize before.

Everyone in that room saw who the true Amyrlin was, and nobody thought it was Elaida. Egwene recognized that this battle was the deciding one in her war, but I’m not sure she has a full sense of the impression she made on everyone. Now she’s going to a deep dark dungeon, but I don’t think she’ll be there very long. Something is coming to a head, and I can’t imagine at this point that the current Sitters—united by Egwene’s efforts and by Elaida’s display—won’t decide that something has to change. That Elaida is, as Egwene has tried to show them, destroying the Aes Sedai.

Although they might not like the optics of making Egwene official on their end, it’s not like the Aes Sedai in the Tower have any other clear options to replace Elaida. Or enough time to spend on the political maneuverings and debates required to pick out a new candidate. Especially since few of them are able to talk to anyone from another Ajah.

So I think this is going to be the pivotal moment in which the Hall decides they have to do something about Elaida, and that they may very well need to make Egwene their Amyrlin. She has made an impression on enough of them that I think, under the circumstances, the Sitters will make that choice. It might take them a minute, though, which will leave Egwene in the dungeons for a little while.

You know, narratively, this would be the perfect moment for the Seanchan to attack the White Tower, while the Sitters are in the midst of conversations about Elaida’s actions and Elaida is going around issuing proclamations that Egwene is a darkfriend.

Also, the absolutely pettiness of Elaida being so upset at being accused of being darkfriend material that she’s like, “no you are!” is really funny. Or it would be if it wasn’t so dangerous. It’s also funny that she missed Egwene’s actual insult, which was that even the Dark One wouldn’t want her in his ranks. What a perfect burn, oh my golly.

Anyway, I also really appreciated Egwene’s assessments of Rand, both to the Whites and to Elaida, in particular the suggestion that he probably always had a temper, it’s just that it was rarely seen in the Two Rivers because there wasn’t anything there to spark it. I do remember we saw a strong drive for justice from Rand, and that his temper sparked whenever that drive was challenged. It also flared whenever he experienced mistrust or suspicion towards Moiraine. He also was very angry at Ba’alzamon (rightly so) by the end; that rage very much fueled him through the confrontation at The Eye of the World. Egwene also remembers everything that is good in Rand’s personality, and that is so very valuable in someone who will soon be having high-stakes encounters with him on the political stage. Anyone and everyone can fall prey to their own emotions around what Rand is and how he comes off; Egwene remembering his good nature, even if just as a temper to her own anger and fear, can only help as she tries to come to some kind of agreement and alliance with him before the arrival of Tarmon Gai’don.

You know, I kind of see a parallel between Rand and Elaida here. Like Rand’s anger, Elaida’s more problematic personality traits have been enhanced both by the pressure of her position (which Elaida chose, of course, but I digress) and by the touch of darkness. In Rand’s case, his anger and suspicion has been enhanced by the taint on saidin and the madness it creates. In Elaida’s, her paranoia around the other Aes Sedai not respecting her as Amyrlin and her power-hungry, self-important nature have been enhanced by the touch of Mordeth-Fain. In both cases it’s hard to tell where the natural strain ends and the unnatural influence begins, but both are there. Moreover, Elaida and Rand both have a tendency to discount the humanity of other people. Each has their own reasons for this, but they share a common impulse to view others as tools to be wielded, and any dissent from said tools as a threat to their position and to their goals.

Of course we also have many parallels between Egwene and Rand. I’ve remarked on these before, but I thought it was kind of perfect that Egwene herself identified them. Elaida tried to subdue Rand by force, to imprison and beat him until he accepted her authority and was bent to her will. Now she is doing the same with Egwene, up to including throwing her into the deepest cell of the Tower. Elaida seems to believe that authority and loyalty can be achieved with pain and fear, and in both cases that idea has backfired spectacularly. Indeed, I think that her attempts to break Egwene are the very thing that is going to result in her own fall, perhaps even more so than Egwene’s efforts to inspire and unite individual sisters.

As Egwene said to the Black Ajah hunters: “Loyalty is better earned than forced.”

Her words could not have been more prophetic had she Dreamed them.

Looking at Egwene and Elaida, two Amyrlins who could not better exemplify how to lead and how not to, and seeing parallels with the leader of the male channelers in both of them, I feel like we have a really clear and sharp picture of two possible directions that Rand himself could tip. In one direction, Elaida’s direction, lies a further hardening, a further removal of his own humanity, which would no doubt come with an increased disdain for others and increased paranoia, including a further withdrawal from those few people he still allows himself connection to. In the other direction, Egwene’s direction, lies an improved connection with humanity and a greater empathy for others, (something that we, and Egwene, know he does possess, somewhere buried under the pain and trauma and taint madness) as well as an understanding of how to weather pain and grief in a way that both keeps him strong and keeps him human.

Aviendha is also on a similar journey as Egwene and Rand and Elaida, though hers is on a slightly smaller scale and is somewhat less fraught. Not that it probably feels that way to her; she even considers that if things continue on as they are for too much longer, she is going to lose her sanity.

Like Rand and Egwene, Aviendha is learning to be a leader, to understand difficult concepts like how to put aside her feelings about the collaring of Aiel by the Seanchan. She displays a great deal of wisdom when she explains the situation to Corana—how preparing for the Last Battle means putting aside everything else, no matter how important—including an ability to look past her own emotions and weigh the situation dispassionately. That doesn’t mean stifling those emotions or deciding that they are unimportant—it means not being ruled by them. As we know, this is a lesson Rand desperately needs to learn, and if Aviendha can ever pass her last test, she might be able to help teach it to him.

Right now, Aviendha is in exactly the position that Egwene was when she was called to serve Elaida at the dinner, so much so that Amys’ advice could have been delivered to Egwene as she made her way up to Elaida’s rooms: “Sometimes […] we are so concerned with the things we have done that we do not stop to consider the things we have not.”

Egwene had a plan for how to deal with encounters with Elaida, which was to accept punishment and to keep from angering Elaida as much as possible, so that she might retain her freedom to keep working with the rest of the Tower. She made this choice because she understood that her job was not to fight Elaida but to protect the Aes Sedai and restore the White Tower, and so she looked past her anger and hatred of Elaida, choosing to do what was tactically and morally most important, rather than what would feel the best. However, in this second confrontation, Egwene realized that, while her goals remained unchanged, the situation was different. She needed to show the other Aes Sedai her strength, be willing to stand up to Elaida as she has asked them to do, be willing to “put her money where her mouth is,” so to speak, when it comes to being an Aes Sedai and doing what must be done for the good of the Tower. Egwene realized that she needed to stop focusing on what she was doing (keeping her head down enough so that Elaida wouldn’t prevent her from having opportunities to speak to the other Aes Sedai) and recognize what she hasn’t done, which is showing everyone, including Elaida, that she is willing to stand up for what is right, for the Aes Sedai and for the White Tower, no matter the consequences to herself. She feels sadness at the end because she doesn’t know what the outcome of her choice will be, but she recognized that there was no other option. Sticking to what she was doing, however correct and useful that course of action was when she first settled on it, would have been a mistake. Probably a fatal one.

The Wise Ones are waiting for Aviendha to come to a similar realization. She can see no reason for her punishments, is unaware of any transgression that might warrant so much shaming, even goes so far to think that the Wise Ones seem to be behaving erratically, but she continually focuses on how to bear the punishment correctly, how to discern the mistakes she assumes she must have made in order to receive such shaming, and never considers any more outside-the-box solutions, or reasons, for her current predicament.

She never wonders if the Wise Ones are wrong, never decides to trust her own instincts, to believe that she knows what is right and wrong, has the wisdom to lead and therefore to stand up for herself. She hasn’t realized that the situation has changed, and she needs to make a different choice for how to handle it.

I do feel like, once she does, she is going to be unstoppable.

I also have to take a moment to praise the character of Laras. We haven’t seen much of her in a while, but her characterization remains distinctive and enjoyable. I really love her particular sense of morality. She doesn’t have any loyalty to any woman in particular, and she doesn’t really care who is in charge, but if someone does something that crosses the line, she will act every time. She helped Siuan, who she didn’t even like, for exactly this reason. I’ll be interested to see how she feels about Egwene when Egwene becomes Amyrlin. Will Egwene’s display of strength and dedication win Laras over to a more personal respect for the Amyrlin Seat?

I’m also wondering if people will ever find out that Perrin is responsible for the Seanchan managing to collar so many Shaido. The rest of the Wise Ones might be temporarily willing to put aside their need for vengeance in order to focus on the most important problem, but it might hit a bit differently to know that someone Rand trusts, and someone who will be back in Rand’s inner circle soon, made the choice to allow the collaring. Rand and the Wise Ones will be hard pressed, I think, to keep the rest of the Aiel from wanting to exact some very serious toh from Perrin.

We’re moving on to chapters 17 and 18 next week, in which Cadsuane finally comes up with a method of dealing with Semirhage and a revelation about Elaida throws the rebel Aes Sedai camp into chaos. Next week will also be the last post before the new year! [end-mark]

The post Reading The Wheel of Time: Egwene Makes a Stand in <i>The Gathering Storm</i> (Part 11)  appeared first on Reactor.

Books Wind and Truth Reread

Wind and Truth Reread: Chapters 137-140

Major character arcs are resolved and victories achieved, but the fate of the world remains in doubt.

By Paige Vest, Lyndsey Luther, Drew McCaffrey

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Published on December 8, 2025

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Greetings and happy Monday, Cosmere Chickens! This week’s reread discussion is… a lot. We’re reaching the culmination of multiple character arcs, and plot arcs, and Cosmere connections. Mysteries are finally revealed, questions answered… It’s the Sanderlanche reaching its peak, so of course it’s a lot! Hold on to your storming seats, chickens!

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

Chapter 137 is titled “The Suckling Child” and, what have we here? A Mraize POV. I would normally be pretty meh about this, but considering how this POV ends… let’s dive in! Mraize faces off against Shallan, reasoning that since he can’t control her, he must kill her. He thinks she looks frightened, unsure. She seems hesitant, and then out of the blue, Pattern charges him. He easily deflects the spren who then rises up behind him. Realizing his mistake almost too late, he turns to find Shallan behind him. She’d been hidden beneath a Lightweaving of her spren.

She holds his glowing knife and somehow, he holds her empty one. He guesses that’s why she’d charged him—so she could swap knives. He drops his worthless knife and twists her wrist to force her drop his knife. When they both come up holding the knives again, he rams his blade into her chest while she stabs him in the gut… with the anti-Stormlight knife.

He doesn’t understand how she did it, but Shallan explains that she never swapped the knives—she just disguised them. When he’d dropped his knife to wrench what he thought was his knife from her, he’d essentially handed her the anti-Stormlight knife. In his fear, he draws in Stormlight to heal himself but it reacts with the anti-Stormlight and burns him up. Mraize is gone! Woohoo!

I found it interesting when Radiant kept asking if she should take over and Shallan refused. Shallan didn’t need someone to fight Mraize for her—she needed to face him herself so that she could trick him with her Lightweaving. She was fully capable of beating him all this time as the more experienced Lightweaver. Well done, Shallan. Very well done.

POV Shift!

Next, we see Venli on the Shattered Plains; El approaches, as the time for the contest has just passed. Leshwi is attuning joy. El comments on it before confirming that the contest has begun and he has secured the Shattered Plains as he was asked to do. Then Thude asks El to withdraw his forces until they can normalize diplomatic relations. And I am dying laughing!

Venli produces a treaty signed by Jasnah Kholin and El reads it quietly, asking how they managed to do it. An angry Fused states that they’ll just take the Plains from the listeners—and El outright kills him, with a storming Shardblade. As if that’s not surprising enough, he then calmly returns to the treaty and gives orders for his troops to retreat.

POV Shift!

We rejoin Dalinar at the top of Urithiru where Gavinor is still crying, frozen, his hands raised but no longer gripping Oathbringer as he’d been when he was preparing to strike down his grandfather. Dalinar is pondering his choices, and he does actually consider striking down Gavinor. But in doing so, he would become what Taravangian wants him to be. He sees that no matter what option he chooses, Taravangian wins. Dalinar even thinks that if he were to join Odium, maybe he could make all the cosmic war he’s going to wage less horrible. (Yeah, good luck with that…)

He asks the Stormfather for advice but alas, the spren has none. Dalinar can feel all the people in the tower, all of the people on Roshar… feel their wants and needs and loves and hopes and pain. And then, something wondrous happens.

Chapter 138 is titled “The Burdens of Nine” and we’re right back with Shallan in the moments immediately after she kills Mraize. Radiant acknowledges that Shallan doesn’t need her anymore and just like that, Radiant, like Veil before her, reaches out and becomes part of Shallan instead of something separate.

Mraize’s Cryptic emerges from his corpse. Its pattern is damaged and it’s missing an arm. It can speak, and it’s quite put out with Shallan, who turns to go back to the room with the gemstone thinking that Mishram might be able to help the Cryptic and Iyatil’s Inkspren. That’s when she sees Renarin and Rlain with the gemstone raised above their heads as they prepare to break it.

POV Shift!

Nale is feeling the full brunt of the horrible things he’s done, the murders he’s committed. He is overwhelmed and knows that he’ll never escape this darkness.

POV Shift!

Syl is lost in the darkness as well, and she tries to get to Kaladin but isn’t able to. She feels so worthless, as if she’s never done anything that mattered. She hears Ishar ordering them to feel, as he takes a moment to think. She gets to the point where she doesn’t want to be anymore, to exist anymore. She’s beyond feeling pain, just… nothing, and it terrifies her.

POV Shift!

Szeth knows that he’s a failure, and he’s exhausted and overwhelmed by the darkness. He just wishes to rest. Nightblood asks him what’s wrong but he ignores the sword, thinking that everything is wrong and always will be.

POV Shift!

Kaladin is also overwhelmed by the darkness. But he’s been there before, hasn’t he? There, alone in the dark, feeling the weight of all of his failures and all of his inadequacies. He’s no stranger to this. So he does what he knows to do and looks up.

There he sees all of the paladins that he’s been, from the young man who volunteered for the Army to help his brother to the Squadleader and the Bridgeman, the Captain and the Radiant. He feels the full pain of the Heralds and in the midst of that darkness, he takes a breath and stands up. More woohoos!

Chapter 139, “Words,” picks right back up with Kaladin, who stands up to protect Syl and Szeth and even Ishar. Because that’s the man he wants to be. Ishar is rightfully stunned, even checking the cord that Connects him to Kaladin to be sure it hasn’t been severed somehow. Kaladin places himself between Ishar and Szeth, and it seems to help Szeth somewhat.

Ishar asks who he is and Kaladin, the silly bridge boy, says he’s just an old spear that won’t break. (Yes, I’m grinning quite stupidly here.) Kaladin asks Ishar if this horrible darkness is how he feels all the time, and Ishar confirms it, and that it is indeed awful. And then Kaladin quotes Wit.

He goes on to say that he knows Ishar’s pain because he feels it too, and also that he knows that doesn’t lessen the other man’s pain. He thinks about how completely horrific this darkness is, worse than his worst days, and he realizes that he has to help the Heralds. Ishar threatens him but that don’t make no nevermind to Kaladin, who quietly speaks his Fifth Ideal, baby!

POV Shift!

The power of Honor surrounds Dalinar. He tries to make it see that he should be its vessel. It says that humans lie, and Dalinar tries to make it see that he will keep his oaths. Cultivation’s voice breaks in, telling him that it’s time, that he knows the words. Dalinar opens a perpendicularity and tells Honor:

Chapter 140 is titled “The Light We Kindle Ourselves.” We rejoin Kaladin to see the Wind accepting his words. Kaladin explodes with power, and… he’s still Connected to Ishar. The light from the Spiritual Realm surges down the Connection between Kaladin and Ishar and shoves Ishar back, expelling the darkness from him. At the same time, Kaladin senses the darkness being expelled from the other Heralds.

It wasn’t a symptom of their pain and suffering, but a remnant of Odium’s power that Ishar had taken up. Kaladin uses Nightblood to sever the Connections between Ishar and the others and as they rise, so do the Honorbearers. The Honorbearers who were made Fused by that darkness, and who still carry it. Or rather, who are still bound by it.

Kaladin notices a Connection between him and Nightblood. The sword fairly orders him to give it to Szeth. It says it will feed on Kaladin’s Stormlight rather than Szeth’s soul. So Kaladin tosses the sword over and Szeth takes it up.

Szeth realizes that Nightblood has learned the surges from the Honorblades and he asks if he can have his lashings back. Nightblood gives them to him happily… and they dance.

POV Shift!

Taravangian asks Dalinar what he’s doing, and Dalinar says he can’t defeat Odium as a man. Taravangian tells him that Honor won’t take him because he’s an oathbreaker. Honor hesitates, surrounding Dalinar but not entering him. Dalinar asks it what is wrong and it shows him a vision of Renarin and Rlain, and what they’re doing seems to make it reconsider.

POV Shift!

Renarin and Rlain are holding the gemstone high. Despite Shallan telling them to stop, they ask each other if they’re both sure, which they are. Together, they slam the stone down onto the ground and it shatters, releasing a dark storm.

Dun-dun-DUNNN!

Lyndsey’s Commentary: Character Arcs

I have a lot to discuss this week, as is fitting for the end of this massive five-book long series of character arcs. Kaladin, Shallan, Dalinar, Szeth, Venli… all of our Big Five are getting their arcs tied up, and some other smaller characters are seeing resolution as well.

Mraize (Betd) / Shallan

Whoa. A Mraize POV? I didn’t see this one coming! This is a fascinating glimpse into Mraize’s mind, so let’s dive in, shall we?

Ah yes. The dichotomy of human emotion. Feeling multiple things at once! He does seem to be veering far more to the “happiness” side of the equation, though. Mraize’s ambition outpaces his grief, and he immediately begins planning his next steps. He’s in charge, now. Great! Except for one little problem… and that one little problem’s name, of course, is Shallan.

Nothing is going to get in the way of his ambition. Especially not some stripling of a girl who he’s been messing with for years. He ruthlessly analyzes her strategy and strikes out at what he knows is her weak point, emotionally:

But it’s not enough to faze her. Shallan has moved beyond such petty strikes; she’s healed, if not completely, then at least to the point where outside influences can’t possibly hurt her more than she’s already hurt herself.

As usual, Mraize (like everyone else) has underestimated her.

He thinks himself infallible. Of course he understands her completely—he’s so smart! Even though he’s just proven that he doesn’t understand Shallan, not truly. He’s spent so much time attempting to mold her, influence her, shape her to his own worldview—that of “only the strong shall survive.” He fully believes that the weak will be subsumed by the strong, and can’t conceive of the fact that she’s legitimately giving him a chance to survive.

He makes his choice. Rather than accepting her charity, he refuses to believe that someone can offer a hand to another. That someone could possibly forgive someone else for trying to kill them. And so, he seals his own fate. Shallan kills him, because he forces her to.

In this moment, Shallan breaks free of him. Not in the taking of his life, but in rejecting his worldview and offering him that chance to redeem himself, to make of himself something better; something good. And Mraize proves himself to be exactly what he’s always been. He refuses to grow, to change, to be better. And he pays the ultimate price.

Interestingly, we do get this final line from Shallan:

When Mraize proves that he’s unwilling to change, she makes this final choice. Sympathy and empathy can only go so far, if it comes at the price of your own peace and well-being.

And there it is. She’s right—killing in self-defense is entirely understandable, and acceptable in almost every system of law, religion, or philosophy.

Shallan

Oh, this is very interesting! Up until now, Radiant has been portrayed in a very positive light. She’s always been the swordswoman, the soldier, the steady and steadfast one who would do what the others could not. Dependable, loyal… a perfect soldier.

But now we’re seeing those same traits in a different light. She was the one that Shallan depended on for violence? Suddenly it puts her into a whole different context, doesn’t it? Yes… violence is sometimes necessary. But it’s rarely viewed as a positive thing.

Time for the once-per-article gif drop! You’ll have to excuse me for going a bit… old-school anime weeb on this one. It’s too fitting not to use.

Venli

An understandable fear, when the prospect of what she’s doing is so risky, and the consequences of her past actions were so dire. But this bet has paid off, in dividends. Her people’s land is hers once more, and she has atoned for her past sins. The dead stay dead, but she’s done what she could and made amends to her people. She’s righted her wrong, and given their lands back to them. Venli’s character arc, which began with that awful (but arguably well-intentioned) choice to sacrifice her people to the Fused and Odium, has been completed.

Dalinar

Interesting… I’m reading this as his choice to give up the Shardblade to save Bridge Four as his act of redemption, but the plural “attempts” makes me think he’s referring to everything else since. I suppose that makes sense, in a way, but it does feel a little odd that he’d conflate everything that he’s experienced in that time with the sword he gave up in Book 1.

An impossible decision forced upon a man just trying to do his best for the people under his care.

He makes a decent point. Working against the status quo from the inside is something we see in a lot of fiction… and, if I may speculate for a moment about the author and his intentions, something that Brandon himself is doing in regards to the LDS Church. (He has stated in the past that he’s attempting to make changes from the inside. You can read about this in his own words here.) It’s not uncommon to see shadows of the things that the author feels or struggles with cast upon their fiction; I’d go so far as to say that it’s a core tenet of the entire field of literary analysis (as well as viewing the text as a mirror of societal and historical biases and experiences in regards to symbolism, but I digress).

So to bring this back around… Dalinar, like Brandon, struggles here with the concept of supporting something (or someone) that is actively causing harm, with the justification that the harm will be done anyway, and only by working inside the harmful entity can that harm be mitigated. With all this in mind, it makes Dalinar’s final choice on this matter even more interesting:

I suppose the difference here is that Brandon still sees more good than harm in the institution of the LDS, whereas Odium’s quest is nothing but harm.

Anyway. Dalinar comes down to the crux of the matter in this line, and the response by Taravangian:

When this whole series is done, I think there are going to be some fascinating literary, philosophical, and societal analyses of Taravangian. As a villain, he’s utterly intriguing, because not only does he believe that he’s right… he makes the reader question it as well. I’d argue that only the very best villains can pull that off.

I’d just like to point this out, coming so close to what I just discussed at length above. Perhaps this is true; one person, working alone, is not enough to enact change on a wide scale. However, if Kaladin, Shallan, and Adolin have taught us anything, it’s that one person can absolutely build a community around oneself. And that community can then, in turn, enact change.

Because Dalinar is a man of honor. It’s not enough for him to just hold to the letter of the law, so to speak. He needs to believe it wholeheartedly. He wants his oaths to be held to the best of his ability, genuinely.

Words that Gavilar never could have said, despite all his searching. Gavilar lacked the empathy necessary to fully understand Honor.

Nale

Sounds awful familiar, doesn’t it? Well, Nale, we’ve got good news for you! You’re traveling with the world’s leading authority in feeling overwhelmed by failure! And even better… he’s now a therapist! Speaking of…

Kaladin

I’m going to be honest… I have a hard time talking about Kaladin’s character arc and his struggles with depression, because it resonates so deeply with me. I’m afraid that I’ll bring too much of myself into the analysis, so I often back down on things I really want to say. This one time, I’ll expand.

I’ve been here. I’ve faced that chasm, the one that Kaladin stood over until Syl brought him a single leaf. And having stood there, I recognize all of these thoughts that rush through Kaladin’s brain. The self-doubt, and the thinking that you’re not enough (and never will be), and the fear that even if you try, you’re going to fail again and again and again, are as familiar to me now as my own name. It’s a constant battle, and sometimes you hear those echoes whispering in your mind even when you’re “better.” So to say that I relate to Kaladin on a deep, fundamental level is… putting it mildly.

A lot of my therapy has been focused around this very subject—find who you want to be, and put your effort into trying to manifest that, rather than dwelling on what you view as your failures. So I see Kaladin’s journey, and I applaud it, and I hope that someday I can definitively rediscover who I want to be, and stand for it with the pride and courage that Kaladin does here.

And I hope the same for any of you, dear readers, who are also on this same journey.

Please remember… we lift the bridge together, and you are not alone.

And if you don’t take my word for it… take Kal’s:

And there we have it. Kaladin’s final Oath. And the last step in his character arc (for this set of the series, at least). Whether or not he’ll continue to be a main character and have a fully fleshed-out arc of his own in the back five is still up for debate.

Ishar

Today on “cosmically bad mistakes,” Ishar takes the cake. He’s been spreading depression and insanity under the guise of charity all this time.

Nightblood

Yikes. For such a sweet and goofy character when sheathed, Nightblood becomes legitimately scary when unsheathed. It’s like his thirst for power completely overwhelms him. Drew’s going to go more into this below, so I’ll leave it to him.

Szeth

Szeth does indeed understand, all too well, the horror and pain of being forced to do terrible things. But he holds in his hands the power to stop that pain for his loved ones. And, for once, he has the choice to do it or not… and is willing to make it.

Drew’s Commentary: Invested Arts & Theories

Lots of tricks in these chapters, as all the various contests come to a head and our characters try to find solutions against impossible odds. The Listeners win the Shattered Plains, but that’s not what I’m here to talk about.

El. Of course it’s El.

And the dude has a Shardblade—and not a deadeye Blade, restricted by a wait of ten heartbeats. He’s got it out and through the head of the Magnified One in the blink of an eye.

So. After 1250 pages of essentially no answers where El is concerned, Sanderson felt the need to drop another mystery on us. And this one is a real doozy, isn’t it? El holding a deadeye Blade wouldn’t have been too out of left field, in my opinion, but the way he summons this makes it clear that there’s something deeper going on. As I see it, we have four main options.

First: El is a Knight Radiant. He bonded a spren sometime between the end of Rhythm of War and this point in the story—likely an Enlightened spren, more inclined to work against the main group of the Knights Radiant. He advanced rapidly enough through his Ideals to achieve the Third (though likely not the Fourth, as I think he wouldn’t have been able to resist showing off some shiny armor). We’re given no indication of what Order he might be part of, but that’s a question for another day.

Second: El took Moash’s Honorblade away. Maybe he was upset with Moash’s failure to kill Sigzil. Maybe he was directed by Vargodium to reclaim the Blade once he locked in on Gavinor as the champion. Who knows, but that “long, thin” Honorblade is now in the hands of the most dangerous Fused possible, giving him unfettered Windrunning powers.

Third: El does have a deadeye Blade—but the deadeyes aren’t so dead anymore, are they? El is an Unoathed. He is the unorthodox one, after all, always willing to look at things from a different angle. He doesn’t like the stifling attitudes around oaths; instead, he thought along the same lines as Adolin and took advantage of the shifting metaphysical tectonics of Roshar to get a Shardblade that’ll work with him.

Fourth: El made something new. El made a voidspren Shardblade. Why not, coming from the most experimental of the Fused? The guy who is totally fascinated by humans, who sounds almost envious of them sometimes? Seems like just the kind of project El would be into, maybe along the same lines as whatever he’s doing with the metal carapace he’s obsessed with. If he can’t be a Knight Radiant or a Herald, he can have his own fun. After all, “it offers… different opportunities.”

And in other news of things we never got real answers about: Seriously, what’s the deal with the Unmade? It’s pretty clear at this point that Odium must have taken some major spren and warped them with his own Investiture to create the Unmade—Raboniel was going to engineer something similar with the Sibling—but which spren did he use? They’re clearly entities of a major order, if not on the level of the Stormfather and Nightwatcher and Sibling, then at least much more substantial than Radiant spren. But through five books (and hundreds of pages of Spiritual Realm/History of Roshar lessons), we haven’t heard a thing about any ancient spren who both fit the bill and come in large enough numbers to create the Unmade.

I briefly considered the Night, but even that doesn’t fit because Cultivation used it to create the Nightwatcher. The Wind was still around, just forgotten, and same with the Stone.

What about Cucicesh? Were there perhaps ten spren like it, once upon a time?

Okay, so yeah. Nightblood has a great character moment during this sequence, as odd as that might have sounded a decade ago… but as far as I’m concerned, this is the biggest deal in the chapter.

Nightblood was already one of the scariest things around, with its ability to drain Investiture at a lethal rate and even kill Vessels like Rayse. But now Nightblood is THE ultimate Shardblade. All ten Surges, at the fingertips of Nightblood’s bearer. As long as you’ve got the Investiture, you’re gonna be pretty much untouchable with our friendly neighborhood black Shardblade in your hands. And guess what? It just so happens to be in the hands of a guy who’s trained with all the Surges!

(For now.)

Notice that, once again, I barely mentioned anything from Dalinar’s scenes. Well, giddy up, cuz next week is Honor Ground Zero.

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.

We’ll see you next Monday with our discussion of chapters 141, 142, and 143! After that we’ll be taking a break for the holidays, and returning on January 5th to finish up the book with two final articles.[end-mark]

The post <i>Wind and Truth</i> Reread: Chapters 137-140 appeared first on Reactor.

Books The Wheel of Time

Reading The Wheel of Time: Philosophy Has Upsides and Downsides in The Gathering Storm (Part 10)

The meeting between Rand and Moridin is just one of the highlights of this set of chapters.

By Sylas K Barrett

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Published on December 2, 2025

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This week on Reading The Wheel of Time, we’re covering chapter 14, in which Cadsuane brings Sorilea in to see Semirhage, and the first two thirds of chapter 15, in which Rand finds himself talking to Moridin and then, finally, confides a little in Min. Also, Aviendha and Amys learn about the Shaido prisoners of the Seanchan, and Amys tries to help Aviendha understand the reasons for her punishments. The last section of chapter 15, which is a conversation between Aviendha and Amys, we’ll cover next week.

In the manor house in Arad Doman, Cadsuane brings Sorilea to see the imprisoned Semirhage. Sorilea is interested in the weaves Cadsuane uses to restrain the Forsaken, and remarks that she is surprised to find Semirhage so human and easy to understand. Cadsuane notes a small reaction from Semirhage upon hearing those words, the first so far.

Semirhage brings up the Aiel’s history as peaceful servants, and asks Sorilea how much pain an Aiel would have to endure before they dishonored themselves, before they killed a blacksmith and dined on his flesh. Sorilea maintains her composure well, and once Semirhage’s sight and hearing has been blocked, Sorilea suggests that it is far to dangerous to keep her, and that she should be killed. Cadsuane agrees about the danger, but the need to prepare for the Great Battle, to know what Semirhage knows, is even greater.

They discuss Rand’s injunction against harming women, though Cadsuane doubts that Semirhage can be broken through pain, even if she were turned over to the Aiel. She is still convinced that a different method must be used, and wonders if a clue lies in Semirhage’s reaction to Sorilea’s comment.

Sorilea also asks to see the items Cadsuane is holding. Cadsuane would rather not show the male a’dam to anyone, even Sorilea, who Cadsuane regards as an equal. But Sorilea did show Cadsuane the weaves for Traveling, and Cadsuane feels that gesture must be returned. So she takes Sorilea and Bair to her room.

They pass the burned hole where the front door used to be, and Cadsuane reflects on al’Thor’s foolishness. They should have left this place, but he refused to be “chased away.”

In her room, Cadsuane has a chest to act as a decoy, and a document box on her desk in which she keeps the only important items that she doesn’t wear on her person. It is protected by hidden, inverted weaves that will spring out and capture anyone in the room and sound an alarm if the box is opened. She undoes the weaves and shows the Wise Ones its contents—the access key to the male Choedan Kal and the male a’dam taken from Semirhage.

She explains what Nynaeve told her about the bracelets and collar, how they were supposed to be thrown into the sea, though Nynaeve never saw it done. The fact that the Seanchan have had this ter’angreal to use as a pattern is alarming. Sorilea remarks that the Seanchan should be fought for this abomination alone, and asks where the others are. Cadsuane replies that they are with “retired” Aes Sedai she trusts, along with the female a’dam, being tested.

Personally, Cadsuane has tested a female a’dam herself, knowing that the only way to defeat your enemies’ weapons against you is to understand them. She had women she trusted to release her standing by, and was frustrated when she found no weaknesses to exploit, and did, in fact, need to be released by another. She wants to test the male a’dam on a man, but Rand won’t allow it, only muttering about “the box.”

The three sit down to discuss the problem of Rand al’Thor, determined to find a way to help him, for the good of the world, and for Rand himself.

Rand “wakes” on the floor of a hallway, in a place that feels distantly familiar. He thinks he might be in Tel’aran’rhiod, but it doesn’t quite feel the same as the dream world. As he struggles with his memory, he realizes he does remember this place, and opens a door into a room with a view of a stormy sky.

On the other side of the room is the fireplace, the stones around it warped as if by a great heat. But the table Rand remembers is not there anymore, and there is a fiery red light oozing from between the stones.

There are also two armchairs. Fearing what he will find, Rand walks over and finds Moridin sitting in one of them. Rand knows now that Moridin is Ishamael, though the man cuts him off when Rand tries to use the name. Rand insists that he killed Ishamael, that he is dead and this is just a dream.

Moridin finally looked at him. Flames from the fire cast bright red and orange light across his angular face and unblinking eyes. “Why do you always whine that way? Just a dream. Do you not know that many dreams are more truthful than the waking world?”

Rand can see hands and faces in the fire, and realizes that there are rats behind the stones, clawing to get out as they are burned alive.

Moridin reminds Rand that everyone is reborn, spun out into the Pattern again and again, and that death is no barrier to the Dark One. Anyone can be brought back to life, unless they are destroyed by Balefire. Rand is relieved that at least some of the Forsaken he killed are dead for good.

Rand finds he remembers Lews Therin’s death, and his last encounter with Ishamael, but Lews Therin is strangely absent from Rand’s mind. In fact, Rand feels more stable and whole here than he has in a long time.

He is surprised when Moridin asks Rand why he came here; Rand had assumed that Moridin was in his dream. Moridin asks Rand to go and leave him in peace, claiming that it is not time for them to fight and that he doesn’t know what will happen if they kill each other, now that they are connected somehow.

He promises Rand that the Great Lord will have him soon enough, and Rand counters that the Dark One has failed before and this time, Rand will defeat him again.

This, Moridin claims, is why the Dark One’s eventual victory is certain: The Dragon needs to defeat him endlessly, but the Dark One only needs to win once. This, Rand realizes, is why Elan went over to the Dark, and suggest that Elan’s own logic was destroyed him.

Rand stands, declaring that there is a way to win, and that he intends to kill the Dark One. Moridin is unimpressed, suggesting that Rand cannot understand the stupidity of his statement. Rand reaches for the One Power, which feels impossibly distant, but once he grabs it he feels himself yanked away into blackness.

Min is reading one of Herid Fel’s books, but is interrupted by Rand thrashing in his sleep. Once he stops, she returns to her reading, determined to figure out what Fel was going to tell Rand about the Last Battle, what message he wasn’t able to pass on before he was murdered by the Dark.

Min is determined to solve this puzzle, not only to help Rand but to help the world itself.

Rand wakes, and immediately begins talking about Lews Therin being back in his head. Min urges him to talk to someone, reminding him that being strong does not mean never sharing anything. She pushes him until he admits that he knows that she is strong enough to share his fears and struggles with.

Finally, reluctantly, Rand admits that Semirhage was right, that Lews Therin is inside Rand’s head, that he speaks to Rand and responds to the world around Rand, and that sometimes he even tries to take control over the One Power, even succeeding upon occasion. He explains that, despite what Semirhage says, Lews Therin is real; he knows things that Rand doesn’t and remembers things from his life that Rand can’t, proving that they two different people.

Min counters that they are the same person, that Lews Therin was Rand’s previous life and remembers because Rand lived that life, but Rand argues that she’s wrong. He insists that Lews Therin is mad and he, Rand, is not, and is desperate not to hurt the ones he loves the way Lews Therin did.

Rand admits this is true, but that he is afraid to use the One Power because Lews Therin will try to take control, and that he can’t be trusted after the horrible things he has done. Privately, Min wonders if this is how all men experience the madness of the taint, believing someone else is inside them and that person is responsible for all the bad things.

Rand also tells Min that Ishamael is alive, and that only using Balefire can make sure the Dark One doesn’t resurrect his best tools. Min reminds him of what Cadsuane said about using Balefire, but Rand replies that he is the Dragon Reborn, and he will be the one who decides how they fight.

He is determined to kill the Dark One, or to at least seal him away so tightly that the world will forget about him. Min tells him that she believes he has to destroy the seals on the Dark One’s prison, that this is what Fel meant in his note by “have to destroy before you can build.” She suspects Rand to be shocked, but he only muses that the concept makes sense, and worries over how breaking the seals will scare people.

Min thinks about how the prophecies don’t say that Rand will win, only that he will fight. Aloud, she assures him that she knows he will find a way to defeat the Dark One, and that she has faith in him.

Rand points out that he still doesn’t know how to stop the Dark One, even if he does break the seals, and Min promises to find answers for him. She feels his trust through the bond, and reflects that letting her in has made a few small cracks in the stone.

My brain keeps wanting to make a parallel between the metaphorical cracks in Rand’s stone and the molten lava in the cracks of the flagstones in Moridin’s weird little sitting room. I don’t really know if that’s anything, but there’s this interesting thematic aspect to Rand seeing his hardness as strength and resolve while everyone else sees it as being closed off and inflexible, which I kind of feel like we are seeing reflected, and iterated, in Moridin.

In chapter 14, Cadsuane reflects that Rand seems to believe he has to “force his way through the petty squabbles of people like a midnight traveler pushing through banks of snow to arrive at the inn,” in order to get to the Last Battle. I was struck by how apt the metaphor is, and how I, as a reader, never really felt like this part of Rand’s perspective needed to be challenged. His interpretations about the meaning of things, yes, but it is true that a lot of people in this world can’t put aside their own desires for power or control or whatever, either because they are too afraid to recognize how near the Last Battle truly is, or because they genuinely don’t understand that it is coming.

Or because they’re like Elaida and Pedron Niall, and believe that they are supposed to be the head generals of the Last Battle, using the Dragon Reborn rather than following him.

Egwene is going to take us into that discussion next week, so I’ll leave it f0r now, but it is definitely a factor.

I, as a reader who is privy to all the perspectives and all the information known by all of the POV characters, always find characters who don’t understand or choose to center themselves in the narrative surrounding the Last Battle to be incredibly frustrating. As Rand does. 

But Cadsuane’s thoughts made me wonder if there was another way for Rand. Was there a way for him to ignore more of the chaos around him, to skirt some of these conflicts and allow others to begin uniting the world for him? Not that anyone has really done a very good job at that, except for Egwene. (And technically the Seanchan, though I don’t love to admit it.) If the White Tower hadn’t been fractured from the inside out by the Black Ajah, they could have been doing that work, I suppose… but they aren’t.

In any case, whether or not Rand ever had other, possibly better, options as he attempted to unite the world, Cadsuane’s perspective is still very helpful. As is Min’s point that Rand needs to let someone in, and that he has people in his life who love him enough, and are strong enough, to carry the burden of knowing what is really going on with him. By the end of their conversation, Min thinks that there are a few cracks in the stone of Rand’s emotions, perhaps enough to let her in. And if she’s right, this could be the first step towards the lesson Cadsuane wants to teach him.

And then there is the Forsaken formerly known as Ishamael, who is experiencing some cracks of his own. In his case, it feels like the man has been holding back a sort of nihilistic despair that he is now, finally giving into. When he was Ba’alzamon, he was very focused on the work of conquering the world for the Dark One, very confident in his ability to manipulate everyone and to bend or break Rand to his will. Even if all that was a front, it was very convincing and Ishamael seemed very motivated.

Now, as he himself admits, Moridin is just tired. He has become connected to Rand in a way even he doesn’t understand, and while he is still doing his duty as Nae’blis, it is a much quieter action, and almost feels like just going through the motions. The cracks in him are showing, as well, and I wonder if Rand is going to worm his way in, somehow. 

Elan and Lews were friends once, after all.

Some of Ishamael/Moridin’s beliefs about the inevitably of the Dark One’s victory have been touched on earlier in the series, though I can’t remember exactly when. It’s definitely spelled out more clearly now, however, and I’m particularly intrigued by Rand’s assessment that Elan’s own logic destroyed him. That comment was made in reference to Moridin’s claim that the Dark One’s victory is inevitable because the Dark One only needs to triumph once in order to end everything. One has to admit, at first glance, that it is a frightening thought.

But Rand clearly sees this logic as flawed, though there are a few possible reasons as to why he assesses it the way he does.

One could argue that not everything can be understood through pure logic. Egwene is actually going to say as much to a White sister in the next chapter—that some things must be understood through emotion. When it comes to a battle between Good and Evil, between Creation and its polar opposite, it does make sense to say that this fight isn’t about logic at all, but about something that transcends statistics or reason or even philosophy, something that is felt and understood by the heart. It isn’t about figuring out which side is most likely to win by the numbers, but by feeling in your gut which is the right side to fight for. Regardless of the final outcome, there is only one right, moral choice to make.

Even if the endless conflict between the Dark One and the Wheel, between Creation and its antithesis, could be reduced to a logical equation, it is kind of silly to assume that a human—even the most powerful and knowledgeable and wise human to ever exist—could conceive of the whole truth of this struggle, could have any concept of what the Dark One really is, what Creation really is.

Even what the Chosen experience when connecting with the Dark One in Shayol Ghul is still filtered through the lens of the Pattern and their own human consciousness. Even they know basically nothing of what the Dark One truly is, why he (we should say it) exists, or even the great cosmic reason for this never-ending conflict. It is ridiculous to imagine that the Dark One thinks like a human at all, or that his true desires and motivations could even be understood by a mere mortal.

It’s ironic that Moridin has recognized the ridiculousness (which I myself have often pointed out) of the other Forsaken’s belief that they will get to rule and enjoy themselves for eternities once the Dark One wins the Last Battle. And yet he doesn’t ever question his own assumptions about what the endgame will look like.

Moridin just wants to stop existing, I think. He doesn’t think there will be anything good for him once the Dark One wins, and seems to believe that everything will just end. Since he believes that the Dark One’s victory is inevitable, it kind of feels like he just wants to get the whole thing over with. If it was just the case of giving up the fight, he could have chosen to opt out of the battle against the Dark, refusing to suffer for a lost cause and trying to find a place to avoid as much of it as possible. But that’s not what he did. Instead, he chose to dedicate himself to the Dark One and to become his most powerful and effective soldier, which does seem to suggest a desire to hasten inevitably along.

Destroyed by his own logic, indeed.

(I feel called to note, at this point, that some of the things Ishamael said in the television show about hating the cycle of rebirth and just wanting to be done with it are affecting my read of Moridin now. I don’t see anything in the book to contradict the show’s presentation of Ishamael, though of course Ishamael’s desires and beliefs might have been simplified somewhat to work on the small screen, where there isn’t as much time for long-winded musings and where themes often need to be a bit… crisper.)

Ishamael’s choice to accept the Light’s defeat also shows that he doesn’t value the good things in the world. One could argue that, even if the Dark One will win someday, every Age that survives, every person who lives out a life, is worth it. Ishamael deciding that none of that matters because the Dark One will win eventually is a bit like if we today decided not to take care of our planet because we know that in, like, five billion years or whatever, the sun is going to turn into a red giant and engulf the earth.

Think about it. How many times has the Wheel turned fully? We don’t know, but it could be millions, or quadrillions, or a number far outside our comprehension. And if the Dark One only needs to win once, it’s possible that he has been defeated for, I don’t know, a googolplex of times and never won once.

The odds at any given time might seem to be against the Light, but when you look at it from a cosmic perspective, the odds for defeating the Dark One this time around actually look really, really good.

I’m not sure which, if any, of these ideas Rand is thinking, or if he’s not thinking any of them. From Rand’s point of view, it might be enough to know that the Dark One’s victory and the destruction of the world is unacceptable, and so he will not accept it.

And that, I think, shows us that Rand is still in there. No matter how hard he has tried to cut himself off from his emotions and how much he resents the suffering he has undergone, and how little he trusts even those closest to him, he is still willing to suffer, willing to fight, and that shows that he hasn’t lost his love for the world.

Moridin, on the other hand, clearly has. Maybe he never had it—one consistent trait of all the Forsaken is only caring about themselves, and Elan/Ishamael is probably no different in that respect, even if he very much is in other ways.

I’m curious about the place where Moridin and Rand met. My best guess is that Rand found his way into Moridin’s actual dreams, not in Tel’aran’rhiod but in Moridin’s own head. It makes sense to me that Moridin is the sort to have a lucid dream—he’s all messed up on True Power, after all, and he’s so dramatic in all his imagery. It might also be a real place, and the same place that Rand visited last time, but it is clearly somehow outside the regular pattern. A vacuole, maybe—those are bubbles that are outside of the Pattern, technically, so it makes sense that the One Power would feel far away and that the experience would feel very different from being inside the Pattern. Being technically outside the Pattern could even explain why Lews Therin was no longer in Rand’s head while he was there; Rand traveled to somewhere else, but the corruption of his connection to a different time, a different Age, is part of his experience of the Pattern.

Speaking of Lews Therin, Rand and Min’s differing assessments of what that presence is, and what it isn’t, were both fascinating. I think they both had a point; neither were entirely right, but neither were entirely wrong, either. Rand’s madness is not him imagining Lews Therin is talking to him while in reality it’s just his own mind speaking to him; I do think Lews Therin is really “there” in some metaphysical sense. But Min is correct in pointing out that Lews Therin and Rand are the same person—in so far as they are the same soul. The madness is not Rand hallucinating that Lews Therin is there when he isn’t, it’s the fact that Rand’s mind is experiencing a consciousness from a previous incarnation, that he has become a single soul with two consciousnesses.

Or something like that. I think it’s a little less straightforward than how I have described it, but the gist is correct. Rand tries to “prove” that Lews Therin is a completely different person by pointing out that Lews Therin has memories and knowledge that Rand doesn’t. However, we have seen Rand instinctually use weaves he was never taught, even before Lews Therin manifested in his mind, which shows at the very least an ability to invent weaves on the spot, and may in fact suggest some kind of connection to the knowledge and power his soul had before, or that is perhaps written into the soul, outside of whatever person and consciousness it has during any given incarnation.

Lews Therin’s presence in Rand’s mind may be a corruption of something that was always meant to be there to protect and guide the soul called the Dragon in his fight for the Light.

In any case, I hope that this conversation will spur on more conversations between Rand and Min about Lews Therin, and I think that if it does, they may actually be able to get to some kind of understanding. Min needs to recognize that telling Rand that his interpretations of his experiences are wrong isn’t helpful. Even if she is right and he is hallucinating Lews Therin entirely, a madman is not going to be able to understand and accept that you are right and they are wrong. The madman’s inability to distinguish the difference is part of the problem!

However, I do think Min could offer Rand some helpful perspective in how to view and engage with Lews Therin’s presence. Rand either misremembered or misunderstood what Semirhage said about his madness; he suggests that Semirhage said that he was wrong about Lews Therin being in his mind and insists to Min that he is real, but Semirhage actually never said that Lews Therin wasn’t real. She did say that Rand is insane, but she also said that Lews Therin being real made the situation worse.

Lews Therin isn’t Rand, and Rand isn’t Lews Therin. However, they are both born of the same soul, and in that way they are the same person. Min has the details wrong, but I do think she has the right idea here, and I do wonder if she might be able to help Rand find a new perspective on the whole citation. Rand is afraid of Lews Therin as he is afraid of himself, but you can’t be at war with yourself. Rand needs to be able to accept the part of himself that was Lews Therin, just as Lews Therin needs to find a way to forgive himself for what he did when he was mad. Or at least to let it go.

Exactly what kind of peace and equilibrium one should be seeking out between oneself and an older version of oneself? I am sure I don’t know. But I do think that this is the right direction to be taking things.

I was also struck by a piece of the vision Min saw around Rand when she decided to take a moment to let it all in. Most were either too vague to mean anything, or something we’ve encountered before like the darkness and the sparks of light, but there was also, specifically, a mention of three woman around a pyre, which immediately made me think of Rand’s three lovers and how he believes that he is going to die at the Last Battle.

Personally, I have always believed that Rand will survive, both because it doesn’t feel like the kind of story where the chosen one sacrifices everything and then dies at the end, and also because Rand is so convinced he’s going to die. After all, the prophecies don’t say he will die, only that his blood will be on the rocks at Shayol Ghul. But it’s hard to imagine that his vision of three women around a funeral pyre, seen while Min is studying Rand, isn’t a portent of his death. So that is something to consider.

I do love that Min has become a scholar. It gives her a little more agency in the story, and, again as she herself observes, shows that her relevance to the events of her Age is not just about making Rand accept love and care. She has something important to offer the world in the fight against the Dark One.

I had guessed that “clearing away the rubble” referred to breaking the seals so that the Dark One’s cage can be made whole again. The idea has come up obliquely a few times, and as we know, the cyclical nature of time means that the Dark One’s prison has to be made perfect and whole again so that people can forget about the Dark One and thus make the mistake of drilling the Bore when that Age comes back around the Wheel again.

Rand even mentions, in this section, his intention to seal the Dark One away so thoroughly that people will forget about his existence. Some part of him knows, I think, what must be done. What will be done, and has been done before.

There isn’t that much to say about Cadsuane’s section, but I do enjoy watching her work and seeing how she thinks. She’s close to realizing something about Semirhage, I think, which is that the Forsaken only cares about her image. If Cadsuane can destroy that, make her look weak or foolish in the eyes of others, I think she might have a chance to actually break the Forsaken.

The a’dam would be a good tool for that, of course, but Cadsuane is clever, as are the Wise Ones. I think it can be done, but not as long as everyone shows how scared they are of Semirhage. As long as people are visibly sickened by her stories and frightened by her threats, Semirhage has the upper hand.

I can’t blame Rand, really, for refusing to let Cadsuane test the male a’dam. It is a good idea, and Cadsuane showed both practicality and intense bravery in trying it herself, even if she was with women she trusted. But Rand, quite understandably, doesn’t have the strength to endure an experience like wearing the a’dam, even as a test, and would either lose it entirely or maybe find a way to kill everyone around him even while wearing it. And with how guilty he already feels about the moral gray areas he has had to explore, I can’t imagine him inflicting that horror on someone else, even if an Asha’man were willing to do it. I’m not sure I could ask such a thing of another human being, if I were in his shoes.

The fact that the Seanchan have replicated the male a’dam is horrible, though, and I’m quite sure this isn’t the last we will hear about that.

Sorilea and Cadsuane talk a little in chapter 14 about Rand believing that women can’t handle pain as well as men, which was interesting to me since that isn’t quite why he has his injunction against harming women. He knows women are strong, just as he tells Min that he knows she is strong—it’s he himself who can’t handle the suffering of women. The problem is, and always has been, Rand’s own difficult emotions and his inability to navigate them in a healthy way. Or… at all, really.

I am still enjoying Cadsuane and Sorilea’s uneasy alliance, and the way that Cadsuane recognizes an equal in Sorilea, something she doesn’t even see in most Aes Sedai. In many ways, Cadsuane thinks like an Aiel, however much their goals and intentions may not align. I hope we get to see more of them working together.

And finally, I want to make note of Cadsuane’s last line in chapter 14. Sorilea has just said that they must solve the problem of Rand al’Thor for the good of the world. Cadsuane adds that they must do it for Rand himself, most of all.

This moment, for me, was like the moment Verin decided not to poison Cadsuane. It shows that Cadsuane is a good person, that for all her main goal is to see the world safely to, and through, the Last Battle, she hasn’t lost sight of her own humanity, or of Rand al’Thor’s. I don’t think Cadsuane’s perspective on Rand is quite right, and she is in danger of making him worse if she doesn’t change her approach, but this shows, I think, that at least her heart is in the right place.

We’ll cover Aviendha’s section next week, finishing up chapter 15, and then move on to chapter 16, in which things really come to a head for Egwene. It’s a great chapter, and I can’t wait to talk about it. See you all then![end-mark]

The post Reading The Wheel of Time: Philosophy Has Upsides and Downsides in <i>The Gathering Storm</i> (Part 10) appeared first on Reactor.

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Reading The Wheel of Time:The Gathering Storm (Part 9)

Egwene and Gawyn examine the division of the White Tower…

By Sylas K Barrett

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Published on November 25, 2025

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This week on Reading the Wheel of Time, we will visit Egwene in the White Tower and then Gawyn in Dorlan, as each learns a little more about the Aes Sedai and how the rest of the White Tower work. Egwene makes progress in her mission to save the Tower, and Gawyn learns a little about Egwene’s fate. It’s chapter 12 and 13 of The Gathering Storm!

In the White Tower, Egwene has been summoned for lessons by Bennae Nalsad. She is puzzled why Bennae would summon her a second time—sisters never ask to give her more than one lesson. Under the cover of testing Egwene’s ability to think like an Aes Sedai and manage difficult situations, Bennae basically admits that she has gotten in trouble for asking about the Thirteenth Depository, something she was not supposed to know about. Egwene deftly deduces why Bennae’s superiors might be alarmed that someone found out a secret she should not, and gives Beanne a clever and diplomatic way of handling the situation.

Leaving Bennae’s quarters, Egwene finds a novice waiting with a summons to Nagora, a White Sitter, in which she is presented with a very similar test about managing an aging Warder. Next, she is summoned to Suana Dragand, who tests her on healing weaves and remarks that the Yellows would very much like to have Egwene in their ranks.

Cautiously, Egwene asks Suana about the division between the Ajahs, and pushes her to start trying to do something about it with the other Sitters. Suana is reluctant to accept Egwene’s advice, but she doesn’t give Egwene punishment for calling Suana by her first name.

Finally, she meets with Meidani, who attempts to resist regarding Egwene as Amyrlin. Egwene’s stronger will quickly wins out, however, and she begins to question Meidani about why she remained in the Tower after the identity of the rebel spies was discovered, and why she takes dinner with Elaida so frequently. When Meidani’s answers are unsatisfactory, Egwene begins to suspect that the Three Oaths are somehow involved. Attempting to circumvent these, she asks if Meidani can show Egwene why she cannot leave the Tower. After some hesitation, Meidani decides she might be able to.

Since they cannot leave together without raising the suspicion of Egwene’s guards or members of the Red Ajah, she decides she must trust Meidani with the secret of Traveling. After Meidani assures her that she accepts Egwene’s leadership and promises not to share what Egwene reveals to her without Egwene’s permission, Egwene demonstrates the weave to make a gateway. Meidanai is strong enough to replicate the weave and open a gateway, and after expressing surprise at how easy it was to accept Egwene’s leadership, she takes Egwene through it.

Egwene is surprised when she emerges in a disused corridor deep in the Tower, and more surprised when Meidani warns her that what she encounters may be dangerous. 

She knocks on a door and Warder answers, clearly surprised to see Egwene. Inside, Egwene finds four sitters, all of different Ajahs. They are shocked and upset that Meidani has managed to circumvent her oath, and begin to upbraid her, while Egwene is switched with air for speaking without leave. Egwene figures out that Meidani has been given a fourth oath, and is appalled.

As the discussion continues, Egwene persists in speaking as an authority and demanding answers from the others, forcing them to meet her and debate that subject. Realizing that Saerin is the leader of the group, she focuses on her, and Saerin proceeds to use logic to explain to Egwene why she cannot be Amyrlin. But Egwene refutes every point, ending with the fact that one of the Sitters who voted to dispose Elaida has turned out to be a member of the Black, therefore rendering her vote invalid. Since Siuan was deposed by the bare minimum of Sitters required, that makes the unseating stilling of Siuan, and the murder of her Warder, an unlawful act.

They are forced to concede her point, and Egwene presses the matter by pointing out that they are all serving the shadow as long as they remain divided. After making Meidani confirm in front of the others that she accepts Egwene as Amyrlin and will follow her orders, Egwene declares:

Egwene asks if they have the oath rod with them now, and is disappointed that they don’t. Still, she charges them to obtain it as soon as possible and to remove the fourth oath of obedience from Meidani. Saerin only answers that they will consider it, prompting Egwene to tell them that the Hall will eventually be told what they did, and that she would like to tell the Hall that they were not seeking Power.

With a parting shot about them being able to summon her if they want to talk and a mention of her ability to Travel, Egwene leaves, followed by Meidani, who expresses astonishment over Egwene’s success when she should have been “strung up by [her] heels and howling.”

As they head back, Meidani remarks that Egwene really is the Amyrlin.

In Dorlan, Gawyn is sparring against two Warders, Sleete and Marlesh. Sleete is a very skilled swordsman while Marlesh is a serviceable one, but Gawyn beats them in the fight, as he has the previous two times they have sparred. Sleete extends him quiet respect, while Marlesh suggests that they find Gawyn a sword with a Heron mark on it. Gawyn insists that he is not a Blademaster. Marlesh countered by reminding him that he killed Hammar, and that he should have taken that Blademaster’s sword when Hammar fell.

Once Marlesh has gone off with his Aes Sedai, Sleete takes Gawyn aside and tells him about how, despite being a Green, his Aes Sedai, Hattori, only has one Warder. Sleete tells Gawyn that Hattori asked Sleete to be the one to look for men worthy enough to join them, and Sleete has finally found a man he would like to add to the team—Gawyn himself.

Gawyn is flattered but reminds Sleete that his loyalty is to Andor. Sleete counters that Gawyn has served the White Tower and fought with the Warders, and that he is one of them now. He also suggests that, to have Gawyn, Hattori would move to Caemlyn.

Gawyn agrees to think over the offer, then sets one of the Younglings to keep watch for anyone coming by and proceeds to cautiously ask Sleete what he thinks of what happened in the Tower. Sleete replies that it is bad, that Aes Sedai should never fight Aes Sedai and Warder should never fight Warder. When Gawyn presses him, Sleete tells Gawyn that there are wise heads in the Tower, who will eventually do the right thing and end the division—with fighting if necessary, hopefully another way. He tells Gawyn that nothing is worth this division.

He also admits that Hattori doesn’t have much influence in among the Aes Sedai, but that she didn’t like the feel of the White Tower and so volunteered for the mission to al’Thor, not knowing what it was really about. She just didn’t want to be in the Tower.

He also tells Gawyn that Hammar would have understood why Gawyn made the choices that he made, and that they were both doing their duty and that there were no good decisions to make that day.

Gawyn is left pondering this, and is even tempted to agree to be bonded by Hattori, but he knows that he could never be happy as a Warder, except if he was Warder to Egwene. And Gawyn doesn’t trust Aes Sedai, even if he has supported him.

After briefly trying to get into a meeting of the high-ranking Aes Sedai and being refused, Gawyn finishes inspecting his men, thinking about how he only supported Elaida because of the way Siuan treated Egwene and Elayne. But he has to ask himself if Elaida would treat them any better.

Gawyn is shocked when he runs into Katerine Alruddin, who left the camp for the White Tower a week ago. He overhears part of her conversation with some other sisters about the wilder Accepted that the rebels made a fake Amyrlin, and how the girl had been captured and “made to howl every day.” And then he hears the name “al’Vere.”

He stops Katerine, asking with as much respect as his stunned mind can manage for her to tell him about the rebel Amyrlin. Katerine confirms the name, and Gawyn also learns that Traveling has been rediscovered—this is how Katerine returned to Dorlan without anyone knowing, and is presumably how Gareth Bryne’s army is supplying itself.

But all Gawyn can think about is how Egwene has been captured, and is being tortured and probably stilled. How she will soon be executed. He realizes he has to go to her, and he can’t let any of the Younglings knows what he is doing—they will remain loyal to the Aes Sedai over him, if forced to choose.

He uses going on a routine inspection of the outer camp as cover for his departure, and his own lieutenants believe him, although the protest his going alone. But Sleete appears as Gawyn is saddling his horse, and makes it clear that he knows what Gawyn is really doing.

Gawyn knows that Sleete could stop him if he wanted to—Gawyn might best him in a fight, but even if he killed Sleete, the fighting would draw the attention of others. He asks why Sleete isn’t trying to stop him.

Okay but where is that?

Rude little cliffhanger there, Sanderson.

The only thing I can think of is… is Gawyn going to the rebel camp? Since he has learned that they made Egwene their Amyrlin, even if he thinks that they are using her and treating her badly, they would still ostensibly want her back, and I can’t think of any other allies Gawyn would have access to. He doesn’t know that Elayne has taken the throne, and she’s too far away anyway, and the only other person who might theoretically want to fight the White Tower to save Egwene is Rand. And I can’t see Gawyn believing that Rand would protect Egwene—he clearly believes that Egwene doesn’t understand that Rand has changed, and is only sticking to his promise out of loyalty to her, not because he thinks there is a chance she might be right that Rand isn’t the villain he appears to be, and actually didn’t kill Morgase.

Gosh, it sure would be useful if Morgase revealed herself again. I don’t know what it would take for her to feel safe doing that. She might want to wait until she with someone she knows—even if Perrin and Faile seem like good, trustworthy people, revealing her identity is still something of a risk, and after everything she has been through, she will probably only feels safe when she is back in Caemlyn and Elayne’s rule is solid and secure.

In any case, I’ve been reflecting this week on how, even though we didn’t really learn anything in chapter 13 about Gawyn that we didn’t already know, this was the first chapter that really made me feel like I understood, and could empathize with, his perspective and struggles.

I think this is because of the way the tight POV often gives us an unreliable narrator. For me, at least, it’s easy to forget how little information Gawyn has, even post Dumai’s Wells, about the division in the White Tower and the current politics. With the exception of how obvious it is that Elaida is trying to kill off the Younglings, he has no context to understand why Siuan made the choices she did, or why she was deposed, or how the Aes Sedai are viewing this civil war within the Tower. 

As a reader, I find it easy to get frustrated when characters don’t have access to the information we have, and that has been especially true of Gawyn, since both his hatred of Siuan and his belief that Rand killed his mother are completely reasonable from his point of view, but so unreasonable with just a little bit of context that he doesn’t have access to.

This theme of access to information (and lack thereof) is a huge one in the Wheel of Time. And when it comes to the division in the White Tower, it’s easy (for me, anyway) to forget how little even most Aes Sedai know about what happened. It really helped me have a nuanced perspective when Egwene pointed out the dangers of conducting important business like the removal of an Amyrlin in secret. For me, this really threw into relief how confusing the whole experience would have been for anyone not involved in the secret meeting of the Sitters to decide Siuan’s deposal. It isn’t just that Aes Sedai who were out of the Tower don’t know the context Siuan’s removal or why half the Tower reacted violently against it—most of the sisters in the Tower during the fighting wouldn’t have understood what happened, and would have been required to make a very quick decision, in some cases after the fighting had already broken out, about who to trust and who to support, which is part of the reason that some of the split ran along Aah lines—no Red was going to question if Elaida was raised legally, and no Blue was going to believe that Siuan’s deposal was justified or fair.

We saw a bit of what that experience would have been like during the chapter in which it happened, because much of it was seen through Min’s eyes. But Min isn’t Aes Sedai, so I think it was still easy to discount how bewildering the situation was for most of the sisters themselves, and even moreso for their Warders and for the other members of the Tower, like the Guards and the Younglings.

It gives me a lot more empathy for the undecided sisters, those who were out of the Tower when the devision occurred and who are now trying to wait out the conflict without taking sides. We have seen Elayne and Nynaeve get frustrated, asking themselves how any of them could still be considering siding with Elaida, and while I think there is a point at which the undecided sisters do have a moral obligation to learn as much as they can so they can make a choice and help restore the White Tower, I can understand much better the difficulty of their position now than I could when I was in Nynaeve or Elyane’s perspective. Or when I am in the perspective of any of the other rebel Aes Sedai, for that matter.

Sleete’s conversation with Gawyn is actually the first time we’ve gotten a clear idea of how the Warders felt about what happened, and it was very poignant how closely his sentiments echoed those Egwene expressed to the Black Ajah hunters. The Warders know even less about why the conflict erupted than the average Aes Sedai—most sisters don’t discuss Tower business with their Warders, and while I think most Warders are very loyal to the White Tower and all Aes Sedai, their first and primary loyalty and focus is to their personal sister—they follow her lead above all, even to the point of fighting against other Warders.

We don’t get to see how painful that must have been for the Warders in question. As Gawyn is reflecting on Sleete’s journey returning to his Aes Sedai after being injured at Dumai’s Wells, he thinks about how very few people ever know about the work Warders do, and that few of them are remembered, except by other Warders. “You [don’t] forget your own.”

These Warders were called on to cut their brothers down, and while Gawyn’s guilt and grief is very real, it must have been so much worse for men who have lived in the White Tower side by side for years and years. Gawyn is a newcomer to the Tower, after all, and although he respected his teachers like Hammar, they weren’t his family.

Sleete sees the fighting and division of the Tower as one of the worst things that could happen, but he doesn’t seem to hold any grudges. His desire is the same as Egwene’s—to see the White Tower reunited and the two factions made friends and partners again. If that takes violence, then it must be done with violence, but the goal is not to punish the losing side for their transgressions. It is to make the White Tower truly whole, again.

And perhaps that is the biggest argument for Elaida being removed from the Amyrlin Seat. Egwene’s argument that her raising was unlawful because at least one member of the Black Ajah was involved in her raising is a great weapon because of how important Tower law is to the Aes Sedai, but the best moral augment is that Elaida wants to continue dividing the Aes Sedai. No sister should be okay with an entire Ajah being dissolved. No sister should accept an Amyrlin demoting a full Aes Sedai back to being an apprentice. If Egwene offers a true reunification, than for the good of the White Tower and the world, it feels like the duty of every Aes Sedai to choose her path over Elaida’s, whether or not Elaida was raised legally or not.

Honestly, given the state of the White Tower, I’d argue that there is more than enough grounds to depose Elaida legally, if that was an option the current Sitters in the Tower wanted to pursue.

In any case, I was very moved by the way that Sleete expressed a confidence in the Aes Sedai’s ability to do the right thing and to get through this trial, a faith in the White Tower to heal itself. And when it comes to Gawyn, I’ve been sympathetic to his struggle to come to terms with his actions during the fighting, especially his guilt over killing the Warders, but his sections have overall felt a little silly to me, because it feels so obvious to me, the readers that Elaida is terrible and that she is trying to get rid of the Younglings. His sections always felt a bit whiney to me, but I think I’ve been too hard on the guy. He was thrust into a dangerous and confusing position and made the best guess he could and he’s had to live with those consequences ever since.

I really appreciated Sleete taking the time to absolve him for Hammar’s death—Sleete himself probably killed Warders that day, and he understands that neither he, nor any of the other Warders, nor Gawyn and his Younglings were responsible for what happened that day. Hopefully, letting go of that guilt will allow Gawyn to see a little more clearly, and he won’t feel like he has to stay on the path he has chosen because abandoning it would mean that he was wrong to fight Hammar.

Gawyn reflects that he could never be a Warder except to Egwene, but I don’t know how he could be Warder to an Aes Sedai and first prince of the sword, unless he was Warder to Elayne. Sleete makes the point that Hattori would go to Andor if it meant bonding Gawyn, but there would still be a conflict of interest, and I can’t see how Gawyn could manage two dueling loyalties that way.

Speaking of Hattori, she is another example of a sister with less power who is overlooked due to the Aes Sedai hierarchy system, and I am kind of in love with her and Sleete. Their circumstances are different, but there is something that reminds me of Moiraine and Lan, and I’d happily read a whole book just about Hattori and Sleete having adventures.

Also the point that Hattori felt the dark influences in Tower and wanted to get away from them is fascinating.

Egwene’s journey in Chapter 12 was also fascinating. We got to see her display her skills in leadership and diplomacy, which we have seen before but have always felt a bit secondary, in my eyes, to her strength of will and strength in the Power. We see her able to use logic as well as any White Sister, offer political and social guidance to women much older and more experienced than her, and deftly suss out the truth about Meidani and the secret cabal of Black Ajah hunters. I have so much empathy for Meidani ​​and all the Salidar spies, caught by the hunt for Black Ajah members and forced to be bound by an oath of obedience. Obviously there is a difference of degree, but it’s impossible not to think of Galina’s despair as she was held by Therava. Especially in Meidani’s case, since she is being forced to be in proximity to Elaida, who is not unlike Therava when it comes to sadistic tendencies.

I am really hopeful that Egwene’s involvement will help ease things for Meidani. She will still have to interact with Elaida, but if she feels like those sending her on such a dangerous mission actually have her back, that danger will feel very different, and she will perhaps be strengthened by Egwene’s faith in her and acknowledgement of her service.

Egwene points out to Seaine, Doesine, Yukiri, and Saerin that “loyalty is better earned than forced,” and boy does that ever sum up the reason she is going to beat Elaida in the end. Beyond the fact that Egwene has a better idea of what needs to be done to deal with Rand and to prepare the White Tower for the Last Battle, beyond Elaida’s need for personal glory, beyond even her inability to see how those left in the Tower are being divided against each other to the point where the entire White Tower is about to fall apart for good, Elaida can only envisage commanding loyalty through punishment and decrees, up to the point that she is considering putting an oath to the Amyrlin in with the Three Oaths that sisters swear when they are raised. Elaida punishes and hounds and frightens and chases, Egwene leads.

The Amyrlin is called Mother after all. She is not a monarch, or a general, or a dictator. She is the highest in the hierarchy of power, but she is meant to care for her daughters, to teach and guide them. And from everything we have seen, especially since she has been captured, Egwene is prepared to do just that.

This, I think, is what Meidani is speaking about when she exclaims at the end of the chapter that Egwene really is the Amyrlin. Egwene is confused because Meidani has already formally acknowledged this fact and agreed to obey her as the Amyrlin, but that was because Meidani had little choice, and because she was maneuvered into accepting the logic and lawfulness of Egwene’s position. Egwene’s ability and desire to care for her people, however, is a completely different and higher aspect of being Amyrlin, as is her ability to understand what truely makes the White Tower.

Egwene’s readiness to praise Silviana for doing here duty, even though it comes at a personal cost to Egwene, shows how she can rise above petty feelings of injury and vengeance and put the good of the Tower before all, and that is what Meidani is awed by.

Looks like the secret about Traveling is finally out of the bag, though. Katerine is teaching it to the sisters in Dorlan to help deal with Bryne and the rebel army, and it’s not going to take very long for everyone else to learn it, I think. Elaida’s followers knowing how to Travel isn’t great for Egwene and the rebels, but I can’t help thinking about how the Seanchan have captured Aes Sedai who know about Traveling, which means that they almost certainly have it or will have it shortly.

Since we know that Egwene’s dreams are always true, this means that the Seanchan are going to attack the White Tower, and I’m sure they will do so using Traveling. The Tower Aes Sedai knowing Traveling can’t stop the Seanchan from having that advantage, but perhaps they will be able to better maneuver if they have the weave as well.

Gosh, I really am worried about that attack. I don’t want to see even one more woman collared by the Seanchan, and I know that they will be. I’m still really upset about the Wise Ones Tylee carried off.

Speaking of Wise Ones, it looks like Cadsuane is going to be calling in Sorilea to help in the interrogation of Semirhage in chapter 14, and I think that is going to be really, really interesting to read. And then we’ll be checking in with Rand again in chapter 15.

I hope everyone has a great week, and I’ll see you next time![end-mark]

The post Reading The Wheel of Time:<i>The Gathering Storm</i> (Part 9) appeared first on Reactor.

Books Wind and Truth Reread

Wind and Truth Reread: Chapters 133-136

Tables are turned, knives are out, Blades are reclaimed, and a throne is saved!

By Paige Vest, Lyndsey Luther, Drew McCaffrey

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Published on December 1, 2025

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Happy Monday, Sanderfans, and welcome back to our Wind and Truth Reread! Hoo-boy, do we have a doozy of a week. The Sanderlanche is fully Sanderlanching and we’re rapidly shuffling from POV to POV like a deck of cards. We see Adolin *cue angelic songs from the heavens* kicking some major ass, Maya returning with deadeyes in tow, Dalinar refusing to kill Gavinor, Shallan’s climactic encounter with Iyatil, Szeth leveling up and then… well, you know. Let’s get to it, shall we?

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

Chapter 133, “Puppet,” opens with Adolin growing more and more exhausted as he tries to avoid getting Shardbladed to death by Abidi the Monarch. Adolin focuses his concentration and goes on the offense, managing to strike Abidi in the side, several times, shocking the Fused. As he fights, Adolin thinks of how he had promised to help Azir and questions why he had done so. His father trained him to be a weapon but his mother… his mother tried to make him into a weapon that had meaning. And Adolin begins to understand himself, letting go of his anger over Evi’s death. He knows that he can be the man she wanted him to be.

Abidi lunges for Adolin, who blocks the Blade with the candelabra and rams his sword straight through the Plate’s eye slit into Abidi’s eye. To no avail. Abidi is able to heal. Storming stupid Fused! Abidi lifts Adolin into the air and Adolin knows he’s about to die, realizing that he’ll never be enough, no matter how he tries. Abidi begins ranting, but his monologue is cut short when Adolin laughs as he realizes his purpose, as Maya told him he would. He says, “Yes, I’ll lead them.” Then he humbly asks for a little help. Abidi thinks he’s begging, but Adolin isn’t asking him for help.

When Abidi hurls Adolin across the room at a wall, his Plate, worn by Abidi, suddenly flies apart and surrounds Adolin just as he crashes into the stone surface. His Plate spren have apparently come to life and chosen him over Abidi, who is shocked. The Plate spren work to accommodate his missing leg, fortifying the Plate to give him a new leg and foot. Then… oh, storms, then an orange-red light starts to glow from the joints of the armor and from his helm. There are no symbols—he is not Radiant, after all—but his Plate is alive.

 As Adolin charges toward Abidi, the Fused feels fear for what may very well be the first time.

POV Shift!

Szeth is getting the tar beat out of him by his father and the other Honorbearers. But he realizes that they’re being used as puppets, unable to act of their own accord, being controlled by Ishar. His father asks for help even as he throws Szeth about and pummels him. Ishar yells at Szeth to just do what he says and Szeth thinks back to all the times he’d asked someone else about the right thing to do: his father, the Farmer, the captain of the guard. Finally, finally, he realizes that he will never again do as his masters require—and he skips right over the Fourth Ideal and swears the Fifth.

Chapter 134 is titled “The Third Way.” Shallan manages to plant her anti-Stormlight knife into Formless’ eye. Of course, it’s actually Iyatil using a Lightweaving. She tries to heal herself but, as mentioned, she has an anti-Stormlight knife in her eye, and Iyatil handily does away with herself as her Stormlight meets the anti-Stormlight. Mraize knocks Shallan to the side just a fraction too late and tries to help Iyatil before he sees that she’s dead. He whispers that he’s free, then immediately questions Shallan about how she knew it was Iyatil and how they knew about Formless.

Mraize closes Iyatil’s remaining eye and sneakily takes something from her belt. Shallan tries to convince him not to fight, creates a Lightweaving of him as he could be, traveling the cosmere to help people. He’s not swayed. He tells her he’ll take her directly to Thaidakar, who may forgive her if she joins them.

Radiant asks if she needs to take over but Shallan replies that she can handle it, with Pattern’s help.

POV Shift!

Yanagawn grips a sword and waits nervously outside the throne room with the remainder of their small crew while hundreds of singers and Regals lurk just down the corridor in both directions. He asks why they haven’t attacked and Colot says they’re waiting for something—he guesses that they’ve been ordered to wait. Kushkam agrees that they’re waiting and asks why, but Colot has no idea. Yanagawn thinks of the four ways to win and realizes that the only hope is a “random turning of the tides.”

At that moment, the doors of the throne room burst open and Abidi the Monarch flies out of the room and smashes into the wall on the far side of the corridor. Then Adolin walks out and crushes Abidi’s chest, destroying his gemheart.

Woot-woot! Adolin Kholin, I storming adore you!

POV Shift!

Szeth speaks the Fifth Ideal, light explodes around Szeth, and the Honorbearers all fall to the ground, shielding their eyes. Kaladin then approaches Ishar and says he needs to talk to him while he can see clearly. Alas, Ishar is not affected positively by the Oath being accepted. He begins railing about Dalinar, calling him an “imitation Bondsmith”:

Chapter 135 is titled “The Choice of Honor” and we’re back with Adolin! Yay! Maya speaks to him, says she thought he had died when he vanished. He explains her about the aluminum and assures her he handled it. Then he asks Noura about the deadline. They have ten minutes. They have to hold the throne room for ten long minutes. Notum tells him there are at least twelve Fused among the singer troops and that one is taking charge with Abidi dead. Adolin fears his friends will die immediately in an assault and that he’ll be dragged down and stabbed through the eyes.

Then the faceplate’s holes are filled and air flows through his armor. That’s handy now, isn’t it? But still, the enemy is about ready to attack and if they drag him down, they’ll still be able to shatter his plate and kill him. The singers start to chant and Maya reminds him that she’s there and her friends can help. Adolin says he doesn’t think a few more honorspren will be of help and there’s a little confusion over that. So she shows him where she is in Shadesmar, accompanied by dozens of deadeyes. Adolin realizes he’d made a mistake in sending her when they were thinking of different kinds of help.

Several of the deadeyes try to speak but cannot, though Adolin can sense their feelings.

Adolin doesn’t want to take advantage of them when they’ve already given so much but they recognize his injury—they, like he, have been wounded, and he realizes that sometimes you have to just keep going.

Oh, my feels! Adolin’s character arc over the course of the books, and especially since the Radiants returned, has been fraught with doubt and feelings of inadequacy. He’s grown so, so much, through his courtship with Shallan and his friendship with Kaladin. And to see him realizing the importance of promises and learning to accept himself as he is… oh, Sanderfans, it gives me such deep feels. (Although I didn’t cry this time.)

Then Adolin is back in the palace, mere seconds having passed, and he tells Maya he needs nine Blades and Plate. Then he shouts to the Unoathed to arm up. They don’t understand, of course, but then the Shardblades appear, each with a Plate helmet.

Chills down my spine!

POV Shift!

Renarin and Rlain are still discussing what to do with Mishram, and Rlain insists that they have to let her go. Renarin agrees, observing that they should be able to shatter the gem, considering that it’s already cracked. Rlain says they both need to free her so she can see human and singer working together. And so together, they pick up the gemstone.

POV Shift!

Szeth is restored by Stormlight and turns to his spren to thank it for trying to help him. Szeth says that all men should be the law, should follow the law. Then he announces that 12124 is the wrong spren for him and that if he’s to choose, he would choose another. He’ll seek out the dissenters and find another spren… then he releases his spren from its bond. It’s painful, but he knows it’s the right thing to do. Nale’s spren appears and chastises 12124 for giving Szeth too much power.

Man, highspren are such jerks. Except for Aux, of course.

The spren disappears into the Cognitive Realm and Szeth hopes it will be well. Then Ishar pretty much tells Szeth he’s an idiot. Szeth knows that the Honorbearers will soon return to Ishar’s control, so he fetches Nightblood. He asks if the sword destroys the souls of the people he eats forever. Nightblood says that he doesn’t, that they’re just changed. Szeth says he must destroy one last time but Ishar stops him, telling him the sword will consume him.

Ishar then Connects himself to Szeth and shows him the darkness that he holds at bay, the sorrow in the hearts of the Heralds. Szeth screams.

POV Shift!

Yanagawn grabs a helmet and dons it, and the rest of the Plate forms around him. He takes a Blade and turns to meet the singers who are charging toward them. The others suit up as Yanagawn did and Adolin gets the guard from the smuggler’s port, plus Noura and Rahel, telling the three of them that they must hold the room. He instructs Noura to sit on the throne and tells the others to make sure nobody sneaks in while the rest of them are busy fighting. Noura takes the Blade of Memories and they go to hold the throne. Adolin summons Maya, who is ready to kick some Fused ass. Damn, I love Maya.

POV Shift!

Kaladin tries to pull Ishar away from Szeth and he also becomes Connected to the Herald. He sees the darkness, too, and it smothers him, consumes him. Ishar commands Kaladin to feel it, telling him that this is what the Heralds would feel all the time if he didn’t hold it back. He touches Syl and she feels the darkness too, curling into a ball and weeping. Nale tries to stop Ishar and Ishar touches him, as well, telling him he must bear his own madness. Ishar then forces the Honorbearers to experience the darkness, as well.

Chapter 136 is titled “Ten People With Shardblades Alight.” We see Dalinar attacked by Gavinor as the hour of the contest arrives. Dalinar avoids the boy’s Blade as he lunges again and again. He has no weapon. The Stormfather says he thought Dalinar would know what to do and he says he’s still working on it. He tries talking to Gavinor, which does no good as Odium has shown Gav all of the bad things Dalinar had ever done—all of the bad, and none of the good.

Taravangian offers Dalinar a Shardblade, since he has no sword of his own, and Dalinar takes it reluctantly. He and Gav fight and Gav observes that he’s better than the versions of him he’s fought before when training in the Spiritual Realm. Then Dalinar throws the boy to the ground and Taravangian tells Gav not to let Dalinar trick him, and calls him “son.” This angers Dalinar, who tells Taravangian that he hates him.

Taravangian snaps his fingers and Gavinor freezes in place. He’s aware, but he can’t move. Taravangian is offering Dalinar the chance to kill Gav, and thereby win the contest and secure Alethkar.

POV Shift!

Adolin and the other Unoathed are holding the singers back. There are ten Shardbearers facing the enemy and they held. Fun tidbit: Notum has Plate and a Blade! And he saves Adolin from a Magnified One. Very cool—nice touch, Brandon!

As the singer ranks begin to break, a Fused with an Edgedancer’s abilities looks upward as if he is hearing something. Then he sighs and walks away. As do all of the others. Adolin is confused but then Noura runs from the throne room to tell them that the contest has begun. They have saved Azir!

POV Shift!

Dalinar circles Gavinor but, of course, doesn’t strike him down. He and Taravangian spar with words and Taravangian says he feels people all across Roshar, feels their pain and suffering. Feels it all across the cosmere, crying out for relief until someone brings them peace. Until he brings them peace.

Meanwhile, Gavinor is struggling against his bonds, tears running down his face. Dalinar tells Taravangian that the boy knows he’s been betrayed. All those years of training and Taravangian doesn’t even give Gav the chance to beat Dalinar. Taravangian tells Dalinar to choose to either kill Gavinor or lose the contest. Dalinar refuses.

Taravangian takes Oathbringer from Gav’s hands and drives it into the floor in front of Dalinar. He tells him he’ll be the Blackthorn again, head of Taravangian’s armies. He says it’s the greater evil but if that is Dalinar’s choice, he will accept it.

Then Taravangian says he and Odium will be one god for the whole cosmere, as it was thousands of years ago.

Of course, we know what will happen with Dalinar, and it’s heartbreaking. But we’ll get to that when the time comes.

…In the meantime, can we all just take a minute to celebrate Adolin and what an absolute badass he is?

Lyndsey’s Commentary: Character Arcs

Adolin

What a freeing feeling, to finally be able to do what you were best at again!

Teaching him empathy and kindness. One could say that Dalinar had created the iron, but Evi’s love and teachings were the forge which strengthened that iron into a perfect blade. This is something that Dalinar never truly grasped, I don’t think. He cared for the people he led in a superficial, reserved way. Adolin (and Kaladin) got to know their followers in a deeper way. They actually formed friendships, and took the time to understand and truly care about the people around them.

Does this make Adolin and Kal better leaders? Perhaps not. Having those deep friendships means that it’s going to be harder to sacrifice those followers, should the need arise. A good leader has to be ready and willing to make the hard choice of sacrificing the few to save the many. Perhaps it’s a matter of scale. Once you reach a certain rank, and the number of people following you grows to be thousands rather than dozens… do you have to extend your worldview and view your followers as numbers instead of individuals? It’s an interesting question.

Playing with semantics he may be, but the meaning is clear and moving.

I appreciate that Adolin is able to self-analyze to this extent, and in such a charged and dangerous situation! And so we finally get closure for him on this part of his emotional character arc.

Szeth

And we all rise in a wave of tumultuous applause for our poor sad boy Szeth, taking control of his own life again and finally doing what he wants to do, rather than blindly taking orders.

Incredible. To have gone through all that work, and to just… walk away? What strength. No sunk cost fallacy for Szeth, that’s for sure.

Renarin

Ouch. How many battles in history and just… life in general could be described thusly? Peace was possible… but someone just wanted to be right. Reminds me of that old meme…

Kaladin

I don’t have a specific quote for this, as the entire section of chapter 135 is what I want to address. This manifestation of depression that’s forced upon Kaladin is nothing new to him… or to me. It’s portrayed so well, here. Anyone who has ever suffered from depression will recognize the reality of these thoughts, battering against Kaladin’s mind.

Dalinar

Oof. That one hits close to home. Dalinar does have a tendency totell others what to do, doesn’t he? He has respected when others have pushed back against his orders—Adolin and Kaladin rejecting the roles he chose for them, notably—so at least there’s that. But Dalinar still assumed that he knew best what was needed in the first place, didn’t he?

Yanagawn

He really has grown into a true leader, hasn’t he?

Taravangian

What do you think, readers? Is Dalinar right about this?

The idealist in me wants to agree with Dalinar, that there’s another way, that there always has to be another way. That sacrificing your ideals on the altar of peace isn’t the only way.

But the pessimist in me wonders if Taravangian might not be right.

Drew’s Commentary: Invested Arts & Theories

Shallan’s final encounter with Mraize and Iyatil was a long time coming, in many ways, but it also gave Brandon another opportunity to drop some Cosmere teasers on us.

There are some clear differences between the Ghostbloods we see on Roshar and those we meet on Scadrial in The Lost Metal. Iyatil and Mraize seem much more inclined toward aggression and violence than the crew of Kaise and Shai and TwinSoul and the rest. But I wonder how much their organization and methods have departed, as well.

Mraize is native to Roshar, and he says here that he’s spent time in Shadesmar. But not being allowed to journey to other worlds is sticking in my craw. Kelsier obviously can’t travel beyond the Scadrian subastral (yet), and yet the Ghostbloods are a Cosmere-wide organization, with members from Roshar, Silverlight, Sel, and Dhatri in addition to Scadrial. Kaise, Dlavil, and TwinSoul have moved to Scadrial. That’s a lot of movement just among the few members we’ve met so far.

So why is Mraize stuck on Roshar? Is this just an Iyatil thing?

I have some gripes with this whole sequence, but in the context of this reread, it’s all about the lore for me. This is a MAJOR shift in how Invested Arts work on Roshar, and sets up some great possibilities for the back half of the series.

With the Knights Radiant crippled—no more Stormlight, no more Bondsmith access, dubious access to Warlight—it seems as though Sanderson is setting things up for a very new power landscape. The Listeners have access to Warlight through their prayers, but they’re more of a neutral party. Adolin’s Unoathed might very well be the core of the resistance against Retribution’s death grip on Roshar.

Speaking of new developments in how things work:

Szeth just straight-up skips the Fourth Ideal, which opens up a whole new can of worms. I feel like some Orders might be more flexible on this than others—Lightweavers, for instance, would probably be more locked into a standard progression; maybe if you speak a powerful enough truth you could jump straight to the Fifth Ideal, but that doesn’t sit right with me—and it makes sense for Skybreakers to be one of them. Not sure if that counts as irony. But we know at this point that there are different sets of oaths for Skybreakers, and the final Ideal for them is a pretty concrete goal. Hit that goal, as Szeth does here, and boom. Max level.

Much of the rest of this week’s selection is Dalinar and Taravangian facing off, but we’re not quite to the really juicy Investiture and theory stuff yet, instead mostly watching Dalinar reluctantly duel Gavinor before getting into an argument with Taravangian. We’ll have to wait just a little bit longer before we can start talking about the stuff of Shards and Ascending…and that most inexplicable of characters, Nohadon.

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 137 through 140![end-mark]

The post <i>Wind and Truth</i> Reread: Chapters 133-136 appeared first on Reactor.

Books Wind and Truth Reread

Wind and Truth Reread: Chapters 130-132

Adolin battles for his life, while Dalinar and Szeth stand and will not fight…

By Paige Vest, Lyndsey Luther, Drew McCaffrey

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Published on November 24, 2025

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Ahoy, Sanderfans, and welcome back to our Wind and Truth reread! We’re happy you’re here and we hope you’ve enjoyed these three chapters of rapid-fire POV shifts! We get to see Adolin facing off against Abidi, Dalinar being confronted by Gavinor, Shallan finally figuring out who Formless really is, Rlain and Renarin struggling to decide what to do about Mishram, and Szeth and Kaladin dealing with Ishar and his human Fused. SO MUCH IS HAPPENING! It is truly Sanderlanche time and we are HERE for it! Join us!

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

Chapter 130, “The Pleasure of Bleeding,” starts with a Szeth POV. When last we saw them, Szeth, Kaladin, and Syl were approaching Ishar, waiting to find out what test the Herald has in store for Szeth.

They confer with each other, wondering what will happen, and Kaladin reminds them that Nale said Ishar would test Szeth to teach him humility. (Yeah, like he hasn’t learned that yet. Okay, Ishy.) Szeth decides that he is done with killing “unless he was given a very good reason.” He will have to decide if the cost of fighting is worth it.

Szeth announces to Ishar that he has finished his pilgrimage and Ishar, being the cocky, self-important Herald that he is, allows Szeth to approach. Kaladin and Syl follow him as he steps closer, while Nale remains in the wagon for now. Szeth asks Ishar if he was truly the Voice in his mind and Ishar confirms it, speaking directly into Szeth’s mind. Then he says Szeth has returned to him:

He’s basically just used Szeth as if he was a plaything. This really pissed me off, the way Ishar is so arrogant and manipulative.

Syl asks him where the spren are. Ishar replies that they rejected him, so he rejected them. Szeth guesses that Ishar did that so that his people would continue to look for spren and worship them, so that when the Voice suddenly popped into their heads, they would happily follow its commands.

Ishar announces that it’s time for Szeth to become the first of the new Heralds, to train others to lead the human Fused and the spren armies. That’s not unsettling at all. At this point, Nale approaches, telling Ishar that he’s wrong, that none of them are able to see straight. Ishar is pretty rude to him, telling Nale that he’s weak and that he’ll be the next Herald to be replaced.

Ishar assures Szeth he’s nearly ready. Kaladin directs Szeth to look behind them, where people are approaching the wagon. There are six other Honorbearers—the ones turned into Fused by Ishar—who each take an Honorblade from the wagon. Then they come forward, passing Kaladin and Szeth.

Nale fetches the rest of the Honorblades, saying that something must be done. Then all of the Honorbearers put their Blades into the slots where they left them at Aharietiam; Nale talks of how there were nine before, except that they didn’t have Taln’s. Ishar says that they still have nine, as they’re missing the blade they sent with Szeth. Szeth replies that it was lost; Ishar assures him that a new one will form when he joins the Heralds.

Then Szeth notices that one of the Honorbearers is his father. Ishar addresses Szeth again, telling him that it’s good that he has returned to his God. Kaladin immediately informs Ishar that he is not a god, and that they’ve come to try to help him. Ishar is disdainful, stating that Dalinar’s contest is about to begin and that he’ll fail. Then he tells Szeth that he must be humbled and that the Honorbearers will defeat him together. He instructs Kaladin and Syl to stand beside him so they don’t interfere.

Szeth quietly tells Kaladin that he must talk with his father, and that while he fights, Kaladin must convince Ishar to release the Shin. Syl understands immediately: If Ishar agrees to this, then Szeth’s quest is fulfilled. Szeth will ascend to his next oath, which means that Ishar will be sane so Kaladin can speak with him. Kaladin doesn’t know how to convince Ishar to release Shinovar but Syl is sure they’ll think of something. Oh, my sweet summer child. *tsk*

Seth goes to face the Honorbearers, intent on losing the fight while Kaladin somehow talks Ishar into releasing the Shin.

POV Shift!

Dalinar reaches the top of Urithiru, armed only with a copy of The Way of Kings. He’s early, but Taravangian also pops up early. Then he introduces his champion. He opens a portal from the Spiritual Realm and out strides a man in a Kholin uniform, carrying Oathbringer: Elhokar.

POV Shift!

Back to Szeth, who promptly gets beat down by his own father and then systematically beaten and kicked by the other Honorbearers.

POV Shift!

Adolin! He’s dodging attacks by Abidi the Monarch as best as he can, but he’s barely able to stay ahead of the Fused. He tries again to summon Maya but, of course, cannot. He tries to reach the throne to trigger the unlocking mechanism but can’t find it. Despite Abidi being awkward in the Plate—Adolin’s own Plate—Adolin is barely staying ahead of him as his peg makes him unstable. He thinks for a moment that he’ll die there, but then rallies and decides that he has to find a way to stop Abidi.

He’s not doing so well, so he taunts Abidi, asking how he had survived Taln’s attack, and why he didn’t fight Taln if he’d wanted a challenge. Then he asks if Abidi ran away and the Fused kicks a table at him, clipping him on the shoulder. He decides to run and dodge, rather than taunt; then Abidi begins taunting him in turn, asking if he misses the power of the Plate, asking if he feels small. Adolin whispers that he has felt small for years.

Ugh, I hate how Adolin feels so unimportant and impotent because he’s not a Radiant. And yet, in this moment he finds a new perspective, and realizes that the darkeyes had always felt small in a world of Shardbearers. Then he thinks of how Kaladin had managed to kill a Shardbearer years ago, and he remembers his training with Zahel.

Adolin finds new strength and focus, remembering that training, and begins moving more confidently, accounting for the peg as he moves about. Abidi offers him a deal: If the emperor surrenders, he’ll let them both live. He wants Yanagawn to become his servant rather than remain the monarch of Azir in exile, where he could garner support. Abidi obviously hadn’t recognized Yanagawn without his accoutrements and Adolin pretends to consider the offer. As he does so, he looks to an overturned table that had been covered with finery.

He grabs something from the ground and turns to face a strike of the Blade from Abidi… stopping it cold with an aluminum candelabra.

Chapter 131 is titled “The Worth of a Life” and opens with Shallan facing Mraize. Radiant asks if Shallan wants her to handle this but she says she doesn’t need Radiant right now. She banters with Mraize a bit, as they’re wont to do, and Shallan thinks he’s too confident. She wonders what she’s missing. Then she thinks of Iyatil and asks where she is. Mraize says she’s watching Dalinar but Shallan, moving on instinct, suddenly turns to attack Formless, who is lurking to the side.

POV Shift!

Kaladin looks away from the very unfair fight unfolding around Szeth in order to focus on Ishar. Nothing he says fazes the man, who seems to know exactly what Kaladin is about to say and counters it. Kaladin starts to play the Syl-flute and Ishar shuts him down. He bluntly tells Kaladin to keep his rhymes and songs to himself:

POV Shift!

Renarin and Rlain inspect Melishi’s corpse. Mishram rants about how the world must be broken. They speak with Mishram a bit, knowing they need to do something quickly in case Shallan fails. Renarin asks if they should help her and Rlain said Shallan didn’t sound as if she wanted help. They focus on the gemstone and try to come to a decision.

POV Shift!

Dalinar is reeling over the Elhokar reveal… and then the man speaks and calls him Grandfather. It’s not Elhokar, it’s freaking Gavinor, aged twenty years in the Spiritual Realm in the space of an hour, since Navani had returned with a fake Gavinor.

Gavinor has been conditioned during those “twenty years” to loathe Dalinar. Dalinar is utterly disgusted and tells Taravangian he’s done something truly horrific. He says he won’t fight his grandson and demands that Taravangian choose someone else. Of course, Taravangian will do no such thing.

The Stormfather speaks in Dalinar’s mind, telling him it’s actually Gavinor. With this confirmation, Dalinar’s heart breaks. The contest hasn’t actually begun yet so he tries telling Gav that he’s been tricked and misled. Taravangian has prepared the boy, telling him that Dalinar would say this very thing. Gav says he was born to be a king and he will make the land his own. Taravangian has promised to give him Alethkar, and he vows that he will free their people.

Dalinar insists he won’t fight Gavinor, but Taravangian says Dalinar is going to kill the boy—that he will save Alethkar and protect the cosmere by murdering an innocent.

Chapter 132, “Fear What Is Coming,” opens with Adolin, who proceeds to attack Abidi with a plain sword and an aluminum candelabra. The Fused starts fighting in earnest and though he has the power of Plate, Adolin cares. He takes advantage of Abidi’s inexperience with the Plate and Abidi becomes frustrated and starts questioning his opponent. He asks why Adolin even bothers with this battle, as Azir isn’t his land. Adolin replies that the Fused made it everyone’s fight when they invaded. They brought him and so many others together, to stand against their common enemy.

In that moment, he realizes how different the two things are, in his mind, and the real importance of that distinction.

POV Shift!

Szeth’s spren is trying to help him, though it’s really not much help at all. He continues to get pummeled by the Fused Honorbearers and tries to yield. Ishar, however, won’t allow him to yield. He says it will be over when he says it’s over, when Szeth fights and loses.

Szeth realizes that there should be seven Honorbearers there, but that there are only six. Then he sees the solution: He’d killed the Edgedancer with Nightblood.

POV Shift!

Rlain and Renarin kneel by the gemstone and clasp hands. Renarin asks what they should do and they ponder different strategies. They talk about finding another hiding place in the Spiritual Realm, or in Urithiru. Rlain thinks that someone, somewhere, would want this prison because Odium fears Misham. He wonders if it would be a betrayal of his people to free her. Tumi warns him to be very careful.

Renarin asks Mishram why she led them to her; she continues to mutter about destroying them, though she grows quieter when Rlain says that she led them because she thought they might help her. After all her years of imprisonment, Rlain thinks that she still hopes for freedom.

POV Shift!

Ishar yells at Szeth to defend himself, and Kaladin notices that the Honorbearers get more aggressive when Ishar shouts. He tries to engage Ishar in conversation, as does Nale. Ishar is having none of it. He believes that he is the Almighty and can withstand the darkness that has stricken the other Heralds. Nale says the power of Odium has corrupted Ishar.

Kaladin tries to antagonize Ishar, telling him he’s a god but leaves his people without choices. He says nobody worships Ishar, but Ishar insists they pray to the Almighty. Kaladin says they think they’re praying to Tanavast. He argues that Ishar forces people to follow him, that Ishar is just a pretender, pointing out that if Ishar released them and they still worshiped him, that would be different.

Ishar sees the trick for what it is and asks Kaladin why he’s there. He says again that he didn’t foresee him coming. He chides Kaladin for being too broken to fight and unable to help with strategy, suggesting Dalinar sent him to Shinovar just to get him out of the way. Once, Kaladin would have been hurt by these words, but he’s grown, so he reminds himself that his worth doesn’t come from whether he helps, but whether he tries.

As Ishar walks toward the fighting, Kaladin tells him again that he’s not a god, only a man, and that he needs help. Then the Wind returns. Syl says the spren are afraid, that they know something difficult is coming. Ishar says creepily that he has plans for the spren and that their fear of him should be greater than of that which is coming.

Then he turns back to the ongoing brawl and yells at Szeth, telling him that he had not expected disobedience. Ishar furiously orders him to fight, and everyone’s attention turns back to Szeth and his failing Stormlight.

Lyndsey’s Commentary: Character Arcs

Szeth

I’m so proud of Szeth for standing up for himself again. He’s made his own choice, not stood aside and let someone else make it for him.

Dalinar

Recognizing that you have a problem is always the first step to any type of recovery. You can’t do anything about your flaws if you refuse to see them.

Adolin

Clever of Adolin, to use psychological tactics against his opponent: Get Abidi angry, not thinking about his attacks, and maybe he’ll stand a better chance. Anyone who’s ever used Vicious Mockery in D&D or a taunt in a fighting game knows that.

Adolin has recognized his privilege. It is a sad fact that often, it takes losing that privilege to really understand and respect it. I’d love to see him have a talk with Kaladin about this revelation. Kaladin’s railing against the lighteyes in earlier books was based heavily in the injustice of their treatment of the lower caste, so he’d understand this concept intimately.

If Watchmen and Code Geass taught me nothing else, it was this. In those stories, however, the villains had altruistic motivations. They killed people in an attempt to unite the rest. Abidi the Monarch and Taravangian do not have any such motives. They plan to rule this world, not sacrifice themselves to unite it.

Kaladin

Ouch. Well, Kaladin, copying Wit’s homework isn’t going to work for you on this one. You’re gonna have to do this one on your own.

It’s in the effort that the value lies, not the acceptance or success/failure of that effort.

Gavinor

Poor, poor Gavinor. Who can blame him for feeling the way he does? He’s spent twenty years being brainwashed by Taravangian.

Taravangian really did plan for everything. Of course, Dalinar would treat Gav this way; to Dalinar, his grandson still is a child. He hasn’t had time to mentally shift his perspective, to come to terms with the fact that this young man has decades of learned experience and is a man, not a child.

Dalinar

Here’s that pesky trolley problem again. An impossible choice; a terrible one.

Neturo

I cannot imagine how hard of a life this man has lived, always trying to protect his only son, then being forced to try to kill him.

Rlain

He’s spent his life having his romantic feelings denied and reviled by society, thinking that it was wrong, that love was something he’d never be able to have. How beautiful that he’s found such joy and acceptance with Renarin. And such a powerful parallel, in terms of positive representation, for so many LGBTQIA youths.

If anyone was going to empathize with a lonely, lost soul… it’s these two. Mishram chose well.

Ishar

Unlike Szeth, Ishar is unable to recognize his flaws.

Overall Thoughts:

This is something that I’ve been pondering a lot lately. Even while a nation is torn by war, or tyranny, or natural disaster, people still need to live. We have to go to work and earn a paycheck and do chores and shop for food, because life doesn’t stop just because the world is falling apart around us. Sometimes it can be hard to remember that, during times of great turmoil, the majority of the regular folks are still doing the same things they always do in order to get by.

Drew’s Commentary: Invested Arts & Theories

We’re well and truly into the climactic chapters of the book, now, with things moving fast and furiously. That said, one of the first bits that made me raise my eyebrows was from a quieter moment:

You might recall that I theorized earlier in the book about how Derethil’s story could indeed be true. The fact that Ishar looked for the islands and failed to find them only reinforces my belief. Ishar is locked onto Roshar at this point, incapable of leaving—of course he’d be unable to find where Derethil went.

One possible wrinkle in this is that, well… this IS Ishar. He’s the guy who engineered the exodus from Ashyn to Roshar, he’s the Bondsmith with knowledge of perpendicularities, etc. If any Herald would think of the possibility for inter-Cosmere travel, you’d think it’s him. But it’s also possible that he simply didn’t consider the possibility for such a lesser being as Derethil to have made it into Shadesmar.

Okay, so obviously this is Ishar being woefully wrong, but it raises a question. What would it take to corrupt the Investiture of Odium? Investiture corrupting other Investiture is a long-running theme in the Cosmere at this point, but it’s always portrayed as an evil thing, engineered by antagonistic Shards like Odium and Autonomy. The color red is the major signifier, and of course red has plenty of its own real-world connotations for us to grapple with.

But is it something inherent to so-called “evil” Shards like Odium and Autonomy that they can easily corrupt Investiture? Does it have to be a Shard? Ishar is incredibly Invested, after all, so why is it that he wasn’t able to truly co-opt Odium’s Investiture? It can’t be a matter of Intent—Ishar was very clear in his desire to create of himself a new god. Maybe it’s just because he’s dealing with Herald Insanity Syndrome.

I dunno. I hope that we see more instances of corrupted Investiture as we head into a new era of the Cosmere, and get a better understanding of how and why it works.

Not much more to say here, as these chapters were largely just action and a few plot progression beats—unless you all want me to get into the many, many problems I have with Adolin’s duel against Abidi. Maybe I’ll dig into that next week, when things come to a head in the Azish throne room…

Fan theories via Social Media:

Lyn: I recently came across an interesting Facebook post in the Stormlight Archive group, written by Jonathan Eccker. I found it to be an excellent analysis of both Szeth and Dalinar, making a case that Dalinar also exhibits neurodivergent characteristics.

Jonathan argues that Szeth’s neurodivergence has been pretty well documented and explored, but Dalinar’s potential for the same is not. I highly recommend giving the whole post a read if you’ve already joined the Stormlight Archive group, but if you’re not a member and/or don’t do Facebook, here’s an excerpt that I found particularly interesting:

I don’t quite agree with all of Jonathan’s points and hypotheses in the post, but this part is fascinating and not an angle I’ve seen discussed before. Thanks for your permission to include it, Jonathan!

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 133 through 136![end-mark]

The post <i>Wind and Truth</i> Reread: Chapters 130-132 appeared first on Reactor.

Books The Wheel of Time

Reading The Wheel of Time: The Gathering Storm (Part 8)

A rare Aviendha POV chapter takes a look at her training and its effectiveness…

By Sylas K Barrett

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Published on November 18, 2025

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We definitely don’t get enough sections from Aviendha’s point of view in The Wheel of Time, so I’m really excited to cover chapter 11 of The Gathering Storm this week. I feel she’s largely been a background figure in comparison to the other leads, supporting Elayne, hanging around Egwene when they were both living as apprentices, interacting with Rand as his teacher (and as they fell in love with each other), but so much of that took place in sections from the other person’s point of view. However, we’re getting more of Aviendha now and I’m really excited to get into this section, this week on Reading The Wheel of Time.

As she works at another useless task as punishment for whatever she has done wrong in the eyes of the Wise Ones, Aviendha notices a few Maidens talking about Rand, and how he refuses to learn how to treat them respectfully. They are upset because he went to see Rodel Ituralde without bringing his honor guard, and discuss whether to give him another beating.

Because Aviendha is no longer a Maiden, it is not appropriate to acknowledge that she understands the handtalk. The Maidens do not acknowledge her because it would be dishonorable to do so while she is being punished.

Aviendha has been tasked with digging rocks out of the river, and she is sore and tired from carrying the heavy burdens. She feels shame for not succeeding in teaching Rand the proper way to behave as an Aiel.

As she deposits her stones beside the manor, she overhears the two guards having a conversation. Despite the cool day, one continually complains about how warm it is, prompting the other to worry that his companion might be ill. Aviendha ponders the strangeness of wetlander ways, and the much more alarming oddity of the Wise Ones’ behavior towards her.

When she comes back, Aiden, the sick man, looks even worse. Aviendha is about to offer Healing when suddenly the man starts tearing at his skin, opening gashes that ooze a heated, charcoal-like substance. The man’s clothing bursts into flames right before the eyes of Aviendha and his fellow guardsman. The other man thinks it is an attack by channelers, but Aviendha recognizes the source as something much more evil.

She sends the guard for help and tries to extinguish the blaze now consuming the entry to the manorhouse, but her weaves dissolve when they get near the flames. So she uses the One Power to throw earth on the fire to smother it. Then, hearing others calling for buckets, she remembers that in this land there is enough water to use it to fight fire, and makes a column of Air and Water to pull from the river, directing it onto the enormous flames.

Her column is joined by another, and she notices an Asha’man, Naeff, standing in a second story window, arm outstretched to channel.

Eventually the water stops turning into steam and Aviendha lets her flow of water dribble to a stop. The entryway is a destroyed mess of charred wood, and the guard’s body has been reduced to a hard chunk of dark matter, like obsidian.

It takes Aviendha a few tries to break through Rand’s shouting and catch his attention. Once she does, Rand quickly retreats back into the house.

One of Ituralde’s officers asks Aviendha if this sort of thing happens often around Rand, and she confirms that it happens everywhere, but more often around Rand. Later, as Aviendha is helping clean up, Merise tells Aviendha that it is a shame she will never go to the White Tower, and calls her skill with weaves rough but impressive. This is overheard by Melaine.

After a brief staring contest, Merise retreats, and Melaine informs Aviendha that of all the women channelers present, probably only Cadsuane could have managed what Aviendha did with the river, and that she has such great talent. But she also refuses to learn.

Melaine asks Aviendha for her opinion about Rand’s plan to kidnap the Domani merchant council, and the two discuss how Rand still fails to treat the chiefs with proper respect, and how he has no idea how hard the Wise Ones work behind the scenes to maintain the Aiel’s loyalty. Melaine worries over what will happen to the remnant of a remnant that survives the car’a’carn.

She sends Aviendha to get some rest, but not before promising a new punishment for not finishing her previous punishment with the stones, and “for not learning quickly enough.” As Aviendha heads back to her tent, feeling confused and frustrated, she briefly considers visiting Rand. But she won’t, not until she has become a Wise One and has her honor back.

It’s a short little chapter but there’s a lot of really good information in here, I feel, especially on how the Aiel think, and how Aviendha thinks as one of them.

And it’s also interesting because I do think my theory, expressed a few posts back, that Aviendha’s seemingly random punishments are a test, is correct. When Melaine says Aviendha refuses to learn, I don’t think she means that Aviendha refuses to learn what she did wrong, or how to behave properly as an Aiel. I think what she means is that Aviendha still hasn’t realized how to behave as a Wise One.

The whole point of Aviendha’s training is to teach her how to think and act like a Wise One, but what does that mean, exactly? It partly means learning to channel, of course, but not all Wise Ones can do that. The thing that Aviendha is actually learning is how to lead, how to stop looking to the Wise Ones for guidance and start providing that guidance to others. That is what Wise Ones do for the Aiel.

Aviendha herself recognizes that in this very chapter, when she observes how hard the Wise Ones are working to maintain the Aiel loyalty to Rand and to manage the chiefs, who he is rarely properly respectful with or loyal to in his turn. She considers that one of Rand’s great weaknesses is not being able to see how other people hate being used, and how he doesn’t realize that the Aiel clans are not normally so tightly connected—that the putting aside of blood feuds and agreeing to follow one man is basically a miracle.

However, when she is considering all of this, Aviendha also thinks about how even most Aiel don’t know how much work the Wise Ones do in so many different areas of their lives, and how back when she was a maiden she herself would have been “dazzled” to know how much was going on behind the scenes. And this, I think, is where Aviendha’s lesson is. At some point, she has to stop being an apprentice and start being a Wise One, which means being one of those people working behind the scenes “in a dozen different areas” rather than one of those people who works in their own specific area and follows the directions of clan chiefs and Wise Ones.

So I’m wondering if these punishments aren’t a test, to see if Aviendha is willing to stand up to the Wise Ones, if she is willing to trust her own judgment and realize that she hasn’t done anything wrong. That she is, in fact, capable of making that determination without guidance. After all, while there is a loose hierarchy among the Wise Ones largely based on age and personality, they are mostly a very democratic body, making decisions through conversation and collective agreement. Any new member added to their ranks might sometimes have to yield to those with more seniority, but she will still be expected to contribute and to hold her own in conversations and decisions.

This is why they keep grilling Aviendha on her assessment of Rand’s actions and motivations, and of her observations of the clan chiefs’ disposition. They are making sure she has the understanding to be a leader, to help manage the chiefs and to help her fellow Wise Ones’ make the hard decisions necessary to help that remnant of a remnant of the Aiel to survive.

I think we can see how good Aivendha’s decisions in these matters are. I’m especially interested in her thoughts about Rand not being able to “see that Aiel, like other people, did not like being used as tools.” Since we the readers have been in Rand’s head so much, we know that it’s not really about whether Rand thinks people like being used as tools or not—he is even disgusted with himself for using people in such a way—but rather that he thinks that he has no choice, that the only way to achieve his goal of uniting the world in time for the Last Battle is by using everyone, and not having a thought for anyone’s feelings, or even their lives.

If Aviendha is able to realize she is being tested and becomes a Wise One, she will feel able and willing to have a romantic relationship with Rand, which means she might start to get a bit more of a sense of how he thinks, and that could be helpful both in changing his perspective on the Aiel (and perhaps even people in general) as well as in guiding the Wise Ones in managing him and his relationship to their people. Because as we the readers know, while Rand has developed a lot of arrogance, it’s not quite the type that people around him assume, and knowing that his attitude comes out of pain, and a lack of ability to handle pain, rather than a dismissive nature, might be really helpful.

Although if Aviendha is going to start spending more time with Rand, she’s probably going to be spending more time with Min too. Which is good and needed at this point, and also might lead Aviendha to some further insights about Rand, as I would argue that, of the three women who bonded him, Min knows Rand the best.

There’s also some really interesting information here about how Aiel think. We have learned a lot about their customs, especially how ji’e’toh works and how rigid they are in their social customs, roles, and expectations. They are far from the only culture in the story that is baffled by the ways of those from other lands and other nations, but they are probably the most confused, and the least able to put their minds for a moment into the perspectives of other peoples.

This is no doubt in part due to the isolation of the Aiel. In the westlands, trade and travel across borders is going to bring at least some familiarity with other cultures, even if you always find their ways strange, and even the Sea Folk have a lot more contact with the shorebound than Aiel do with the wetlanders.

But I also think the simple fact is that Aiel society is incredibly rigid, and the precepts of how people are and aren’t supposed to behave and the roles they are supposed to fill are so specific that the idea of a culture that is more individualistic in its approach to right and wrong and how one fits into society just doesn’t compute for them.

We see this in Aviendha’s musings over the guard, Adrin, and his complains about the heat. Aviendha has noticed that wetlanders complain a lot about discomfort and petty frustrations. She has even observed this in Elayne, who in Aviendha’s eyes complains a ridiculous amount about the symptoms and side-effects of her pregnancy. But Aviendha knows that Elayne would never behave dishonorably, so she assumes that in wetlander culture, complaining serves some kind of honorable purpose.

It doesn’t occur to Aviendha that maybe the wetlanders just aren’t as concerned with these details as the Aiel are, or that there could be a wide variety of opinions among them, with some wetlanders finding excessive complaining to be dishonorable while others don’t have a problem with it. The idea of a culture with subjective interpretations of things like honor, duty, or proper behavior would be anathema to any Aiel, I think. 

Except maybe Sevanna, anyway.

But this is why Aviendha is stuck right now. We saw how very important behaving correctly is to her when she found out she was going to be one of Rand’s lovers and was so horrified at the idea of dishonoring Elayne that she instinctively channeled a gateway in an attempt to escape Rand. Every other time we have seen or heard of someone instinctively touching the Source for the first time has been in an attempt to save their life, or the life of someone they cared about. So I think this is very evocative of how fundamental Aviendha’s sense of honor is to her sense of self, and to her very life.

As a result, however, I think she is stuck in this test the Wise Ones are giving her because she is always so focused on making sure she behaves exactly perfectly and has her honor intact. It is not a natural impulse to question a punishment, or to evaluate a instance of ji’e’toh for herself; Aiel are expected to know these things without being told, not make judgments upon them. Aviendha is so determined to regain an honor she believes she has lost that it hasn’t yet occurred to her to question whether or not the honor has been lost in the way she fears.

She even thinks, at once point in the chapter, that the Wise Ones are behaving strangely. She hasn’t quite taken that thought to its full conclusion yet, but I kind of have a feeling that she is getting close now.

Rand’s little tirade against the Dark One was an interesting moment, and another one that shows us what a terrible burden Rand carries but also how he takes responsibility for things that he really shouldn’t. As it’s become clear that the bubbles of evil can appear anywhere but seem to appear most frequently around ta’veren and/or Rand himself, no one can blame Rand for feeling guilty over what can happen to the people in his periphery. But it also isn’t his fault, and I would even go so far as to question his assumption that the Dark One is targeting him at all.

It’s unclear how much direct control the Dark One has over his touch upon the world. The very first signs of his influence were the weather, and that touch has been more or less consistent since the beginning of the series, with the use of the Bowl of Winds alleviating some of its effects, but not altering the touch itself. It’s always been my assumption that the Dark One was manipulating the weather on purpose, since it is such a useful and large-scale way to affect humankind for the worse. But we don’t know that the Dark One can control how his nearness affects the Pattern at all—it could be completely random, or something to do with how his essence (or whatever you call it) interacts with the fabric of reality.

The bubbles of evil may be the same. The fact that they seem drawn to ta’veren might very well be because of the effect ta’veren have on the Pattern, rather than any kind of aiming the Dark One might wish to do. So while it is human to feel remorse and even responsibility for drawing those bubbles near to himself, and therefore to his followers, we can also see that, once again, Rand is taking something much more personally than he should, or than is healthy.

We know that Rand needs to learn “laughter and tears” again, and that the lesson Cadsuane wants to teach him about being human is so important that Min had a vision about it. However, learning to think of other people as people and not tools is almost, possibly even as important a lesson as learning to feel his feelings. Rand is still, and increasingly, thinking of this battle for the fate of the world as one that only he is fighting, rather than one that he is leading, but that everyone else is a part of as well. The Aiel aren’t tools, they are human beings who can aid him in his goals.

I do think part of the reason Rand thinks of other people as tools, things he can use to achieve his ends, is because of that need to cut himself off from the grief he feels when other people are killed in his service, or in service of his goals. But it is also an arrogant thing, a sort of martyr complex in which he is so consumed by his own troubles and his own burden and his own duty that he discounts anyone else’s, like they don’t matter.

It’s like that conversation he had with Flinn in which he stated that everyone else in the camp had more freedom than Rand himself, and Flinn gently challenged that assumption. Rand’s burden is so heavy, he can’t see anyone else’s lives as they truly are.

I don’t know if Aviendha can help him with this, but it certainly seems like her own journey to understanding leadership might give her some helpful perspectives. She is, in a way, more like Rand than Min or Elayne, because Aviendha was also forced to leave the life she knew and wanted and become a leader simply because of an identity she was born with and did not choose. The scale is different, of course, but Aviendha also struggled with accepting who the Aiel told her she must be, and is still learning how to re-shape her sense of self around this new identity. This is different from Elayne, who understands the burden of leadership but was raised understanding herself in the role, or from Min, who has her own fated connection to the Pattern but isn’t a general or ruler of any kind.

Perhaps Aviendha can marry compassion for Rand born of her own experiences with her ability to see the Aiel as both individuals and part of a larger whole into a new perspective for Rand to take on. If he can learn to see other people, even the lowly ones serving under him, even the people he was prophesied to bring destruction too, as allies working with him rather than tools working for him—or failing too work for him—that might go a long way towards giving Rand a new perspective on this fight, and what, exactly, he is fighting for.

After all, why is he going through all this pain and anguish to save the world if not for the people in it?

Also, I just realized that this moment with Rand shouting at the Dark One and Aviendha trying to get his attention is, in fact, the one depicted on the cover. So that’s fun!

Finally, I was struck by Melaine’s assessment of how Aviendha used the flow of the river to direct the column of her weave onto the burning house. It’s a reminder of one of my least favorite aspects of how channeling work, which is not just that strong channelers can sometimes do things instinctively, but that most of their talent is not about learning. To me, it would be so much more interesting if Aviendha had to learn how to use the river’s own flow to her advantage, rather than just doing it. Or if someone like Nynaeve still had to study and practice just like anyone else to learn how to replicate a weave, instead of being guaranteed to be able to do it at once as part of her “strength,” while those with less strength take longer to learn even the weaves they are strong enough to perform.

I believe there has been mention of a talent for replicating weaves immediately despite being less strong in the power, which is kind of cool, and maybe that’s technically what’s happening all the time with people who can replicate weaves perfectly after seeing them once. But I often find the fact that so many of our heroines being able to do everything kind of without having to learn very much often feels like a sort of deus ex machina on the part either of the author, or of the Pattern itself, to get every relevant young person from knowing nothing to being the most important person in the world in the space of a few years. Egwene’s forcing is part of it, and of course when it comes to Rand there’s this sort of assumption that the Chosen One would have incredible natural ability or perhaps even be able to draw on the experiences of his past lives in some kind of soul-memory. But it just isn’t interesting to me, and I do wonder how the series would read if it took place over a longer period of time, and felt a bit more realistic.

Perhaps realistic isn’t the right word to use in an epic fantasy series, but there is so much about The Wheel of Time that feels incredibly grounded, despite the fantastical nature of the world, and I would have loved to see a little bit more of that in how channeling works.

However, at the end of the day this is a small complaint, and I am really eager to see Aviendha come into her own as a Wise One and as the third part of Rand’s trio of lovers. I’m also excited to get into chapter 12 and 13 next week, because Egwene is about to do some detective work and I am so excited to see her uncover an important mystery in the Tower!

Also, chapter 13 is Gawyn stuff, but I haven’t read that chapter yet so I don’t know what is going to happen! Love the suspense, though.

Also, I knew the maidens would be upset about Rand going off on his own again! I don’t think the beatings are going to solve anything, though; Rand takes them as a punishment, but not as a lesson. He’s not really good at learning lessons, now that he’s decided everything is fate and burden and nothing and no one matters except for winning the Last Battle.[end-mark]

The post Reading The Wheel of Time:<i> The Gathering Storm</i> (Part 8) appeared first on Reactor.

Books Wind and Truth Reread

Wind and Truth Reread: Chapters 128 and 129

Reunions! Confrontations! And a sneaky secret mission to the throne room…

By Paige Vest, Lyndsey Luther, Drew McCaffrey

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Published on November 17, 2025

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Greetings and salutations, Sanderfans, and welcome to another installment of your Wind and Truth reread! This week we spend some time with Szeth and Kaladin, who finally arrive at the monastery to find Ishar waiting. We witness Dalinar and Wit chatting before the contest, and Dalinar’s reunion with Navani. We peek into the Spiritual Realm where Shallan finds Renarin and Rlain again, and we follow Adolin and Yanagawn as they sneak into the palace to reach the throne room, hopefully undetected. (Only we know that’s not going to happen!) Let’s dive in!

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

Chapter 128, “The Price of Survival,” opens on a Szeth POV. It’s now early morning as he, Kaladin, Syl, and Nale continue on toward the Bondsmith monastery. Szeth tells Nale that it would help if he would tell them why Ishar came up with this plan and what he thought it might accomplish. Nale recollects that it started when Ishar told him he foresaw pain in the future. This was after Taln had already held for thousands of years. Several of the Heralds had grown weaker, and Ishar was afraid that one would die and be sent back to Braize.

Further, Ishar would visit the Spiritual Realm where he “foresaw future threats,” and said he needed time to prepare for them. That’s why he sent Nale to “stop the return” and kill anyone showing signs of bonding spren.

While he stalled the Return, Ishar looked for ways to bolster the Herald’s strength, eventually taking some of Odium’s power from the Well of Control. That’s when he started trying to make spren physical. Nale says that Ishar created something terrible.

Which is rather horrifying, in my opinion. Nale says they did it to each Honorbearer, save Sivi, who refused. Ishar had been planning to make an army of human Fused, but they needed a new body each time; they can’t manifest a body like a Herald can do. He said it takes a few days and is very painful. Kaladin says the cost is not worth paying and Szeth ponders that, saying it might protect them and give them warriors who can fight the Fused. Kaladin argues that they can already fight the Fused. Nale says this Return is worse because of the Everstorm, because the Fused can’t be locked away. They argue over the issue for a couple of pages and Szeth asked, what if they lose? And Kaladin replies that then they lose—and maybe even die—but they lose as themselves.

Nale mentions some Skybreaker dissenters and Szeth asks about them. Nale says that sometimes a group of them will refuse his leadership, and one claimed to have found old Skybreaker oaths. He doesn’t share any more info about this, but I can’t help but wonder where these rogue Skybreakers are? Have they just abandoned the fight altogether and gone off to do their own thing, as the listeners did?

POV Shift!

Wit and Dalinar are still headed to the lifts to ascend to the roof while Wit continues his story of Jerick, the nobleman’s son. He tells Dalinar the story, which I won’t repeat here, but the bottom line is that Jerick ran away to war rather than take the last test, which was to create poetry that Wit would judge (and Wit admits he would have passed Jerick no matter what he presented).

Dalinar reflects on how Tanavast ran instead of facing Odium because it would have destroyed the world if he hadn’t. Dalinar says he won’t run from the contest and, here, Wit utterly surprises me.

Oh, my feels. Especially knowing what happens in the contest. My feels hurt…

POV Shift!

Adolin’s stump needs healing before they head out to sneak into the palace. The doctor gives him a tincture of firemoss to help his pain and give him a little pep in his step, but warns that he’ll crash hard later. Adolin is fine with that as long as “later” is after the contest, which is approaching very quickly. Several teams head out, two to look for more human troops and Adolin’s group, who follow Yanagawn.

Adolin talks in his mind with Maya a bit, about Dalinar. He feels at peace and is no longer angry at his father; despite knowing that he may never be able to forgive Dalinar for what happened to Evi, he’s willing to love him anyway. Adolin has also let go of the idea that his father was perfect and, in doing so, realized that he doesn’t have to be perfect, either.

Maya says she’s close enough to be summoned, if he needs her, and they talk about how the spren she’s bringing probably won’t be able to help. Maya says she feels like a fool because she should have stayed to fight with him. Adolin reassures her that that would have just resulted in the enemy taking her Blade.

When they reach the wall around the palace complex, Adolin and the young girl Zabra are spotted by passing singers but they notice his peg and her young age and move on. *whew* So they make it to the rest of the group and Yanagawn looks for the “smuggler’s port,” a concept which offends Noura. It’s apparently manned by soldiers who let people bribe their way in “for small-scale crimes.”

Maya takes this opportunity to speak to Adolin some more, telling him he needs to stop trying to do everything by himself and assuring him again that he’s a good person. She brings up his treatment of Kaladin and Shallan as examples of Adolin doing good things and helping others, then asks him about what he needs.

Oh, my feels again!

So as Yanagawn is trying to open the door, it suddenly opens and a soldier lets them in. They convince him and another soldier that Yanagawn is the emperor and are shown the way to a tunnel that leads up to the main palace building. And they’re off, with less than an hour to go!

Chapter 129, “Oaths and Light,” opens with a Kaladin POV. Nale is saying that Ishar took the power from the well about three or four hundred years ago. But it was actually a thousand. Time gets wonky when you’re practically immortal, I guess! Ishar had Connected himself to the land, becoming the spren of Shinovar, and started seeing himself as the Almighty. That power, as we know, can definitely go to your head…

Szeth asks Nale if killing Ishar would end his touch on the land and free the Shin. Nale doesn’t know… but he thinks that Szeth must do more than defeat Ishar—that our heroes must do for Ishar what they did for Nale. Oh, sure, we can help him heal his mind, lickety-split, no problem!

Then Kaladin says that Dalinar told him a spoken oath might restore Ishar, at least briefly. So they discuss who might speak an oath; Kaladin admits he barely lets himself think about the Words because the last oath nearly broke him. Szeth says it will have to be him—he’ll have to speak the Fourth Ideal. But then Szeth realizes that there’s a flaw in that plan.

Kaladin wonders if he could talk to Ishar as he did to Szeth. Syl, silently, reminds him that he helped Nale and Kaladin counters by saying that the Wind helped him. She responds that it was Kaladin and the Wind together that helped him.

Out loud, Kaladin asks Syl what the Wind is and Syl said she’s part of something very ancient. That there was more before the three gods arrived.

Then the Wind itself speaks to him and says that the hour approaches when the spren may need a champion. Okay… what? Has the Wind mentioned a champion before? If so, I don’t recall that tidbit. Kaladin asks what will be required of him and the Wind answers, “Everything.” Everything as in, his very life?

Szeth says they’re close and Nale directs him toward a ridge where a mound marks what used to be a thunderclast corpse. He reveals that this is where Ahariethiam occurred. They reach the place where Ishar waits with an Honorblade; Szeth tells Nale and Nightblood to guard the Honorblades. Nightblood is bummed that Szeth isn’t going to use him to fight; Szeth assures Nightblood that he’s a great sword, but says that he doesn’t know if he’s going to fight.

Kaladin joins Szeth and they, in turn, are joined by Syl and 12124… then the Wind joins them and they begin walking toward Ishar.

Dun-dun-dunnn…

POV shift!

Adolin and company enter the grounds of the Bronze Palace and Yanagawn leads them to a door where Noura produces a key. Yanagawn is excited, feeling like he’s actually doing something for once, rather than staying out of the action. There’s just over half an hour left until the contest, so they start toward the throne room.

Adolin has a things-are-quiet-too-quiet moment and announces that he thinks it’s a trap. The throne room is just on the other side of the wall and Adolin considers using his Blade to cut an entrance, but Yanagawn reminds him that the entire room is lined in aluminum. A hidden door is jammed shut, so they have no choice but to advance. Notum scouts back where they came from and reports that there’s a force of fifty singers approaching. They continue to a T-shaped intersection; down each corridor to the right and left, forces of singers await. But they don’t advance.

Adolin walks to the throne room and opens the door. Inside, sitting on the storming throne, sits Abidi the Monarch, clad in Adolin’s own Plate with an Azish Blade. Adolin orders the group to wait in the corridor and to hold the room, no matter what happens. He enters the throne room and prepares to call Maya. Abidi pulls a lever and the door clicks closed, locks engaging. Adolin tries to summon Maya but Abidi gloats that the room is lined with aluminum, which means he can’t summon his Blade.

Abidi raises the stolen Azish Blade and gleefully announces that he stays sane by bathing in the blood of Radiants. (Sane. Sure, buddy. You’re totally sane.) Then he attacks.

POV Shift!

Shallan overcomes the temporary paralysis that the visions have instilled in her. After all, she knows she wouldn’t kill Wit, or Jasnah, or Navani. She’s accepted the truth, and the visions can no longer hurt her. The visions fade and she’s back in the usual Spiritual Realm again. She senses Pattern and then encounters a black expanse where she’s joined by Pattern and Testament, and they find Renarin and Rlain waiting.

Renarin says:

So they all start trying to find Mishram’s mindset, comparing their experiences with hers, as they’ve seen in the visions. As each of them speak, Shallan comes to the conclusion that Mishram feels that she deserves her suffering. Then she steps forward and a corridor appears before her, which opens into a small room with a glowing light.

They enter the stone room lit with torches and find a desiccated corpse in the corner. The corpse is Melishi, the ancient Bondsmith who had died there alone. There’s a yellow heliodor in the center of the room; it bears a crack and wisps of smoke are escaping it. Pattern tells her they’re not alone and she turns to see Mraize in the corridor. She leaves Mishram to the men and goes to deal with Mraize.

POV Shift!

Navani catches her breath as she sees Dalinar, neither the Bondsmith nor the Blackthorn, and he takes her into his arms to kiss her. They’re not alone; there are others in the room including guards and Sebarial and Palona (who are storming married! Woo-hoo!). Following their uncomfortable public display of affection, Dalinar and Navani talk for a bit. She’s sorry for leaving him but he says she cannot leave him. He asks after Gav and she says he’s safe.

He tells her of seeing Tanavast’s history, which both haunts and inspires him. We do see Jasnah among the observers; she’s kept to herself since her return, it seems. Poor Jasnah. Navani asks if his time in the Spiritual Realm was a waste and he says it wasn’t, that he’s more confident now.

Dalinar parts with Navani and thanks the observers for their strength, prayers, and trust. He speaks with Sebarial for a moment, then takes up a copy of The Way of Kings and heads up the stairs.

Aaaaand—that’s all for this week! *evil chuckle*

Lyndsey’s Commentary: Character Arcs

Nale

I find it difficult to have sympathy for him. That poor cobbler from the interlude in Words of Radiance keeps coming back to me. Just a sweet old man, who did absolutely nothing wrong… his life snuffed out in violence.

Nale thought he was performing a necessary evil in order to stop many, many more deaths. I know this. But I still have trouble forgiving him.

Sivi

This tracks, for her. Sivi was always one of the most interesting of the Honorbearers to me. She was strong of will and went her own way.

Dalinar

This entire story that Wit tells is convoluted and difficult to decipher. It’s meaningless… but it’s not. The boy loses… but he wins. It’s difficult, and complicated, and convoluted, and that’s life, isn’t it? There are no easy answers. There’s no set “right” way to do things. Even ethics and morality are a morass of choice and consequence and uncertainty. Philosophers have tried for millennia to make sense of it all.

The best we can do, just as Dalinar gleans here, is to take the next step, and to try to make it the best step we can, and hope that it leads us in the right direction in the end. Navani puts it best:

Adolin

I have a bad feeling that the next time we see Adolin, he’ll be dealing with an addiction to this. I hope that I’m wrong.

As someone with a… similarly problematic relationship with my father (though thankfully not as extreme), I really respect Adolin for this. I’m not sure if I could find it within myself to forgive as he has here. I guess the difference is that Adolin’s father is actively trying to atone, to be better. I wish I could say the same about my own.

It’s not logical, but how often are our feelings logical? Adolin’s realization that his father isn’t perfect is such a beautiful late coming-of-age moment. I think we often fall into the trap of thinking of Adolin as an older adult, because he’s an accomplished soldier, and married, and a leader. But he was only about 24 (26 in Earth years) at the beginning of The Way of Kings. Not a child anymore, but clearly not fully mature in some ways as well. This realization, as I discussed last week, is one of the final steps that Adolin makes in his journey to true adulthood, in my opinion. His father is a peer now, and no longer a paragon to be worshipped.

There’s a saying I heard once that really seems to encapsulate this: “Stop lighting yourself on fire to keep others warm.” While it’s commendable to be always thinking of others, you won’t be able to help anyone else if you’ve completely spent all your energy on them. Just like when you’re on a plane, right—put on your own air mask before you try to help others.

Yanagawn

I love our little Aladdin-emperor. Who better to understand and sympathize with the governance of the lower class… than someone from the lower class?

Shallan

I love this. Classic Plot Turn Two, in story structure terms (or if you’re more partial to the monomyth, “the ultimate boon”). She’s using the lesson that she’s learned on this journey to defeat the final evil. This is the culmination of her character arc.

Overall Thoughts:

In story structure terms, I would consider this to be the primary theme of this book. This question comes up time after time after time. We as readers analyze it from several different perspectives; Kaladin’s, Taravangian’s, Jasnah’s, Dalinar’s. What price is one willing to pay for peace? How many lives are “acceptable” to be lost in the pursuit of that goal? It’s the trolley problem played out on a cosmic scale.

I feel like an idiot for not realizing earlier that the title of the book was specifically naming Kaladin (Wind) and Szeth (Truth). Szeth specifically. I think I had just sort of assumed that they were both knights of “wind and truth” combined, not that one was wind, and one truth. But it makes so much sense now, in retrospect.

Drew’s Commentary: Invested Arts & Theories

I will always find it fascinating that Cognitive Shadows exist and function in so many different manners. The reproduction of physical bodies seems so easy in certain circumstances, and horribly challenging in others—just look at Kelsier. Situations like the shades on Threnody and the Returned on Nalthis add more into the mix. I’d guess that Returned work closer to the Heralds, with bodies fashioned directly from Endowment’s Investiture… but the shades are just a big mess.

What would happen if a Threnodite shade actually got a new body? It feels like the kind of thing that the Night Brigade would be interesting in experimenting with, to be honest. Imagine armies of corporeal Threnodite shades. Kill the body? Whoops, now you’ve still got the shade to deal with, and its eyes are definitely gonna be red at that point.

We’ve touched on the various groups of Skybreakers at a few points in this book, but this note is particularly important. The impression given up till Wind and Truth is that each of the Orders of Knights Radiant shares a First Ideal, and then they have their own sets of oaths from the Second to the Fifth Ideals (with only the Lightweavers as outliers, using personal truths instead of oaths after the First Ideal). Sure, each individual Radiant might have some slight deviations—Kaladin’s Third Ideal was “I will protect even those I hate, so long as it is right,” while Teft’s was “I will protect those I hate. Even… even if the one I hate most is… myself.”

But at the core, those are the same oath. The idea Nale brings up here, that there are wholly different oaths for different groups of Skybreakers, seems pretty crazy to me. At what point do you just call yourself something different? Presumably Billid’s Skybreakers use the same Surges of Gravitation and Division as Nale’s, but in my mind the Surges are just decoration. The core of what it means to be a Radiant of one Order or another comes down to the Ideals. So if we have two (or maybe more?) sets of Skybreaker Ideals…

At this point, it’s pretty common knowledge that Dragonsteel Prime was the first appearance of the Shattered Plains and Bridge Four (and even some characters, like Rock and Gaz). Sanderson took them all out, made some tweaks for worldbuilding purposes—instead of Dragonsteel wells, they’re fighting over gemhearts—and rebuilt the whole thing with Kaladin at the heart of it, rather than Jerick.

But the fact that Hoid is still telling this story means that, to some extent, the events of Dragonsteel Prime are remaining canon. So I have to wonder, what war did Jerick go off to fight in? Is this going to be covered in the reimagined Dragonsteel trilogy, years and years from now? In the original plan, back when Sanderson wrote Prime, the series was going to be five books, with two Hoid-origin-story prequels (The Liar of Partinel and The Lightweaver of Rens). Most information now indicates that, with the Shattered Plains yoinked out for Roshar, the story is now mostly focusing on Hoid and the Shattering.

But I’m gonna be sitting here, wondering about Jerick, for a long time…

And speaking of obscure, unpublished Cosmere works:

I doubt we’ll ever see The Silence Divine at this point, but I do really hope we get some more info about Ashyn and the disease-based magic and the floating cities. He never finished a whole draft, but Brandon did read from the work-in-progress draft back during the Words of Radiance signing tour. From Q&As over the years, we know that the story was planned to be set somewhere around Book 8 on Roshar, so maybe we’ll get lucky and it’ll show up as something tied to the Heralds or in an interlude or something.

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 130 through 132![end-mark]

The post <i>Wind and Truth</i> Reread: Chapters 128 and 129 appeared first on Reactor.

Books The Wheel of Time

Reading The Wheel of Time: The Gathering Storm (Part 7)

We’re checking in with Perrin this week, while Ituralde and Rand meet for the first time.

By Sylas K Barrett

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Published on November 11, 2025

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Hello dear readers, long time no see! I’ve missed you all while I’ve been super ill, but I’m on the mend now and it’s time to get back to my boy Perrin. He may be surprised about how he is feeling after the battle at Malden and the rescue of Faile, but I am not.

I am a little surprised about how Rand’s meeting with Ituralde went, but perhaps I shouldn’t be. Either way, it’s time for Reading The Wheel of Time to get into chapters nine and ten of The Gathering Storm. Let’s recap.

Perrin is inspecting wagons that have been recovered from Malden, making sure they are sound enough to carry supplies for all the refugees who are now under his care. At the same time, he is receiving anyone who wishes to talk to him. He has learned that many people will ask questions they know his answer to, but that they still need to hear him answer first. He understands this, but it is still irksome when he is constantly asked for things that the asker already knows they cannot have.

Both Arganda and Gallenne are concerned about the group of Aiel camped some distance from them, who were hurrying to join the Shaido in Malden before the battle, and now have stopped advancing on Perrin’s position. Arganda wants to leave Malden at once with Alliandre, but Perrin tells him that everyone will leave at the same time—including all the refugees they rescued from the Shaido. Gallenne, cocky after their victory in Malden, wants to attack the encamped Aiel, but Perrin has no interest in another fight, and knows they can’t win another one anyway—not without their Seanchan allies.

Balwer is also concerned with the Shaido, but for an entirely different reason: He has discovered that the Shaido had some kind of dealings with channelers who gave them objects of Power—objects that were probably fake, in Balwer’s estimation. He is disappointed that all the Wise Ones were taken by the Seanchan and wishes for an opportunity to interview some of them, and also time to search Malden for clues. Perrin doesn’t care why the Shaido were messing with the Seanchan, much to Balwer’s disapproval, and wasn’t willing to risk having any Shaido channelers around to seek revenge on him. Balwer also doesn’t think that Lord Perrin should be crawling around under wagons, another suggestion Perrin doesn’t pay any heed to.

Tam al’Thor is next, having come to inform Perrin of his own preparations for departure. He also asks to speak to Perrin alone, and they discuss Perrin’s abdication of any claim to Manetheren. Tam thinks that giving up the banner of Manetheren was a good idea, as possessing it would only antagonize the Seanchan, and the Queen of Andor as well, but he’s concerned about Perrin’s attitude towards his position as a leader.

Aravine Carnel, a freed wetlander gai’shain who Perrin suspects must have been a noble or leader of some kind, arrives to inform Perrin that she has finished organizing all the refugees for travel. Perrin is surprised by her efficiency, and when Aravine assures him that nearly all of the rescued people can manage a few days march without needing to ride in the wagons, he tells her to start at once, and that he’ll send Alliandre and her guard to lead the way.

Once he has finished with Aravine, Perrin finds that there is no one else waiting to speak to him, which means he is left alone with his thoughts. It is exactly the scenario he has been trying to avoid; worries and anxieties have been bubbling up anytime he has a moment between duties. His thoughts keep turning to Faile, and how even though he saved her, everything still feels wrong. Though he can’t explain how, exactly.

Perrin doesn’t blame Faile for anything she had to do to survive her captivity, and he admires her strength, but he doesn’t know how to talk to her, which wasn’t true before. And now, on top of that, he has been told in no uncertain terms that the Two Rivers men intend to follow him into the Last Battle. Perrin feels at loose ends, without the drive and purpose he had when his entire being was focused on saving Faile, and he doesn’t know how he could possibly lead men in the Last Battle when he never wanted to lead them at all.

Perrin knows he hasn’t been a good leader lately, that he neglected and abandoned everyone else who needed him, especially Aram. He feels a pang of guilt for the Tinker, and thinks that he never should have allowed him to pick up a sword.

He thinks of Rand, who is much better suited to be a leader, and experiences the swirling colors and a vision of Rand. He looks troubled, but regal, too, and Perrin thinks that Rand is exactly the way a king should be. Perrin himself is just a blacksmith.

But Perrin can feel Rand’s need, too, and decides that needs to be his focus now.

In Arad Doman, Rodel Ituralde and his men have taken refuge in an abandoned stedding. Ituralde is trying to decide if it is a better idea to run or to choose this spot as his last stand, but he knows that his victory at Darluna has brought a Seanchan avalanche down on him and his men. The Taraboners are not going to come to their aid, and the Seanchan have learned their lesson: They are no longer relying solely on raken and now know the exact size and location of Ituralde’s forces. Ituralde has learned that the new Seanchan general has marshaled over three hundred thousand men and two hundred damane.

His original plan was to lead the Seanchan army on a long chase deeper into Arad Doman, but he has received word of an Aiel army running around the countryside, an army one hundred thousand strong, which has put paid to his plans. Now, he is a walnut trapped between two stones, about to be crushed.

Ituralde decides that they must make their stand against the Seanchan in the stedding, and begins giving orders to construct barricades. He encourages his officer, Rajabi, reminding him that nothing is certain and pointing out the advantages of fighting the Seanchan where they can’t use their damane.

A runner arrives suddenly to inform Ituralde that a man “in nice clothes” has arrived wanting to speak to him. When the young man is brought to Ituralde, the general is shocked when he introduces himself as the Dragon Reborn. Many of his officers are skeptical or outright dismissive of the claim, and Ituralde is among them, but he is also struck by the young man’s bearing, and his choice to come into the situation without bodyguard or backup.

Rand tells them that he wants Ituralde to make peace with the Seanchan and to come guard the Blight, since the Borderlanders have abandoned their posts.

Ituralde is affronted by the suggestion that he would be willing to usurp Alsalam, but Rand insists that the King is either dead or imprisoned by Graendal, who apparently wants Ituralde fighting the Seanchan, though Rand can’t figure out why. When Ituralde remarks that Rand speaks of the Forsaken like he knows them, Rand replies that he remembers them all, sometimes better than he remembers his own childhood. Ituralde finds that he believes Rand, and asks to see proof of his ability to channel.

As they walk out of the stedding, Rand says he understands why Ituralde might refuse the throne of Arad Doman, and offers him Amadicia instead. Ituralde says that he won’t accept it if Rand kills the king there, but he might consider it if the Whitecloaks or the Seanchan have.

Rand asks Ituralde what he could do with a hundred men who could channel. He assures Ituralde that most are stable, though any madness they accrued before Rand cleansed saidin wasn’t removed when the taint was. Ituralde finds himself thinking about everything he could do with the equivalent of his own damane, and says he would be able to use them very well.

After recovering from the initial overwhelm of seeing a man channel, Ituralde realizes that he could easily drive the Seanchan out of Arad Doman with a gateway. Rand counters that he intends to make peace with them, calling the fight “squabbling” and saying that it’s already going to be hard enough to make an agreement. But Ituralde is firmly loyal to his homeland, so Rand agrees to see the Seanchan out of Arad Doman, in exchange for Ituralde lending Rand some of his officers and then going to the Borderlands to hold back the Trollocs.

He agrees to Rand’s terms, and the two men shake on it.

I’ve never been in a battle, or worked for months to execute the rescue of my true love from captivity, but I have experienced the phenomenon of a let down or crash following a period of high exertion or high anticipation. So I really appreciated in chapter nine when Perrin compares his current feelings of depression to receiving a gift when he was a child. 

The section goes on to explain that this experience led Perrin to begin his journey as a blacksmith’s apprentice.

I remember reading a study that talked about how people often get more joy from planning a vacation than actually from taking it, and that the return to work afterwards often has an accompanying feeling of letdown so strong that it can actually negate some of the restorative effects of going on a vacation. I’ve also experienced the phenomenon of working hard for a goal only to find the satisfaction of achievement to be short-lived, or even non-existent. What we see Perrin experiencing in this moment is a very universal human experience.

Perrin isn’t a psychologist so he can’t really have a full understanding of what he’s feeling, but I bet Elyas could explain it to him. It’s not even just about the value of anticipation, it’s also something that happens chemically after a period of expression. Perrin, just like everyone else, is exhausted. He hasn’t been sleeping well since Faile was taken, which has been a little over two months or so, I believe. He had to do an extraordinary amount of planning and negotiating, including bluffing his way through obtaining the forkroot, and then participated in a battle against some of the fiercest warriors in the world. He’s drained himself off every bit of energy, of endorphins, of strength. Of course he feels depressed.

He’s also aware of the mistakes he made with Aram and his partial culpability in the young Tinker’s tragic fate. He has also been away from his wife, to whom he hasn’t been married for all that long, for two whole months, during which both of them, and Faile especially, went through tragic and painful experiences that changed them. Perrin doesn’t hold anything against Faile, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that these transformations won’t create a temporary distance between them, one that they will have to learn how to navigate through.

It’s also possible that he unconsciously picked up on Faile’s grief over Rolan’s death. Even though she doesn’t hold it against Perrin, the vibes might very well be off, or at least strained, and Perrin is much better at picking up on people’s emotions than he is at interpreting and understanding them correctly.

So everything Perrin is going through makes sense to me, and as much as a joyous, enthusiastic reunion with Faile would be more emotionally satisfying, this really is the only way for their journey to go. Faile is rescued, but the story isn’t over yet. However, even setting all this realism and psychology aside, there is an aspect of Perrin’s personality on display in this chapter which isn’t precisely new, but does feel more prominent to me than ever before.

Which is that Perrin is a man of action. It’s not quite so obvious as it would be if he were, say, a career soldier, or if he were a more active personality (like Mat, for example), but of the three Two Rivers boys, Perrin is the one who needs to be busy. Mat likes action, but not work, and Rand is actually a very relaxed personality—I think there is a very specific reason Jordan made him a shepherd, as a opposed to, say, a farmer or a carpenter. Of course a shepherd also works hard, but a lot of what they do is watch over their flock, standing in one place for long periods of time, watching and waiting and being still. Rand is a dreamer, and capable of that sort of stillness. Perrin… actually isn’t.

This is why Perrin is a blacksmith. Even though he is not as quick of mind as some people, he has always shown a need for activity. He wants to be doing something with his hands, making things, mending things—even killing things. It’s not just that he places a higher moral value on common work than he does on the duties of lords and generals, it’s that he needs the specific kind of activity offered by laboring.

Because Perrin is generally calm and likes to think things through, it’s easy to miss this aspect of his personality. But now that it has really crystalized in mind, it feels like such an important part of his story, and his struggle. Perrin is slow and thoughtful and doesn’t feel as action-oriented as, say, our flashy Mister Mat Cauthon, who loves to dance and gamble and party. Or even as Rand, whose drive to action throughout the narrative is all based upon desperate necessity and the burden of his unique identity.

If you think about it, of the Two Rivers boys Mat is actually the best suited to being a lord. He likes wealth and good things and fancy clothes, and he likes feeling important. His objections to rising to that status were based in his upbringing—Emond’s Fielders don’t have nobles, so of course they don’t think of them fondly—and in the fact that Mat doesn’t like to have to do hard work. But he is also a very practical person, and once Mat realized that certain work, and certain responsibilities, were inevitable, he accepted that relatively easily. 

Rand, is actually a pretty good ruler too, or would be if he didn’t have all that Dragon Reborn and taint-madness stuff going on. He was able to quickly absorb Elayne’s lesson on ruling and seems quite capable of managing the details of running a county, as long as his trauma and temper don’t get in his way. He has even shown an instinct to encourage social and technological growth, with his founding of the schools for inventors. I don’t know that ruling would ever make Rand happy, exactly, but if it weren’t for being the Dragon Reborn, I could see him being a very good lord over some estate or other, a noble of some renown and, in his capacity as Elayne’s husband, First Prince of the Sword to the Queen of Andor.

But Perrin has neither Mat’s people skills nor Rand’s skill of seeing the whole picture of something. Perrin is detail-oriented, as we see with his methodical inspection of the wagons, or the way that he is actually a pretty good strategist when faced with a specific situation or a specific obstacle. Perrin is a good leader, but I can’t see him ever becoming a great general, and he’ll always need to rely on his lieutenants when it comes to leading an army to battle.

The narrative continually puts Perrin’s struggle in terms of him not wanting to lead, but I think he’s aware that he’s actually not amazing at it, either. When he and Faile are working together they do pretty well, and I think they would do especially well in peacetime. Perrin would be good at handing down judgments on disputes between neighbors and helping to care for the everyday needs of running the farming communities around the Two Rivers, and the job wouldn’t keep him so busy he wouldn’t have time to blacksmith on the side, or find other ways of keeping himself busy and satisfied. But leading an army into the Last Battle doesn’t really strike me as something he’s particularly suited for. Unfortunately, it is a job that the world needs him to do, but once it comes to coordinating an entire world into battle, he’ll mostly be executing orders from those above him, which will likely include Mat as well as Rand, and all the other great generals, most likely, as well.

In any case, my argument here is that Perrin knows that he isn’t the best at leadership, and that his reluctance to accept that he has become Lord Perrin isn’t just because he doesn’t like the job, but because of this awareness of his lack of suitability. (Not to say there aren’t much worse nobles out there, but Perrin isn’t going to be comparing himself to the sub-par, selfish set of lords and ladies).

He acknowledges in this section that he has neglected those under his care while Faile was missing. It’s very human of him to have done so, and I think most people, even good leaders, in his position would, or at least could, have ended up behaving similarly. But Perrin neglected Aram even before Faile was kidnapped. He was initially very empathetic to Aram, and even felt connected to him, because Aram’s journey in leaving the Way of the Leaf and wanting to learn how to defend himself and the people he loves with violence was so similar to Perrin’s own. But once Aram’s choice was made, Perrin wasn’t really interested in him anymore. 

This isn’t to say that I agree with Perrin’s depressed thought that he shouldn’t have allowed Aram to take up the sword at all—that wasn’t Perrin’s choice to make, and Aram had the right to his own free will on the matter. But at the point where Perrin provided Aram with lessons and took him into his retinue, he did become responsible for him, just as a lord or lady is responsible for the care and wellbeing of their household servants or anyone else under their employ. He owed Aram that care, especially knowing that Aram lost his entire family and his sense of identity when he abandoned the Way of the Leaf. 

That responsibility, to your household, and to those under your governance, is what it means to be a lord. And I think Perrin is lacking that instinct. He is protective of his family, and he believes in standing up and protecting people when they need it, but he’s not really a caretaker in the way that Egwene and Nynaeve are, or in the way that Rand, a sheepherder, once was. And he’s not in love with humanity the way Mat is. Perrin is a loving person, but he is also a bit more of a loner than the other two. He is a blacksmith, and what he wants most is to be alone in his forge, making things. Not looking after a flock, not mingling in a tavern or ballroom, but alone, with his own strength and his own thoughts.

This doesn’t mean Perrin doesn’t like people, but he’s not sociable in a way that would benefit him as a lord. Faile provides that in their relationship, and I think Perrin is very aware of the fact. He knows that his single-minded obsession with finding Faile is the main reason he neglected the needs of his other followers, but perhaps he also feels the weight of how much more of a burden being a lord is without Faile shouldering so many of the duties.

I thought Perrin’s compromise of receiving people while inspecting the wagons was actually a really good one. It shows that Perrin is making progress: He’s learning what he needs to do and how he needs to be available to the people—and it also shows him tending to his own need to be doing something that feels more productive than giving orders, or answering questions when the people asking already know what he is going to say. And really, if his followers believe in him so strongly, there’s no reason he can’t be a slightly more down-in-the mud, hands-on type lord. If he inspires faith and loyalty, the image shouldn’t matter.

I mean, it matters to people like Balwer, but he worked for the Whitecloaks for a long time. And if there ever was an organization that put style above substance, it’s the Whitecloaks.

You know, I have always related a lot to Perrin. I have always felt like I’m not as quick, mentally, as a lot of my friends, although I’m actually quite intelligent. But it isn’t just that Perrin and I need a little more time to think things through, to look at a problem from several angles, before making a decision. We’re ruminators, and we don’t like to do anything without thinking through every angle, and understanding every detail.

Perrin wants to solve everything. He wants to look at every side of every situation, to take it apart like one of his blacksmith’s puzzles and see how the pieces fit, to know the why of every single moment of life.

That isn’t always a bad impulse, but it isn’t something you can do all the time. Life isn’t a puzzle made up of neat, interlocking pieces. People can’t be reduced down to a list of facts and figures (or smells). Sometimes, life is messy, and you can’t get all the answers. Or even any of the answers. Sometimes you have to make choices without feeling like you know what you are doing, and sometimes you have to move on without knowing if your choice was the right one, or the best one, or where the road not taken might have led you.

Or at least, that’s what my therapist keeps telling me.

Honestly, Perrin just doesn’t have the level of self-confidence or self-esteem as the rest of the Two River’s quintet, and it is definitely hurting him. But he can’t think his way out of that, and he’s only going to end up more muddled if he does. I do think that once he and Faile have time to reconnect and talk through some things, he’ll be able to recover and move past this slump. Hopefully that won’t take too long.

I did chuckle aloud when Tam was just like “I thought you were over this.” It was not, perhaps, a particularly helpful thing to say, though I can imagine him saying something similar to a teenage Rand and getting better results. Sometimes Rand just needs a little kick in the pants, you know? Min certainly does. But I don’t think Perrin is going to understand why Tam put it the way he did; he doesn’t necessarily need a gentle touch, but he doesn’t do well without context. It’s really only Elyas and Faile who have managed to figure out the right balance of support, explanation, and tough love Perrin needs to in order to do his best.

Meanwhile, I can’t decide if Rand going to see Ituralde alone was a smart move or a really dumb one. Granted, he probably traveled to just outside the stedding, and he knows that Ituralde is a good man that Rand doesn’t have to fear mistreatment or betrayal from, even when he cannot channel to defend himself, but it still seems like a bit of a questionable move. He could have at least brought his guard of Maidens… Also, how did he get away with leaving them behind this time?

It’s hard to remember everything that has happened over the entire course of this series, but I think this is the first time we’ve actually been inside the POV of someone having their decisions and answers directly and clearly influenced by Rand’s ta’veren powers, and it was really interesting to see Ituralde’s reaction to his own responses. Like when he easily agreed that he might accept the throne of Amadicia, provided Rand doesn’t murder the current king in order to give the title to Ituralde.

Rand offered the throne of either Arad Doman or Amadicia as a bribe, a negotiation tactic to get Ituralde to agree to do what Rand wants, but he also needs good, steady people in positions of power, people who he knows he can rely on in the Last Battle. Rand might even be thinking past the Last Battle, as he occasionally allows himself to do. He surely wants as many good, strong rulers in control of the nations as possible, so he can reduce the amount of chaos and fighting that will be left in the wake of Rand’s death. He trusts Ituralde, because he is respected by men Rand trusts.

As much as it is clear that Ituralde is agreeing to Rand’s terms more easily and quickly than he would have without ta’veren abilities being involved, it is also clear that Ituralde doesn’t really have much of a choice. Rand is offering him everything he wants: his men saved from almost certain death and the Seanchan out of Arad Doman. And all Ituralde has to do is go defend the border with the Blight, which, while hardly a small ask, is an important and honorable one. And since Ituralde fully expects to die at the hands of the massive Seanchan army being moved against him, Trollocs that are currently far away from him probably don’t sound like that horrible an enemy to be facing. And Arad Doman will be free, which is not something Ituralde expected to happen in his lifetime.

I guess what Ituralde told Rajabi was true, in ways that even Ituralde himself could not have imagined. Nothing is sure, and there was an army coming to defend them, though in a very different way than he could have predicted.

Ituralde being given Asha’man to add to his army and his battle strategy at the same time that the ranks of the Seanchan damane will be added to by Tylee and all her new Wise One captives does feel like a bit of an arms race, in a way, and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The Asha’man aren’t slaves, and there’s no comparing their experience to that of the captive damane, but they have been trained to think of themselves as objects, as more weapon than man, which does feel thematically similar to the damane being viewed as sub-human and also being used almost entirely as weapons by the Seanchan. 

I still hate that the Wise Ones will be collared by the a’dam, and Perrin’s easy dismissal of their fate didn’t make me feel very good, either. Most of the Wise One captives don’t even know there was a battle. From their perspective, they just drank some water, felt dizzy and sleepy, and then woke up bound and imprisoned in the most horrific way. I can’t imagine waking up to an a’dam around your neck. Though I do wonder, in a morbid way, how the Aiel philosophy of embracing pain will interact with the sul’dam method of training new collars.

Another interesting perspective we get from Ituralde is the fact that he observed the signs of the nausea Rand experiences whenever he touches the Source. We’ve only seen that experience from Rand’s point of view, and although I did wonder if people could see more than Rand realized, his narration always made it seem like at least believed that he was mostly hiding the physical distress from other’s view. Chapter ten shows us that this isn’t the case.

I don’t know why, exactly, but I had such a sense of dread when I imagined how this meeting between Ituralde and Rand would go. I rather thought that Rand was going to tell Ituralde he wouldn’t liberate Arad Doman from the Seanchan, and that this would lead to a conflict where Rand would have to use his power to intimidate Ituralde. Or worse.

Finally, I appreciate Ituralde’s respect towards the trees of the stedding, even though he felt he had no choice in cutting them down. He seems like a good guy, and reminds me of Tam a little bit. Or Tam reminds me of him.

Poor Tam. If Perrin makes his way back to Rand, that’s going to bring father and adopted son face to face. I don’t know how that will go. I’d like to think, I hope, that Tam’s presence and love for his son will help break through to Rand. But it could backfire, too, as Rand steels himself against human connection and his need to be loved and supported by others.

Next week we’ll have a chapter from Aviendha and then head back to Tar Valon to catch up with Egwene, in chapters eleven and twelve. I’ll see you all then![end-mark]

The post Reading The Wheel of Time: <i>The Gathering Storm</i> (Part 7) appeared first on Reactor.

Books Wind and Truth Reread

Wind and Truth Reread: Chapters 126 and 127

Dalinar returns! Adolin and Yanagawn hatch a wild plan! Welcome to Day Ten!

By Paige Vest, Lyndsey Luther, Drew McCaffrey

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Published on November 10, 2025

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Greetings, Sanderfans! And welcome to this week’s Wind and Truth reread article wherein we embark on Day 10! Dun-dun-DUNNN…

This week, Dalinar finally makes it back, just in time for the big contest of champions. We check in with Adolin and Yanagawn in the saferoom in Azimir, and at least one of us (Paige) had to break out the tissues during this emotional rollercoaster of a scene. Adolin really is the best boy, and Paige and Lyn are prepared to fight anybody who takes issue with that. Also, Kaladin and Szeth, with Nin/Nale in tow, are approaching the Bondsmith monastery where Szeth will finally confront Ishar. So join us as we discuss the start of the tenth and final day!

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

Chapter 126 is titled “That Which He Must Not Know.” It opens with Dalinar, coming out of his final Vision of Tanavast. The Stormfather is there, frail and weakened after telling Dalinar of the last 2,000 years since Tanavast was killed by Rayse. The Stormfather had spent so many years seeking someone who could be a champion against Odium; he would show visions to different candidates, only to discard potential vessels again and again when they proved themselves unworthy, and then Dalinar had to watch as the Stormfather remembered testing out Gavilar.

The Stormfather tells Dalinar that he cannot trust someone with a desire for power; he was looking for someone who had held power and had not become a tyrant. Really, what a daunting task—daunting, and nigh impossible, to find a person who would be able to take up the power of Honor and not become tyrannical and give into the desire to attack Odium, but instead to use that power to protect? Good luck.

The Stormfather says he had hoped to find a person to be the champion to defeat Odium, but even Dalinar says that he doesn’t think that’s possible, which is why he felt he needed Honor’s power to win the contest. But Dalinar didn’t understand Honor’s power, or the hatred between the two gods, until he was shown Tanavast’s history. But Dalinar does bring up the fact that Odium will still be locked down, tied to Roshar, so perhaps that counts as a win?

At the same time, Taravangian will still be preparing troops to invade the cosmere, so Roshar won’t be at peace… so maybe it’s not truly a victory. (Of course, we know what will happen and the repercussions that are sure to come to pass, but really, how was there going to be any winning with this contest?! Storm it, I just want Taravangian to lose so badly…)

As Dalinar and the Stormfather discuss what to do, Dalinar states that the only way to stop Odium is to destroy him. Of course, the Stormfather tells him this is not possible, and Dalinar’s forced to admit that he knows it’s not.

The Stormfather insists that the power of Honor will not allow Dalinar to defeat Odium and Dalinar lashes out, angry, calling the Stormfather a liar because the spren could have been guiding him all this time.

Nine days in the Spiritual Realm, desperately trying to access the power of Honor, trying to find a way to defeat Odium—all for naught.

Dalinar then informs the Stormfather that Odium is no longer held by Rayse, but Taravangian. To which the Stormfather replies that he’s less afraid of Taravangian than he is of Odium or Honor; he says that the Shards aren’t meant to be held alone, without the others. He also admits something rather touching: that he’s glad Dalinar is the one going to the contest because despite the wrongs he’s committed, Dalinar took the next step instead of hiding from his pain (like the Stormfather himself had done).

Dalinar thinks about Evi forgiving him and he, in turn, offers forgiveness to the Stormfather… which seems to mean a lot to the big guy.

Aww, feels! [Still not crying yet, though, keep going…]

Dalinar asks to leave the Spiritual Realm, but the Stormfather tells him that his son is there (he has to be told that it’s Renarin because Dalinar automatically thinks of Adolin, which saddens me a bit, admittedly), along with the Lightweaver and a singer. Dalinar decides to leave them there until after the contest… We’ll just pull them out later—yeah, that’ll work!

POV Shift!

In the saferoom in Azimir, Adolin and company receive word that the Shattered Plains have fallen, and that Thaylenah has gone over to Odium’s side. Two Windrunners and some squires are on their way to extract key survivors (including Adolin and Yanagawn) who would be executed if discovered by the singers.

Young Yanagawn speaks wisdom, talking about how Emul and Thaylenah made deals to protect their people, even if it meant bowing to a tyrant. He states that resistance didn’t help, and that his people are now to be dominated with no such protections in place.

Adolin feels so defeated, having watched the fall of yet another city he was supposed to protect. But then he clings to one thought, something he’d felt at the end of the battle, after the line broke:

Adolin wants to see his dad again.

[Nope. No crying yet!]

Yanagawn puts forth the idea of gathering what forces they can and continuing to fight. The only one he’ll really listen to is Adolin, so Adolin has to be the one to tell him there’s really nothing they can do. Instead, they take stock of their supplies and discuss who will be evacuated and who should try to flee the city.

Adolin knows what his father did with his second chance and wonders what he should do with his own.

POV Shift!

Szeth and Kaladin pick up a wagon and a couple of sad, old horses from a Shin couple in exchange for a couple of dun ruby broams, and they continue their overnight journey to the Bondsmith monastery. Nin/Nale rides in the back of the wagon with the Honorblades and Nightblood, who’s excited that they got him a chariot. (Nice to hear from him, even if it is only one comment.)

Szeth talks about how appropriate it is to finish their journey in an old wagon, considering the humble beginnings from which both he and Kaladin started out. Then Syl pipes up, noting that she was born in a throne room. Good old Syl, always there to lighten the mood. Speaking of that throne room, she mentions that it’s called the Godforge, and Drew talks about that in his section below, so be sure to check that out.

Szeth asks Nin/Nale what to expect at the monastery and is told that Ishar wants to humble him, that he’s expected to fail the contest. However, if he gains Ishar’s approval, then it will ensure that he’ll become a Herald.

Nin/Nale, sounding frail, talks about how he sees more clearly now and he thinks Ishar was wrong to partake of Odium’s power. Syl says there’s no need of Heralds anymore because the Fused can’t be locked on Braize, considering the Everstorm.

And on that solemn note, they continue following the trail of spren in the sky.

Chapter 127 is titled “Their Homes Become Our Dens.” We’re back in the saferoom with Adolin, who is trying and failing to sleep. He feels that he has no purpose and hasn’t had one since the Radiants returned. Then Maya speaks to him in his mind and they have a conversation about in which she assures him that he’s always had a purpose, and when he says he’s not enough, she says that’s good because then he would have no need of a sword at his side. [And no, this isn’t where I cried, but I came really close!]

Then Skar and Drehy show up with five squires and report on how bad it was at the Shattered Plains. They talk about how to evacuate, but our young Emperor isn’t done trying to save his country and his people. As they discuss leaving, Yanagawn stands up and says that he’s not going as long as there is hope. Noura asks what hope there is.

Noura says that it’s impossible to get into the palace because the singers will be swarming the place, looking for the throne room, searching for riches. And pardon me quoting so much from the chapter but I just can’t improve on the way Brandon wrote it:

So, new plan! Yanagawn will lead them and they will infiltrate the palace and capture the throne room. And here it is, people—I’m grabbing a tissue because Adolin’s making me cry again…

[Cue Paige sobbing.]

POV Shift!

Dalinar enters the Physical Realm to find Wit waiting for him in his rooms in Urithiru. Dalinar gets up close and personal, checking his eyes to be sure that it’s really Wit and, of course, our wonderful Wit has to be weird and mention that he’s been getting busy with Jasnah. Way to make it awkward, Wit!

Dalinar gives him a very abbreviated rundown of everything he’s learned and off they go to find Navani, with a mere two hours before the contest. (On the way, Wit tells Dalinar a smidgen of a story, which Drew also discusses in his section below, so definitely go check that out because I will say no more about it, here.)

And then a moment later:

So now, at the end, Dalinar feels a real connection with his people. This strikes me as sad. I feel that he should have experienced that sense of connection as soon as he bonded the Stormfather, but he had no guidelines, no guidebook, no teacher. It just makes me sad.

POV Shift!

Noura confronts Adolin, saying that she will not allow him to put the emperor in danger. Adolin tries to convince her, reassuring her that what they want to attempt is not a suicide mission, and that they can save Azir if they’re successful. Kushkam backs him up, noting that people are fleeing the city—it’s chaotic at the moment, so they have a good chance of succeeding. Colot concurs.

As Yanagawn states emphatically that he can get them in, Adolin feels the light within him spark into a flame and Maya speaks to him again, telling him that at some point he’ll realize why he’s really there.

[Hold please, while Paige grabs some more tissues.]

At this point Maya does mention that her plan for helping probably won’t do any good in light of the current situation. Oh, how wrong she is, and oh, how I can’t wait to get to that part so I can whoop and holler and… okay, I’m getting ahead of myself. Calm, Paige, calm.

[Paige takes deep breaths. It’s just so exciting!]

Yanagawn continues sketching out the plan but Noura interrupts and tells him that the rest can go, but he needs to stay where he’s safe. Yanagawn gathers himself and says that he is Emperor and he will lead them. Oh my shivers!

When Noura starts to cry, Paige also starts to cry… I mean, Adolin suddenly sees that there’s more to Noura than he’d realized:

The Windrunners will distract the Heavenly Ones, and any other Fused that might be about, and Yanagawn ditches his emperor’s robes, announcing that his people don’t need an emperor, they need a thief. Honor love that boy!

[Paige blows her nose. Oh, sorry, TMI?]

I’m not sure if I love this part of the story so much because it’s what I remember most vividly from the beta read, but I really connected with this part of the book: Adolin feeling that he’s not enough because he’s not Radiant has hurt my heart for years. And knowing that he’s coming into his own, to become his own brand of hero, his own brand of leader, makes me so deliriously happy. As I told Lyn last night, this book and his character arc shot Adolin to the top of my favorite characters list, and I am not afraid to say how much I adore him.

So, the clock is ticking and things are winding down to the endgame—and an ending that didn’t play out the way many fans expected or hoped. We’ll talk about everything that will come to pass as it happens in the reread, and we look forward to seeing your thoughts.

Lyndsey’s Commentary: Plot Arcs and Maps

I’d just like to start off my section by saying, oh… wow. That chapter arch has really seen better days, hasn’t it?

Dalinar

Maybe Honor should have gone after Adolin instead.

Interesting ethical dilemma here. Do you sacrifice the peace of a million people to save a billion? Is it right to do so without giving them any choice in the matter?

And Evi continues to be a positive influence on Dalinar, even after her death.

Tanavast/Stormfather

Okay there, Glinda.

In all seriousness, it’s interesting to see this change that Tanavast has undergone. In the beginning of book one and in book two, we see the Stormfather as this amorphous spren. But now we have this heightened understanding that he’s actually partially Tanavast, and knowing what we know of Tanavast’s backstory makes him such an interesting character.

And really, who can blame him for that? Haven’t we all, at one point or another, wished that we could just hide from our pain… or have those pains taken from us?

Yanagawn

I am continually impressed by his maturity. Whoever would have guessed that the child we met earlier in the series would become this wise individual full of empathy that we are seeing now? And in so little time?

I do find it interesting that Wit is telling Dalinar this story as we are seeing, concurrently, the truth of it played out in Azimir.

Maybe not the leader the people wanted, but the one they deserve.

Adolin

As in most stories, here we have our hero hitting the very bottom: Everything has been taken from him, and he needs to learn a lesson from his suffering in order to rise back up, stronger than before.

I wish that Adolin had Kaladin with him in this moment, so that Kaladin could return the favor in terms of the help that Adolin once gave him when he was really feeling down. But he at least does have Maya with him. She’s here to remind Adolin that even though he may feel like his life is worthless, he’s been helping others this whole time, and that truly does give his life meaning and value.

This is a profoundly human reaction, isn’t it? Many of us, when we fall, reach for family to pull us back up. Whether blood relatives or found family, it’s human connections that so often save us when we have little else to cling to. And Adolin’s acceptance here that his father isn’t infallible is another very human moment. We all, at one point or another, must grapple with the realization that our parents are just people like us, subject to the same mistakes and passions. People, and not gods. We spend so much of our childhoods looking up to them for guidance that it can be jarring to realize for the first time that they don’t have all the answers. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that Adolin really is still quite young—in his mid-twenties, if memory serves. Moments like this serve as a reminder that he’s barely out of his teens, and still has a lot of growing to do.

Szeth/Kaladin

A nice lampshade here, to the bookending going on in this novel, and this point in the series.

Nale

Sadly, what-ifs will get him nowhere. Unless, of course, he uses this newfound perspective on history to make changes in his future behavior.

Drew’s Commentary: Invested Arts & Theories

This is the first time we have a reference to the Godforge, which seems to be the place that Honor (and maybe Cultivation as well, back when they worked together?) used to create spren and which served (as Syl says) as a kind of throne room.

I wonder about the location of this. To me, it makes sense that it would be in the Spiritual Realm: Honor largely resides there, just like most of the Shards; it’s the source of Investiture, of which spren are made; and we really haven’t seen Shards actively working in the Cognitive Realm thus far in the Cosmere. At the same time, of course, spren mostly reside in Shadesmar, so who knows.

Then there’s the question of whether or not this place still exists after the Stormfather got nuked by Taravangian. The Godforge clearly operates/operated beyond the simple reach of Honor, given that Tanavast continued to create spren as the Stormfather… but is this place still out there? Could Retribution use it in the future? I feel that the Godforge being introduced so late in the book—and so late in the game—is Brandon laying some light foreshadowing for some potential Retributionspren shenanigans in the back five.

I am of two minds regarding this whole deal.

On the one hand, sure, we have established mechanics about the Cognitive Realm and sapient thought affecting entities there. From the Dor and the growing awareness of entire landmasses on Sel to the very identities of spren types on Roshar, this is A Thing.

But what I don’t really get is how “the thoughts of an entire people” only now became relevant. Spren were present on Roshar for thousands of years, and Radiant spren aren’t exactly new. The Knights Radiant were far more widespread back before the Recreance. But somehow not enough people (or not a large enough percentage of people) were thinking about them?

This is another example of the wishy-washy lore that gets introduced in Wind and Truth and, in my opinion, does more to muddy the waters than anything. It’s frustrating, and it feels like the kind of thing that Sanderson needed to have happen now, so he whipped up a quick explanation that doesn’t really stand up to close scrutiny.

Well hello, Jerick!

For those who haven’t read it, this anecdote from Hoid is straight out of Dragonsteel Prime. The lumberman who gets used as a pawn in a bet between the king and the nobleman is a boy named Jerick, and his education and immersion in high society take up a major chunk of the book.

Not coincidentally, and the reason why that is a “Prime” non-canon book, the second half of it is essentially Kaladin’s plotline with Bridge Four on the Shattered Plains, but with Jerick in Kaladin’s place. (It worked way, way better in Stormlight.) I imagine Brandon must have been chuckling to himself at the appropriateness of bringing Jerick’s story back into canon in the same series that featured such a huge plot transplant from Dragonsteel.

It also seems appropriate to drop such a deep lore-laden treat into the story during this last deep breath before the final confrontations occur.

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 128 and 129![end-mark]

The post <i>Wind and Truth</i> Reread: Chapters 126 and 127 appeared first on Reactor.

Books Wind and Truth Reread

Wind and Truth Reread: Chapters 124-125, Interludes 17 and 18

It’s the end of Day Nine, and dire events are unfolding…

By Paige Vest, Lyndsey Luther, Drew McCaffrey

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Published on November 3, 2025

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Greetings, Sanderfans! Here we are at the end of day nine! We’re back with Tanavast, two thousand years in the past, where he done messed up by trapping Mishram! We also see Odium destroy him—though not completely, of course. We check in with Navani and Wit as they discuss their dire situation, awaiting the impending dawning of the tenth day and still no sign of Dalinar… or is that a good thing? And then we witness what appears to be the fall of Azimir as Adolin and company take refuge in the saferoom. All this and a couple of intriguing interludes before we head into the final section of the novel—let’s discuss!

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

Chapter 124, “Rejection,” is a Tanavast POV that takes place two thousand years ago. It opens with Tanavast talking about how he betrayed Mishram, and how Honor’s power rejected him for it. He didn’t realize how her capture and imprisonment would affect the singers, though he thinks he ought to have anticipated the devastation.

Without the power of Honor, the Radiants and Heralds had no check against their powers. Tanavast doesn’t know if Honor’s power leaving him had been part of Rayse’s plan all along, as he had seemed so genuinely afraid of Mishram usurping him. But I would guess that, yes, Rayse was fully aware of what would happen with Honor.

Tanavast reaches out to Kor but feels only revulsion and hate in return. All bonds that had been made in his name were corrupted.

As the power abandons him, Rayse appears and brags about having tricked him. Then Rayse comes to the realization that he still can’t leave Roshar, as the agreements still hold despite Honor leaving Tanavast. As Rayse is about to kill Tanavast, Honor offers to fight with Tanavast, but he knows that it would destroy Roshar. He does not take the power but instead asks for protection. The power of Honor took a portion of Tanavast’s soul, including his memories, and as Odium destroyed what was left of Tanavast, Honor gives the remnant it had taken to Tanavast’s avatar, the Stormfather.

But the power of Honor wanted a vessel and it planned with the Stormfather, bid the spren to find one who could hold it. One who was honorable and merciful, a warrior and a leader. But the caveat was that the individual had to prove themselves without knowing of the reward. So they agreed that the Stormfather would find a champion to defeat Rayse; if they saved Roshar, “HONOR WOULD INVEST THEM.”

Chapter 125, “One Man Against a Tide,” opens with Navani discussing the situation with Wit on the night before the final day. Wit reasons that with Odium interfering in the Spiritual Realm, if Dalinar doesn’t return in time for the contest, then Odium can be said to have been interfering with Dalinar making it to the contest, which would be an automatic win for them.

Navani thinks on Fen’s betrayal, as well as that of the Emuli and the others who had abandoned the Azish empire. She thinks of Adolin and Yanagawn fighting in a city on the verge of falling and Jasnah’s reticence to return to Urithiru after her defeat in Thaylen City.

Then Wit drops the Taravangian-is-now-Odium bomb and Navani’s world is rocked. Wit says he can’t “think of a better, or worse, vessel for Odium.” And Navani knows that this is the worst possible eventuality for the fight with Dalinar, as Taravangian will want to break his former “friend.”

Wit pretty much has the up and down of it. He knows that Taravangian knows how to best Dalinar due to their long acquaintance. And he doesn’t seem hopeful for anything but Dalinar not showing up in time.

POV Shift!

Adolin, our poor best boy Adolin, is numb but still fighting, going far beyond what could possibly be expected of him in his state. The waves of singers are endless and the defense begins to fail. Then the last remaining Shardbearer, wearing Adolin’s own Plate, falls and is taken by the singers. Adolin’s plate then makes a reappearance—worn by none other than Abidi the Monarch. Gross.

As the singers break through the meager remains of their defense, Adolin begins to fight with his longsword. He thinks that this is the night he’ll die and Maya reaches out to him, saying that there is no shame in loss and that she is coming. Adolin keeps fighting until he is felled, but then he’s rescued by a small group of defenders wielding bows and arrows. Colot and May are there and when Adolin says to leave him, Colot points out that Yanagawn himself is there to fetch him, and will not leave him behind.

They flee to the saferoom beneath the hospital where he is healed of the wounds he suffered while fighting. Kushkam is there with the emperor, May, Colot, some soldiers, and many of the wounded. They are safe for the moment; however, they know that the city has fallen, and with it, Azir.

Interlude 17 is a Dieno interlude. The Mink is on the chopping block. Literally. He’s about to be beheaded and he’s trying to get the Herdazian judiciary, who is working with the singers, to come up with a better way to kill him. He suggests that they tie him to a boulder and launch him into the ocean, or throw him from a tower and see how many archers can hit him before he lands; he even suggests that they use a sledgehammer and crush his head rather than removing it.

All the while, he’s trying to distract them so he can try to escape, and eventually, he succeeds. He slips his ropes and escapes beneath the platform. Exits are blocked so he heads up to the fort’s wall, hoping to “hop off it to safety.” No luck there. Just when it seems he’s done for, a thumping shakes the ground.

I feel that this is a very unsatisfying finale, though, because we don’t find out what happens!

Interlude 18 is titled “Conflux” and is, of course, an Odium interlude. He is considering whether he can destroy the power of Honor, which is protecting Dalinar. He knows that power cannot be destroyed completely, but also knows there are other possible options. Odium thinks that he can Splinter the power of Honor, spreading it out to prevent it from resisting him. However, this would violate his oath not to strike against Honor first, thus leaving him open to an attack by Cultivation.

Then Honor “spat” Dalinar out, right into the Physical Realm, and Odium is overwhelmingly relieved. Odium and Honor both, for the moment, are aligned in that they feel the people of Roshar deserve more. Odium finds himself caring for these people, the singers, so long abused. And he thinks of the many across the cosmere who are similarly abused.

And obviously, they all need one God, him, to unite them. Obviously.

Lyndsey’s Commentary: Character Arcs

TANAVAST

Yet another instance of a character betraying someone “for the greater good” and it backfiring dramatically on them. And in a spectacular lapse of judgment, Tanner then goes on to mislead all the Radiants and cause them, en masse, to reject their oaths.

For the good of the world.

In the end, is Tanavast a hero, or a villain? He makes the right choice at the very end, but he is so flawed, made so many mistakes, that it’s hard to think of him as something so noble as a hero.

Shards

An interesting note here regarding emotions in general, of the bearers of Shards. We have seen that the original personality of the bearers are slowly, over the course of time, overwritten or corrupted until all that’s left is the power, tinged with shades of the original personality. This change takes thousands of years, but it always happens. In most cases, that power is some sort of emotion or intangible concept (honor, passion, etc). But the lack of balance that the other emotions/powers provide creates an imperfect situation. What is honor, without the tempering of compassion? What is passion, without love? These people who choose to bear a Shard are rendered incomplete.

Adolin

Watching Adolin lose this battle is hard to take. He’s already lost so much… and the final indignity is that he’s not even allowed to die as so many others around him already have. Even this, he fails at. But of course we know that it’s a damn good thing his life is saved at the eleventh hour.

His revelation about his father is even more painful:

A weighty question indeed. So much faith is placed on our parents as we grow; reverence, love, loyalty. To have that undermined so brutally is a hard blow.

The clarity that being faced with certain death will bring.

Dieno (The Mink)

Bless him. I hope he never changes. We don’t have much here in regards to his character arc as this is, if memory serves, the first time we’ve actually had a POV for him. So if anything, this is—for our purposes—the beginning of his arc. And what a beginning it is! Trapped, about to be executed, then a daring escape and a monster attack… a story befitting a warrior of the Mink’s stature, for sure.

Odium

I find this fascinating because for so long, we as readers were led to believe that the singers were the villains of the piece. The slow reveal of their mistreatment was a master stroke in trope reversal.

How many villains have had a motive of wanting to unite the world for the sake of peace? How many heroes?

It’s interesting that the defining difference between what makes one a hero or villain comes down to how they choose to lead, and if they allow their people, once conquered, freedom of choice. I, for one, do not for a moment believe that Odium will allow freedom. I think he’d be a despot and a tyrant, destroying anyone who might possibly voice dissent or disagreement.

Drew’s Commentary: Invested Arts & Theories

Remember when Oathbringer came out, and it dropped the bombshell revelation that the humans were the Voidbringers, and the Recreance happened because the Radiants found out about that?

Pepperidge Farm remembers.

I also remember going “nuh uh, not good enough” the moment I read that. I didn’t buy it for a second. I knew there was something different, something bigger, that must have led to the Recreance. And, well, here we are.

Good (bad) ol’ Tanavast just made his final mistake, and Honor dumps him like the two-week-old detritus from your center console when you finally stop at the gas station.

Well, mostly. We still get the Stormfather, of course: Tanavast’s Cognitive Shadow, tied to the immense power of the highstorm, to preserve his memories, on a quest to find a new champion to Ascend to Honor and fight against Odium the way the power wanted. The rest of Tanavast, his physical being, is destroyed by Odium.

But before Tanavast dips out here, he leaves us with another tidbit about the Shattering:

There’s definitely some wiggle room here, but I think this is largely indicative of the mindsets of the Sixteen. They knew going in that they would become gods in some capacity after they Shattered Adonalsium. Whatever their motivations for the actual Shattering, for removing the god they knew, they all wanted divinity in some manner for themselves.

And this, of course, raises some questions about Hoid and Frost, who were both at the Shattering but did not Ascend afterward. Hoid, at least, was offered a Shard and declined it; Frost remains a mystery, but I could see him being disinterested in becoming a Shard entirely, given his experience as a dragon god.

And speaking of Shards, we get some direct information from Taravangian on Rayse’s actions:

This isn’t new information, as such, since we already knew about the Dor/Devotion and Dominion, and Arcanum Unbounded provided some details on Odium’s clash with Ambition. But the wording here is interesting, nonetheless. Specifically regarding Sel.

The description of Odium stuffing the Dor into the Cognitive Realm as “cataclysmic” makes me raise an eyebrow. By all accounts, the subastral there is basically a plasma storm. Super dangerous, sure, but people have navigated it. Moreover, however, there’s really nothing in either Elantris or Khriss’ essay in Arcanum Unbounded that indicates any kind of major Physical Realm reaction to this. The rift that opened and caused the downfall of Elantris, for instance, happened a long time after Odium’s conflict with Devotion and Dominion; there’s no lore or mythology on Sel about a world-wracking cataclysm, at least as far as we know.

So why does Taravangian think about it this way? Was there a ripple effect, not in the Physical Realm but in the Spiritual Realm? The power of a Shard primarily resides there, after all. What happened when Odium tore Devotion and Dominion from the Spiritual Realm and dragged it into the Cognitive?

Anyway, while we don’t have a ton of other magic- or lore-related stuff in this week’s selection, there’s still Dieno, the notorious Mink, to check in on.

Ever since the Sheler interlude in Oathbringer, we’ve had at least some vague idea of a massive greatshell that lives along the coast of Herdaz. Like with the Mink, Sheler is all set to be executed… but he’s given a choice of methods: He can choose the sword, the hammer, or “the hog” as his vehicle of execution. He chooses the hog, thinking that it’ll be a fight against some kind of farm animal—but of course it’s not that. He’s covered in some oil and dangled over the edge of the very same cliff that Dieno is standing over here, whereupon a gigantic claw comes out of the ocean and snaps him up.

I do wonder about the hog. I don’t think it’s a chasmfiend (though there was a theory back in the day that chasmfiends would move into the sea after pupating on the Shattered Plains, and this was one of them), and it doesn’t seem to be quite like the island greatshells that Rysn saw in the Reshi Isles. The Santhid that Shallan dove to observe in Words of Radiance also doesn’t fit the bill.

How many kinds of greatshells are there on Roshar?

I believe I’m not alone in thinking that the hog was somehow there to help out Dieno, rather than kill him. But if so, how intelligent is this thing? Does it have some special Connection to the Herdazians? Sheler was not Herdazian, it must be noted.

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 126 and 127. On to Day TEN![end-mark]

The post <i>Wind and Truth</i> Reread: Chapters 124-125, Interludes 17 and 18 appeared first on Reactor.

Books Wind and Truth Reread

Wind and Truth Reread: Chapters 121-123

Bad visions and messy gods abound (but glimmers of hope remain).

By Paige Vest, Lyndsey Luther, Drew McCaffrey

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Published on October 27, 2025

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Heya Sanderfans! Welcome to this week’s reread! Not gonna lie, folks… things are kind of dark in this week’s chapters. Lots of bad thoughts and bad vibes and bad mojo floating around. People caught in the Spiritual Realm being hammered by bad memories, Adolin fighting an unwinnable fight in Azir, Jasnah wallowing in her failure, and Tanavast coming to the realization that he’s not a very good god. Yes, it’s a dark week, but there are a few moments of brightness: Renarin feels it. Even Adolin does for a moment. And Paige cries about it. Let’s discuss!

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

Chapter 121, “Bridger of Minds,” opens with Adolin fighting in a pike block formation. And he feels humiliated—not because he’s part of the formation, but because he feels so incompetent. He’s awkward with a pike, never having trained with one, and he’s awkward on the peg that’s replaced his missing leg, especially on blood-soaked cobblestones. Azish soldiers and Alethi soldiers are fighting side by side in mixed ranks and he feels worthless even beside other untrained fighters.

An Azish officer offers him a reprieve because the next shift is with a sword and shield, but Adolin thinks he might actually be better at that, despite his wounded leg. So he goes back into the rotation to fight.

Adolin just plugs away and plugs away, despite his injury, despite not having Plate or a Blade, despite overwhelming odds. That’s our Alethi Highprince… he just does NOT give up, Honor love him. *sniffle*

POV Shift!

Shallan drifts in the chaos of the Spiritual Realm, reliving memory after memory of her killing people. She’s allowed Odium to find her and now he’s doing all he can to break her. Even with good recent memories, she has trouble dealing with the visions as they’re thrown at her again and again, and as they morph into images of her killing anyone and everyone close to her.

This chapter didn’t mention Shallan seeing herself killing Adolin in the visions, and my memory doesn’t serve me at all, so I don’t know if Odium will throw that horror at her in coming chapters, or not, but if he does, that’s going to make me cry, for sure!

POV Shift!

Rlain has a vision of the day the listeners left to strike out on their own. Mishram had appeared to them, and Renarin’s ancestor and others feared her newfound power and her apparent desire to be a deity. She asks him why he’s leaving and he tells her he’s done fighting, done with never-ending war.

At one point, Mishram seems to come to herself, her current self, and seems confused. She says this was the day she realized that she had to find another way. Rlain realizes that the listeners leaving caused her to decide to meet with the humans.

POV Shift!

Renarin sees a vision of when he first started seeing the future and tries to make sense of it by creating stained glass windows to contain it all. He searches for information about the present and new windows grow around him. He sees a dark landscape, people enslaved, his father’s funeral pyre. He knows that the windows are dominated by Odium and Glys says that it has to be that way because it is what he (Glys) is, of Odium.

Renarin rejects that and ventures into the dark of the Spiritual Realm, summoning Light to see if it will help him see better. A new set of windows grows and as his Light touches the windows, they change. Shadows flee and the darkness evaporates, leaving the truth. Many versions of Renarin are there, as an ardent, a Stormwarden, a general. He sees Rlain, then Rlain and himself, and he knows that they’ll never be accepted together by either side.

Glys asks him why he wants to be with Rlain. He replies that Rlain has tried to understand them, that he wants to understand everyone. Renarin says that Rlain understands him when nobody but those in his family ever wanted to. Glys says that path leads to both pain and joy and Renarin thinks it’s better to feel than to take a path to greyness and safe solitude. He says he wants a life where they try to blend their worlds… that they have to change hearts and not maps.

After he leaves the vision, Glys takes him to another where Rlain walks with hundreds of singers. Renarin kisses Rlain, difficult as it is with their differing heights, and knows that this is the future he wants. He just hopes that those he cares for will understand that it was his decision to make. Rlain says that the kiss was nice, but that the world won’t take kindly to them being together, that he doesn’t want Renarin to get hurt. Renarin asks if Rlain will be the one to hurt him.

Chapter 122, “Rival,” is an Honor POV from forty-five hundred years ago. He thinks he’s winning, though part of him asks how he could be happy with this devastation. There are more casualties on the other side, and humankind is sent back to the Stone Age each time but, it’s fine. This is all fine.

Despite his inner qualms about how horrible this all is, Honor goes to find his Heralds. He only felt Taln die this time, so he seeks out the other nine. As the inner thoughts keep gnawing at him, he realizes that it’s Tanavast speaking to him, arguing against Honor.

He finds Ishar, who is slumped and alone, asking to know what complete victory looks like. Because they defeat the enemy each time, driving them back to Braize, and then the Heralds follow. Honor gets distracted, thinking about how the power doesn’t like Kor, and about how long it’s been since he’s seen her.

Then Ishar informs him that the Heralds break, and that he doesn’t think they can go back this time. That he has an idea. He explains it to Honor, who sees many futures where the Heralds stop fighting. He realizes that they can’t hold so much of his power. He thinks that he needs to do more, improve the Heralds, be stronger. Then the others gather, and he sees and feels how much they’re hurting. Surprisingly, that hurts Honor.

Ishar asks if it’s a deific plan that Honor might create.

Honor says yes, but then the power takes stronger control. Honor suddenly hates Ishar, the others, for growing weak. Honor reviles the thought of them renouncing their oaths but lets them choose. He withdraws and becomes the storm to flee from their hurt. (That he created.)

He realizes that he’s losing himself and that he and the others had done something terrible on Yolen. He goes to Shinovar, where he hears whispers on the breeze. He thinks it’s Adolnalsium, but it’s only the Wind. He asks for help and is told no, so he asks what he needs to do. The Wind tells him to listen.

So he becomes one with the land and listens to the people. He’s with them as they recover from the war, as they live their lives. He stops trying to lead and just listens. And it starts to make sense. In time he comes to realize that they’re better off without him. The Wind corrects him and says that they’re better without what he has become… that it’s better to have no god than a heartless one.

Oof. That had to hurt Honor’s feelings, if he has any left at this point.

He remains that way for millennia. Eventually the clashes begin and he thinks that Taln has broken before realizing that no, Taln had not broken. He goes to Urithiru and seeks out Melishi to ask about the Desolation. Melishi explains it’s not a true Desolation, but that the squabbling Radiants could be united with another war. Honor tells him that war never unites and he leaves.

He avoids going to Kor and seeks out Rayse, who wants to fight. Tanavast feels a strong urge to fight and destroy Rayse, but remembers Ashyn and Natanatan with its shattered landscape. Rayse says he will force it. Tanavast says a clash would destroy them all but realizes that Rayse doesn’t care about that. Indeed, he doesn’t regret what he calls an “acceptable” cost.

Honor says they can choose champions to fight for them, to decide who rules Roshar. Rayse doesn’t agree and Honor knows that Odium will kill until there are no more people on Roshar. He begs Rayse as he doesn’t want them to die. Rayse again says he won’t choose a champion but as they’re locked in disagreement, Mishram finds Odium’s pool and partakes of it. Rayse is angry about this; when he’s offered a chance to be rid of her, he takes it. He agrees not to attack Honor but says that if Honor attacks, he will defend himself and will choose a champion.

He asks if there’s something that could be done about Mishram. Honor replies that Kor knows a way to capture and hold a powerful spren and that he will teach the power to his Bondsmith.

Dun-dun-DUNNNN.

Chapter 123 is titled “A Memento of Failure” and opens with Adolin rotating through the ranks. Shield and spear. Pike. Water. Rinse and repeat. They fought through the night to hold the line. During one short period of rest, he rages at his father, who in his writing had talked of finding solace in something better, higher:

Adolin is angry that Dalinar had butchered all his life and then was able to offer such an uplifting message. How dare he claim the high ground, or judge Adolin for killing Sadeas when he’d killed Adolin’s mother. He gets lost in his thoughts about how the world had gone insane and he’d been told he was spoiled, that he needed to forgive and not be the problem and strive to live up to his father’s example.

He then realized that he felt a desire to simply give up. Then the call comes to rotate back in and he’s handed a spear and shield. He wanted to just lie there but doing that would be failing Kholinar again. So he gets up and takes his spot, finding motivation in knowing that Kaladin had survived worse than this as a bridgeman.

This legit made me cry. He finds a moment of inspiration in what his friend had gone through—and then it’s back to Damnation for him.

Poor Adolin.

POV Shift!

Jasnah is alone in Taln’s temple after Fen and Odium had made their deal for Thaylenah to serve Odium regardless of the outcome of the contest of champions. Jasnah is revolted, even as she thinks that it might have been the right decision for Thaylenah. She thinks of how she’d gone about the whole argument with Taravangian wrong, and in doing so had proven his point to Fen.

Her philosophy had failed her. The histories failed her. Finally, she tries to cling to her own mind, thinking and reasoning, needing to trust her conclusions. But then she remembers a time her mind failed her and her family had locked her away—might they do so again?

She sits there crying until Taravangian appears again. He states that he is God; she denies that he is. She says there are gods, and that she accepts that he is one of those, and that it’s “no shame for me to be bested by one who has such capacity.” He asserts that they are the same and she said that he caught her in a lie so if they were the same, then he was a liar, too. He reveals that he did lie and summons Deepest Ones who were set to kill the members of the Thaylen City Council if Fen did not agree to join him.

Then he says that she has always served him and that he will need someone to rule the planet when his attention shifts to the cosmere. He tells her to come to him when she’s ready. She insists that he can’t leave because he’s locked on Roshar, but he talks of launching full armies in a few centuries, telling her to join him and that he will make her an immortal Fused. When Jasnah vows that she’ll never join him, he replies that she’s still lying because surely she can see the value of serving him. She finds herself unable to refute him.

After he leaves, she receives a copy of Fen’s contract with Odium “as a memento of her failure.”

Lyndsey’s Commentary: Character Arcs

Adolin

Adolin has always been excellent at empathy, at understanding his enemies just as much as his allies. Unfortunately, that is not always a boon, as we see here. If forced to kill, it could be considered a blessing to be blind to the lives that you’re ending.

Adolin is accustomed not only to leadership, but to being highly skilled and equipped with weapons and armor which grant him a distinct advantage in the field. Having all of that stripped from him and being forced to fight not only as a “normal” soldier, but as a disabled one at severe disadvantage due to his injury, is a wakeup call. Not that Adolin has ever taken his less advantaged soldiers for granted, mind… but it’s one thing to know about such things, and something else entirely to experience them firsthand.

He is also dealing with the very real prospect of failure—again. He failed at Kholinar, and here he is again, overwhelmed by an enemy force and facing defeat. And this time, there’s no escape.

Yet more instances of the Alethi obsession with battle and honor. I think Adolin’s got the right of it here.

He’s still struggling with this, and rightfully so. I think that reaching a point where he can forgive his father will be a long time coming, if it comes at all. Respecting that others can change, can grow and become better people, is one thing… accepting all the deaths they caused along that part is another thing entirely.

Shallan

The cycle of abuse. We can only hope that Shallan has healed enough that she won’t perpetuate it with her own children.

Odium is taking her deepest fears and amplifying them to a terrifying extent. He is making a fatal error, however: He’s underestimating Shallan. She’s spent her whole life dealing with fear and horror. It has only ever served to strengthen her, in the long run. Forcing her to face her fears, as he is doing now, will take the red-hot metal of her determination and gradually temper it—eventually hardening into a blade of the strongest, unflawed steel.

Rlain

I cannot imagine how this must feel for poor Rlain. To have decades, nay, millennia of culture stripped from your people is a horror that few can truly comprehend. Seeing this potential manifest must be incredibly healing for him, but also frustrating. They could have had so much, if not for the meddling of outsiders.

I LOVE that Rlain appears to be the prophesied one who will bring balance to the force peace to humans and singers. More on this in the Renarin/Rlain relationship section below…

Wow. This is incredible, when you think about all that they’re sacrificing. But Rlain is right; they retain their freedom in the long run, and preserve what is left of their culture.

We see another parallel here to Kaladin and his struggles with Szeth and Nale… and I would say that Kaladin trained Rlain well in his time in Bridge Four, but that’s not entirely accurate, is it? Rlain has always been a good listener. Always on the outside, treated as an other, quiet and reserved. Listening, and learning, and living.

Renarin

“This was the future he wanted”

I honestly don’t know if this is just me or if this is just super relatable in general… but that feeling of “something is happening to me, and I don’t think it’s happening to anyone else, and am I broken” does seem to be something that a lot of people connect with Renarin over.

Yet more examples of the power of visualization. Kaladin with his “soldier thoughts,” and let’s not even get into Shallan with her personas…

I love this, and I love it for him that he finally realizes it. This is maturity, right here. And it’s a maturity that not everyone achieves.

And now I’m extra excited to see Renarin and Rlain’s progression in the back five. What a departure from the usual fantasy tropes! Finding peace through compassion and understanding, not by waging war against an ultimate evil. How refreshing.

Rlain/Renarin

Awww. The honeymoon phrase. It’s so sweet, watching two people fall in love!

Finally, Renarin has found his place. He’s found value in the opinions of others… which is what makes his decision to start a real relationship with Rlain extra brave. He knows that doing so will put him on the outside again… but he does it anyway.

To find your place, respect, and understanding after a lifetime of seeking it, and to then turn your back on all those things willingly to gain love is… wow. It’s incredibly romantic, and brave, and sweet.

I love that this is his reasoning. It’s not because Rlain is handsome, or talented, or any superficial reasons for attraction. It’s his compassion and empathy that Renarin loves, and that says a lot about him, doesn’t it?

A sentiment that any LGBTQIA couple can relate to.

MY HEART.

Ba-Ado-Mishram

I hate to say it, but she does appear to be right. The Rosharan humans love their battles, especially the Alethi.

For all her faults, she allowed them the freedom of choice; to join her, or to walk away.

TANAVAST

Interesting that he’s switched to referring to himself as Honor, and not God. I’d say that maybe this signals that he’s learned a bit of humility but uh… this is Tanavast we’re talking about here.

And I have to eat my own words after only, what? Three pages? Tanavast is discovering his flaws.

A common theme in this book. All of the characters are learning to listen… to wind, and to truth.

Took ya long enough, Tanner.

Jasnah

Seeing Jasnah of all people, who was always so confident and secure, be shaken this way is troubling. Even the wisest and most logical still have room to learn and grow, and we are seeing that clearly here. So far as I know, Jasnah is still set to be one of the main POV characters of the back five; so presumably we’ll be seeing her character arc begin in the aftermath of this setback.

We know that the Alethi method of dealing with mental ailments was locking people in the dark; we saw ardents doing it with soldiers before Kaladin freed them. What ailment—imagined or true—plagued Jasnah and subjected her to such treatment? We’ll find out in the back five, I suppose.

Illustration

If you’re looking for a translation of the Alethi script on the illustration at the end of chapter 122, terracubist over on the 17th Shard has you covered.

Drew’s Commentary: Invested Arts & Theories

This is one of those innocuous lines that I never really considered before this reread. If it is indeed not Ba-Ado-Mishram here, maybe it’s Honor? Nobody else immediately comes to mind as fitting both the Spiritual Realm deal and this sort of ethereal, needs-healing tone.

Nothing remarkable about this in a theory or magic sense—we’ve known for a long, long time that Ba-Ado-Mishram was giving the singers forms of power during the False Desolation—but this is just a really cool visual.

I’m pretty sure I’ve brought this up before, but my memory isn’t perfect. In case not: It has always baffled me that the Truthwatchers weren’t capable of the same (or at least similar) abilities as Renarin and the other Enlightened Truthwatchers.

There is an abiding belief in the Vorin world that seeing the future is of the Void, an evil thing. But we know that not everything Vorin is exactly to be held up as the pinnacle of truth—and in fact lots of Vorin beliefs fly directly against the reality of the Knights Radiant.

So for an Order of the Knights Radiant whose Surges are Illumination and Progression, wouldn’t it make sense that they can shine light forward, e.g. see the future? We’ve never really gotten answers about what the original Truthwatchers could do, since most of our modern Truthwatchers seem to be Enlightened, and all the true detail about the Order has come through the perspectives of Renarin and Rlain.

Sure, they have Progression and can heal, like Edgedancers…and maybe they can do some form of Lightweaving, but that can hardly be the limit of their powers. Each Order should have a unique resonance between their Surges. Even Renarin himself agrees:

I’d say that we’ll have to wait for Renarin’s book to get those answers, but that doesn’t even seem right, either. Renarin is an Enlightened Truthwatcher, after all, and we’ve already gotten a heaping serving of how his powers work. On top of that, I’ve already mentioned that we have no clue how everything is going to work after the Night of Sorrows, the reshaping of Roshar, and the loss of Stormlight.

I want answers, Brandon!

We’ll be talking more about Nohadon toward the end of the book, of course, but it really is worth pointing out that he’s gotta be the single most enigmatic figure in this series so far—moreso than El, and yes, even than Hoid (we actually know a fair amount about Hoid now, don’t we?). This one guy seems to have had such an incredible amount of influence on the world and the future, and has somehow hung around for so long while acting upon Dalinar from the other side of death (probably death, right?) through the visions. He seems more important than even the Heralds!

Honor—Tanavast, more properly—is really starting to unravel here. It’s quite something to see the perspective of a Vessel succumbing to the pressures of his Shard. It’s also yet another hint about the Shattering of Adonalsium, this regret over the “terrible” thing they’d done. But Tanavast finds an echo of Adonalsium in the Wind, which remains so confusing to me, given the Word of Brandon I mentioned previously about Investiture getting assigned to the Shards after the Shattering.

Is this a clue hidden in plain sight, so soon after his musings on the Shattering? Did they destroy Adonalsium because it was a “heartless god”?

There are other theories, of course: that Adonalsium had become corrupted, or twisted, or tainted by fainlife. That Adonalsium was going to turn on its own creation and destroy the Cosmere. But what if it was simply that the people of Yolen yearned for a more attentive god, and decided to make gods of themselves, thinking foolishly that their experiences as mortals would prepare them for godhood?

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 124 and 125 as well as Interludes 17 and 18![end-mark]

The post <i>Wind and Truth</i> Reread: Chapters 121-123 appeared first on Reactor.

Books The Wheel of Time

Reading The Wheel of Time: The Gathering Storm (Part 6) 

Siuan remembers her past and looks towards her future…

By Sylas K Barrett

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Published on October 21, 2025

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Welcome back to Reading The Wheel of Time! This week we’re covering chapter 8, which is all about Siuan and how different her life is now from before she was disposed and stilled. There’s some great character work here, though there’s also her burgeoning romance with Gareth Bryne, which I am not so much a fan of.

But before we get into that, let’s recap.

Siuan is walking with Lelaine, reflecting on the ominous look of the sky. The fishers call it a dockmaster’s sky, because dockmasters waive the fees they charge to moored vessels during a storm, but not on days when it only might storm, which means each fisher must decide whether to play it safe or to venture out in an attempt to recoup the dock fees.

In Egwene’s absence, Lelaine has commandeered Siuan as her own attendant, in order to establish herself as someone who speaks for Egwene in her absence. To this same end, she has also made a show of valuing all the new novices brought in by Egwene’s changes, a change to the system that most other Aes Sedai have struggled to accept, and Romanda is openly against. Lelaine is beginning to win the struggle between her and Romanda, and that is a problem for Siuan.

When Siuan mentions that she needs to attend to Bryne, Lelaine remarks that an Aes Sedai shouldn’t be doing such work and that she intends to buy out the rest of Siuan’s debt to him. Siuan is horrified at the idea of Bryne thinking she is trying to escape her oath, and doesn’t like the idea of being beholden to Lelaine. She points out that her position near Bryne affords a valuable opportunity to keep an eye on the man responsible for their army, and Lelaine agrees, thanking Siuan for her sacrifice.

On her way to the soldiers’ camp, Siuan reflects upon how different her life is now from what it once was. She thinks about the sacrifices she made in becoming the Amyrlin Seat, locked away in the tower, never enjoying the world or even seeing much of it, as she traded in secrets and tried to nudge the world closer to readiness for the declaration of the Dragon Reborn and the arrival of the Last Battle. She doesn’t regret her choices, but she and Moiraine had nothing left for themselves in their life dedicated to finding and guiding the Dragon Reborn.

As she arrives at her destination, she thinks of herself as a foolish girl, and reminds herself that there is still too much work to do to be thinking about Bryne that way.

She finds him in his tent, at his desk. After some good-natured teasing between the two of them, Bryne compliments Siuan’s skill with his laundry. She is somewhat irked, but also somewhat struck by the compliment; she knows he sees all people as equal and esteems only those who do their duty and keep their oaths. Then, Bryne asks again why she broke her oath to him.

She repeats the reasons she has told him: her need to deliver information to the Aes Sedai in Salidar, the need to make sure Logain was safely delivered into their hands. But Bryne remarks that these are only excuses—true, but not the real reason. He also tells her that it is the question of why she broke her oath that drove him to follow her, even going so far at to swear an oath to the Aes Sedai. He had to know why she broke her oath.

Siuan tells him the truth, about witnessing Gitara’s Foretelling with Moiraine, about the Black Ajah murder of those the Amyrlin sent to hunt for the Dragon, and of the Amyrlin herself. Of how only Siuan and Moiraine were left, the only two people in all the world who knew the truth, and how Siuan dedicated her life to seeing the world through to the Last Battle, swearing to do whatever was necessary to carry the burden she had been given.

When she realizes Bryne is about to release her from his service, Siuan cuts him off, informing him that she isn’t done with him yet, and that she will decide when their association is complete. They fall back into comfortable banter, until Bryne tells Siuan that it is time for her to bunk down; he has noticed that every third night she goes to bed early, wearing the ring she keeps hidden under her pillow. He tells her to say hello to the Amyrlin for him.

Siuan is astounded, and infuriated at the man’s perceptive nature, able to deduce she was communicating with Egwene even though he can’t know about tel’aran’rhiod. He falls asleep while figuring out the right way to punish him. Perhaps by putting mice in his sheets.

In Tel’aran’rhiod, Siuan tells Egwene about the true identity of Halima, and about the offer to bond Asha’man to balance out the number of bonded Aes Sedai. Egwene takes the news about Halima, who had attended her, stoically, and has heard the rumors of Aes Sedai being bonded, though she admits she hoped they were exaggerated.

Egwene agrees with the Hall’s decision to accept Rand’s offer, and declares that eventually Rand will still have to answer for the bonding of Aes Sedai, whether he knew his men were doing it or not. Siuan tells her about the claim that saidin has been cleansed.

Egwene tells her to let the Hall handle al of it, for now, and she isn’t particularly worried about the fact that Lelaine appears to be winning her power struggle against Romanda. She explains to Siuan that Lelaine is building up Egwene’s authority and legitimacy in her attempts to usurp Egwene. Her gambit will only work if Egwene doesn’t return, in which case the Salidar Aes Sedai will need a strong leader. Siuan reminds Egwene that Lelaine has good reason to try to prevent Egwene’s return, and that she is betting against her Amyrlin, but Egwene admits that she would be tempted to bet against herself, if she were on the outside.

They talk a little about the Last Battle, and Siuan tells Egwene about a basement storeroom in the Tower which holds many objects of power. Egwene sends Siuan back to get some real sleep. Leane wakes to the sound of Gareth Bryne sleeping on the other side of the tent, and thinks of this notable event that she did not report to Egwene.

I just can’t get behind the Siuan/Gareth Bryne relationship. Part of me really wants to—you all know by now home much of a mushy romantic I am. And there is something in Siuan’s journey I really do like, and which is brought to the fore in this chapter.

As Siuan explains to Bryne, she and Moiraine sacrificed everything—their personal hopes and dreams, their freedom, their safety, their power of choice—to save the world. They were the only two survivors who knew of the Dragon’s birth and the only hope that someone would find him before the Shadow did. There was no room for them to have their own desires once this fate fell upon them.

How Siuan feels about sacrificing everything for the sake of the Dragon and the world has been touched upon a few times in the narrative, and I found it especially poignant in New Spring, when we learned about her dreams of being able to leave the Tower and explore the world. She thought she would attain this goal once she became Aes Sedai, but those hopes were dashed by fate and circumstance, first when she and Moiraine witnessed the Foretelling, and then again when, as a newly raised sister, her skill with puzzles and knack for political intrigue caught the attention of more senior sisters. Siuan never even had a chance to choose the manner in which she would enact the duty she and Moiraine dedicated their lives to—even that was decided for her.

By the Wheel, presumably, and one might argue that it has dictated her steps the entire time, as surely as it has dictated Rand’s.

Just as Rand wishes (hopes, I think, though he does not allow himself to believe in hope) that he might have a legacy other than that which is prophesied for him, and just as he wishes he could survive the Last Battle and have a life of his own, so does Siuan. And now, in this chapter, we see her begin to consider the possibility for the first time.

I like the idea that Siuan might find a life on the other side of Tarmon Gai’don. That she might get to live in the world, rather than standing almost outside it, directing its fate from afar. A part of her so clearly longs for her childhood home, to be on the water again, to be part of a community again. And we see how she hangs on to that world through her language, through the way she decorated her chambers when she was Amyrlin, through her knowledge of the weather.

I loved the parallel between Siuan and Nynaeve here, as well. Both women come from a background where understanding the weather was specifically tied to the livelihood of their community, and despite having left that community, both women still see great value in the understanding and connection between man and nature. Siuan considers her ability to read the sky to be the result of “generations of wisdom” and “good sense,” but it is also a part of her heritage, and when Lelaine dismissed her thoughts about the weather as “superstitious nonsense about the sky,” I was reminded of Nynaeve’s conviction that becoming an Aes Sedai did not stop her from being who she was. A Wisdom, in spirit even if she is not currently acting in the position. Some part of Siuan is still a fisherman’s daughter, which is something to be proud of, and makes her more valuable, not less, as an Aes Sedai or in any other role she fills in her life.

Which is why Bryne’s compliment of her laundering skills kind of works. The narrative acknowledges it as much, as Siuan reflects upon the fact that Bryne sees all people as being equal, even washerwomen, and that to Bryne “a compliment on laundry well done was as meaningful as a medal awarded to a soldier who had stood his ground before the enemy.”

Compare this attitude to Lelaine’s comments about Siuan’s superstitious nonsense, and you can see a flaw that exists in the White Tower: They are a powerful political force that directs and shapes the world, but despite having a profound connection to the very forces that drive the Wheel and power creation, they largely stand apart from connections with nature. Their food is provided by others; they are protected from the elements by some of the most impressive architecture in the known world, bolstered by wards and weavings. Even when they leave Tar Valon, they have the ability to shape nature to their will, to some extent, such as when Siuan and her entourage created winds to drive their ships to Fal Dara.

Even when Siuan was Amyrlin, her fellow Aes Sedai saw this part of her as a strange quirk, an oddity that existed despite her power and political acumen, rather than as another sign of her wisdom and knowledge.

Perhaps this is why the Yellow Ajah don’t seem to care about anything but Healing. Their work is very different than that of any other Ajah, as it is focused entirely on the human body, and therefore a part of nature. Healing is such a useful ability that it makes sense to have an Ajah dedicated to it, but it is very different than the work done by any other Ajah, even the Brown.

In any case, Bryne’s circumstances are more alike to Siuan’s than I first considered. He was once the Captain-General of one of the most powerful nations in the world and First Prince of the Sword to Morgase. Then he was betrayed and ousted from that position by Morgase (under the control of Rahvin). After that he is only a minor noble, living on a small estate and dealing with the problems of a small town. Not so high a rise or meteoric a fall as Siuan experienced, but there is a lot of similarity in their journeys, especially as they have now both found themselves back in service to an important woman, and an even more important cause.

But the narrative lost me when it suggested that there was more freedom in Siuan’s new position than in the old, and then added to that “freedom” a very traditional, heteronormative female experience and set of desires. Suddenly she is blushing at being praised for her laundry skills, and reveling in the power of being a manipulator rather than a commander, and falling in love with a man who is almost twenty years older than her and looks much older than her.

It’s just icky the way that all the main female characters are either younger than the men they end up with, or look younger, or both. Jordan’s affinity to write all the main women as being petite and childlike (with Aviendha being one notable exception) always rubbed me the wrong way. In Siuan’s case, any middle-aged gravitas she might have had (she’s a bit over 40, I believe, which is young for an Aes Sedai but middle-aged for a non-channeler) was robbed from her by her stilling, which somehow made her look younger than she is and a little more traditionally pretty than she was even before she got the ageless look. It would have been such a perfect move to make her and Bryne contemporaries, but instead, we get “old man with a young woman.” Again.

I also have to complain for a moment about the fact that Jordan writes every male/female relationship the same. Not everyone’s courtship has to either be The Taming of the Shrew or Benedict and Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing, Mr J! There’s more than one way for men and women to have a relationship.

I think it’s Jordan’s upbringing and life as a good southern gentleman at play here (with Sanderson continuing to write the relationship as it has begun). Much of the American patriarchy likes to believe that women’s power, the power of suggestion, of feminine wiles, of manipulating behind the scenes and browbeating their poor, beleaguered husband whenever they get them alone, is better than the power that men wield, and that there is more freedom and less of a burden in it than the power that is wielded by men.

This is, of course, not true. It is certainly interesting and worthwhile to tell a story about Siuan realizing that she still has power in her new role and her new life, and in finding that new life—one with advantages and drawbacks, with new opportunities and new restrictions. However, when all of these details are combined together, it is impossible to escape a narrative that is moving her from a position of what most societies still see as “masculine” power to one of “feminine” power and calling it a better life. From a perspective that takes into account the prejudices of both Siuan’s world and the world of the reader, it’s impossible not to feel like the story has removed Siuan’s teeth, made her prettier, and put her in a relationship that makes the patriarchy feel safe and comfortable.

I don’t mean to say that this was Jordan’s intention with the character. It strikes me more as an oversight, as something he didn’t notice as a man of his time and his upbringing, just as his wife and editor, Harriet McDougal, was a woman of the same time and upbringing. I think Siuan’s journey also might hit differently if it wasn’t mirrored by so many of the women who began this story in positions of power, such as Morgase.

The story is not finished yet, and we don’t know where Moiraine will end up. She’s in love with Thom for some reason (another old man, probably about the same age as Bryne, give or take) but I don’t know how that relationship will play out on the page, so I will try to reserve judgment.

Still, I can’t help thinking about how fed we were by the television series, which gave us Rosamond Pike and Sophie Okonedo, two middle-aged actresses bringing all the beauty and gravitas and power to these rolls that they deserve, and giving these wonderful female characters a love that matches how special and fabulous they are. A love not defined by men, a love restrained by duty and sacrifice but never intimated, either intentionally or by accident, to be less feminine and beautiful because of it.

That show was far from perfect, but with Siuan and Moiraine it gave me everything I wanted and then broke my heart, and I’m so deeply regretful that it got canceled.

And oh, how I would have loved to see what they did with Tuon.

With all that being said, I did really like the conversation between Siuan and Bryne when she finally told him her story, and it felt very cathartic to have someone else know the truth about her. It is easy for me to forget sometimes how few people actually know the truth about Siuan and Moiraine’s experience even now that the Dragon has declared himself. We know Moiraine confided everything in Lan, but has Siuan ever told anyone even part of this? She might have told Alric, but somehow I kind of doubt it—even though their relationship seemed to be very strong and she must have trusted him, sharing that information with anyone, even a Warder, would always come with some risk. And Siuan would never have accepted even a small risk to the success of her goal just to ease her own burden.

She’s told it to Egwene, of course. But in that context it was duty, and there would have been little relief in it. Telling Bryne is probably the only time she’s been able to unburden herself of the secret, just a little, for her own sake. And it probably meant even more since she’s lost Moiraine.

Her acknowledgement of that loss also really struck me, even though it was only a passing comment in the conversation. “There was only one other person I knew I could trust, and she is now dead.” The fact that it is so brief only makes me suspect more pain in Siuan, more grief for her friend, and for herself.

Perhaps Moiraine’s death is also a factor in Siuan’s new desire to have a life outside the White Tower.

I really want to know what Egwene thought when she learned about Halima and her strange ability to wield saidin, as well as the confirmation about the bonding of Aes Sedai by Asha’man. She kept her thoughts from Siuan, remained stoic as an Aes Sedai and an Amyrlin is supposed to, but surely she must have some decently large emotions around the knowledge that one of the Forsaken was working on her headaches, and was almost certainly the cause of them.

She also mentions that Rand will have to answer for the bonding of the Aes Sedai, even if it was done without his instruction or knowledge. She’s made a few comments like this, worried about Rand running around “uncontrolled.” She has also considered the respect he will owe to her when they finally meet. It’s making me a little nervous, to be honest, especially since we know that Rand feels incredibly distrustful of Egwene, now that she is Amyrlin. I wonder how the two will find compromise when they are both feeling so stubborn and righteous about the other.

I was also interested in the difference between Siuan and Egwene’s attitude towards Lelaine’s rise to power. While they both make some good points, I don’t think Siuan’s instincts are wrong about the way the power is flowing among the rebels in Egwene’s absence. However, I believe Egwene is already looking at the Aes Sedai as one group again; she is just as intent on saving those inside Tar Valon (with a few notable exceptions) as she is on restoring the rebels to their rightful place in the White Tower. Even if Lelaine does become the leader of the rebels, Egwene no longer intends to bring down Elaida’s followers through siege or war. She intends to strengthen them behind herself, and then to reunite both sides as followers of the true Amyrlin.

From where she stands, therefore, Lelaine’s actions are not really a threat to her goals, or at least not the most pressing one. She acknowledges that someone on the outside can’t see what she can, and although she’s speaking about Lelaine’s doubts, specifically, I think she is also considering Siuan’s perspective. Siuan doesn’t see less clearly than Egwene or understand less—she simply isn’t standing in the right place to see the whole problem,

Perhaps that is the real burden of leadership. Looking at the big picture, and all the pieces, rather than having your assigned section. Like with Siuan’s laundry duties, you wouldn’t, or at least shouldn’t, say that there is freedom in that job, or in living the life of a washerwoman. But there is a line one can draw around what is and isn’t one’s responsibility, and it’s not hard to understand the relief that comes from such a boundary. From being able to say, that danger, that burden, that worry is not my worry.

Siuan doesn’t feel more free now because she is less strong in the One Power. She feels more free because for nearly twenty years, she has been responsible for everything, for the fate of the entire world and every human being in it, including the Dragon Reborn himself. Now the Dragon is taking his place in leading the world now, and Egwene carries the responsibility for the world that Siuan once had. Siuan is just as dedicated as she ever was, and just as ready to sacrifice anything and everything of herself that becomes necessary. But her duty is different now, the role she plays has boundaries that her previous role did not have. And yes, there is great freedom in that.

If she survives the Last Battle, she might even get to enjoy it.

Next week we’ll cover chapters 9 and 10, catching up with Perrin and then with Ituralde. I am so so curious about how things are going to go when Ituralde meets Rand and hears the Dragon’s plans for Arad Doman. But until then, I leave you with this exchange between Siuan and Bryne, which I honestly did really enjoy, despite all my complaints. It’s just really funny, and I like how quick-witted Siuan is. I guess Bryne does, too.

[end-mark]

The post Reading The Wheel of Time: <i>The Gathering Storm</i> (Part 6)  appeared first on Reactor.

Books Wind and Truth Reread

Wind and Truth Reread: Chapters 117-120

Moash attacks! Mraize manipulates! And truths are revealed about the Truthless.

By Paige Vest, Lyndsey Luther, Drew McCaffrey

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Published on October 20, 2025

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Greetings, Sanderfans! We’ve got a lot to discuss this week, as always, starting with a Szeth flashback and Venli pretending to fight with chasmfiends, Shallan once again NOT fighting with Mraize, Sigzil facing Moash on the Shattered Plains (storm that man!), Kaladin making stew for a broken Nale, and Adolin playing towers with Yanagawn before things take a truly desperate turn and he’s called to fight. (I, for one, am dying to get to the bit where we find out the stratagem that Sig and Venli have cooked up, because I honestly don’t remember!) We’ll have to wait and see, so in the meantime, dive in and let’s discuss…

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

Chapter 117, “Truthless,” is a Szeth flashback chapter. As you can guess by the title, this is the chapter where he is named Truthless and exiled for attempting to raise an army against the other Honorbearers. Szeth has also discovered that his father, Neturo, holds the Bondsmith Honorblade. As he sits and waits for the others to decide his fate, he struggles to grasp that his father is now someone who subtracts. His thoughts reveal something interesting, here…

Of course, Ishar is the Bondsmith, and he did go a little wacky… so I suppose it’s possible that his Blade has killed tens of thousands.

But back to Szeth as he listens to the Honorbearers as they discuss what the Voice almost allowed to happen. Neturo says he doesn’t understand why they never let him talk to Szeth about these plans and that he’d need “a better reason than God gave last week.” (…God?? Say what?)

Then the Voice speaks to Szeth, who is angry, telling it to get out of his head. Apparently, the Voice thought Szeth would strike down his own father and start a revolution. Instead, he’ll have to see to it that Szeth is hardened and bids him farewell, saying he’ll see him in a decade. Then the Voice speaks to the Honorbearers, instructing them to name Szeth Truthless. Neturo tries to argue against such a harsh judgement but the others agree with the Voice and with Pozen. Then Sivi and Pozen work to convince Neturo, and Pozen says that there are no Voidbringers and no more surges, no Knights Radiant. That they must focus on war “with other worlds,” and Neturo falls in line.

Szeth accepts his fate and surrenders the Windrunner Blade. They bind him and Neturo bids them take it easy on his son. But Szeth says they are correct that he’s Truthless, or else he was correct and should kill them all, even Neturo. They explain the rules of the Oathstone and Szeth accepts and makes the Oathstone promise. However, the Voice intercedes before they can take his sword, ordering them all to leave the Windrunner Blade with Szeth.

And so they banish him. Neturo embraces his son, telling him he can’t go with him this time, and that he’s sorry he’s failed his little boy. Szeth replies that he lost his little boy years ago, on the night when Szeth first killed. He is torn away from Neturo and eventually sold to a stonewalker.

These flashbacks, along with Szeth’s whole journey since taking his oath to Dalinar, have dramatically changed the way I view Szeth. Instead of some heartless assassin, we’ve learned he was a sweet and loving boy who was forced to grow up too soon and to become something he never should have been. Or was it who he was destined to become? Either way, it’s been incredibly sad (and eye-opening) following along on his journey from innocent shepherd to Truthless.

Chapter 118 is titled “Prophecy.” It opens with Venli and the others, atop chasmfiends, charging the humans positioned on the Shattered Plains. Of course, she’d worked out a plan with Sigzil so the chasmfiends make a big ruckus and cause a lot of destruction, but don’t hurt actually anyone. As the humans retreat to the Oathgate, one drops a package for her, and the chasmfiends dine on a row of human dead, left there reluctantly by Sigzil to satiate the beasts.

POV Shift!

Shallan is fleeing from Odium’s attention in the Spiritual Realm. She sends Lightweavings of herself to distract the shadow hunting her and it seems to work. She ponders the fact that she’s the daughter of a Herald and wonders if that’s why she has a strange attachment to the Spiritual Realm.

Eventually, Odium’s shadow departs, and Shallan senses a feeling of annoyance as he leaves that brings her a certain amount of satisfaction. She doesn’t know how to find Renarin and Rlain and can’t enter a vision without their spren—but somehow, she unexpectedly finds herself emerging into a vision. She’s on a beach and sees a dead greatshell. As she approaches it, she sees Mraize sitting atop it.

POV Shift!

Sigzil plays his part in the retreat well, making it look like a rout. He tosses the pouch of papers toward Venli before arranging the retreat of the remaining soldiers and Radiants, and then the rearguard, which is made up of Windrunners. When Sig calls the final retreat, he bids his farewell to the Shattered Plains, turns toward the Oathgate—and promptly falls 30 feet to the plateau below, rendering his legs useless.

Moash touches down beside him, a fabrial in his hand. Sig tells Vienta to get away and she says she can’t leave him. Moash seems utterly unhinged, talking about how his new god lets him bathe in his pain and teaches him to love it. Sig instructs Vienta to get help and then Moash lashes himself upward and slashes with a knife, cutting through Vienta’s arm. She falls to the ground near Sig.

Moash readies himself to kill Vienta, saying that it will hurt him and that it’s the pain of building a new empire. Sigzil recalls Leyten’s death rattle, foretelling that Moash will kill Sigzil and Vienta but rather than let that happen, Sig shouts that he renounces his oaths. Vienta disappears and a Shardblade drops to the ground in her place. Sig grabs the Blade and barely misses Moash’s legs with a sweep of the sword. As Moash concentrates on Sigzil, Lopen hits him from behind and they both hit the ground. Lopen comes up with the fabrial and smashes it.

When the rest of Bridge Four show up, Moash retreats. Lopen picks up Sigzil and takes him through the Oathgate where he’s healed. Physically, anyway…

POV Shift!

Venli retrieves the package Sigzil had left for her and tucks it away “for tomorrow.” El arrives on the plateau and a Voidspren shows up to report to El that the last of them has left. El moves on, and Vyre locks down the Oathgate, though he seems worried that the humans might reverse it.

Venli and the others gather together, not daring to hum the rhythms they’re feeling. But Timbre does. She vibrates with “optimistic joy” and Venli wonders to herself: “Had it… actually worked?”

Chapter 119 is titled “Sunmaker’s Gambit” and as you might guess, it’s an Adolin chapter. He’s walking unaided but still slips despite the rubber on the end of his peg. Kushkam sends a runner, asking for advice, but Adolin has none to offer… All they can try to do is hold the line.

Then Adolin goes to play towers with Yanagawn since he can do nothing to help the troops defend the city. They play and Yanagawn wins, and Adolin realizes how lucky the Azish were to have this man as their leader. May joins them and plays, and despite Yanagawn being the superior force, he loses the three-way game. May and Adolin explain how they joined forces against the larger force.

May also tells Adolin that the Shattered Plains are lost. Yanagawn asks if reinforcements from that front can be sent to help defend Azimir; May replies that she’s asked the Windrunners to send who they can, but the low Stormlight is a problem.

Then the horns sound, calling anyone who was left to come join the fight, including the crippled, the elderly, and any women willing to defend the city. Adolin reaches out to Maya to see if he could use his Blade. She says she’s getting close, some hours away. He asks her if she can actually win the war with the spren she’s bringing and she says, “Maybe.”

Yanagawn insists that he himself should join the battle but Adolin discourages him.

Adolin commands Yanagawn’s guard of six to take Yanagawn to the saferoom and Adolin, with May’s support, heads out of the tent.

POV Shift!

Shallan uses a Lightweaving to disguise herself and sneaks up on Mraize. At the last minute, she reveals herself and they proceed to talk. Not to fight—simply to talk. Mraize mentions the many worlds out there, filled with wonders, and admits that Iyatil has never taken him with her—and now he’s been punished to stay on Roshar for ten more years. Shallan guesses that Mraize’s spren had invited her into the vision so that Mraize could distract her while Iyatil searched for Mishram’s prison. He tells her to be prepared to fight the next time they meet, and the vision is gone. Back in the chaos of the Spiritual Realm, Shallan decides to stop hiding and let Odium show her what he wishes to, in the hopes that she might find a clue to the location of the prison before Iyatil.

POV Shift!

Kaladin is making stew with Nale and Szeth nearby. Nale says he feels the man he used to be but that he is not him, he only remembers him… but that he wants to be that man again. Nale summons his Honorblade and bids Szeth to take it and hold it until Nale is sure he can carry it again.

Syl asks what’s next and Szeth says they must go to the last monastery to deal with the Unmade. Nale says there is no Unmade. Syl guesses that it’s Ishar, and she’s right. Nale tells them of the gods’ wells of power and Kaladin guesses that Ishar took up the power of Odium. Nale states that it was only a fraction of the power, but that it allowed Ishar to Connect to the land and become a god to the people in Shinovar, let him show them the future… wars, though not the Return.

Nale also tells Szeth that he is not Truthless. The Heralds denied the Return, let it happen, and at times, as Nale himself did, joined the enemy. He says they are Truthless. Ishar is Truthless. He confirms that Ishar is at the final monastery and they plan to retrieve a stash of Nale’s Stormlight and travel through the night.

Kaladin takes Nale a bowl of stew and hears notes echoing through the hills. Notes too skilled to have been played by him.

Oh, my feels! To see Kaladin feeling that he’s been “reforged” is so incredible for someone like me who relates so strongly to the earlier, damaged and hopeless man that he was. Thank you for this, Brandon. Thank you so much!

Chapter 120, “Sheltered From the Eyes of God,” is an Honor chapter which takes place four thousand five hundred fifty years ago. A bit of time has passed since Odium came to Roshar. Tanavast stands on a battlefield full of burning corpses but he does not weep. He reflects on Rayse’s Fused, and his own Heralds, Rayse’s Unmade, and his own Radiants. Rayse is trapped on Roshar, but if he were able to take control, he could send forces out into the cosmere. Either of them could.

But now they’re in a stalemate, with so many dead over the centuries. He knows that Rayse is growing in power, as are his Unmade—a creation Rayse had hidden from Tanavast. The Heralds are also growing in power, able to draw on the power of Roshar itself. Tanavast doesn’t know why or how, though he won’t admit it so as not to appear weak.

Rayse appears to Tanavast as he visits Natanatan, where the battle had been the most intense. He banters, but he’s clearly angry at being trapped. He baits Tanavast into attacking him and their powers meet. Anti-light is born and in the shock wave produced by their clash, Tanavast senses that beneath the city, there are pieces of something fallen.

Their clash vaporizes the capital city, killing tens of thousands instantly. As Rayse departs, a shadow is left in his wake. It approaches Tanavast and asks,

It is Ba-Ado-Mishram, asking if Tanavast would make peace if he could and if Rayse did not stop him. Tanavast said simply, “YES.” Mishram withdraws, but knowing he can not wait until she is ready, he decides to push the Heralds harder. He gives them more access to his power; as long as Tanavast is bound by oaths, they cannot destroy the land.

Good thing Tanavast wasn’t arrogant, huh? Oh, my Honor, but it’s frustrating to read his POVs. He’s so sure of his own invincibility. I’m just shaking my head at that man.

Lyndsey’s Commentary: Character Arcs

Szeth

This is a particularly hard hit for Szeth, because it’s his fault that his father headed down this path. (Or at least, Szeth himself thinks so.)

And so he becomes what he always wanted to be… a tool of others, told what to do at every step. All responsibility for his actions taken from him… Or so he believes, until he meets Kaladin and that lack of responsibility is questioned.

Now that we’ve seen how past!Szeth was exiled, let’s fast forward to present!Szeth…

On the surface, this must be quite a hard blow for him. The Voice wasn’t an evil Unmade, but one of his culture’s gods. But if you really think about it, how much does this change? Yes, it’s a Herald… but one who is insane, and actively using the powers of Odium for evil.

You can almost see the burst of light and hear the Hallelujah chorus surrounding Szeth for this. What an incredible validation for him. He was right all along. He may have gotten some the details wrong, but the Voice was an enemy.

Neturo

Boy oh boy. What an awful position for Neturo to be in. So far as he knows, his son has made a terrible, terrible mistake and gone against the will of God himself. And so he does all he can to save him, even now.

Moash

Oh yeah. That sounds real healthy. You just keep on being… well, you, Moash. Oh, also, f*** you.

Sigzil

I still find this hard to believe. I believe that he means to save Vienta, for sure. That he’s willing to sacrifice just about anything for her. But I don’t believe that Sigzil is fully renouncing what those oaths mean. I don’t believe that he wants to stop protecting those who cannot protect themselves, for instance. And yet… it’s enough.

Adolin

As chapter 119 starts, we find Adolin still acclimating himself to his new disability. He’s handling it quite well, all things considered—but that’s likely because he has so many other things to worry about. The defense of the dome is failing. His men are dying. And…

I’m not quite sure where he’s going with this one, but I’m glad to see that his character arc in reference to his father is still an active part of his story, still arc-ing along…

Adolin spends the majority of this chapter teaching Yanagawn one final lesson on tactics, and it very well may be the final lesson.

Shallan

Interesting. I can see some parallels here to victims (Shallan) sympathizing with their abusers (Mraize); but I also can’t deny that I wish that Shallan could find a better way than murder. She’s seeing the good in Mraize; she’s humanizing him, which can’t be a bad thing.

His manipulation of her has been so effective that even Shallan, so adept at reading others, just can’t figure him out.

I do suspect that a large part of that ability is a self-defensive mechanism, one that has also proven effective for Shallan in her efforts to mimic others. Often, those of us who have to deal with PTSD and other traumas learn to intensely observe and analyze others. We subconsciously watch the tiny shifts in body language; the adjustments to tone of voice; the specific words that are chosen… all in an effort to try to predict when those actions will turn harmful. So we can protect ourselves, should that turn manifest.

But in this case, Mraize has so carefully crafted his mask that despite all her efforts to see beyond it, Shallan has failed.

But she keeps trying to empathize. She’s doing what she does best; getting into another person’s head as best she can. As Ender Wiggin taught us, “In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him.” We see this in this chapter so clearly.

Part of me wishes that I could shake Shallan and shout, “don’t be ashamed for not killing someone!” But another part knows that these are the lessons the hardest and most desperate moments of her life have taught her. She’s had to kill to protect herself.

Nale

Aww, Nale’s trying to switch from Lawful Good to Neutral Good! Good for him.

If you think about it, these people were viewed as gods or demigods to most of the people of Roshar. Of course they wouldn’t try to help them! What mortal would think so highly of themselves, to assume that they know better than a god?

I, TANAVAST, GOD

Forgive me for my affectation on the header here. I found it fitting.

Right. So Odium has completely and utterly lost touch with any semblance of humanity. And this, fittingly, is what causes Tanavast to lose it. I suppose that for an immortal being with the powers of a god, if you’re going to lose your cool, then it had better be something major that causes it. The wholesale slaughter of children is pretty major.

Jeez. Talk about complete evil.

Strategy

I’m not certain about the veracity of this one, because of one key aspect that Adolin and May seem to be forgetting; it’s also quite likely that one of the two weaker forces will ally with the strongest one, believing that they stand a best chance of winning by joining the winning side. A weaker force may hold back, waiting to see which of the other two looks like it’s going to win, before joining in the battle on the winning side. This is a gambit which has been played out in history time and again. (Most of my studies in history focus on Ireland and the UK thanks to my work at Renaissance faires, so I’m specifically thinking of the siege of Kinsale in 1601 when Grace O’Malley and her son Tibbot turned against the Irish, and the Battle of Bosworth Field when Henry Tudor won his crown.)

Drew’s Commentary: Invested Arts & Theories

One of the things I’ve had to do while rereading for these articles is learn to at least stop and engage with every random thought and question that pops into my head. Most of them get turned over once or twice and then discarded, but occasionally something really latches on.

This is one such example.

I think it’s really easy to dismiss this statement as simple Ishar-ganda, manipulating the stone shamans to retain his grasp on everyone.

But after a bit of thought, I realized… why? What would Ishar gain from this? He knows that the Knights Radiant aren’t completely gone. He knows that the Voidbringers are real. He knows that the possibility exists that the Shardbearers will end up fighting them alongside the Radiants.

So, why say this? Why lay the groundwork for exactly what becomes his undoing? This is such a convoluted plan. But maybe we get a clue here:

How much did Ishar know about the Sons of Honor, and Kelek’s work to learn how to leave Roshar? Was Ishar really behind that as well, and in his megalomania he was trying to do the exact same thing as Odium?

We know at this point that there is conflict between Scadrial and Roshar in the late-game Cosmere, of course. But what if, like on Scadrial, there are different factions on Roshar as well? How much will Kaladin affect Ishar during their time in the mind-bubble-therapy-retreat? It could very well be that Ishar comes back with that idea still bouncing around in the back of his mind, and he goes all loose cannon.

That would be quite a scary thing, in fact: an unbound Bondsmith loose in the Cosmere, wreaking havoc and thinking he’s a god.

Three worlds here, at least two of which are as-yet-unknown to us. The kite world is actually something we’ve gotten a Word of Brandon about, and interestingly enough that story idea mentioned will almost certainly be about Sigzil (unless Brandon decides to start writing about another Hoid apprentice figuring out local magic systems, à la The Sunlit Man). And wouldn’t you know it, Sigzil ceases to be a Windrunner in this week’s selection of chapters!

The other unknown world is particularly fascinating, though. An ocean in the sky? How in the heck is that gonna work? (And I bet the Shadesmar subastral for that world is WILD.)

The third world mentioned here, however, is likely one we already know fairly well. The brief description tells me it’s Nalthis, where Awakening is a thing and the Returned are worshipped as gods. I bet Mraize would’ve simply loved to get his hands on an Awakened sword like Nightblood or Vivenna’s Blade.

Okay, so this is a strange statement. We know that Cultivation’s perpendicularity in the Horneater Peaks has been used regularly by worldhoppers, and that it’s the primary method of inter-Realm travel onto and off Roshar.

Is there some way that “Cultivation’s spren” (and what are those?) can prevent someone from utilizing the Investiture there, but simultaneously allow travel between the Physical and Cognitive Realms? Some kind of gatekeeping, like the Oathgate spren?

Shoutout to Billy Todd, one of our resident lawyer beta readers, and now canonically the leader of a group of Skybreakers who refused to follow Nale’s warped leadership.

How about that? Every time the Unmade get mentioned now, my annoyance grows in strength. I still can’t believe that we made it through the entire first five books and know almost nothing more about the Unmade than we did at the end of Oathbringer. Oh, Odium is giving them “extra strength”? Cool, cool cool cool. How? How did he make them in the first place? What was unmade?

For all that one of the main characters in this book had a plotline focused on Ba-Ado-Mishram, we received an absolute paucity of new information about them.

Chapter 120 teases us in more ways than that, though. On the one hand, we find out how the Shattered Plains were created. Odium taunted Honor, who lashed out in anger. They liquified the landscape and wrecked the city of Narak.

But there’s more in that scene, about the fourth moon and its essence, “something greater” than aluminum, hiding “watchers, hidden from [Honor].”

I feel like these watchers have to be the Sleepless. They have been hiding in the background the whole time, watching. And when Rysn encountered Hoid, the first thing her Sleepless handlers do is say they need to head to Odium’s perpendicularity, hidden under the Shattered Plains, and flee Roshar…

I’ll leave us with this, a fun teaser for those who wonder about Yolen and fainlife… and a nice nod for those who have read Dragonsteel Prime and know why this is such a solid simile.

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 121, 122, and 123.[end-mark]

The post <i>Wind and Truth</i> Reread: Chapters 117-120 appeared first on Reactor.

Books The Wheel of Time

Reading The Wheel of Time: The Gathering Storm (Part 5)

Nynaeve is learning the hundred weaves, while Rand considers how to replace Arad Doman’s missing king.

By Sylas K Barrett

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Published on October 14, 2025

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Welcome back to Reading The Wheel of Time. I was planning to cover both chapters seven and eight this time, but I had so much to say about Siuan that I ended up needed to save chapter eight for next week. So we’re spending this post entirely with Nynaeve, but she’s got some interesting things going on and is also witness to Rand’s strategy session about what to do about the chaos in Arad Doman, so there’s still a good amount to talk about.

With that said, let’s start the recap!

Nynaeve is spending time with Daigian learning the hundred weaves that are part of the test to become an Aes Sedai. She initially agreed to learn the weaves after Corele suggested that the teaching would be a good distraction for Daigian from her grief over Eben, but now Nynaeve feels like accepting the teaching has confirmed in the eyes of others that she does not see herself as being full Aes Sedai.

Nynaeve can sense a terrible storm coming—not the storm clouds on the horizon but something else, something much worse than anything she has ever felt.

Daigian declares that they will deal with it when it arrives and steers Nynaeve’s attention back to the lessons. Repeating the weaves is easy for Nynaeve, and she is frustrated by the fact that they all seem so useless. Daigian assures her she will understand eventually, despite Nynaeve’s insistence that she will never take the test and is already Aes Sedai.

Nynaeve wants to attempt to Heal Daigian of the pain caused by losing her Warder, Eben, but Daigian isn’t interested. They have a discussion about the nature of the pain and Nynaeve backs down when Daigian asks if Nynaeve would ever want to have any of her feelings about Lan taken away.

Nynaeve finds herself wondering what it is like to be Daigian, who will always be at the very bottom of the White Tower hierarchy. She finds herself thinking that the system that determines how Aes Sedai treat each other is wrong, and says as much to Daigian.

Daigian insists that they move on, and Nynaeve lets the subject drop, remembering how her success in teaching the Kin to stand up for themselves also led to the Kin standing up to her. She tries to focus on the lesson but the sense of the storm keeps drawing her eyes back to the window. When she sees Cadsuane walking very purposefully across the courtyard, she decides to go see what the woman is up to. Outside, she realizes that more Aiel have arrived and Cadsuane must be in a hurry because Rand will be meeting with Bael and Rhuarc. Nynaeve follows the sensation of women channeling, knowing that it will either be Wise Ones or Aes Sedai, and finds Rand inside a large Aiel tent.

He is momentarily startled by her arrival, and Nynaeve notices how much like a Warder Rand is now, always alert and scanning for danger. She briefly wishes she had never let Moiraine take him from the Two Rivers, although she knows that would have ended in disaster. He relaxes and claims to be glad she has come, but Nynaeve is aware of her own unease around him, despite her attempts to think of him as a wool-headed sheepherder.

Cadsuane arrives a few moments later, causing Nynaeve to muse uncomfortably about her level of control over Rand. Other Aes Sedai and camp leaders arrive, and finally Rhuarc and Bael. Nynaeve is surprised that some Wise Ones have made an appearance, and that Aviendha is among them.

Rand begins to question Rhuarc and Bael about their efforts to bring peace to Arad Doman, and his words are harsh and accusatory until Cadsuane intervenes, asking Rand to reflect on how often these men have actually disappointed him, and how often he has failed the Aiel. Rand makes an effort to control his temper, but he is clearly desperate to bring peace to Arad Doman immediately.

Cadsuane confirms that the Council of Merchants is responsible for choosing a new ruler, since King Alsalam has been missing for some time. They are probably all vying for power by putting forth their own candidates, causing the process to be slow.

Rand declares that he cannot take Arad Doman by force as he has with some other lands because the effort would take too long and be too costly. The generals and leaders discuss the skill of Rodel Ituralde in keeping the Seanchan at bay and muse on their own desires to try themselves against him.

Rand decides that he will have Rhuarc and Bael seize the Council of Merchants. The Aiel are put off by this request, but Rand reminds them that his coming is prophesied to change the Aiel, and that they cannot stay what they were. His plan is to protect the Council of Merchants from the Forsaken and send the Aiel to restore order in the cities, helped by the Sea Folk supplies that will soon arrive. Rhuarc suggest that this plan will work better if they have some of Bashere’s men with them, so that the wetlanders can at least pretend that Aiel aren’t in charge of them. There is some good-natured ribbing back and forth.

Nynaeve reflects that Rand’s plan is a sound one, and that he might even make a good leader if he can keep his temper in check. Rand promises the others that he will take care of Rodel Ituralde.

Oh heck yes, a POV chapter from my girl Nynaeve. Gosh, I really do love her.

Sometimes it’s the chapters in which not very much happens that we get the best character work. In this chapter we get to catch up on a lot of what Nynaeve is thinking and feeling about what is currently going on with Rand, with Lan, and with her position among the Aes Sedai. Getting a look at these feelings and thoughts was especially important to me because of the last POV we got from her in Knife of Dreams, in which she executed her plan to give Lan at least a chance of surviving his part of the last battle. 

That was such a beautiful section. In it, Nynaeve was both incredibly selfless—by letting Lan go to the fate that is calling to him, even though it isn’t really one Nynaeve believes in the way he does—and a master manipulator, worthy of the best Aes Sedai or member of the Women’s Circle. She loves Lan too much to let him go to his death without a fight, and her action in extracting the promise to accept companionship and then dumping him as far from the Blight as possible in a way that still, technically, kept her promise to him reminded me a lot of Moiraine.

Although Moiraine didn’t have to trick Lan when she decided to pass his bond on rather than let him die with her, we did see many instances of her using Aes Sedai word trickery like this, and we know she was very good at it. I also believe that although Moiraine told Lan that she was passing on his bond because he was too valuable to the fight to be allowed to die with her, she also loved him very deeply, and hoped to give him a chance at happiness. Moiraine’s friendship with Lan was one of her most important aspects as a person, and I believe she genuinely hoped that he would be able to heal from her loss and eventually find happiness with Nynaeve. Of course, Moiraine’s first and most important focus was preparing the Dragon and the World for success at the Last Battle, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t have a little hope for something extra, somewhere in the back of her mind, that hoped for happiness for her friends. Based on her letter to Thom, she even held some small hope to find that for herself.

You know, it has only now occurred to me to wonder if Moiraine will ever take another Warder. Now that we know she is alive and survived the implosion of the redstone doorway, I also wonder if she suffered the way other Aes Sedai suffer when the bond is severed by their Warders’ deaths. Being trapped in the world of the Aelfinn would be hard enough without that extra pain.

I suppose if she marries Thom she’ll also make him her Warder, even though she isn’t a Green.

I was very interested in Nynaeve’s desire to Heal Daigian of the pain she feels at losing Eben, particularly as it became clear that she sees the strong grief that an Aes Sedai feels at a Warder’s death as being a sort of physical (or metaphysical, anyway) wound, something literal that resulted from the severing of the Bond.

I suppose this makes sense, and I had, of course, considered that there was something physical in the bond that added to the pain felt by an Aes Sedai (or Warder for that matter) when the person on the other end died and the bond was severed. However, the intense emotional intimacy experienced by a bonded Aes Sedai and Warder is so deep and so personal, and the amount of emotion and feeling that they share with each other is so great, that I never felt that it was necessary to look further for an explanation for the level of pain experienced by a severing of the bond, even though there was probably a (meta)physical aspect to it.

Nynaeve’s drive to Heal anything (except death) is one of her most important character aspects, but it is about more than just a fascination with Healing. It’s about her deep desire to reduce pain. Even her drive to heal stilling came from that drive as much as it did from any kind of scientific curiosity. 

Nynaeve is a little bit like Rand, in a way—they are both incredibly empathetic people. Nynaeve is driven to be a healer, and to learn Healing, because she experiences such a high level of empathy and care for people in pain. Her very first moment of channeling shows this empathy, when she unconsciously touched the source and used the One Power to Heal Egwene from breakbone fever. Being Wisdom of Emond’s Field combines medicine and leadership, which are two distinct but equally important aspects of caring for others that make Nynaeve a prime example of what an Aes Sedai is supposed to be; a caretaker (i.e. servant) of all. When she finally comes into her full authority as an Aes Sedai, she won’t be one of the Yellows who is dismissive of all other aspects of being Aes Sedai. She will also want to be a leader, also want to ensure that people are treated justly and to fight for the world, both pre and post Tarmon Gaidon.

Nynaeve’s sense of justice is as strong as her empathy, which is one of the reasons that her stubborn self-centeredness doesn’t overtake her personality more. Though she can be rather blind when she is feeling defensive or self protective, her sense of fair play and treating others with the dignity they deserve (if they deserve it, anyway) eventually pushes her to consider the point of view of those around her, as we see her do with Daigian.

We saw the same drives in Rand, and I think one of the reasons he struggled so deeply with conceptualizing any way of dealing with the pain of being a general, a ta’veren, and the Dragon Reborn is because of how deeply he feels empathy and injustice. He cut himself off from those feelings entirely because they were so strong that he felt they would overwhelm him. It’s a feeling I relate to, and have written about in the past, but I see the same impulses in Nynaeve, too. The difference is that she is not the Dragon Reborn, and so she experiences a less extreme version of responsibility and guilt, and also that she is a woman, raised and socialized female, and so her approach to understanding and valuing emotions like grief and empathy is different.

I could go on about this subject at length, I think, but that might be a topic for a different essay.

Nynaeve doesn’t realize it, but in talking with Daigian about the flaws in the Aes Sedai hierarchical system, she is simultaneously  acknowledging herself as one of those “Accepted just off apron strings” who really should owe deference to someone of Daigian’s knowledge and experience, regardless of channeling ability, while also displaying a maturity far beyond many of the Aes Sedai to whom she wants to be considered a peer. I think Daigian recognizes this maturity in Nynaeve and that it gives her a greater respect for the young women than perhaps Daigian previously had. Like Egwene carrying herself like an Amyrlin despite being dressed and treated as a novice, Nynaeve has just shown herself to have wisdom and empathy befitting an Aes Sedai, even if she has never tested for the shawl.

I’ve often thought about the parallels between Lan and Rand, but I hadn’t really considered the parallels between Rand’s lover(s) and Nynaeve. It was interesting to see her musings about Min in this section. Of course Nynaeve is a good Two Rivers woman and so disapproves of sex before marriage, but there’s more to her desire for Rand to marry Min than the cultural morals of her homeland. In this section it is revealed that she has been hounding Rand to marry Min, and Rand has admitted that he won’t because if he does, his death “will bring her even more pain.”

Nynaeve sees that as an idiotic opinion. I’m quite in agreement with her. At the point where Min is already in love with Rand and part of his life (and she has been by his side continuously for some time now), marriage isn’t going to make her love him more or need him more. The loss will be equally devastating either way, however, in one version she gets to be married to him, if only for a little while, and to call him hers in that way. Rand thinks he will hurt her more if he marries her, but one could also argue that he’s hurting her now, by keeping this once aspect of distance between them.

(I assume that Nynaeve doesn’t know about Elayne and Aviendha also being in love with Rand, and he with them? I can’t remember it ever coming up in the narration, and I’m certain that Nynaeve would have some strong opinions about Rand having not one but several lovers out of wedlock, even if she was able to go so far as to accept that living by the Aiel traditions would allow Rand to morally marry all of those lovers. Which doesn’t sound like a thing Nynaeve would ever countenance, but then, she has been determined to obey the laws and customs of the Sea Folk in her own marriage, simply because she and Lan were married by one, and she isn’t even part of their culture. But I digress.)

I’m not sure how important marriage is to Min herself, so she might not be as bothered by the lack as, say, Nynaeve is about not having Lan as her Warder yet.

In this section, thinking of Rand’s likely death draws Nynaeve’s thoughts immediately to Lan and how she does not yet carry his bond. Her determination is to be given his bond before he reaches the Blight, just in case he dies there. Lan would probably disapprove of this goal, just as Rand disapproves of the idea of marrying any of his lovers, but for Nynaeve, the point is to have a chance to carry Lan’s bond, to have that connection and that understanding, even if it is only for a fleeting moment. Even if it hurts later.

This is why she immediately understands Daigian’s point about not wanting to lose any of her feelings about Eben, even if Nynaeve doesn’t see those feelings or the grief as being the same as her connection to Lan. She understands the concept of wanting everything, that not all pain is simple, and that having and losing is better than not having at all.

Nynaeve taking Daigian’s point on board so quickly and apologizing so sincerely kind of seems to contrast with Rand’s apology to Rhuarc and Bael. Nynaeve realizes that she has been dismissive of Daigian’s experience and her apology is one of deference—almost, one could say, that the apology itself is an act of clearing toh, by admitting that she did not understand and that she wronged Daigian by dismissing her pain as merely part of the broken bond, something that should be, in Daigian’s metaphor, “cut away like some spoiled chunk of flesh in an otherwise good roast.”

Rand’s apology to Rhuarc and Bael is similarly accepted as a sort of clearing of toh, or an act that preempts incurring toh, because it acknowledges that Rand’s accusations,  whether intended or an accident of wording, were a flaw in himself, rather than a flaw in Rhuarc and Bael. It reminds me of how back in the days of European dueling culture, there was always a moment before the fight in which the duelists were given the opportunity to apologize or recant whatever insult or injury led to the challenge in the first place.

But those of us who have been in Rand’s head must wonder how performative his apology is. The old Rand would have meant it, of course, but this Rand has cut away or repressed most of his empathy, and what he cares about is achieving his results, not making sure he doesn’t accuse his friends of making excuses or failing at their tasks. Even his addressing of them as “my friends” later in the conversation felt like a performance to me, a way of making sure it sounds like he is giving them respect and consideration while he returns to the only thing he actually cares about, which is achieving peace in Arad Doman.

To get back to Rand reminding the reader and Nynaeve of Lan, we know that our former shepherd isn’t the only one who needs to remember laughter and tears. Lan was always a hard man, and always had a sort of death wish, but it was Moiraine’s “death” that really made him stone. While having the bond pass to Myrelle technically saved his life, since it compelled him to go to her rather than destroy himself attempting to avenge Moiraine or just out of an inability to go on without his Aes Sedai, I don’t think being connected to Myrelle did him any good in any other respect. It might have made him worse. 

We have seen him soften around Nynaeve, however, and even accept her desire to be with him, despite all his earlier protests and demands that she forget him. Being bonded to her might be the thing that restores him to someone capable of feeling joy and allowing himself to grieve, especially if they both survive the Last Battle and have some chance of building a life 

It occurs to me, also, that if the Light wins the Last Battle and Rand is able to seal the Dark One away completely, in the way that Herid Fel posited must be possible, then the Blight will disappear, and the lands that it took might eventually become fertile and healthy again. Lan could, conceivably, found a New Malkier, if he wanted to, and give a home to those Malkier who survived and feel like they are living in exile, without the nation to which they belong.

I wonder if anyone resettling land that was formerly the Blight will find the oak tree that Someshta grew when he died.

In any case, I appreciated seeing in this section how much Nynaeve has grown as a person since the story began. Particularly in her ability to self-reflect, as she does when she experiences the momentary wish that she had stopped Moiraine from taking Rand from Emond’s Field. She is able to recognize the thought as foolish, and though she doesn’t quite name it, seems aware that it is only her sadness over how much Rand has changed that prompted the thought.

We see similar self-reflection from her when she is with Daigian. Nynaeve still has much of her same opinions and impulses, but she is able to restrain herself, as she does when she brings up the subject of the Aes Sedai hierarchy. She believes what she says, that there is something wrong with the system that prioritizes the raw strength of newly-minted sisters over the wisdom and experience of more senior Aes Sedai, and the custom of not bringing up power levels can’t stop her from bringing it up; that is one of Nynaeve’s best qualities, the way she sticks to her principles and morals and opinions when she is sure she is right. However, she knows when to back down, noting both Daigian’s discomfort and remembering the lesson she learned with the Kin. She is thinking things through much more carefully than she used to, bringing experience and good judgment to bear even against her stronger and more stubborn impulses.

As someone who is very anti-hierarchy by nature, I strongly dislike the way the Aes Sedai organize themselves, and I am glad to see Nynaeve call it out. When I think about the way the Aes Sedai might evolve post Tarmon Gai’don, I like to think that proximity to other groups of female channelers—the Kin, the Wavemistresses, the Wise Ones—the way Egwene intends will start to affect how the Aes Sedai think about channeling, and perhaps result in some changes to the way they structure their interactions.

This balance in Nynaeve yields a good result, too. Despite Daigian’s discomfort, the Aes Sedai clearly appreciated the respect Nynaeve showed her by acknowledging her expertise and skill and seeing value in it. This is why she uses Nynaeve’s name at the end of their session, rather than calling her “dear” as she had been. One can imagine how much being seen by Nynaeve, even if Daigian believes her to be less than a full sister, would mean to someone who is constantly being dismissed by her fellow Aes Sedai because of her lack of strength in the One Power.

It had not occurred to me to consider the fact that someone would always have to be the weakest, the very lowest person in the hierarchy. It makes sense that someone in that position would have little hope of another woman eventually being raised who is even less powerful than she. It’s mentioned that Daigian was Accepted longer than any woman in memory, so it was very unexpected that she actually made it to the shawl. The odds of someone even less strong than her coming along are pretty dang low.

I really liked Nynaeve’s analogy of how she doesn’t think of the strength of others because she’s so much stronger than almost everyone is like how a tall man doesn’t think about others’ heights because they all fall into the category of shorter than he. The fact that she notices this about herself, considers it, and then chooses to actively think about Daigian’s position shows a lot of growth. The Nynaeve of the first few books was a bit like Mr. Banks in Mary Poppins—unable to see past the end of her own nose. Not because she was a bad person, but because she was so occupied worry about her own fears and responsibilities and need to prove herself. She is more secure in who she is, now, I think, even more so than she was as the Village Wisdom, before she was challenged to step beyond that role and acknowledge her ability to channel and the need to serve a greater purpose to the world.

We do still see some of the old Nynaeve struggles in this section, though, particularly when she wishes for the ageless face as though that is the answer to her visible displays of emotion. An ageless face won’t hide your braid-tugging, Nynaeve. Or the way you snap at people when you’re annoyed or defensive.

She’s also desperately trying to avoid realizing that Corele tricked her into agreeing to learn the hundred weaves, and that even if it also is a helpful distraction for Daigian, the main purpose of the exercise is to teach Nynaeve what she needs to know to test for the shawl. I’m sure all the Aes Sedai believe that it is necessary for Nyenave and the others raised by Egwene’s decree to take the tests and swear the oaths, and Corele manipulated Nynaeve very expertly into exactly the position the “full” sisters wanted her to be in. Nyenave seems determined not to acknowledge this truth to herself, however; no doubt she will feel uncomfortable and uncertain in herself if she admits that she was tricked.

The real shock will come when Egwene confirms that everyone has to take the test and swear the oaths, though.

Interestingly, Rand is now suffering from his own version of not being able to see past his own worries and responsibilities and fears. His obsession with restoring order in Arad Daman right away, with securing a truce with the Seanchan basically immediately, is absolutely understandable. But we see in his interactions with Bael and Rhuarc that he is unable to acknowledge the reality of situations, and he is quick to accuse these men of making excuses or failing to understand the need to execute his orders. Cadsuane has to remind him.

Again, Rand’s desperation is very understandable, and I think Rhuarc gets it, which is why he doesn’t take more offense to Rand’s rudeness—not once Rand has apologized, anyway. Rhuarc understands the burden of leadership, and even if he doesn’t know exactly what is going on in Rand’s head, he’s a close enough confidant that he must see the general scope of Rand’s plans and understand why the truce with the Seanchan matters so much.

I’m very curious as to what Rand is going to say—and possibly do—to Ituralde, now that he’s made dealing with the man his personal responsibility. I really enjoyed the way all the generals and Aiel warriors talked about Ituralde, like he’s some kind of sexy celebrity they all want to… um… dance the spears with. Yeah. Dancing.

Nynaeve notes the men’s interest in Ituralde and puts it down to men being seduced by the idea of a challenge, but it feels a little bit more homoerotic to me, personally.

There should be more homoeroticism in The Wheel of Time. We get all these female “pillow friends” and even some lesbian Aes Sedai—although most (all?) of them seem to be bad guys or at least not good guys—but not a single gay male couple, even in a casual sense. This is why Aiel polyamory is so boring, too, when it could be so different and interesting.

The television show really gave us so much. It had a lot of flaws, too, but it’s really such a shame it got canceled.

We’ll continue to discuss some of the themes of this section next week when we move on to chapter eight, in which Siuan deals with her own weather sense, tackles issues around the Aes Sedai hierarchy and her own heart, and continues her work to ensure the survival of the White Tower, and the world, through Tarmon Gai’don. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with one final thought.

In the quote from the beginning of the chapter, Nynaeve considers her weather sense, developed when she was Village Wisdom, and that even though she is Aes Sedai now she doesn’t stop being who she is. This thought caught me because until recently, Nynaeve has struggled with idea of having to give up her identity as Village Wisdom and accept being an Aes Sedai instead, even though much about being a sister was repellent to her. Nynaeve has now accepted that she will be an Aes Sedai, even wants to be one, as we see from her desire to prove herself as a full sister and have the ageless face. But she no longer feels like becoming Aes Sedai erases her former identity. She will never again function as the Village Wisdom of Emond’s Field, but that does not mean she stops being everything that she was. In some ways, you could say that she has simple become a Wisdom to more people; as I suggested earlier in this post, you could easily replace the word “servant” with another one, and say that Aes Sedai are “Wisdom to all.”

I’m proud of Nynaeve for how much she has grown and how far she has come in her journey. She will be an excellent Aes Sedai, and perhaps one day, an excellent queen.

She did see herself as Lan’s wife and Queen of Malkier during her test for Accepted. Some of that image was probably drawn solely from her imagination, but some might also come from the future, or a possible future, as well.

I suppose time, and the Wheel, will tell.[end-mark]

The post Reading The Wheel of Time: <i>The Gathering Storm</i> (Part 5) appeared first on Reactor.

Books Wind and Truth Reread

Wind and Truth Reread: Chapters 113-116

The origins of the Oathpact, Jasnah’s downfall, and our favorite Navani impersonator.

By Paige Vest, Lyndsey Luther, Drew McCaffrey

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Published on October 6, 2025

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Welcome, Sanderfans, to another installment of the Wind and Truth Reread! We’ve got some very tense debates this week between Taravangian and Jasnah, as well as LOTS of juicy new insights from Tanavast. We even get to see Navani’s reaction at discovering that Lift’s been masquerading as her all this time! So let’s get to it…

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

Chapter 113 is “Accommodation,” an Honor chapter, which takes place seven thousand fifty years ago. We see how Tanavast created the Stormfather, a spren which was like him if he was free to simply exist. Then Kor arrives back on Roshar and tells him how Rayse has killed not only Uli Da… he’d also killed two other Shardbearers: Aona, who held Devotion, and Skai, who held Dominion.

They decide to attack Rayse as he is weakened, but when they reach him, he warns them that Roshar will be destroyed if they fight him. They find him with the singers and Tanavast feels betrayed that they seem to like. Rayse and his talk of passion. They attack, but then they see glimpses of the future: Roshar, burned and full of broken bodies.

He brings up the destruction that occurred when he killed Ambition, and Tanavast considers the utter devastation that was wrought by the clash between Rayse and Ambition. Horrified, Tanavast and Kor realize they must refrain from attacking Rayse.

Rayse says that they must make an accommodation, a deal. Thinking of the proxy war they’d unleashed upon Ashyn, Tanavast immediately says that they must not make the same mistake again, giving humans so much power. Kor offers a way to limit and place conditions on the power they grant to humans—a system of equations, accounting for both greater and lesser powers. Rayse doesn’t want to be bound and thinks it might be better if he seeks a different world, but Tanavast does not want him wreaking havoc on defenseless victims, and insists that the three of them must stay and share the Rosharan system. Kor threatens Rayse into compliance by saying that if he doesn’t agree, she’ll gather the rest and they’ll deal with him as they dealt with Adonalsium. Rayse accepts the terms.

Honor binds the three of them, surprising Rayse. However, as Tanavast and Kor leave, they feel Roshar beginning to adopt Rayse, just as it had previously adopted the two of them.

Chapter 114 is titled “The Greatest Good.” Jasnah is incredulous at Taravangian’s claim that he’ll conquer Thaylen City. At first, Jasnah and Taravangian argue morals and philosophies. He promises Fen peace and prosperity. She leans toward the Coalition, as she’s loyal to it and to Dalinar. Jasnah argues that he won’t bring peace because he’s a murderer who just wants control.

Then Taravangian tells Fen of how Jasnah lured the thieves in Kharbranth into attacking her in order to destroy them and to teach Shallan a lesson. She falters a bit as she defends herself. Next, he produces a contract for Fen to read; the contract that Jasnah took out on Aesudan, in case she decided to assassinate her sister-in-law. She defends that, too, but Taravangian uses it as an example of the lengths Jasnah will go to protect her family and her people.

Jasnah realizes that Taravangian, unlike her, hadn’t come to argue competing philosophies, but to argue against her.

POV Change!

Navani is back in Urithiru in the Physical Realm. She’s bereft at leaving Dalinar behind in the Spiritual Realm. She thinks that if he doesn’t make it back, then she’ll take his place in the contest herself. She hands Gavinor off to a nursemaid with instructions to let him sleep on a couch in the next room so she can check on him. Then she enters the chamber where Lift is masquerading as her. In the midst of that weirdness, Wit arrives wearing Dalinar’s face, though the illusion quickly evaporates.

Navani tells Wit that she left Dalinar behind, and that Wit’s going to help her save him. He asks if Shallan, Renarin, and Rlain returned with her. She’s confused, saying she didn’t know they were in there. They go off to discuss what had gone wrong with their experiment seven days ago, and Wit assures her that he may be able to think of a way to help Dalinar.

Chapter 115 is another Honor chapter titled “Binding,” which takes place seven thousand years ago. Tanavast wants to confront Odium, as he fears that Rayse is moving to conquer the cosmere. Against Kor’s wishes, he reaches out to the other Shards to see if they’ll help. None will. So he goes to Ishar and other humans who’d had the power of Surgebinding on Ashyn, who still retained a seed of that power. He promises Surgebinding to Ishar and his allies if they will obey and accept Honor’s rules.

Of course, they agree, and thus the Oathpact is forged and the allies become Heralds.

Chapter 116 is titled “Two Women,” and here we see Jasnah’s downfall. She’s argued very well and nearly beat Taravangian. In the end, she’s done in by the undeniable fact that she would do anything to protect her family and Alethkar, no matter the cost. She states that she wouldn’t take the same deal from Odium to protect Alethkar, and Fen knows she’s lying.

Fen, despite her previous loyalty to the Coalition, agrees to join Odium. As they haggle about the future of Thaylenah, Jasnah sits, quietly stunned, and attempts to come to grips with her defeat.

Lyndsey’s Commentary: Character Arcs

Tanavast/Honor

We see how the power of the Shards slowly changes their bearers’ personalities time and time again in the cosmere—the most obvious case being Sazed, slowly becoming paralyzed by the warring dichotomy of the two Shards he holds. But it’s chilling to think about something changing the very essence of who you are, and doing it in such a slow, insidious manner that you barely realize what’s happening.

Taravangian/Odium

Ah yes… the old “only by uniting everyone under my rule can there be peace” chestnut. How many dictators in fiction have perpetuated this myth as justification for their power grabs?

This entire game of wits between the two of them has the feel of impending disaster—which is fitting, of course, as Jasnah does lose this battle. I find it terrifying how easily Taravangian turns Jasnah’s own actions and personality against her.

Jasnah

Interesting that Jasnah makes such an assumption about all leaders. She seems to assume that all leaders, once they reach a certain level of power, will act with clinical logic and reason, as she would. This oversight—ignoring the impact of emotions over reason—will, of course, contribute to her downfall in this matter.

Wanting the opportunity to match wits with an equal, if not a superior, intellect is understandable. If only Taravangian wasn’t such a… well, the things I want to call him wouldn’t really be suitable for polite company, so let’s just go with “jerk.” Perhaps, if Jasnah and Taravangian could have worked together for the greater good… but what is the greater good, in this instance? The good of the Alethi? The people of Roshar? All the people in the cosmere? The scale is so grand that it’s difficult to contemplate.

I would suggest that this aligns with the “monkeysphere” philosophical concept, or “Dunbar’s number,” which states that a person can only hold so many sociological connections (suggested to be around 150 stable relationships). Past that number, people don’t care so deeply. It’s harder to empathize with people outside of your direct experience; you just naturally care more for those you interact with more frequently. There’s also some aspects of the trolley problem at play here; who would you save? A family member for whom you care deeply, or ten innocent strangers?

These are the underlying philosophical concepts at play in Taravangian’s argument here. Jasnah clearly would choose to save her family over all the people of Thaylenah; to claim otherwise would be disingenuous.

Oof. That’s a hell of a thought, isn’t it? Which is better, a free people constantly at war and in danger of death? Or a people enslaved, but in peace? As an American, I’ve been conditioned my whole life to stand by freedom. But in this instance, I truly don’t know if freedom is worth the instability and destruction and death.

Taravangian has turned her love for her family into the ultimate weapon to defeat her.

And so we come to the ultimate question driving any analysis of ethics and morality: how to determine what is right. Interestingly we saw this same quandary in Kaladin’s section earlier in the book too, when he was debating the subject with Nale.

Drew’s Commentary: Invested Arts & Theories

Well, chapter 113 opens immediately with some clarifying language:

The idea of avatars has been around in the Cosmere for the better part of a decade now, but I still see a lot of confusion around just what an avatar is. It seems Brandon has been seeing the same thing, because he comes right out with an explanation here. It’s useful, especially in the wake of Mistborn Era 2 and Isles of the Emberdark and all that stuff Autonomy is getting up to.

This chapter is just packed with Shardic lore. This particular moment isn’t new—it’s some nice dramatic irony, as we readers have known about Odium’s work with Aona and Skai since The Way of Kings—but it does set up some new context for the splintering of Devotion and Dominion. Odium somehow got them to turn on each other and weaken themselves before he stepped in with the killing blows and shoved all that Investiture into the Cognitive Realm at Sel.

Sel is actually a strange parallel to what’s going on with Roshar, too. We’ve been operating under the assumption that Sel was unique—and in some ways it is—with un-held (un-Vesseled?) Shards just floating around and gaining sentience. But Wind and Truth reveals that Honor was in a similar boat: not splintered, not sitting in the Cognitive Realm and impacting the geographic elements of the magic, but gaining intelligence nonetheless.

I have to wonder if Virtuosity is experiencing something similar, as well. As we head into the second half of the general Cosmere narrative, we’ve suddenly gotten information about a sizable number of Shards just… sitting there, in one form or another. This feels like really important information, and possibly even a potential point of conflict for the major powers in the late-stage Cosmere.

Speaking of late-stage Cosmere, it seems increasingly certain that Threnody is going to be important—and certainly the residents of Threnody will be, as the Night Brigade sweeps across the stars.

So we know that Odium began his conflict with Ambition in the Threnodite system, and she was gravely wounded there. But that’s not where Uli Da found her ultimate demise, nor where Ambition was fully splintered. So where was it?

There are a lot of different names for Taln’s Scar floating around the Cosmere. The Red Rip is another. Most people, if they give much thought to this particular stellar phenomenon, assume that this is related to the Shattering of Adonalsium, perhaps a signal that fainlife has been spreading from Yolen across the systems of the Cosmere. But what if this is, in fact, a relic of Odium’s struggle with Ambition, leaving a ravaged wake behind them? Threnody is one of the worlds where we’ve seen mythology spring up around it…

We’ve heard variations of this before, through Hoid and the conversations about the contract with Odium, but this feels extra important given the context of chapter 113. So much of this chapter is themed around the death of Vessels and the destruction of Shards—even a reference to the Shattering of Adonalsium—that I think we have to consider what happened with Devotion and Dominion.

Did Odium entice them into breaking some agreement they had with each other? Was the simple fact that they ignored the agreement about shacking up together enough for him to exploit?

And then there’s the enigmatic Word of Brandon about Autonomy’s help during Odium’s foray on Sel, and the long-running theory that Jaddeth is an avatar of Autonomy. How much of a mess are we looking at when there are four Shards all interacting with each other?

This is a reread, so we already know about this particular Shard and Vessel, but I have to call out once again how much fun that little spike of joy is, every time we got a new Shard named over the years. Incredibly, all sixteen original Shards have been named. I can’t say that we’ll never get another new Shard again—heck, we just got Retribution in this novel, and who knows how many other combination Shards will pop up over the rest of these books—but a small part of me will always look fondly back on the early days of theorizing Shards and trying to assign Shards into type quadrants and all of that.

The cosmere has changed a lot in the last 19 years.

Judging by the name, Chan Ko Sar is likely another Sho Del Vessel, like Uli Da. But this line resonates especially strongly after Isles of the Emberdark and all the lore about the Grand Apparatus. Some people seem to think that Adonalsium created the Grand Apparatus, but I suspect it was actually Invention’s doing—and Invention certainly has interest in it.

Now a world like Canticle? I think that has to be Adonalsium’s doing. But I feel like it’s a safe guarantee that we’re gonna see some crazy stuff Invented as we get into Mistborn Era 4, and maybe if (…when? Probably “when”) Sanderson drops more Secret Projects on us.

Cuz c’mon. Does anyone really think he’s done doing that? There’s always another secret.

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.

Please note that here won’t be a new reread article next week, but we’ll be back on Monday, October 20^th with our discussion of chapters 117 through 120![end-mark]

The post <i>Wind and Truth</i> Reread: Chapters 113-116 appeared first on Reactor.

Books The Wheel of Time

Reading The Wheel of Time: The Gathering Storm (Part 4)

Cadsuane contemplates how to make Semirhage talk, Ituralde surveys the battle field, and Egwene visits Leane’s cell…

By Sylas K Barrett

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Published on September 30, 2025

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Welcome back to Reading The Wheel of Time. This week we’re finishing up chapter 5 with Cadsuane’s section, and then covering chapter 6, in which Leane has a harrowing experience with a bubble of evil and I wonder if the White Tower is getting more than its fair share of those for some reason. Oh, also Ituralde is doing stuff.

Let’s recap. 

On the second floor of the manor house, Cadsuane is supervising the interrogation of Semirhage. She is letting Merise lead the interrogation so that she can watch and think and plan, while the three sisters holding Semirhage’s shield wait in the other room.

Merise is trying to get Semirhage to tell them about Graendal’s plans, but Semirhage only begins detailing horrific experiments she performed and promises to someday show them to Merise. When Cadsuane sees Merise go pale, she wraps Semirhage’s head in Air so she cannot hear and also puts two bright lights in front of Semirhage’s eyes so that she can’t read their lips.

They discuss the problem of interrogating someone like Semirhage. Cadsuane reminds Merise that Semirhage is only human; if you take away the years she spent locked away in the Dark One’s prison, most likely in some kind of trance or hibernation, she might not even be as old as the oldest Aes Sedai.

As the interrogation resumes, Semirhage refuses to answer any of Merise’s questions, and Cadsuane’s thoughts turn to Rand. She is frustrated by her failure with him; she has taught him to treat her with a little more civility, but that is it, and she is worried that she is close to failing utterly. She returns her thoughts to Semirhage with an effort.

Cadsuane realizes that she sees something of herself in Semirhage, and considers how she would break herself. It’s a disturbing thought, and she is relieved when Corele interrupts to report that Rand is about to meet with the Aiel chiefs. Semirhage is taken away by the sisters maintaining her shield and Cadsuane sets about her next task of the day—dealing with the boy.

Outside the city of Darluna, Rodel Ituralde surveys the carnage and destruction of battle, musing about how scholars often scrub and sanitize details in favor of being concise, and wonders how this battle will be described in the history books.

Ituralde has lost about half of his 100,000 forces in this battle, but he has defeated a Seanchan army three times the size of his own, plus damane. A messenger brings him to where the dying Seanchan general is sitting.  

General Turan greets him, remarking that Ituralde’s title of “Great Captain” is deserved. When asked, Ituralde explains how he used the Seanchan’s reliance on raken against them, disguising women and children so that they would look like a huge army coming up behind Turan’s forces while Ituralde hid his own soldiers inside the buildings of the town, allowing only a few out at a time to tend the fields. Turan is admiring, though he points out that this defeat will demand an answer, and that Ituralde will never ultimately be successful against the superior Seanchan numbers.

Ituralde knows this, but he cannot sit by and not fight the invaders of his homeland, just as Turan and his army could not surrender when he realized he was defeated, but fought on to the last.

At Turan’s request, Ituralde beheads the dying man. He drives Turan’s sword into the ground beside him and then leaves, making his way back across the battlefield as evening begins to fall.

In the White Tower, Egwene is visiting Leane in her cell. She is doing her best to keep her spirits up and to keep her appearance neat, but locked in a cell day after day, not tortured but always ignored, except by Egwene (and those trying to learn about Traveling) is taking a toll on her, both mentally and physically.

Egwene promises that she will see Leane free, and exhaustedly uses the bars of the cell to pull herself to her feet. Then she stops in surprise and looks down at her hands, which are covered in some kind of waxy substance.

Leane can see Egwene’s handprints in the bars and when she pokes one, it bends under the impact. Suddenly her entire cell starts to melt like warm wax, what was once stone dripping down on her from the ceiling and the very floor beneath her feet beginning to melt and suck her down.

The two Yellows, Musarin and Gelarna, lift Leane to safety with flows of Air, knocking her into Egwene. They both scramble to their feet to find that the effect seems to have stopped—chips of stone are caught in Leane’s dress and the bars and floor are solid again, now in various states of having been melted or flattened. Leane can see the score marks in the stone floor where her feet tried to find purchase.

Egwene calmly remarks that these events are becoming more frequent, showing how the Dark One’s power is growing and the Last Battle is near. She asks what their Amyrlin is doing about it. The sisters don’t answer, sending Egwene to bed and assuring her that they will look after the prisoner.

Egwene heads to bed, after urging Leane to stay strong. She is surprised when she passes a few Brown Sisters talking, and wonders what they are doing in the novice quarters. But then she notices that the gray tiles have changed to brown, and thinks that in her fatigue she may have walked the wrong way.

But when she looks out the window she can see the view she expects to see from the novice quarters. The sisters approach her to ask what she is doing in the Brown Quarters at this late hour, and Egwene wordlessly points out the window.

Eventually the Browns decide there is nothing to do but stay where they are, as they can’t exactly move into the cramped novice quarters that are now where their rooms should have been. Egwene muses that leaving the Browns physically divided in this way is an accurate reflection of the division in the Tower—and that now she has to climb a lot of stairs to reach her room.

After I mused last week that Cadsuane wasn’t doing a very good job with Rand, it was interesting (and a little gratifying, to be honest) to see that she’s having the same realization. I wonder if she’ll try a different tack with Rand now, perhaps developing it at the same time as she’s developing her approach to breaking Semirhage.

The concept of her seeing herself in Semirhage, and therefore figuring out how to break herself in order to break the Forsaken, is fascinating. The “Chosen” would never consider any modern Aes Sedai to be even close to what “real” Aes Sedai are/were, but it does make sense that there would be similarities in powerful women who have been channeling for many years, even if one of them grew up in a system that was only a shadow of the original system, cobbled together from memory and guesswork. Cadsuane is, if you’ll excuse my language, a stone cold bitch, and while that’s pretty far from being a sadistic monster like Semirhage, I think she might actually be in the same weight class, so to speak.

If we’re putting money on who is going to win this battle, mine is on Cadsuane. The real question is if anyone will ever try to rescue Semirhage before Cadsuane gets her chance to get useful information out of the woman.

Also, I kind of find it amusing that Rand has forbidden the interrogators from using torture, but hanging someone upside down outside a window doesn’t count. I mean, I doubt it fazes Semirhage but an ordinary prisoner might find that all kinds of terrifying, and it’s an interesting line to draw between what counts as torture and what doesn’t. Does it have to be pain to count? I doubt Rand would be happy if she was suffocated by the manipulation of Air or locked in a box like he was, but someone could certainly develop PTSD from prolonged exposure to feeling like they were about to be dropped from a great height, too. 

Anyway, I suppose the point is moot, as I’m certain Cadsuane is correct. No traditional methods of torture are going to faze Semirhage, whether it be through pain or attempts to scare her. Cadsuane is going to have to figure out something else, something much more original and unexpected.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the theme of fear and control in The Wheel of Time. It’s a theme I notice early on with Nynaeve, in particular, and I think I’ve touched on it with other characters, but since I started The Gathering Storm I’ve been thinking more about how many of the personal struggles of the protagonists are attached to this theme, to the struggle of wanting to control things more than is possible, or healthy, or morally right, because they are afraid.

In particular, this theme surrounds Rand. Almost every Aes Sedai has, at some point, considered how important it is that the Dragon Reborn be controlled. For some, such as Elaida, this has looked like locking him up in the White Tower until Tarmon Gai’don, during which he would be wielded like a weapon by the White Tower. For others, like Moiraine, it meant convincing him to accept her judgments and guidance, even over his own instincts. Moiraine eventually changed her mind about that, of course, but even Egwene has had concerns about controlling Rand.

This makes sense, of course. The Dragon channels tainted (until recently) saidin. He is prophesied to destroy the world and to break all bonds. He’s ta’veren, and can influence the events around him and even the choices people make. It would be foolish to not be afraid of him.

Those with power, especially Aes Sedai, have responded to that fear by trying to control Rand, one way or another. I’ve always felt that Cadsuane’s insistence on calling Rand “boy,” both to his face and in her own head, is not so much about teaching him humility or respect for her position as it is an attempt to make what he is feel a little less terrifying. She’s focused on the fact that he is young and (in her eyes) ignorant and inexperienced, and when she does consider his power and identity, she tends to think of him more as an object or a dangerous creature than a full person. She doesn’t seem to want to factor in that, ultimately, even if he is not as old and wise as her, even if he is a man and not an Aes Sedai, the fate of the world at Tarmon Gai’don is his responsibility. By fate, by prophecy, by the very truth of creation, no matter how much help he gets, no matter how much guidance he accepts, ultimately, facing the Dark One is down to him.

If the White Tower included men who can channel in their hierarchy, Rand would outrank Cadsuane, even though he is much younger and less experienced. And while no Amyrlin placed him in authority above anyone, you could argue that the Wheel did. You might even argue that the Creator did. Such a perspective can be taken too far (we don’t want another Masema on our hands) but it also can be ignored too much, which I think a lot of Aes Sedai are guilty of. They would rather think of him as an ignorant country lout or as an object of prophecy, but neither of these perspectives take Rand as a whole person.

I think that is what Cadsuane is missing. It’s fine, maybe even necessary, to remind Rand that he still has to treat others with respect and dignity (when he was struggling to behave reasonably towards Harine I did wonder if Cadsuane’s teachings had any bearing on his attempts at self control and keeping his temper in check) but Cadsuane isn’t going to teach him how to be a full human being again, one who “remembers laughter and tears” if she doesn’t treat him like a full human being.

I do love how smart Cadsuane is though, and all the little details that reveal it, like her trick of using bright lights to make sure a captive can’t read her lips while deafened by Air, the usual Aes Sedai go-to. I also liked that I ended up covering her section in the same week that we got Leane’s observations of Egwene, and her musings over how a woman so young could have learned so much about how to appear and be like an Amyrlin. It seemed fitting to compare and contrast Leane’s respect for Egwene to Cadsuane’s frustration with Rand. Of course, Rand hasn’t achieved the kind of inner peace or balance in leadership that Egwene has, either.

But Egwene keeping her head and getting the Yellows to rescue Leane when they were frozen in horror reminded me of Cadsuane as much as a comparison to Rand, and I agree wholeheartedly with Leane about Egwene’s ability as Amyrlin. She keeps her head in the face of every danger and surprise, no matter how horrible, more than most full sisters do. And while I can imagine Cadsuane handling herself well enough if she faced a similar situation, I don’t know that she would have managed it when she was as young as Egwene is now.  

The section with Ituralde feels very Jordan-esque, to me. I appreciate how the narrative is still reiterating the horrors of war, and that the great generals like Gareth Bryne and Rodel Ituralde are not glory hounds, and are very cognizant of how few people understand the truth of death in battle unless they have faced it. I also enjoyed having Ituralde wondering how future historians and writers would describe the battle as I myself read about him and his battle in a book that might well be described as a fictional history. 

The exchange with the Seanchan general is a good reminder to the reader of ordinary Seanchan people, and the fact that they are human beings, not just an invasion force. Turan respects Ituralde, and he shows dignity in his defeat. I’m not sure if he told Ituralde about the response his victory will inevitably engender as a warning or because he was perplexed that a man of Ituralde’s obvious intelligence would keep fighting even knowing that he can’t win.

We don’t even know how much Turan believes in the Seanchan right to rule everything that was once part of Hawkwing’s empire. But whether it was a warning or merely an attempt to understand the motivations of the people they have come to conquer, Turan clearly doesn’t look down on Ituralde, and that’s significant, in my eyes.

We have seen throughout the series that soldiers often have respect for each other, whether they are loyal men serving their respective rulers or mercenaries accustomed to being on the same side at times and opposite sides at others. I like that this trend is continuing in The Gathering Storm. And the fact that the likes of Turan and Tylee can develop a respect for the non-Seanchan leaders bodes well for the ability of the Seanchan to eventually fight alongside the people of Rand’s continent when Rand eventually manages to get that truce and everyone goes to the Last Battle together.

There is something very moving in Ituralde’s decision to fight this battle even knowing that he can’t win it. That he is thinking of his descendants, of fighting for his country because that is the right thing to do, and that hopefully one day his actions will help inspire future generations to throw off the yoke of the conqueror.

We’ll find out more about what Rand is going to do about Arad Doman next week, but I can’t help thinking about how Rand is going to be less concerned about making the Seanchan relinquish control of what they have taken than he will be about coming to some kind of mutually appealing (to some degree, anyway) agreement. Which will almost certainly mean letting the Seanchan keep most or all of what they have currently under their control. Since Arad Doman is not, Ituralde’s actions might prove less futile than one would believe. On the other hand, Rand might use control of Arad Doman as a bargaining chip to get the Seanchan to agree to some kind of truce. He might offer to quell the rebellion in Arad Doman and let them have it without struggle, if they agree to stop trying to expand anywhere else and to fight alongside everyone else in the Last Battle.

I wonder what Ituralde would do in that case.

Of course, the real question is how long it will take Rand to actually get that audience with Tuon. Falendre isn’t in any hurry to pass that message along, it seems, and we know from Egwene’s Dream that there will be an attack on the White Tower, so presumably that will happen before Falendre tells Tuon about the Dragon’s request for an audience to bargain for peace.

But we don’t have to wait for the Seanchan attack to have troubling events in the White Tower. I really feel for Leane—she might be viewed as a full sister by her fellow Aes Sedai while Egwene is only a novice in their eyes, but I think being cooped up in a cell day after day with nothing to do and no one to talk to would be worse even than the constant beatings Egwene is subject to. At least Egwene can move around and be active—and she is making progress in winning sisters over to her side and perspective, which gives her something to get up in the morning for.

Really, it’s lucky for both of them that the Aes Sedai are maintaining guard over Leane in the traditional way, despite the fact that forkroot offers a simple and effective alternative. If Leane had been alone down there she would almost certainly have died; even if she wasn’t completely sucked under by the melting floor, when it solidified again it would have been around her legs, and who knows what that might have done to her body. It’s a chilling thought.

And then of course there’s the fact that part of the Brown Ajah quarters have been switched with the novice quarters.

Back when it was discovered that hallways in the Royal Palace at Caemlyn had been switched around, someone (I can’t remember who, exactly) wondered what would happen if a person was in one of the rooms that moved or disappeared, and if it was possible that someone might one day wake up in a room with no doors or windows. We haven’t seen that happen thus far, but this gets fairly close to that.

We know that other effects of the Pattern being weakened can hurt or kill people. There was the peddler who was sucked down into the disappearing ghost town, for example. And Leane certainly could have died in the melting cell. I can’t think of a reason why an occupied room couldn’t disappear, or be moved somewhere where the occupant couldn’t get out again, and it’s hard to say if there is a difference between the bubbles of evil, which are responsible for things like having copies of yourself climb out of a mirror or coughing up bugs until you die, and this shifting of locations, which appears to be more to do with the Pattern unraveling in general and less to do with little pockets of miasma burbling up from the Dark One’s prison.

Leane’s melting cell and the disappearing town that sucked the peddler down with it could be the dissolution of the pattern or a bubble of evil, if there is even a difference between them. I am inclined to draw a line between events that one can engage in or witness, and that can be deadly, like the two above examples, and between the shifting of locations, which cannot be noticed and (so far) does not seem to be deadly. 

Anyway, the reason I wonder about this is because way back in The Shadow Rising, when we first encountered a bubble of evil, Moiraine explained that the bubbles will drift along the pattern until they attach to a thread and burst open, causing strange effects. She also theorizes that ta’veren attract these effects more than ordinary people, aka ordinary threads, do. If this theory is correct, it’s possible that other important lives, even if they are not strictly ta’veren, might also attract the bubbles of evil. It would make sense if the White Tower, filled with important lives and powerful channelers, attracts more than its otherwise fair share of bubbles of evil. And if the shifting locations are part of the bubbles of evil, then that would explain why it seems so common in the White Tower, and other places full of important people like Elayne’s Palace, while the effect isn’t quite so common in other places.

If the shifting locations are not part of the bubbles of evil, but a different effect of the Dark One breaking free, it’s also possible that having important lives around, or even any lives at all, actually makes it less likely that someone will be lost or killed by the changes. The Dark One’s touch on the world is growing, but it is still very limited; he is affecting the weather and shifting locations, but he can’t reach out and smite his enemies directly. He can’t grasp the thread of a life and alter who that person is, at least not unless they visit him at Shayol Ghul.

There might be different rules for those who interact with the Dark One directly at Shayol Ghul. Asmodean seemed to believe that he’d end up back in the Dark One’s power eventually, which perhaps suggests that he could not forswear the Dark as others can. But ordinary darkfriends are supposed to be able to return to the Light, no matter how far they have gone into the Dark; their oaths to the Dark One are not so binding, in a physical/metaphysical sense, that the Dark One can touch them directly.

So, with the possible exception of those who swear at Shayol Ghul (Shaidar Haran creating Moghedien’s cour’souvra there also suggests reality is more the Dark One’s plaything at Shayol Ghul than anywhere else) the Dark One can’t touch the lives or minds of people directly. Not unless he broke free entirely, one presumes. 

We have been told that human lives are the threads of the Pattern, but objects and the physical land itself are also part of the Pattern, otherwise it would only be human beings who were being altered, not the land around them, by the Dark One’s increasing ability to touch the world. I wonder if lives aren’t a bit more solid, more foundational to the Pattern than inanimate objects and buildings and even the land itself—and if so, whether those threads will be the least, and last, affected.

Sort of a reverse of Tel’aran’rhiod, if you will.

If this theory, which to be fair is pretty lacking in hard evidence, is correct, it would suggest that people aren’t likely to be harmed by their rooms or homes suddenly disappearing due to a shift in the unraveling Pattern. Because human lives are the true threads, so they are stronger than any other part of reality.

Does that make any sense? I feel like I’m trying to be Herid Fel here but I’m really just sounding the way he sounds to Rand when he talks.

In any case, this was a really interesting chapter and a half to read. I’m looking forward to next week and to finding out what Rand’s plan is for Arad Doman. We’ll also see some Siuan and Gareth Bryne interaction, which I am less excited about, but that’s getting ahead of myself.[end-mark]

The post Reading The Wheel of Time: <i>The Gathering Storm</i> (Part 4) appeared first on Reactor.

Books Brandon Sanderson

Six Video Games That Capture the Magic of Sanderson’s Cosmere

It’s the closest we’ll ever come to Surgebinding, Allomancy, and other types of magic…

By Cole Rush

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Published on October 2, 2025

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The best video games have their own unique sort of magic, and I’ve extolled the virtues of my favorite games for Reactor aplenty over the years. “Magic” is the operative word here—I love it when a game can make me feel like I’m in full possession of whatever magical powers and properties the designers have created and bestowed upon their world. While most games have their own narratives and magical characters to enjoy, they can also plop you into the distinct feel of a magic system in a way that less interactive media (see: books) can’t always accomplish.

I recently found myself connecting the mechanics of some of my favorite games with the various magic systems found in Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere—the extended fictional universe in which many of his books are set. Sanderson’s long been one of my favorite authors (and is no stranger to gaming himself, both as an avid gamer himself and the creative force behind a new series of roleplaying games based on his novels); his magic systems tend to have certain structural elements in common but introduce ingenious variations when it comes to the raw materials and the various forms that the magic takes on each of his fictional worlds. With that in mind, let’s absorb some Stormlight, prepare our metals, and take a Breath before we dive into six video games that made me feel like I’d tapped into the powers of the Cosmere!

Mistborn Era 1 and Neon White — Metallic Motion

Allomancy powers Mistings or Mistborn by allowing them to ingest and “burn” metals. Different metals grant different powers, but I’m focusing on Iron (pulling) and Steel (pushing) today. These metals allow Mistings to pull on objects or push them away. These powers can be unleashed to varying effects—pull on a lighter object and it will come to you; pull on a heavy one and you will be pulled toward it.

Neon White captures the flinging feeling of pushing or pulling on massive buildings or metal bracers. The game is made for speedy runs through its intricate levels, and you’ll feel like you’re careening through the ashy streets of Luthadel with every move. You don’t ingest metals to gain these powers—you collect cards that grant ammo and special abilities. Still, no other game has made me feel just like a Mistborn soaring through the city.

Warbreaker and Chicory — A Colorful Pair

The world of Warbreaker is suffused with color and power by Breath. The life force of Breath can grant marvelous abilities while draining color from objects or people.

Chicory, with its cozy vibes and mental health-related themes, is an excellent foil to Warbreaker’s often-brutal Awakenings. You play as a cute dog, named after your favorite food/treat (Toffee for me) and embark on a quest to restore a world’s color. Chicory feels somewhat at odds with Warbreaker in that it’s more restorative than destructive. While the book’s world can feel pretty grim and ruthless, those who have read it know there’s more to the story, and there are notes of Chicory’s optimism by the end.

Mistborn Era 2 and Katana Zero — Timey Wimey Stuff

The second era of the Mistborn series features technological advances and new ways to blend Scadrial’s magic systems. One new power is the time bubble, which can slow or speed up time in a small area (depending on the powers used). These bubbles make for some epic moments of slo-mo action or daring dodges, especially with gunpowder now in the mix.

Katana Zero is pretty much the video game equivalent of these time bubbles. You play as a sword-wielding warrior deployed on missions to take out mysterious enemies. Your powers allow you to slow time in a fashion, diving into slow motion sequences as you take foes down with incredible precision. While the theme and aesthetic don’t match up with Mistborn era 2, the control of time in small spurts made me feel like Wayne, and that’s enough!

White Sand and Journey — Grains of Sand and Story

White Sand has the unique distinction of being the only major Cosmere work first published as a graphic novel. Sanderson is reportedly working on a prose version that will finally give the sand mastery magic system a bigger spotlight among readers. White Sand’s magic involves exerting telekinetic control over white sand, allowing the masters to manipulate the sand in spectacular ways.

Journey has long been lauded for its wordless storytelling, and oh boy does it involve a heck of a lot of sand. The game’s setting glimmers as rays shine off the dunes, and enemies are massive, like the creatures we encounter in White Sand. While Journey won’t put sand in your hands to wield like a whip, it captures the inherent magic of Taldain, one of Sanderson’s least-explored worlds thus far.

Elantris and Chants of Sennaar — Symbols Galore

Characters in Elantris can use the AonDor to carve sigils in the air and create magical effects. Ten years before the events of the novel, an unimaginable catastrophe leaves the once-glorious city of Elantris in tatters, with the magic now unpredictable and flighty; with the city deteriorating into violence and ruin, Prince Raoden and his cohorts work desperately to uncover what went wrong.

Inspired by the legend of the Tower of Babel, Chants of Sennaar makes symbols your business by presenting fictional languages represented by unfamiliar written characters. You’ll encounter characters speaking full sentences that you can’t understand until you decipher their context and syntax. You don’t draw the symbols like the Elantrians do, but you’ll feel like you’re unravelling a thrilling mystery as you fill your notebook with each logographic symbol’s meaning. Plus, just as you clear one translation, a new variation on the language will surface, deepening the mystery.

The Stormlight Archive and Hades — Boons and Surges

The Stormlight Archive is huge. Set on the planet Roshar, its massive scope begets several different magic systems that combine to create various types and orders of superpowered beings, capable of tapping into distinct abilities. Knights Radiant, for example, use Stormlight (usually drawn from infused gemstones) to bind Surges—fundamental forces of nature—with different Surges enabling access to certain powers and abilities.

A series as big as the Stormlight Archive deserves an equally epic video game to match—that’s where Hades comes in. The game has earned near-universal acclaim since it was released five years ago, and it does a better job of making me feel like a Knight Radiant than anything else I’ve ever played. Why? In control of Zagreus, the son of Hades, players earn Boons from the gods of the Greek pantheon. The Boons subtly alter and upgrade your ability set, combining in ways that can inspire awe (in you) and terror (in the hearts of your enemies). Each Boon can synergize with others in intriguing ways, and the possible combinations are far greater in number than with the Surges of Roshar. Also, I can’t help but acknowledge that the shape of the Boons—glowing orbs—always remind me of the spheres that feature so prominently throughout The Stormlight Archive.[end-mark]

The post Six Video Games That Capture the Magic of Sanderson’s Cosmere appeared first on Reactor.

Books Wind and Truth Reread

Wind and Truth Reread: Chapters 109-112

Kaladin battles a Herald, Szeth is betrayed, and Jasnah is in trouble…

By Paige Vest, Lyndsey Luther, Drew McCaffrey

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Published on September 29, 2025

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Greetings, Cosmere Chickens. I hope you have a comfort drink or snack prepared for this week’s reread, as we’ll be delving into some very rough stuff. Kaladin and Nale battle with weapons both physical and emotional, young Szeth faces the ultimate betrayal in his flashback chapter, and Jasnah begins to see her plans crumple in her negotiations with Taravangian. Even Venli’s facing some setbacks with her army of faithful chasmfiends. Remember, the night is always darkest before the dawn, and hope is always just around the corner.

But not this week.

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

As we continue with Day Nine, we pick back up with Kaladin and Nale in Chapter 109, “Rationalization.” Their duel has commenced, but neither attacks yet. Kaladin is assessing their surroundings and Nale watches him. The Wind tells him that he’ll be needed tomorrow, the storm is tomorrow, so he must survive this battle with Nale.

As they engage, Kaladin deflects several attacks from Nale designed to feel Kaladin out, and then he lets Nale strike at him. His armor comes to his defense and forms around him. Kaladin doesn’t actually want to hurt Nale, but Nale has stated that the fight would be to the death. Nale keeps landing strikes on Kaladin and then notes that Kaladin did better without the Plate. When Nale’s Blade changes to a spear, he almost drives it right through Kaladin’s head, but Kaladin’s armor stops the spear. Barely.

They start talking and Kaladin tries to find a chink in Nale’s mental armor. They speak of Heleran, who was sent by Nale to kill Amaram when he should have targeted Kaladin. Also, it turns out that Ishar sent Nale after all of those budding Radiants. That’s interesting. Nale mentions Lift and says she’s the only one to have ever defeated him in single combat, though she used a “different weapon entirely.” Maybe Kaladin should offer Nale a hug.

Then Kaladin strikes, knowing he’ll land a hit but he misses as Nale blurs and dodges. Again and again, he misses. Kaladin is boggled because he knows those strikes should have fallen. Then Nale pushes Kaladin down and Kaladin begins freaking out that he’s getting beaten so thoroughly. As Nale approaches Kaladin, he admits that Kaladin’s skill has forced him to use the true skills of a Herald in the fight. He didn’t have Stormlight, but he has something equally capable of giving him the advantage over Kaladin.

Szeth steps between Nale and Kaladin and tries to stop the fight, saying he’ll obey, but Nale pushes him aside and says he must execute Kaladin to end his corrupting influence. He slams Kaladin into the wall and throws him down. As he approaches to land the killing blow, Syl forms in front of him, trying to deter him. As he steps through her, Szeth’s spren forms in front of him, too, and implores him to stop. Nale tells the spren it’s a disgrace and continues to approach Kaladin. As Kaladin attempts to stand, he hears the distant sound of a flute.

Chapter 110 is titled “Flute” and picks up just where the previous chapter ends. It’s the Wind, who had previously said she was too weak to help, is now trying to do just that.

Nale stops, noting the song, the rhythm. Kaladin thinks how he can’t win this battle with a spear but that the song had always moved something in him. He retrieves his flute and holds it before him as Nale raises his Blade. Kaladin starts to tell Nale that he needs to hear a story but Nale punches him, breaking bones. He drops his flute and Szeth catches him and tells him to take the Stormlight from his pouch of spheres. He does so but as he reaches for more, Nale reminds him that they agreed not to use Stormlight and he crushes Kaladin’s flute beneath his heel.

Tears in his eyes, Kaladin reaches for the flute and Syl says she doesn’t understand why it matters.

Then Syl forms as a flute and Kaladin stands as the Wind continues imitating the sounds of Kaladin’s flute. Nale recognizes it as the notes that led them to Roshar. Wind blows into the monastery and touches the Syl Flute, sounding a note and causing the flute to vibrate. Outside, the notes grow stronger and it sounds as if numerous flutes are playing.

Nale dismisses the noise as “offworlder magic” and raises his sword again. Kaladin plays a few notes and Nale stops again. Kaladin tells him that it’s the story of Derethil and the Wandersail. Kaladin eludes Nale and begins telling him the story. Nale growls at him but stops again as the sound of flutes outside increases.

Kaladin asks him why he became a Herald, if he can remember how he felt. Nale shouts that emotion can’t be trusted and Kaladin suggests that perhaps he can’t trust his mind. Nale said he used to see clearly but then his mind changed. Kaladin guesses that this is why Nale fell back on trusting only the law. He continues with the story of the Wandersail, and between that and the swelling sound of music that the Wind has returned to Kaladin from all of his practicing, Nale finally seems to break.

Szeth approaches and tells Nale that he and Kaladin can help.

Chapter 111 is titled “The Flag of Rebellion” and it’s a Szeth flashback chapter. At the end of the last flashback, he was heading to the Stoneward monastery to find a real army. Only General Lumo, one of the men that had been with Szeth on his raid of the intruder ships, doesn’t believe him and won’t commit troops to him.

Pozen has warned them of Szeth and his explanation that they all hear the voice of the Unmade doesn’t help his cause. Suddenly, an Elsecalled portal opens and an army many times the size of Szeth’s begins to emerge carrying banners of all of the other monasteries. Szeth proclaims it is time to fight but Lumo says he cannot join him.

As Szeth leads his army to fight the armies of the other Honorbearers, he doesn’t join in, just directs the battle. It’s a desperate fight as they are vastly outnumbered, but finally the army of the Stoneward monastery joins them.

Then Szeth goes to face the other Honorbearers, first Moss and then Sivi. Moss flees and Sivi, after insisting that it had not been an Unmade that Szeth had seen, reveals that he’s let himself get distracted by a duel. He turns to see the army from the Stoneward monastery turn against his troops, who are now trapped between the larger forces.

Szeth flies to them and lands between his forces and Lumo’s, and then Neturo steps out. He reveals that he carries the Bondsmith Honorblade and that he has met the Voice and it is not what Szeth thinks it is. He tells Szeth that he has answers and Szeth, feeling like a child again, begs his father to tell him what to do.

Chapter 112 is titled “The Song of Renunciation” and we rejoin Jasnah in Taln’s Temple. Taravangian has asserted that Jasnah will help persuade Fen to join Odium and Jasnah disagrees that she will do any such thing. Taravangian argues that he and Jasnah have the same philosophy, how they both want to do the most good possible for the most people, and how they both know that there will be greater peace with him ruling.

He refers to how he is immortal and can keep the peace long after they’re gone, but Jasnah successfully deflects this attempt to sway Fen.

POV Shift!

Venli is riding a chasmfiend, preparing to attack the humans. A femalen Husked One approaches and tells her that they and the chasmfiends will be the second assault. Venli is surprised, thinking that they would be attacking first—she thinks that this will require a change to the plan. But the Fused says that El wants to soften the humans by killing some spren first. How pleasant. And so Venli watches as Heavenly Ones streak towards the human defenses.

Lyndsey’s Commentary: Character Arcs

Nale/Kaladin

This entire scene is so, so powerful. I find it difficult to separate my notes on Kaladin’s character progression and that of Nale, because they’re so intrinsically linked, so I’m combining them and making notes on them both as the scene progresses.

Here we see Kaladin at his most powerful. When the spear fails him, he falls back on love, and empathy, and connection. And this proves to be the superior weapon. He forges a connection with Nale through music and memory, and reminds Nale why he became a Herald to begin with. Those memories, buried beneath millennia of trauma and attempts to find something new to cling to as his sanity faded, are what ultimately saves them both.

Nale’s empathy and humanity returning to him here is so painful. To look back on what you have become, with eyes open… I can’t imagine how hard this revelation must have been for him.

This part in particular is, I think, the culmination of five books’ worth of progress on Kaladin’s part. He begins as a simple soldier, doing as he’s told. He begins to question in his Bridge Crew, and to make decisions contrary to his superior officer’s demands. He forms connections with the enemy, and begins to realize that perhaps they aren’t the “enemy” after all. And finally, he recognizes that the responsibility for orders obeyed also lies with him, and that the lives he took were also his own responsibility.

It’s even worse, of course, for Nale, who had spent lifetimes allowing the law to be his guiding force. Responsibility taken from him, or so he thought, for the awful things he was “forced” to do. Exactly what Szeth wanted—the weight of the terrible things taken from their shoulders.

But that weight needed to be addressed, not pawned off on another. It was their own to bear, and Kaladin has opened their eyes to this. Only by facing their trauma and their guilt can they move past it; otherwise it would remain buried, poisoning the wells of their souls.

Past!Szeth

Ouch. The one person who always had Szeth’s back, who stalwartly protected him through thick and thin… I can think of no worse betrayal.

The worst part is… he’s right. Ishar isn’t a Voidbringer. But the desolation has begun and Ishar certainly is not a friend to the Shin.

And so we see the extent of the trauma that Kaladin has been fighting against this whole time. No wonder Szeth doesn’t want to make his own decisions!

Jasnah

Oh dear. And here we begin the awful spiral of logic that Taravangian uses to flush Jasnah down the proverbial toilet.

I did not predict that I’d come across a Second Amendment corollary in my medieval fantasy book, but here we are…

Drew’s Commentary: Invested Arts & Theories

With the hints of Taln’s capabilities shown earlier—and maybe even more importantly Shalash’s—it was neatly foreshadowed that Nale would be untouchable to Kaladin. And in typical Sanderson fashion, he had Kaladin think over and over, leading up to this fight, about how Nale is just a man without Stormlight.

Because of course he isn’t. He’s not even a man at all, not anymore. He’s a Cognitive Shadow, and more than that, a Herald. The Honorblades are not the only things that make them special. They use the powers of Roshar itself to move with supernatural speed and strength.

But… how?

Like many things in Wind and Truth, this is one of those magical revelations that occurs, and we’re given a vague explanation for it, but there is no real mechanism shown for it. What are “the powers of Roshar” that they can tap into? Is it the Wind, Stone, and Night? That would be the logical assumption, that it’s some sort of Connection to the pre-Shattering entities and Investiture of Roshar (though that is another tangle of knots to unravel, given the Word of Brandon that all Investiture was assigned to a Shard at the moment of the Shattering…).

But if so, why does the Wind tell Kaladin in this very scene that it can’t help him? Kaladin has built a Connection with the Wind at this point, becoming its champion for the final days.

Perhaps this remains to be explained in more detail in the last five books, along with so many other aspects of the Heralds, but it does feel a bit underwhelming to have it handwaved in such a manner despite being an important aspect of such a major scene.

RIP to the Lord Ruler’s flute.

…What’s that? Oh yeah, so this flute was totally the Lord Ruler’s.

I mean, yeah, it’s not confirmed. It’s quite possible that this is a flute from Yolen, a special trailman’s flute that Hoid used thousands of years ago during his time as a simple jesk. But I know how Brandon Sanderson thinks, and that answer is way too simple.

It does seem like a bummer that it got destroyed here. Unless one of the things that makes this flute so special is that it can reform? And, perhaps, find its way back to its owner?

And so Kaladin uses the Wind and a Shardflute to tell the story of Derethil and the Wandersail.

So maybe it’s just the recency of Isles of the Emberdark lurking in the back of my mind, but I feel like I can’t be the only one who assumes that the Wandersail went through a perpendicularity, and Uvala is either in Shadesmar or on another world entirely. Anyone else? Bueller?

The detail of shells “unlike any […] on Roshar” is the sort of thing that initially feels like just some mythical flavor to a story, but in the Cosmere these stories are very often based in truth, and those details, once ignored, tend to be clues pointing to the truth at the heart of the story. And a whirlpool? Could that not be a Shardpool beneath the waves?

And then there’s the thematic resonance with Rysn, the Dawnshard, the Sleepless, and her new ship—coincidentally named the Wandersail—and her plan to flee Roshar. It lines up too neatly.

One last, teasing point in Chapter 112:

El led the final assault on Narak from the front lines. El, the Fused of indeterminate brand, who has a Shardblade and who implants metal to replace the carapace he tore out. What the heck is his deal? He almost seems like an anti-Taln, at this point, built up to the point of being mythically threatening without actually showing us readers what he’s capable of.

Getting answers about El might be the single thing I’m most looking forward to when Sanderson resumes this series.

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 113 through 116![end-mark]

The post <i>Wind and Truth</i> Reread: Chapters 109-112 appeared first on Reactor.

Books The Wheel of Time

Reading The Wheel of Time: The Gathering Storm (Part 3)

We’re checking in with Aviendha and Galad this week, as well as revisiting Rand’s struggle with his duty.

By Sylas K Barrett

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Published on September 23, 2025

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Hello and welcome back to Reading The Wheel of Time. Last week I said we would be covering chapters three and four, but since chapter four is just a quick check in with Gawyn, so I’ll be including Rand’s part of chapter five in this week’s read. A little Aviendha, a sprinkle of Galad, and then we’re back with Rand again. Let’s get started!

Aviendha has joined some True Blood and Maiden scouts to observe a group of Domani refugees. She reflects to herself how strange wetlanders are; the Domani don’t notice the Aiel watching them, and seem to have no scouts and little ability to care for and defend themselves, which is anathema to an Aiel. Aviendha is surprised to find that she has sympathy for these people, something she has picked up from her time with Elayne.

Aviendha is struggling to figure out what honor she can have in her new life. She knew exactly how to find it in being a Maiden, something she had always known she would be, and once believed she would die as, after serving her clan and sept every day of her life. She is determined to find that same sense of honor and surety in her new life, but has yet to figure out how. The Wise Ones are very different than the Maidens, and Aviendha appears to have made some kind of misstep in their eyes, offering her no teaching and punishing her for some transgression Aviendha has made but cannot seem to figure out. Until she can, she will never become a Wise One herself, which means never gaining enough honor to be able to lay a bridal wreath at Rand’s feet.

Rejoining the rest of their small advance party, Rhuarc makes his report to Amys, Bair, Melaine, and Nadere. Rhuarc mentions that the clans are uncertain what the car’a’carn wishes of them; his orders are clear, but his intentions confusing. After Rhuarc leaves, Aviendha is told off by the Wise Ones for going with the scouting parties.

As the Aiel move off, Aviendha is questioned by Amys about her interpretation of Rand al’Thor’s orders and Rhuarc’s expression of concern. Questioned more directly about Rand, Aviendha admits that she has learned from Elayne that there is more than one way to be strong. She worries that Rand has not yet learned that. She tells Amys about Min’s vision of the three women Rand will love and of Aviendha’s children by him. She admits, however, that while the viewing implies marriage, it does not guarantee it.

Realizing that the future isn’t certain brings Aviendha comfort. She is also comforted when Amys brings up the topic of punishment, as this means that Aviendha will still have time to discover what she has done wrong and correct it. However, she is appalled when the punishment she is given is to sort and count a bag of mixed beans. This is useless work, almost as if the Wise Ones were calling her da’tsang. In shock, she mutters to herself, wondering what it is she did, but Amys doesn’t reply, because having to be told what she did would of course only bring Aviendha more shame. She is more determined than ever to figure out what she did.

Gawyn and his Younglings have been sent by Elaida to harry the rebel army. It is a pointless exercise, and Gawyn has only managed to keep his Younglings hidden because he knows his former mentor so well. Gawyn is beginning to feel as though he is destined to fight against every man who was once a mentor to him. He thought he was over the deaths of Hammar and Coulin, his Warder teachers, but now, facing his first and most influential teacher, he is feeling uncertain about his choices and his place.

The other Younglings are content to accept that the Wheel weaves as it wills, and to accept that they should not question Aes Sedai; they think of themselves as behaving like Warders despite the fact that they have not yet been bonded. Gawyn, on the other hand, has long suspected that Elaida is trying to get the Younglings out of the way, with the current situation quickly cementing that suspicion into certainty. 

He turns his men back towards Dorlan, hoping that maybe the Aes Sedai will have a suggestion about what to do next.

In Arad Doman, Rand crosses Bashere’s camp, trailed as usual by a group of Aes Sedai and his guard of Aiel Maidens. One of the Aes Sedai with him is Elza Penfell, who was part of the group who beat him and kept him in the box when he was a prisoner, and who has now sworn allegiance to him. The other is Corele Hovian, one of Cadsuane’s followers. Despite the fact that she has not sworn to him, Rand is almost tempted to trust her since she was part of the effort to save his life when he was wounded by Fain’s dagger.  

They reach the roped-off area used for Traveling, where a group of Sea Folk are arriving. Harine is taken aback when Rand immediately tells her that he has questions for her. He starts by asking about the ships that were promised, and is upset that it has been weeks with no sign of them. Harine reminds him that even the swiftest ships take time to cross such a great distance, and that they have to pass through Seanchan-controlled waters. She suggests that he is unused to dealing with the realities of shipping and war because of his ability to use gateways, and is visibly shocked when Rand suggests that the Sea Folk are deliberately lagging because they dislike the agreement between themselves and Rand.

Harine, clearly influenced by Rand’s ta’veren power to say things she would rather not, admits that she was hung upside down by her ankles and strapped. Rand is surprised at the harshness of the punishment, but she answers that it could have been worse—she wasn’t stripped of her position as Wavemistress.

Rand forces himself to tell her that he is glad she is back, and that he is impressed with her levelheadedness. He tells her he wants to ask her a delicate question, and inquires about what the Sea Folk do with men who can channel. When she is reluctant to speak of it, he offers to answer one question of her choosing in return. She accepts, and admits that men who can channel are given a choice either to step from the bow of the ship with a stone tied to their legs, or to be dropped off on a barren island with no food or water.

Rand tells her that the practice must stop, now that saidin has been cleansed. Harine tells him that it is a difficult thing to accept, saying she believes that Rand believes it to be true.

Rand thinks of a time when male channelers were as respected as their female counterparts, and how desperately he needs men who can touch the one power. He realizes, suddenly, that he’s thinking about the age of male channelers, and about one channeler, Jorlen Corbesan, in particular, as if it was something he experienced instead of a memory of Lews Therin.

Rand feels despair in the thought that he is losing himself to Lews Therin, but at the same time he can’t make himself want to be rid of Lews Therin, not when the man knows a way to seal the Bore, even if imperfectly.

He realizes that he’s muttering out loud to himself and returns to the matter at hand. Harine decides to wait to ask a question of him, once she has had time to think about it.

Rand asks Elza what she thinks about the cleansing of saidin, and she gives a very non-committal, Aes Sedai answer. Corele has felt saidin through Damer and affirms that it is cleansed, but Elza points out how it took decades after the breaking for people to believe that all male channelers really were doomed to go insane, and it will probably take even longer for people to overcome their deeply ingrained distrust of saidin.

Rand thinks about men continuing to be killed or gentled even though there is no longer any need, about how he has bound most nations to himself but knows that tight cords can snap violently.

Rand looks at the soldiers and the common people going about their daily tasks in the camp and envies them. He whispers as much to himself, and Flinn is surprised. Flinn thinks that the Pattern itself probably bends to Rand’s will if he wants it to. Rand explains that each of the ordinary people in the camp could leave if they wished, simply ride away and leave the battle to others.

A scout arrives to warn of Aiel on the hilltop, and doesn’t seem to understand that if he was able to spot the Aiel, that was intentional on the new arrivals’ part. Rand sends the scout to inform Bashere that they are going to meet with Rhuarc and Bael. It is time to secure Arad Doman.

There is something very worrying about Rand’s attitude in The Gathering Storm, even in comparison to how he was in the previous few books. I wouldn’t quite go so far as to call it nihilistic, since he still believes in the world and that it’s worth saving, but it does feel like he’s tending in a nihilistic direction. We’re seeing a bitterness growing in him, alongside (or perhaps sprouting from) the hardness he has so deliberately and carefully cultivated. It’s more than just pain at the burden he has to bear, and it has a nasty quality to it that I can’t quite put my finger on but definitely did not feel from Rand before, even when he was being unreasonable.

In the past, characters have often interpreted Rand as being arrogant and self-important when really he was actually scared or desperate, and covering that attitude with a mask of hardness and control. But he has been cultivating that hardness inside as well as out, so much so that in this chapter that he is actually a little regretful that he can’t summon up an attitude of kindness towards Harine. And he is arrogant.

Rand doesn’t just think of himself as being owed deference but actually as being owed pure obedience. The above quote is a milder example than, say, his angry impatience with Darlin asking for orders, or his anger towards the Sea Folk for the limitations of how fast their ships can travel through Seanchan-infested waters. We have seen other examples in other chapters, and previous books, of how frustrated Rand becomes when people don’t immediately do what he orders exactly as he has ordered.

Carrying the fate of the world on his shoulders has started to give him a martyr complex, I think. That’s not even entirely wrong: He is a martyr, designated so by the weaving of the Wheel and probably the will of the Creator himself. But he has moved from feeling the burden of all he needs to accomplish and being understandably annoyed by the petty squabbling of nobles and nations who won’t acknowledge the nearness of the Last Battle to believing that he alone has the answers to every problem, and that the best thing for the fate of the world would be unquestioning obedience.

He is still forced to consult people, occasionally, but mostly, Rand is dictating everything that everyone around him does. And what limitations he does have—being forced to be polite to Cadsuane and occasionally rely on her council, answering to his responsibilities towards the Aiel and the Sea Folk—are a hindrance that he’d cut away if he could.

One can hardly blame Rand for feeling like his burden is unfair and heavier than those of other people. However, he has let that pain cut him off from being connected to other people; it might even been as responsible for his lack of emotional connection to humanity as the hardness he has cultivated. And that seems to be a very dangerous place for a man who is meant to save mankind to be. If he loses his love and care and empathy for humanity, why would he continue to fight and sacrifice so much on its behalf?

I would also question Rand’s assertion that only he is trapped by destiny and that others could turn aside if they wanted and he cannot. It’s probably somewhat true for some people; we have been told by the likes of Loial and Moiraine that those with great power and great destinies have less freedom than those without. However, even though Rand might be the most influential thread in the Pattern, every life is woven into it by the Wheel, and every life is constrained by how much the person’s own desires can affect their place in the Pattern. A farmer can move to the city, but he can’t become a king, etc. If we measured it out, perhaps Rand would be more constrained than most people, but what’s important about this fact is not whether it is strictly true but how focused Rand is on defining himself by the idea. Duty is a heavy burden, but fate, I think, is a heavier one.

Because Rand’s destiny is a difficult and painful one, I think he sees every aspect of it as inevitable, but that is not necessarily true. Flinn is hitting on this when he responds to Rand’s assertion that any of the camp followers or soldiers have the freedom to quit and ride away and leave the responsibility for the fight to others. Rand misses Flinn’s point, but what the old soldier turned Asha’man is hitting on is the fact that the Saldaeans won’t abandon their duty. Whether that is because they choose not to or because the Pattern won’t allow them to becomes functionally irrelevant. It’s a matter for philosophers, maybe, but it doesn’t change the lives of those who are dedicated to doing their duty.

If it’s irrelevant for the Saldaeans, then it is also irrelevant for Rand. Sure, when he first started to realize that he was probably the Dragon Reborn, Rand spent a little bit of time avoiding recognizing that truth, and sometimes he would rail against the consequences of that identity (like when the little girl was killed during the attack on the Stone of Tear, way back in The Shadow Rising) but he has never really tried to shirk his duty to the world or to escape the fate destiny gave him. He could have run away into the wilds, or gotten on a boat and sailed away from the continent, or tried to kill himself. Heck, he could have decided he didn’t want to fight and turned himself over to the Dark One. We don’t know if the Pattern would have allowed that or not. We don’t know if the Wheel would have spun obstacles into his way to stop him from succeeding in fleeing from his destiny, because Rand, even this hardened, exhausted version of Rand, isn’t the kind of person who would do that.

Is that because the Pattern made him that way, perhaps through the threads of fate that led to him being raised by Tam al’Thor? Or is that just his nature? In the latter case, can we say it came from nowhere? From his soul’s previous experiences in other turnings of the Wheel? From the Creator himself?

Again, it is an interesting question to ask from a philosophical point of view, but functionally, it doesn’t matter. It is what it is, for Rand, for his generals, for the least camp follower. For everyone.

That, after all, is what Moiraine says in the memory Rand recalls near the end of the section.

Moiraine took strength from that idea, but for Rand, it is more of a burden or a test he must bear up under.

Perhaps spending time with Aviendha again will help Rand reframe his struggle with his fate. She knows what it feels like to be trapped by the Wheel, and by what others expect of her. As an Aiel woman born with the spark, Aviendha’s culture dictated what she must do with her life. If she could have followed her own desires, she would have remained a maiden for the rest of her life. She can understand what that feels like better than Elayne (who knows the burden of duty but also wants it and has been prepared for it all her life) or Min (whose visions are a restrictive burden but whose life outside of them is relatively free from responsibility).

Aviendha also learned that she was fated to love Rand before she actually felt that emotion, and tried to run from it because it seemed to be a betrayal of Elayne and therefore a great dishonor to Aviendha herself. At one point we saw her literally running from him in her dreams. Even now Aviendha is struggling to understand who she is and what honor there is in her new life and new role. She would be able to relate to Rand, once a shepherd, now a king and the de facto leader of the world; the struggle to understand oneself in a new context is something she could empathize with, and perhaps make him feel less alone.

She even tells Amys how she once thought there was only one way to be strong, and that she learned from Elayne that she was wrong. She knows that Rand hasn’t learned this yet, and even states that she thinks he mistakes hardness for strength.

However, there is another aspect to all of this that is just as important as the knowledge that Rand is becoming hard and un-empathetic and unreachable, which is that it hasn’t happened yet.

It occurred to me while I was coming up with ways that Rand could try to escape his fate that there’s always balefire as an option. Even the Pattern gives way to balefire. Rand got Aviendha and Mat back after Rahvin killed them (and Asmodean). So if he really wanted his own way…

I’m not saying it’s a good idea, I’m just saying that it’s possible, and the fact that Rand hasn’t even considered that balefire could be used as a get-out-of-the-Pattern-free card shows that he isn’t actually totally gone yet. There is still some hope there, some belief in the fight that he is fighting.

Even more evocative of the good and caring person that is still inside Rand is his concern for the future of the world after Tarmon Gai’don. I don’t think anyone could fault him for washing his hands of everything that comes after the Last Battle. Keeping the Dark One from destroying creation is enough responsibility for anyone; if he succeeded in that task, it would be more than fair for Rand to leave the rest of the future up to someone else.

But Rand is driven by the desire to leave something good behind when he dies. It’s why he’s started his schools for inventors, and why he worries in this chapter over whether the nations will fall into chaos and war against each other after he dies. Rand still cares about people, that much is clear. That care, like his love for Min, and Elayne, and Aviendha, is going to be the thing that allows the Rand they knew, that we knew, to come back.

All this also makes me think about how Cadsuane is going about teaching Rand the wrong way. She is forcing him to be polite to her, which is fine, but while it’s probably good for Rand to have some people in his life who will stand up to him and demand he act respectfully, Rand having manners, or even thinking that manners are important, isn’t really his problem. His problem is feeling like he has all the responsibility and no choices, and as long as Cadsuane is calling him boy and treating him like an ignorant country lout, Rand is just going to dig his heels in more, both because he believes being immovable is part of being hard (and therefore strong) and also because of that natural Two Rivers stubbornness. He might even act as Cadsuane wants, but he won’t learn anything emotionally, and that is where the truly important lesson lies.

But we’ll talk more about Cadsuane next week when we finish off chapter five with her section. In the meantime, there is another young man who is dealing with responsibility and being tossed around by fate, and that is Gawyn Trakand.

I really felt for Gawyn in his section. Galad is the brother who suffers from “do what is right no matter the cost” disease, but Gawyn is in many ways struggling with the same problem. When the fighting broke out in the White Tower, Gawyn did what he thought was right in defending the sitting Amyrlin, which was Elaida. There was no way he could have known what exactly was happening amongst the Aes Sedai or the complexities of Tower Law and the election of Amyrlins in order to understand what was really happening, so it makes sense that he and his Younglings fought on the side of Elaida, who as far as they could tell would have appeared to be the legitimate Amyrlin. Some of the Warders they defeated, like Hammar and Coulin, might have sided against Elaida because they understood what was happening more completely than the Younglings did, or they might have followed the lead of their Aes Sedai. I don’t believe we are told who either of the men were bonded to, though we do know that Gawyn killed  Hammar when the latter attempted to free Suian from prison.

So it does make sense that Gawyn fought on the side he did, just as it makes sense that he is now questioning if he ended up on the right side. I was initially surprised to see that he is still waffling; he has suspected for a while that Elaida was trying to get the Younglings killed, and now, of course, he can see that they are being sent on a useless errand (also likely to get them killed) to keep them out of her way. When you add the fact that Egwene has chosen the side of the rebels, it’s hard to see what it is, exactly, that Gawyn is still wavering about.

True, Gawyn believes that Rand murdered his mother, but he has no real reason as far as I can recall for him to believe that the rebels have sided with Rand. Even if Gawyn has heard the rumors about Aes Sedai being sworn to Rand (he was at Dumai’s wells, of course, but did not witness Rand compelling both prisoner and ally Aes Sedai to swear obedience), that doesn’t really put one side more in league with the Dragon Reborn than the other.

But there is still the question of “the right thing to do.” As far as Gawyn knows, Elaida became the Amyrlin Seat legally. He is the son of a queen after all, and meant to be First Prince of the Sword to Elayne, so he has a strong sense of what it means to be loyal to one’s leader. Perhaps that ingrained sense of loyalty to a throne, or a seat, makes him want Elaida’s side to be the right side. Of course, since he has killed mentors and friends in defense of Elaida’s position, it would be particularly painful to then reverse his choice and to recognize that he was wrong to do as he did. That he was potentially wrong to kill those men.

Gawyn’s plight fits the strong theme of duty and fate that has been present so far in The Gathering Storm. We see him wonder if he is destined to fight against every man who has ever mentored him, just as Rand and Aviendha wonder about their own destinies. We also see that what he really needs to do is make a choice and commit to it. I imagine that his love of Egwene will eventually make the difference. His loyalty to Elayne could also lead him back to Caemlyn, but I think he feels too much responsibility towards the Younglings to abandon them. Not yet, anyway.

Aviendha, on the other hand, has made her commitment. In her section we learn that she is ashamed of her reticence in giving up the spears and taking up the mantle of a Wise One, and also that she is comfortable now in the clothes and trappings of her new life but isn’t sure how best to gain honor in her new life, and how best to serve her clan and her sept. Since she is still an apprentice, this is especially difficult; her duty at the moment is mostly to obey and learn. I think she will become a Wise One soon, once she figures out what she has done wrong and why she is being punished so frequently.

Somehow, I doubt that Aviendha has actually committed a terrible sin without knowing it. It’s not impossible, of course, but she does note several times in her section that her questioning seems almost like a test. When Amys is asking her what she thinks of Rhuarc’s comments and then how she evaluates Rand, Aviendha is certain that Amys must already have her own evaluation of the circumstances and can’t possible be needing Aviendha’s observations or advice. To me, it seemed much more like Amys was testing Aviendha to see if she ready to be a Wise One, to be someone who leads the clan with wisdom and can make important decisions and pass down judgment.

She particularly notes how important Aviendha’s time with Elayne was for her, and what Aviendha learned most from Elayne was how to see things from different perspectives and how to be an effective leader. Elayne knows how to lay down the law but also how to care for her people; she can be strict when necessary but also provide guidance to bring out the best in those who serve her.

I’m not sure how the punishments relate to Aviendha being tested for readiness to be made a full Wise One, but it would make sense if there were some kind of trial or physical test the apprentices had to go through, just as there is a physical test for Aes Sedai to obtain the shawl. Maybe a clue lies in the fact that Aviendha can’t figure out what the tests are for. Maybe her job is to reason out one last lesson.

We’ll have to wait a while to find out, but I’m looking forward to seeing some decisions and discoveries being made by Aviendha and by Gawyn. I’m also desperate to see where Rand’s character arc is going, and what can be done to finally teach him that hardness is not the same thing as strength, and that he can still find beauty in the world even with all the burdens and pain he is carrying.

I hope he can, anyway. I found that last line of his section particularly troubling. In earlier books, I would have taken it as just another expression of Rand’s pain in experiencing the death and chaos that comes with the changes he brings and the time he was born into. But now, I wonder if he isn’t actually pretty close to not being able to tell the difference between protecting something and destroying it.

It’s a chilling thought.

We’ll finish up chapter five next week, as Cadsuane and Merise interrogate Semirhage, and then spend some time with Ituralde before returning to the White Tower and Egwene’s fight to save it in chapter 6.[end-mark]

The post Reading The Wheel of Time: <i>The Gathering Storm</i> (Part 3) appeared first on Reactor.

Books Brandon Sanderson

Revealing Isles of the Emberdark, a New Standalone in the Cosmere Universe by Brandon Sanderson

Sanderson’s new novel navigates the seas and the stars of a far-future Cosmere…

By Reactor

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Published on September 30, 2025

Photo credit: Octavia Escamilla Spiker

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Photo credit: Octavia Escamilla Spiker

We’re thrilled to share the cover of Isles of the Emberdark, a standalone Cosmere novel from Brandon Sanderson—available on February 3, 2026 from Tor Books.

Buy the Book

Isles of the Emberdark

Brandon Sanderson

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Isles of the Emberdark

Brandon Sanderson

Buy this book from:

• Amazon
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• IndieBound
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Brandon Sanderson grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. He lives in Utah with his wife and children and teaches creative writing at Brigham Young University. His bestsellers have sold 45 million copies worldwide and include the Mistborn saga; the Stormlight Archive novels; and other novels, including Tress of the Emerald Sea, The Rithmatist, Steelheart, and Skyward. He won a Hugo Award for The Emperor’s Soul, a novella set in the world of his acclaimed first novel, Elantris. Additionally, he completed Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time®. Visit his website for behind-the-scenes information on all his books.

The post Revealing <i>Isles of the Emberdark</i>, a New Standalone in the Cosmere Universe by Brandon Sanderson appeared first on Reactor.

Books Wind and Truth Reread

Wind and Truth Reread: Chapters 105-108

Odium messes with Navani and Jasnah, Nale picks a fight, and Ashyn falls.

By Lyndsey Luther, Drew McCaffrey, Paige Vest

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Published on September 22, 2025

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Happy Reread Monday, Cosmere Chickens! We’re really getting into the thick of it now, as we approach the home stretch: Szeth’s flashbacks are nearing their unfortunate conclusion, Navani finally manages to break free of the Spiritual Realm (but is forced to leave Dalinar behind), Kaladin prepares to cross blades with Nale, and… what’s this? Odium claims that Jasnah has been working for him all this time?! We’re in for a wild ride this week, so please join us as we dig into chapters 105 through 108!

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

Continuing with Day Nine, we start this week with chapter 105, titled “Points of Transition.” We join Navani in her vision at the palace in Kholinar on the day Elhokar died. She’s able to communicate with the Sibling for a moment and is told to find a “point of transition.”

When she sees Elhokar ascending the steps near Aesudan’s rooms, she gets emotional but makes a random excuse for being there and quickly encourages her son to continue. It’s not hard to convince him, as she’s good at manipulating the visions now.

She finds Gavinor, who realizes that it’s really her so he asks her why Grampa is terrible and why he hates everyone. Oh, Odium’s been working on him hard, hasn’t he?

Then Elhokar is there, but it’s not really him—it’s Odium wearing Elhokar’s face. Navani almost recognizes his voice and attempts to manipulate him into taking her to where Dalinar is, but he’s on to her now. So she flees with Gav to the Oathgate and convinces vision-Kaladin to initiate a transfer… It takes her and Gav to her rooms at Urithiru.

POV Shift!

Venli goes to visit Sigzil and he tells her his idea. She thinks that it won’t work… though she has an idea of how to make it work. She informs Sig—and adds that they need Jasnah.

Chapter 106, a Szeth flashback that takes place nine years ago, is titled “Cardinal Sin.” Szeth is involved in a battle. The first battle. They’ve won the day, but he had to do pretty much all the work himself; he tells the acolytes they need to do better and that they must now secure the town.

But the townsfolk don’t thank him for liberation. They obey, but they don’t believe that the Voidbringers have returned. He doesn’t know how to proceed and suddenly, the Voice pops into his head. It tells him that the Honorbearers are hiding from him and he realizes that he needs to draw them out. He orders his army, such as it is, to march toward the Stoneward monastery. He needs a real army, one that he knows the Honorbearers won’t ignore.

Chapter 107 is an Honor flashback titled “Voidbringer.” There has been war and the damage has been done to Alaswha, which is now known as Ashyn. Odium shows up and shows no remorse at the loss of life, though Tanavast does.

Tanavast sees Nale and his uncle, Makibak, when a king named Jezrien arrives and offers to make peace. He says Ishar is trying to find a way off this world and urges Makibak to gather his people and go with them.

Tanavast flees, weeping, to be with Kor and when the portal opens and the people arrive in Roshar… Rayse has come with them.

And so we get a glimpse into some of the history behind the destruction of the home the humans left behind. Even Odium admitted that it had gone too far, but the power of the Shard didn’t really care. It just desired more passion, always more passion.

Chapter 108 is titled “Service.” Szeth, with Kaladin in tow, is journeying toward the Skybreaker monastery. Ashamed, he tells Kaladin that he has decided that he must kill. Kaladin doesn’t argue, surprisingly enough. And then Kaladin asks how he can help.

After Kal goes on about how there are always more people to fight, Szeth asks him point-blank what he should do. He wants to know whether he should fight or refuse at the next monastery. Kaladin won’t weigh in, though Szeth reminds him that Dalinar commanded him to help Szeth.

Kaladin insists that he is trying to help and that he’ll support Szeth no matter what he decides to do, but that it has to be Szeth’s decision. Szeth realizes that Kaladin is being honest and that he truly seems to have healed and found peace, and his outlook shifts. Reframes.

Seems like that talk therapy is starting to work!

Then they approach the monastery and observe that it’s been attacked, though it has been some time since it happened. Still, they see some people and when they arrive, Nale is waiting there. Szeth asks if he will be required to fight the Herald; Nale tells him no, that he need only accept his fate.

Then he tells Szeth that he must obey unquestioningly at the next monastery, following Nale’s commands—but Szeth tells him no. He says he must first know the cost. Then he asks about the darkness, wanting to know what is going on and who the Unmade is. Nale refuses to tell him and again demands that Szeth swear an oath of blind obedience.

Szeth refuses a second time, insisting he has the right to choose. So Nale says that he now must fight. Szeth refuses to engage, and prepares to be struck down. Then a spear stops Nale’s Blade.

POV Shift!

Kaladin is quite annoyed with Nale, who tells him he can’t interfere. Ignoring this, Kaladin asks Szeth if he wants help and Szeth says that he does. He tells Nale that Kaladin is his champion.

Kaladin consults silently with Syl and even the Wind chimes in to caution Kaladin. He and Nale agree to use no Stormlight, and they proceed to fight.

POV Shift!

Jasnah’s point of view section begins with barely a reference to a matter of the Shattered Plains and then she meets with Queen Fen at Taln’s temple in Thaylen City. Fen is skeptical about whether it is really Taravangian who now holds the Shard of Odium. She wonders aloud why Jasnah has prepared so vigorously—studying all night and consulting with Wit via spanreed—when Thaylenah is obviously not going to join Odium. Heh.

Taravangian shows up, unassuming and friendly, and they commence their discussion. Fen straight out tells him that she won’t join with him, but he convinces her to hear him out. She realizes that it really, truly is Taravangian, and he invites them to sit.

Then Taravangian throws Jasnah off by saying that she will be the reason Fen decides to join him. We’ll get to witness that not-so-fun discussion in a future article.

Dun-dun-dunnnn…

Lyn’s Commentary: Character Arcs and Maps

Elhokar/Navani

How ironic, that what Odium intended to be the most hurtful of memories to show Navani turned out to be the one that was the most healing. Seeing her son like this, beginning his transition into Radiance and becoming a better man, helps to salve some of the guilt and pain that she’s been carrying with her. Once again, Odium’s surety that he is omniscient backfires. He may understand a lot about what drives people, but he doesn’t understand everything, and he never could. No one can understand everything about another person, not without living their life.

Gavinor

Unfortunately, Odium is rather effective at manipulating a child. Throughout the entirety of the book, he’s been whispering in poor Gav’s ear, gaining his trust as he masquerades as Elhokar. Gently nudging the boy from one life path onto one of his own choosing. I find this to be the most disturbing of the actions Odium takes—this corruption of an innocent child as a means towards his end. He subjects Gav to trauma and lies to him, turning him against those who love him most.

Navani

I’m so, so impressed with Navani. Her strength of character in these last few chapters is unmatched. She unflinchingly does what she must, manipulating Odium right back, and breaks free of a trap that has been cunningly created for her by a god. What an absolute legend.

Overall Character Note on the Radiants

This bodes ill for all the Radiants. We’ve seen what breaking the bond does to the spren—they become deadeyes, wandering the Cognitive Realm as mindless zombies. How much worse will it be for the humans subjected to the breaking of that bond on the other side? We see a hint of it in The Sunlit Man, but I suspect that Sigzil deals with it better than most of them will.

Szeth

I find it… ironic? Fitting? Horrible? That Szeth is mirroring his own beginning here at the “end” of his childhood arc. He began this path by killing with a stone, and he’s ending it by killing with stones.

OUCH. Damn… Szeth could definitely take some lessons in leadership from Kaladin or Adolin. He’s their polar opposite, leading by demeaning and exerting his superiority rather than by gaining trust and loyalty.

We see this time and again, not only in Roshar, but in the real world as well. Change is hard, and scary, and people as a general rule would rather continue on in an imperfect situation than face the harrowing reality that change for the better is possible.

Now… do I believe that Szeth would have changed things for the better? The Szeth that we see here in these flashbacks?

Sadly, no. He’s immature, and lacks the learned experience that he’d need to be a true leader. I find it fascinating that he’s about the same age here that Kaladin and Adolin are when they gain their first commands, yet their leadership styles are so vastly different. Szeth has been taught all the wrong lessons, and his empathy is lacking, if not entirely non-existent.

It’s awfully telling that Szeth doesn’t stop to consider, “Hey, how come the Unmade I’m building an army to eventually come and destroy is encouraging me to do just that? That seems kinda weird, doesn’t it?” He’s focusing on all the wrong things. He’s thinking of the strategy and not questioning the motives. Which tracks for Szeth, doesn’t it? He never wanted to question. He wanted to get his orders and follow them. And now that he’s in charge, giving the orders? He’s still not questioning.

Classic therapist. Szeth is still looking for people to take that responsibility of choice from him. If he takes the responsibility, then he’s accountable for all that follows. We’re seeing reflections of that in his flashbacks—when he did step up and begin leading, it went very poorly for him, and for those he led. It’s no wonder that he doesn’t trust himself.

I can only imagine that Kaladin is in the background, fist-pumping victoriously, while Syl flips Nale the bird.

And so we see the culmination of all of Kaladin’s hard work… and of Szeth’s self-questioning. He takes responsibility. He refuses to allow another to take that from him, and chooses it for himself.

I’m so proud of him.

Tanavast

Well… that’s one way to start a chapter, eh?

I’d just like to point out what a poignant turn of phrase this is.

Nale

The more I learn about Nale, the more curious I am to see his whole story. I wonder if we’ll see it someday.

Kaladin

I really love this gradual realization for Kaladin’s character. We’ve seen it growing for five books, as he engaged in battle after battle. It’s only here, in this book, that he’s finally allowed the peace to pause and reflect back on these things.

And even this wasn’t successful. Will he perhaps make this change with the Heralds, between books? Will his therapy help them to heal and shape them into a group of tacticians working towards nothing but peace? Only time will tell.

Jasnah

OH COME ON, really?!

Drew’s Commentary: Invested Arts & Theories

I’ve probably said this a half dozen times already over the course of this reread, but there’s still so much we don’t understand about the Spiritual Realm. The Sibling gives us a solid metaphor here, regarding the mechanics of making perpendicularities out of the Spiritual and back to the Physical:

That’s a pretty clear image. There’s a sort of “gravity” to the Realms, and the Spiritual Realm is at the bottom. You can’t just slip back up to the Physical, and instead have to use a gondola that’s already been set up to reach the peak. Those gondolas are perpendicularities.

The way I explain this to myself, at least with current knowledge, is that souls/Spirit Webs are made of Investiture and are attracted to the Investiture permeating the Spiritual Realm. That’s the “gravity” at work here, preventing the easy slip-n-slide of a Bondsmith perpendicularity. I’m sure we’ll learn much more in time—Isles of the Emberdark hints at all sorts of Spiritual things with dragons, so we might have to wait until Dragonsteel—but this is a good enough explanation for me right now. If you have a different headcanon around this phenomenon, I’d love to hear it in the comments!

Chapter 107 is titled “Voidbringer”, and certainly that title can apply to Odium. The chapter ends with Odium’s arrival on Roshar, after all. But we can make strong arguments that it applies to Honor, as well—he who granted Surges to those who resisted on Alaswha, and turned it into Ashyn as a result.

But this Zoral sticks out to me. We don’t really know anything about him, besides that he was the king of Odium’s forces on Alaswha. The title Voidbringer, given to a human during that struggle, is evocative. It makes me wonder just how he was using his Surges, and if he was in direct contact with Odium. Maybe Odium even joined him in some manner on the battlefields.

Because if pretty much everyone was using these unbound Surges in such a catastrophically destructive fashion, it’s strange that one in particular would be given such a title. Sure, he’s a king, but… I dunno. “Voidbringer” is such a fraught word in the context of this series, and especially in the context of these events.

Heck, maybe this Zoral wasn’t actually using the same Surges, and was in fact using Voidbinding—something that we still haven’t seen in any substantial manner or learned about at all. That Voidbinding chart is still sitting at the end of The Way of Kings, unexplained and teasing us with its point symmetry and warped perspectives of glyphs and shifted Surges aligning with seemingly nonsensical Void-Orders.

Is it some esoteric Invested Art that was used on Alaswha? Is this going to be something about the post-Retribution Knights Radiant and their Surges? Is the lack of Stormlight and the necessity of using Warlight going to fundamentally change how these Invested Arts operate?

While considering that and taking notes as I read this scene, it occurred to me just how much ground Sanderson still has left to cover in the last five books on Roshar. There are still a few Orders of Knights Radiant about which we know very little—Elsecallers, Stonewards, and Dustbringers chief among them—not to mention the added twist of Enlightened spren possibly warping things with the Orders we’re already quite familiar with.

What happens if an enlightened honorspren bonds someone? How different will that Windrunner look from Kaladin? We know that Renarin and Rlain have unusual powers as Enlightened Truthwatchers (though I will always insist that seeing the future seems like a natural resonance power for an Order that can use Illumination and Progression—shedding light forward, yeah?), and the implication is that anyone bonded to a spren touched by Sja-anat would be able to navigate the Spiritual Realm like them.

With all of that still on the horizon, we have the entirety of Voidbinding to uncover. And what of the Old Magic? Will we be seeing, well, any of that, now that Cultivation has fled Roshar? When I consider the pace at which Sanderson revealed elements of the world and magic through Wind and Truth, I’m left scratching my head and wondering just how packed the remaining books will be—and how much that is going to affect the actual storytelling pace.

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 109 through 112![end-mark]

The post <i>Wind and Truth</i> Reread: Chapters 105-108 appeared first on Reactor.

Books The Wheel of Time

Reading The Wheel of Time: The Gathering Storm (Part 2)

The two opening chapters offer interesting parallels and contrasts between Egwene and Rand.

By Sylas K Barrett

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Published on September 16, 2025

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This week in Reading The Wheel of Time, we are covering the first two chapters of The Gathering Storm, checking in first with Rand in Arad Doman and then with Egwene in Tar Valon. The parallels that the narrative was building between Rand and Egwene continue, and the question of hardness vs. strength is the theme of the day. I’m excited to get started! Let’s recap.

Chapter one opens with a wind rising around the White Tower and Tar Valon, where the buildings are beautiful but the streets are full of footpads and rotting garbage. Workmen, along with an Aes Sedai of the Red Ajah, are at work on the harbor chain, digging it out at the base so that the chain, half of which is now cuendillar, can be removed.

The wind passes over the river and the rebel army, whose encampment almost has the air of a permanent settlement, and continues on past Dragonmount and farther until it reaches Arad Doman, where it slams into some invisible, unnatural force.

In eastern Arad Doman, Rand stands by the window of a manor house and watches the way the trees are being blown in a different direction than the banners of Bashere’s camp on the manor green. He points the fact out to Min, alarming her.

Rand still feels the hand he lost, and his eyesight is still off since the attack by Semirhage, though it is very slowly getting better. He reminds himself that if there is nothing to be done, then he must move on. That he must be steel.

Suddenly the wind rights itself and everything starts blowing in the same direction. Rand notes that it was the flags that were wrong, not the needles of the pine trees.

Rand is trying to get Lews Therin to tell him how he sealed the Dark One’s prison last time and what went wrong, but is having little success. Cadsuane is having just as little success with Semirhage because Rand has forbidden her from using any methods of torture. When Cadsuane comes to speak to Rand about it, accompanied by Nynaeve and Alivia, she explains to Rand that she will get nothing from Semirhage if he won’t let Cadsuane use the methods necessary, comparing it to blindfolding an artist and then being surprised when he has nothing to paint. Rand responds that it is torture, not art, and Lews Therin whimpers in his head about being tortured when they were put in the box.

Despite Cadsuane and Nynaeve’s advice, Rand will not let any woman in his power be treated the way he was treated, even one of the Forsaken. He tells himself that he will hang onto this one shred of light in himself.

Cadsuane suggests they might as well turn her over to the White Tower then, and Rand demands to know which White Tower Cadsuane means. He thinks it is just as likely that Egwene will take him captive, force him to kneel to her and even gentle him. Nynaeve is appalled that Rand would think such a thing of Egwene, but she is Amyrlin now, and Rand declares that this means he is just another pawn to her.

In his head, Lews Therin starts talking about how the female Aes Sedai refused to aid him in his plans, calling them traitors and blaming them for what happened. Rand tries to get more information, but Lews Therin only begins sobbing again.

Min looks so scared for Rand he can’t meet her eyes, while Alivia’s gaze seems unsettlingly knowing. Nynaeve is tugging her braid, though she has begun trying to break herself of that habit. Cadsuane only sips her wine.

Rand finds he can’t summon up even wry humor anymore, and as he catalogues his illnesses and injuries—from his eyes, to the loss of his hand, to the old wounds in his side that rip open again at the slightest provocation—he feels as though he is dry, like an overused well. He thinks, desperately, that he needs to finish uniting the lands and get to Shayol Ghul. Otherwise, there won’t be enough left of him for the Dark One to kill.

In the White Tower, Egwene has just endured her latest punishment from Silviana. She feels that she is close to learning how to embrace the pain as the Aiel do.

Egwene views Silviana to be, in most ways, a superior Mistress of Novices; she does her duty, which cannot be said of many of those in the White Tower. Silviana asks when Egwene is going to submit to the maintenance of proper order in the Tower. Egwene responds by asking if proper order is being maintained anywhere else in the Tower. Silviana is surprised to learn that Egwene does not have time to go to dinner after this punishment because she has been summoned to wait on Elaida.

Silviana issues orders that food is to be left for Egwene to have after she has completed her duties, then tells Egwene to return for punishment after her meal, this time for referring to Elaida simply by name. Egwene leaves, wondering if it was sympathy that led Silviana to issue the order for food, and considering that it is too bad that this stern but fair woman ended up choosing the Red Ajah.

Katerine and Barasine administer Egwene’s usual dose of forkroot and escort Egwene towards Elaida’s rooms. As they walk, Egwene points out the state of the Tower and gently prods the two Reds about how Elaida’s legacy will be theirs as well. Katerine responds that the state of the Tower is because of the rebels, not the Amyrlin, and adds another punishment for Egwene’s disrespect, but Barasine seems to be listening.

Egwene thinks to herself that she is winning her war against Elaida, but she feels little joy in it now, watching the Aes Sedai unravel and the streets fill with garbage. After a detour caused by hallways shifting location, Egwene pauses outside Elaida’s door, considering how best to behave during the encounter. She wants to confront Elaida, to make her feel shame for her treatment of Siuan and of Rand, but pulls herself up short when she realizes that confronting Elaida will only lead to Egwene being locked up. Egwene can’t continue her work if she is a prisoner in the Tower dungeons. She decides that she must behave meekly and let Elaida believe that Egwene is cowed.

Egwene is surprised when a Gray Aes Sedai answers the door, rather than a servant, and then shocked when she realizes that the sister is Meidani, one of the spies Sheriam sent back to the Tower. She can’t imagine why Meidani hasn’t fled the Tower, now that Beonin has warned all the spies.

Showing deference to Elaida is difficult for Egwene, but she maintains her composure by staying silent as she serves soup to Elaida and Meidani, calling on her years as an innkeeper’s daughter for the skills needed. But as Elaida makes conversation, Egwene’s ire grows. It is clear that Elaida is toying with Meidani, enjoying watching the woman suffer. She also dismisses concerns about the Seanchan, clearly displaying for Egwene how little she thinks of Egwene’s dream, and even jokes about taking the shawl away from Meidani as she did with Shemerin.

Things come to a head, however, when Elaida begins to speak about how the real problem in the Tower is the lack of obedience towards the Amyrlin. She claims that if the sisters were obedient, the Dragon Reborn would be in the White Tower’s hands and the so-called Black Tower dealt with. Meidani struggles for a neutral answer, but Elaida continues.

Egwene is furious at the idea of treating the Oaths with such disrespect, and even more so at the idea of turning the Amyrlin Seat into a despot.

Moments away from her resolve breaking, moments away from telling Elaida what she really thinks of her, Egwene has to do something to stop herself—so she deliberately spills the soup.

Elaida angrily orders Meidani to help Egwene mop soup out of the carpet and moves away to call for servants, giving Egwene a chance to speak to the Gray Sister. Meidani responds to Egwene’s strength and determination, and agrees to send for Egwene to “give her lessons” so that the two will have a chance to talk in private.

Elaida throws Egwene out, ordering that she be punished, healed, and punished again, and then that she return the next night to serve Elaida properly. Egwene leaves, wondering if Elaida has ever had the proper Aes Sedai control over her emotions.

As she eats a solitary supper in the kitchens, Egwene muses over her own emotional outburst, hidden only under the spilling of the soup, and realizes that she is perhaps going about her mission incorrectly. She does not need to weaken Elaida’s control; she needs to strengthen the sisters, to shore up the White Tower against the weakness and division Elaida has brought it to.

She returns to Silviana’s study and details the events of her evening, omitting that she dropped the soup on purpose, but sharing that she dropped it after hearing Elaida talk of revoking and changing the Three Oaths. Silviana seems thoughtful.

This time, while she is being punished, Egwene has no desire to cry out. She thinks of the pain of seeing sisters appear afraid of each other, of Meidani’s treatment, and of her own distress at having to hold her tongue around Elaida. She thinks of the horror of everyone in the Tower being bound by oath to a tyrant. As she realizes that all of these internal agonies are so much worse than any beating could ever be, Egwene begins to laugh.

Silviana pauses in the beating, worried that Egwene’s mind has cracked under the strain, but Egwene assures her that she is perfectly well, and that she is only laughing because it is absurd to beat her. She asks Silviana if any beating could compare to the pain of seeing the White Tower crumble around her.

Egwene tells Silviana of why Elaida got away with taking the shawl from Shemerin—because Shemerin accepted it. She tells Silviana that Elaida can say whatever she wants, can even try to change the Three Oaths, but that doesn’t make her words true, and there will be those who resist and hold onto what is correct.

The punishment continues and Egwene accepts it, judges it as insignificant, and waits impatiently for it to end so that she can get back to work.

Golly, I enjoyed these chapters so much I’m not even sure where to start!

I guess that means I should start at the beginning. 

As I was reading the opening passage, now so familiar that it feels almost like a mantra, I found myself deeply moved by the idea of Sanderson writing those words (or perhaps editing something Jordan had already written in his notes and drafts) as he continued to do the work that Jordan has been doing for the entire series so far. I thought to myself, just as there is no beginning to the turning of the Wheel, there is no end either, and one might almost say that Jordan’s death was an ending for The Wheel of Time, but not the ending.

I wonder if Sanderson thought something similar as he worked on The Gathering Storm, and if Harriet McDougal thought something like it as she continued to edit her husband’s series. If the publishing team did, and if the readers did—especially those who were reading the books as they came out and experienced the death of the beloved author and must have believed for a time that the series would never be completed.

Many artists feel that that their work belongs as much to their audience as to themselves, and Jordan was clearly one of these. I think that there is something so beautiful in having his work remain and even grow on after he was gone, continuing to touch the lives of those who loved the series along with him as well as the lives of those who discovered it later, as I have.

By far the most significant theme of these chapters is the parallel between what Rand is trying to do (unite all the nations of the land before the Last Battle) and what Egwene is trying to do (repair and reunite the White Tower before the Seanchan attack, and also before the Last Battle). For the last few books, the narrative has been building this corollary between Rand’s journey and Egwene’s, and it has now been thrown into high relief at the beginning of The Gathering Storm.

Rand and Egwene both endure physical and emotional suffering in these chapters, as they have been for some time. Rand’s approach to experiencing suffering has been to harden himself against it. He has dismissed the loss of his hand, ignored (to the best of his ability) the pain in his side and the distortion of his vision, and hidden the ongoing nausea that he experiences when he seizes saidin. He has locked his grief for those who died away in his mind, only acknowledging it as a tool for self-flagellation; he keeps his claustrophobia a secret from everyone except Min, who only knows because of what she can sense through the bond.

Egwene, however, is taking a different approach. Even without understanding exactly how the Aiel manage to laugh at the pain of punishment or torture, she is aware that the Aiel way is not to remain stoic under the pain but to let it out, to allow whatever screaming or flailing or crying the body wants to do, and then to move on when the pain has ended. In Knife of Dreams she learned how much easier it was to recover once her punishments were over if she allowed herself to react in the moment, and with practice and experiences she is finding that recovery comes more quickly and easily, and that her physical reactions to the pain even in the moment are diminishing.

Both Rand and Egwene are very young people who have been thrust into impossible positions of responsibility and power with hardly any training and have had to “learn the job,” so to speak, on the fly.

In earlier books we encountered the concept of “forcing” as a means to push a channeler to reach their full potential much more quickly. Egwene was forced primarily through the use of the a’dam, but also by Siuan, who believed it was necessary to have her achieve her full potential as quickly as possible. Rand has also been forced, by the circumstances of how and what he needed to learn in order to be an effective Dragon Reborn. But one might also say that both Rand and Egwene were “forced” in other areas of their life; in leadership and responsibility, in metabolizing difficult concepts like politics and warfare and how to manage the needs of large groups of people (armies, nations, the world). Compare Egwene’s rise to Siuan’s or her education to Elayne’s. Compare Rand learning to be a general in two years to Bashere’s lifetime as a soldier or Rand learning to be a leader to Tuon being aimed at the Crystal Throne since birth. It is an entirely different, wildly expedited learning curve to be suddenly thrust into such an exalted position with little to no relevant education about how to handle it.

We see Perrin and Mat also confront these same struggles, but not so starkly, or to such a high degree. Of course, Rand is still the Dragon Reborn, the savior of mankind; his trials and his responsibilities can’t really be matched by anyone, but I would argue Egwene’s come close, and ultimately are the same in every way that truly matters.

Ultimately, Egwene has found a healthy way to deal with these burdens and this pain, where Rand has found an unhealthy one. Throughout these two chapters there are passages and paragraphs that can be held up against one another to show the difference.

For example, in chapter one Rand reflects that his life is entirely dominated by need, and what he needs most is the lives of those who follow him. “Soldiers to fight, and to die, to prepare the world for the Last Battle.” He needs them to be strong enough to win. In contrast, Egwene has begun to think about what the White Tower needs from her. Initially she saw herself as fighting a battle against Elaida, trying to weaken Elaida’s power and the loyalty of the Aes Sedai to her. But by the end of the chapter, she is thinking about the fact that the Tower is already failing, and what she needs to do is strengthen the Aes Sedai, to help hold them together as she reforges the Tower that has been broken by Elaida (and the Black Ajah, though Egwene doesn’t know the extent of that, yet). We see her do just that when speaking to Meidani: She doesn’t just demand that Meidani be strong because she must; she also offers reassurance as her Amyrlin and gratitude for Meidani’s service and suffering. It is this that strengthens Meidani, not a demand for strength for strength’s sake. It is basically the opposite of the approach that Rand takes towards his own followers.

When Rand feels love for Min, and for Aviendha and Elayne, he thinks of this as something wrong and cruel that he is doing. He considers himself to be “using” these women for their love and strength, rather than considering the relationships to be one of mutual care and affection being good for all of them, even though it comes with unique and dramatic difficulties. It isn’t entirely surprising that a man struggling with taint madness who believes he is going to die in the Last Battle would feel guilty for letting people love him, and Rand’s concerns are understandable. However, it is a pretty horrible way to think about the emotion of love. Rand’s perspective posits that love is selfish and weak, that feeling it makes him a bad person—and unsurprisingly this is also how Rand thinks of other morally good emotions, like empathy and grief.

Meanwhile we see Egwene take strength from her love. It allows her to dismiss the pain of her punishments as unimportant, but it also allows her to refocus away from her destructive anger towards Elaida and back toward her goal, which is to save the White Tower. If Egwene had chosen to harden herself against the suffering of her fellow Aes Sedai, even if she only did that because she felt her sadness for them was a distraction from her mission, she would very likely have continued to think of the fight to reunite the White Tower as a battle against Elaida, and might very well have destroyed any hope of unifying the Aes Sedai in the process, either by getting herself thrown in the dungeons or by unwittingly strengthening the division and fear between the Ajahs to a point of no return.

And without a strong and unified White Tower, there is no doubt that the Light would see disaster at the Last Battle.

Egwene and Rand are both tied to the Aiel, Rand by heritage and prophecy, Egwene by her choice to study as a Wise One’s apprentice. But although Rand loves a (future) Wise One and has been tutored by Aviendha in the ways of the Aiel, it is Egwene who really understands them. Rand can’t, not truly, because he has cut himself off from empathy and views the People of the Dragon the same way he views everyone else, as a tool and a means to an end. Egwene loves the Aiel—so much so that I think, in a different time and different version of events, she could have stayed with them forever, and become one of them.

Finally, we have Egwene’s ultimate realization about the Aiel method of embracing the pain. She discovers that it is not hardness that makes one laugh at the pain, nor is it strength. It is not even that the pain of the physical beating is inconsequential in comparison to her feelings of pain for her fellow Aes Sedai or her anger towards Elaida, either. Rather, it is understanding, seeing the whole picture and making sense of all its parts. Egwene discovers that the punishment itself, however unpleasant, is meaningless. She can and must accept that it is happening, but she also knows that nothing about it will change her situation, or who she is, or what she intends to do. It is a fruitless exercise, a pointless waste of her own time and also that of her enemies. And therefore, it becomes ridiculous.

For Rand, on the other hand, the pain is everything, exactly because he refuses to feel it. Rand believes that every death, every tragedy that comes about because of him—whether from his choices as a leader and a general (the deaths of soldiers and maidens) or the choices made by others (Moiraine’s sacrifice) or his ta’veren effects upon the Pattern that disrupt or harm people’s lives—are so horribly devastating that if he allows himself to feel grief or regret or even any care at all for the people around him that he will be unable to do what needs to be done. He believes that his feelings, his good and moral feelings like empathy and care for others, will paralyze him. He has no ability to do as the Aiel do—accept the pain and allow himself to feel it, and then to let it pass on.

Accepting the pain does not mean it will never affect you, either. An Aiel who went through the torture Rand experienced at the hands of Galina and the Reds might also have emerged with claustrophobia or other traumatic responses, but they would be more able to put that experience into a context, and to reaffirm who they are even if affected by the experience. After all, the Aiel don’t find any shame in fear, only in how it is displayed. Even among the Aiel, one can share almost everything with a family member or very close friend; we see Aviendha more than once consider that there is no toh acquired in sharing a weakness with her first sister that might be shaming in other contexts. For Rand, this would mean not giving in to panic when the claustrophobia hits (which he does manages admirably) but also sharing the feeling and talking about it with people who he trusts, like Min.

Min could hold space for Rand’s trauma, offer care and support without thinking less of him or depriving him of the strength he needs to carry on, but rather than let someone else help carry his burdens, Rand has become defined by his traumas and fears and grief almost to the point where he cannot function. He is pressing on by sheer stubbornness, but there is a limit to everyone’s mental strength, even the Dragon’s. I even find myself wondering if the outburst, in which he addresses Lews Therin aloud in front of Cadsuane, Alivia, Nynaeve, and Min, doesn’t have as much or more to do with the mental distress he has taken on because of how he handles his emotions, rather than any further descent into madness.

Speaking of mental distress, I think we can also draw some parallels between Elaida and Rand, as Elaida’s mental health buckles under the weight of her own responsibility and failed leadership. Particularly significant to me was when Elaida insisted that it was only the disobedience of the Aes Sedai that resulted in Rand’s escape from her power (possibly somewhat true, since rebel Aes Sedai aided him in the battle at Dumai’s Wells, though it was really the Asha’man who won the day for Rand) and that the White Tower would already have easily dealt with the Black Tower. Elaida has always been quick to shift the blame to others when her orders aren’t carried out successfully, but since we know that Egwene has made sure that all the novices know about the failed kidnapping attempt and the bonding of Aes Sedai by Asha’man, and that their gossip has certainly been heard by the Aes Sedai, it rather feels to me like Elaida has heard whispers of this talk as well. Perhaps, since her shifting of the blame to Galina and Toveine has not stuck (she was quite triumphant about that when she finally got out from under Alviarin’s blackmail threat) she has turned to the last resort of shifting blame, suggesting that it is a failure of loyalty, not her own plans and designs, that is the problem.

Egwene reflects that Elaida was always stern but never tyrannical, and is astounded by the change that has been wrought in the woman. Egwene attributes it to power changing people, but although Elaida has always been vainglorious, I think it is failure, not being drunk on power, that has driven her to become so cruel and controlling and self-aggrandizing. The more difficult she finds her job, the more her plans fail and the rebels continue to resist her, no doubt suggesting loyalty to the deposed Siuan, the more Elaida is desperate to regain the surety she had in herself.

Rand isn’t cruel and desperate like this, but he too is making the mistake of grasping harder at the very thing that is hurting him. If he was able to accept help and to feel his feelings, he would be a better leader, not a worse one. If Elaida would listen to her advisors, make some concessions and work with the Hall rather than trying to browbeat every powerful sister into submission, she would probably win more loyalty and achieve more of her aims. Not all of them, which is clearly a problem for Elaida, but it would be a marked improvement for sure. I think she probably began her reign as Amyrlin already anxious about how tenuous her hold was and has only gotten less sure of herself and more paranoid as time passes and the White Tower falls apart around her.

But like Rand, Elaida isn’t just making bad choices from an inability to handle her own emotional distress—she is also being affected by the taint. It’s hard to say how much, given that Mordeth-Fain wasn’t with her for long, but he did deliberately lay his influence on her, and so that is also a factor in her mental deterioration, one that neither Egwene nor any of Elaida’s supporters could guess at.

But getting back to Rand and his taint-induced madness, it will be very interesting to see if his relationship to having Lews Therin in his mind will change at all now that some of the people close to him know about it. Of course, they know about a bunch of Rand’s other problems and he still hasn’t let anyone in, so maybe not. But you never know. Min is persistent and stubborn, and there was something in the way Alivia was described as looking at Rand and seeming “too knowing,” that caught my attention.

She is such an intriguing character. I would absolutely love a section from her point of view, or at least to have her have a conversation with someone that would reveal to us a little more about how she sees Rand. We know she is grateful to have been set free from the Seanchan, which is enough to explain her loyalty to him, but I still feel like there’s more there. Perhaps she feels a sense of responsibility to protect or serve the Dragon Reborn in order to help save the world, as many people do. Or perhaps there is something else there that I can’t guess at yet. But I do think there is something.

There are a lot of hints like that in these chapters, little moments or mentions that I expect are heralds of plot developments to come. Alviarin being late for her penance, for example. Rand’s curiosity about the movements of the Borderland army and worry over them abandoning their posts. The horrific alterations to the mural Egwene encountered in the hallway. Rand musing about the possibility that Graendal might be hiding somewhere in Arad Doman. The fact that Rand’s message has not yet been delivered to Tuon. His awareness that he must start relying on saidin first, rather than the sword he cannot currently wield well after the loss of his hand.

Also there is a new sword in the mix, which is pretty cool. The description of how Rand got it and what sword it is was left deliberately vague, despite Rand recognizing it. We know that someone has unearthed it recently, that it is centuries old, and that Rand knows the sword from his own memories, not Lews Therin’s. Given this information, the sword must be from this Age, not before the Breaking, which means it probably belonged to a great hero of the Third Age that Rand has read about in a history book, perhaps one that also contained an image of the weapon. 

My first thought was that it might have belonged to Artur Hawkwing, because Rand feels that it is significant that the sword found its way into his hands at this moment. Since Hawkwing was the most significant personage of the Age until Rand came along, and since Rand’s most important mission at the moment is to make peace with the Seanchan, with the descendants of Hawkwing and of Luthair’s followers, this feels like a good guess.

Doesn’t mean I’m right, of course, but I can’t think of any other clues in the narrative to apply to the sword. Perhaps we’ll get more clues as to the weapon’s provenance later in The Gathering Storm.

I do think it is interesting that there are dragons on the scabbard, even though it seems like in this time no one knows there was an animal called a dragon, never mind what they looked like. However, we have seen a few instances of similar images popping up even without being called dragons; I believe there was some inn, a book or two back, that had a dragon painted on the sign, much to Rand’s bemusement.

Finally, I am very curious about how much of Rand’s distrust towards Egwene now that she is Amyrlin is due to his increasing madness and how much it is due to the trauma of his treatment by various Aes Sedai, particularly those acting for Elaida. It is a combination of both, no doubt. His distrust for Aes Sedai was initially stoked by Ishamael and then brought to a fever pitch by Galina and co., resulting in him forcing even allied Aes Sedai to swear fealty to him, but he has at least some trust for Nynaeve, despite her status as Aes Sedai, raised by Egwene. And at least some small amount for Cadsuane, due to Min’s viewing. And he is in love with Elayne, also an Aes Sedai, and trusts her about as much as he trusts anyone.

Rand hasn’t seen Egwene in a long time, so perhaps he fears that she has been transformed into something unrecognizable in being raised to Amyrlin. Her manipulation of Mat and his army might also play into Rand’s ire; he sent Mat to rescue Egwene and instead Egwene became the thing Mat was to rescue her from, then used his army in a very Aes Sedai way.

I could muse about Rand and Egwene for a very long time, but I will leave it here for now. Next week we continue on with chapters 3 and 4, which belong to Aviendha and Gawyn, respectively. I’m looking forward to Aviendha catching up with Rand and maybe also spending time with Min, and now that I’ve made the observation about Egwene handling her love better than Rand does, I’m curious to see how Gawyn becomes part of that. Didn’t someone (Min? Perrin? Egwene herself?) have a vision or Dream in which Gawyn alternately killed Egwene or knelt at her feet? I’ll have to check my notes on that one, but it certainly sounds dramatic.[end-mark]

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Books The Stormlight Archive

Gamifying the Cosmere: Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive RPG

Does the new Cosmere TTRPG do justice to the books?

By Christopher Hutton

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Published on September 15, 2025

Brotherwise Games

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Brotherwise Games

Brandon Sanderson is a masterful storyteller whose novels, from the Stormlight Archive to Mistborn and beyond, have captured the imagination of fans across the world. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that people would want to bring those settings to their tabletop roleplaying game. Brotherwise Games launched the Cosmere RPG in 2024 to massive success, raising more than $14 million to produce TTRPGs that let players create their own stories and characters within the worlds of Roshar, Scadrial, or anywhere else in the Cosmere—the fictional multiverse in which many (but not all) of Sanderson’s books are set.

But TTRPG adaptations of novels can be a mixed bag at times. Some can capture a world elegantly and bring immense value to it, while others seem like they’re wearing the “skin” of the setting but fail to do the stories justice. 

So, how do the Stormlight Archive RPG books, which were released in July, hold up to scrutiny?

The Stormlight Archive RPG, which is the first wave of TTRPG books set in the Cosmere universe, was released in July. It includes the Stormlight Handbook, which teaches players how to play and create characters in the setting. There is also the Stormlight World Guide, a book dedicated to fleshing out the history and culture of Roshar (the name of the planet, system, and the continent on which the novels take place) and providing tools for gamemasters to tell tales within the Cosmere setting itself.

These two core books were also supported by two one-shots, short adventures that can be played at one setting, as well as a longer campaign for players who want to go from level 1 to level 7 in the world built around a story penned by Sanderson and fellow author Dan Wells.

Stormlight Handbook

The handbook is both a rulebook for players and GMs and a guide to character creation and the specific mechanics of the world. It contains details on how to play humans and singers in Roshar as well as the six “heroic paths” available to them: agents, envoys, hunters, leaders, scholars, and warriors. Each path draws inspiration from historic archetypes or characters from the novels, such as the ability for scholars to become Stormwardens, or for leaders to act as commanders in warform, leading singers into conflict with the Alethi.

Each of the classes offers mechanical flexibility for players who want to get into the nitty-gritty of optimized builds while also drawing on the unique heritages and worldbuilding elements that infuse many of the cultures Sanderson has introduced throughout his books. 

There’s also a lot of details about some of the more iconic facets of the setting, covering everything from Shardblades and spren to how Stormlight and Surges affect the world and the people.

Stormlight World Guide

The Stormlight World Guide is a companion guide containing extensive details about the world. While it’s easy to think of this book as designed for the gamemaster of the setting, it’s better considered as the core resource for understanding the main rules and lore of the universe. It lays out the cosmology of the world and how the unique weather systems that have arisen through highstorms and Stormlight formed the flora and fauna of Roshar. While aspects of this are present in the story directly, the World Guide makes the details crystal clear in ways that will benefit newcomers to Roshar and the Cosmere.

For example, the prevalence of highstorms impacts every aspect of the planet’s ecology, including playing a key role in what sort of biology tends to thrive on Roshar—which is why shelled creatures are among the most prominent animals in the world. A protective carapace is necessary for survival in such a harsh environment.

The World Guide also goes into extensive detail about the various nations of Roshar, the fraught relationship between humans and singers (the original inhabitants of the planet), major historical events, the storms, and much more. This includes significant expansions on what it means to live in nations like Alethkar, Kharbranth, and many other locations that are prominent in the novels, but where are sense of everyday life and experiences may be muted or vague due to the story’s tendency to focus on Kaladin, the Kholins, and the other Alethi characters (though of course, there are plenty of exceptions in the mix).

It’s a surprisingly thorough guide that covers a wide range of content from the novels and novellas.

New Lore from the RPG

Some of these elements may appear to familiar ground for long-time fans of the Stormlight Archive, as Sanderson has proven himself well-skilled at weaving a complex fantasy world. But there are plenty of fragments of new storytelling for game masters and long-time fans to draw upon. The “Ideals” is perhaps one of the biggest reveals. 

In Roshar, there are ten Orders of ancient Knights Radiant, consisting of Surgebinders that successfully form a bond with a spren by swearing an Oath. In the game (as in the books), this gives that player access to two of the ten surges in Roshar. Stating an Oath involves progressing through specific Ideals, embracing key principles that inform how a person acts and lives, starting with the First Ideal (an Oath shared by all the Orders) then moving on until potentially reaching the Fifth Ideal. Sanderson had previously revealed some of the Ideals in his work, but the handbook fills in and clarifies the remaining Ideals (including Oaths for the Dustbringers, Edgedancers, and Elsecallers), with the exception of the final Oath—when it comes to the mysterious Fifth Ideal, the handbook states that “These Words are lost to time, and characters in this game can’t achieve it (yet).”

The Stormlight Player’s Guide also added more information about the various forms that singers can take, including which spren they have to bond with to change their form.

There is also additional detail about the Yelig-Nar—one of the Unmade, a particular kind of spren with darker powers—as well as some clarification about the kinds of Surges Yelig-Nar can use (a topic some fans have been speculating about over the last few years).

There’s also more information about the Nightwatcher, a powerful and secretive spren that has been mentioned throughout the series, a primal entity who lingers among the mountains and can bestow boons and blessings (always accompanied by a curse) upon those seek her out. The God Beyond, an entity who has also received passing mention as part of the Cosmere mythos in various novels and novellas, also receives expanded lore.

There are still plenty of bits of lore and questions that have not been addressed by the novels—Sanderson seems to enjoy dropping hints and seeding clues throughout the series, as well as lampshading pertinent omissions which will hopefully pay off in future books. The lore revealed thus far through the RPG and its materials is intended as canon for all the books that take place in the Cosmere—and fans might expect further revelations, as there will be opportunities to expand the Cosmere with the second wave of TTRPG books, which will be based on the Mistborn novels’ world of Scadrial. Given this attention to detail and worldbuilding, it’s clear that Sanderson and Brotherwise have worked hard to turn the Cosmere RPG into a must-have for die-hard fans of the books.[end-mark]

The post Gamifying the Cosmere: Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive RPG appeared first on Reactor.

Books Wind and Truth Reread

Wind and Truth Reread: Chapters 100-104

Listen up humans, a god is speaking. And making bad choices.

By Paige Vest, Lyndsey Luther, Drew McCaffrey

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Published on September 15, 2025

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Hello, Sanderfans! Welcome back to our reread of Wind and Truth! This week we tackle a whole five chapters, though a couple are quite short. Get ready for some epic Tanavast flashbacks, beginning with his arrival on Roshar along with his bae, Cultivation; a Szeth flashback that takes place six weeks after he discovered the Unmade, as he is readying for war; Navani learning to manipulate and control the awful visions Odium is using to torment her; and Kaladin and Syl speaking with the Wind. It’s a busy week, so let’s get to it, shall we?

(I can’t believe I said “bae.”)

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

Day 9 opens with Chapter 100, “God,” which takes place ten thousand years ago. It’s a soliloquy by Tanavast, the person holding the Shard of Honor. He talks of finding Roshar, a masterwork of Adolnasium, who he’d “slain for his own good.” Sure, pal… keep telling yourself that. Tanavast speaks of being drawn to two other worlds but says he chose to focus on Roshar and its songs. Until Cultivation, Koravellium Avast, arrived. She reminds him that they had planned to find an uninhabited place without people who are remnants of the being they “betrayed.” But they decide to stay on Roshar, where Tanavast will watch over the people, and where the Wind speaks to him and the Night sings to her. And it was good.

Chapter 101, “Steering a Chull,” starts with Venli repeating a mantra in her head.

She consults with the Five, who have not come to a decision about whether they’ll submit to Odium. One of them admits to being relieved but Thude, good old Thude, says that rejecting Odium is what defines the listeners. Another asked Leshwi what she hears and she replies that she hears sorrow and anger—Odium demands her return. She asks if Venli senses it and she does not, but she understands how Leshwi must feel, and attempts to comfort the Fused. They seem to have reached an impasse, not sure how to proceed.

Then Venli has an idea:

And she requests to speak to the Five.

POV Shift!

Navani is remembering a horrible time from her past, when she visited the city with her father, who was a rancher, to settle their accounts. She was only eleven and not as accomplished as she would eventually become, and struggles with writing a contract while women stand around her and laugh. They asked if her mother could write the contract and Navani tells them that she’d left and divorced them. The women began to insult her, calling her ignorant and incapable. As a young girl she’d fled, crushed—but now she knows all of that was lies and the vision dissolves.

She remembers other painful times in her life, sees other visions of when she was undermined or mocked. And she begins to think more clearly. She tries to find lines of Connection to Gavinor and Dalinar but sees none. Then she notices something different. A pattern. She realizes that the visions are being influenced or directed by something and as she does, she’s pulled into another scene from the past, finding herself in her study shortly after the discovery of the Parshendi.

She explores the books and keepsakes in the study until Gavilar bursts in, angry that she told Elhokar he shouldn’t marry Aesudan. She doesn’t respond to him, just talks about how she knew the vision would show this and then wonders if she was too hard on Elhokar’s soon-to-be wife. When she does address Gavilar, she’s much more confident and more sure of herself than she’d ever been during their marriage. Gavilar acts as though he’ll slap her and Navani states aloud that he never did hit her in reality, so doing so would dissolve the vision. He doesn’t hit her, which makes Navani feel that she’s managed to exert control over the vision.

She ignores Gavilar and, in an effort to find Gavinor, admits that what would really hurt her is seeing what happened to Elhokar at the end. And the vision shifts.

Chapter 102 is a Szeth flashback titled “A Blade in the Night” and it’s once again nine and a half years ago. Szeth arrives at the Elsecaller monastery, Pozen’s monastery, where he’d spent the most time. He’d spent the previous six weeks preparing his monastery for war, though he’d received no response to his letters to Sivi and Moss about joining him in his fight.

He remembers how he’d gone back to his father’s camp the day after discovering the Unmade only to find Neturo gone, possibly captured and held hostage. He enters the monastery through a hatch, planning to dispatch Pozen quickly and obtain his Honorblade, which would grant him Soulcasting. He thinks that with Pozen dead, the other Honorbearers might simply fold and he wouldn’t have to fight Sivi or Moss.

He slips into a meditation room, hoping that Pozen will visit in the night. Then he hears Sivi and Pozen talking outside the room. Pozen assures her that Szeth will come back, that it’s only been six weeks, and reminds her that she’d not spoken to him for three months after she herself was “elevated.” Pozen and Sivi argue for a moment, then he withdraws and she enters the meditation chamber beside the one where Szeth lurks. He thinks about killing Sivi first, then obtaining her Blade before killing Pozen.

Yet he hesitates, knowing his father had genuinely loved her and she’d always treated Szeth well. He reminds himself that she serves an Unmade and violates Truth. But he dismisses his Blade and goes to the meditation chamber she’d entered. Sivi is shocked, but greets him and tries to talk to him and he immediately asks how she could serve an Unmade.

It’s not an Unmade, then? I honestly don’t remember, so don’t flog me in the comments!

Then Pozen arrives and he chastises Szeth for pouting like a child and embarrassing him. They grapple, and rather than engage Pozen in battle, Szeth says he chooses Truth and retreats. He does not want to murder Pozen, but as he leaves, Szeth warns them that he’s raised the banner of Truth and will fight anyone who doesn’t join him. Even Sivi.

Chapter 103 is titled “Weathered.” We rejoin Kaladin in Shinovar. He makes breakfast for himself and Szeth and after eating, he plays the flute a bit. Syl is wary of Nale leaving early and calls him a creep. I’m inclined to agree with her. The Wind, however, asks them not to speak of him like that, insisting that Nale is just “weathered.” The Wind shows them a vision of the rock on which they sit, how it was once a majestic statue and then rain and wind weathered it and wore it down to just a lump of stone.

She compares Nale to the stone, and says that part of him remembers what he once was. The Wind implores Kaladin to make Nale remember, to help him. Kaladin says his hands are full with Szeth and that he doesn’t know if he has time for another patient. But the Wind pleads with him, insisting that’s why they brought Kaladin there—that the Heralds are a counter for the storm that is coming.

Szeth, done meditating, takes his breakfast on the go and they head toward the next monastery.

POV Shift!

We rejoin Sigzil in the middle of the pouring rain, locked in fierce battle on the Shattered Plains. They’re nearly out of Stormlight and once they’re out, they won’t be able to keep their fortifications from failing. In the meantime, the singers have unlimited Voidlight and Sig still hasn’t been able to think of a way to make his plan work. Then some nasty Fused arrive on top of the wall and Sig attacks, though his spear has no effect on a Magnified One. A Husked One grabs him and says it wants to fight Stormblessed; wondering if Kaladin will come if it kills Sig. Sigzil, of course, knows the name of his killer and tells the Fused that, kicking himself free.

Then Lopen shows up with reinforcements, freshly back from their trip to drop off the Mink in Herdaz. Sig leaves them to hold things together on the battlefront while he goes to consult with the generals. Vienta states that if they use any more Stormlight, they won’t be able to get their army through the Oathgate. Then he’s told that Venli has contacted them with an offer, and an idea clicks into place…

Chapter 104, “Enemy,” is another Tanavast chapter, taking place eight thousand years ago. Tanavast hated Rayse from the get-go, even when they were mortals. While they hadn’t gotten along before, now Rayse was also a god and Tanavast watched as Rayse chose a planet with humans and set himself up as their deity.

For a time, Tanavast and Kor tended happily to Roshar. But Tanavast can’t ignore Rayse, who was likely plotting. Against Kor’s wishes, he travels to Rayse’s planet, Alashwa, to find Rayse building an empire. His people were waging war, dominating and conquering other peoples of the planet. Then Rayse notices Tanavast’s presence and they form bodies and face one another. Rayse informs Tanavast that he eliminated Ambition; horrified and disgusted, Tanavast withdraws. Though he still watches, feeling compelled to know what Rayse is up to…

He sees some people leaving the city and listens as a young one speaks with his uncle. This child is Nale, and Tanavast is impressed with their defiance and pride. He appears to them and tells them he will give them the power to resist their common enemy. Shaking my head at you, Tanavast. You’re setting them up for annihilation. *sigh*

Lyndsey’s Commentary: Character Arcs

Tanavast

We’re getting some fascinating glimpses of Tanavast here; and of his love for Cultivation. Sadly, we know that this love is doomed.

And this is part of the reason why it’s doomed. Tanavast has allowed his power to overwhelm his humility. His hubris will lead to his downfall.

Venli

And so Venli’s character makes the choice to finalize her arc.

Navani

And now we begin to understand why Navani is so attuned (ha, get it?) to the common Alethi. She was the common Alethi, not too long ago.

And so she became a renowned scholar, never to be told that she was ignorant again.

This is incredible. Navani is one of the strongest women in the Stormlight Archive, and that’s really saying something, considering the company she’s in. She no longer allows anyone to belittle her; she knows her worth.

Gavilar

Ah yes. Page 1 in the good old narcissist playbook.

Szeth

Even now, after everything, Szeth refuses to kill. This is who he truly is; not the broken, bleeding thing we met at the beginning of The Way of Kings.

Kaladin

It feels strange to have little to say about a Kaladin section, but he’s just so… stable now. He’s still struggling with how to achieve his goal and how to accept Nale, but these struggles feel somehow smaller than those he’s endured up until now.

Drew’s Commentary: Invested Arts & Theories

I have to imagine that uncounted numbers of Sanderson fans’ hearts did backflips when they read the words “TEN THOUSAND YEARS AGO” at the start of Chapter 100.

Thus begins the first of the craziest flashback chapters Brandon has ever written, following Tanavast’s arrival and establishment in the Rosharan system, his dealings with Cultivation and Odium and the peoples of Roshar and Ashyn, and his struggle with the Shard of Honor.

And Brandon really doesn’t hold back, dropping this from the start. Yolen remains shrouded in mystery, as do the dragons (held in reserve until the penultimate Dragonsteel trilogy years from now), but this is evocative nonetheless… especially with the new information we’ve gotten from Isles of the Emberdark.

We know a bit now of dragon culture, and we know of Starling’s exile. “Dragon heretic” is a powerful statement here, and I can’t help but wonder what Koravellium Avast did to deserve the title. The implication here is that this was something from before the Shattering of Adonalsium, and given that Frost, Euridrius, and Medelantorius were also present at the Shattering, it’s not like the dragons were uniformly opposed to it or anything.

No, Koravellium Avast must have done something altogether different, which is fascinating given how apparently bashful she is as the Vessel of Cultivation, preferring to hide in the shadows and vales and work subtly to progress her plans. Even abandoning her place as a dragon god and refusing prayers seems too tame for that title.

Also from the start, we see that Tanavast did not have a perfect relationship with his Shard. This inside view gives a totally different perspective on the original Sixteen Vessels, and in fact recontextualizes what we have seen with Kelsier, Vin, and Sazed. Perhaps none of the Vessels were ideally suited to their Shards—not even Rayse—and that friction is what is eroding all of their minds over time.

Is it even possible to have a perfect Vessel for a Shard?

From the timeline given here, we know that this refers at least to the conflict involving Odium, Ambition, and Mercy, as well as Odium’s destruction of Devotion and Dominion. Whether or not he found any others of the Sixteen—maybe Virtuosity?—remains to be seen.

It makes sense that the Radiant spren were created deliberately by Honor and Cultivation, and that the more natural spren of Roshar were the lingering fragments of Adonalsium given new “flavor” after the Shattering. But the Bondsmith spren always struck me as strange outliers. Given this context, they make sense now.

Wind, Night, and Stone, given new shape but not entirely replaced. The Night is still a giant question mark, and maybe even more so now after Cultivation fled Roshar. What will become of the Nightwatcher?

I’m not sure I really like how on-the-nose the naming of the other planets in this system ended up being. Ashyn as a name, because it’s a planet of ash and fire? Too directly tied to English. Braize, because Rayse? Ehhhh. I do like Alaswha, though, as it carries the taste of something ancient and inscrutable.

So yeah, unfettered Surgebinding is definitely scary stuff. Microkinesis is almost certainly going to see a substantial “nerf” in the final, canonical accounting, but its capabilities as seen in Dragonsteel Prime are pretty crazy. Magical nukes, quite literally, are well within reason. I imagine the final version will look more like souped-up Dustbringing/Division—still pretty crazy, but not world-shatteringly powerful at the flick of a wrist.

But who knows? Maybe we’ll actually see some planets get nuked out of existence in the space age war between Scadrial and Roshar.

This has been mentioned twice now, and I itch to get answers. Was it something to do with Ambition as a Shard? Was it something specific to Uli Da, and her own personality? Maybe she was bullheaded or didn’t like the way they went about Shattering Adonalsium. Or maybe it’s because she was a Sho Del, a fain creature. Were they worried that she would spread fainlife throughout the Cosmere via her Shardic influence?

I can’t imagine any of those answers are coming anytime soon. Gotta be relevant to the Dragonsteel trilogy. But I sure wouldn’t complain about some details in, say, another letter to Hoid in book six…

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 105 through 108![end-mark]

The post <i>Wind and Truth</i> Reread: Chapters 100-104 appeared first on Reactor.

Books The Wheel of Time

Reading The Wheel of Time: The Gathering Storm (Part 1)

A storm is coming…

By Sylas K Barrett

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Published on September 9, 2025

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Welcome back to Reading The Wheel of Time! After our two week break, I am very excited to be diving back in with The Gathering Storm, and a bit apprehensive, too, knowing that Jordan didn’t live to complete his work. I’m very curious and interested to see how Brandon Sanderson handled taking up the job. So with all that on my mind, and probably yours too, dear readers, let’s get to the recap.

The prologue opens in the Borderlands, where a farmer named Renald Fanwar is sitting on his porch watching some very strange thunderclouds in the distance. They are not gray, but black and silver, and bright lightning flashes between them without any sound. Renald closes his eyes briefly, only to open them and find the thunderclouds directly overhead.

And then the clouds are gone again, back off on the horizon again. Renald tells himself that he is losing it, and blames it on his worry over the crops, which have yet to start sprouting. He wonders what is going on in the world, when plants can’t be depended on to sprout when they should, and clouds are moving around in unnatural ways.

Suddenly he spots a heavily-laden wagon moving down the road towards him. As they get closer, he recognizes Thulin, the smith and a friend. The whole family is in the wagon, and all their livestock is with them. Renald asks where they are going, and both Thulin and his wife, Gallanha, tell him that there is a storm coming, and so they have to head to the north. Thulin tells Renald that he might want to head north, too, and gives him advice on how to turn his best scythes into polearms and others into swords. He also advises him to bring all his livestock and every scrap of food available—there will be shortages of food and they will need everything they have.

As the wagon pulls away, Renald’s wife, Auaine,  comes out to ask what’s going on. Renald explains, and Auaine looks over at the storm clouds before declaring that they should listen to Thulin and Gallanha.

Renald sets about figuring out how to turn his farming tools into weapons. He still doesn’t know why he is doing what he is doing, but he knows the storm is coming, and that he has to be ready.

Falendre, the most senior of the sul’dam who went on the secret mission with “Anath,” only to encounter the Dragon Reborn and have Anath’s true identity revealed as one of the Forsaken, struggles to keep her composure for the sake of her fellow sul’dam and the damane who rely on them. The Dragon Reborn is demanding that Falendre carry a message to the Daughter of the Nine Moons, informing her that he bears no malice towards her for the attack, and that he still desires a meeting with her. 

Falendre doesn’t know how someone of her stature will be able to get close enough to the Daughter of the Nine Moons to deliver the message personally, as he has asked, but she can’t argue with the man. She promises to do as he says, even as she struggles to believe everything that has happened and that Lady Anath is really one of the Forsaken.

The Dragon and his companions depart through the strange holes in the air, leaving Falendre to get her people moving. She wonders how badly she will be punished for these events, if she will be removed as a sul’dam or even made da’covale. She starts thinking about how to explain the events in a way that will save her, and although she promised to deliver the message to the Daughter of the Nine Moons, she did not promise to do so immediately.

General Tylee Khirgan is returning from the battle against the Aiel, musing over the strange land she has come to and over the success of the battle and Perrin Aybara’s strategy. Tylee thinks that they should be looking for allies, not enemies, in this land, especially with all the bad omens she has seen. But even thinking so is close to treason, so she pushes the thought aside and starts to give Mishima an order…

… but when she looks up at him, the man has an arrow through his neck.

Attackers burst from the trees and Tylee’s warhorse rears in panic, throwing her to the ground. As she gets a look at the attackers she realizes they are not quite men, but humanoid creatures with the body parts of men and beasts. Horrified, wondering how they were surprised and what happened to their scouts, she fights for her life.

Graendal is summoned from her hideaway in Arad Doman to attend Moridin. The room on the other side of the gateway is hot and bare, and Graendal is surprised to realize that Moridin has set up in a fortress in the Blight. Demandred and Mesaana arrive together and seem surprised to see her. Graendal covers her own lack of understanding with a knowing smile, despite the fact that she is frustrated by Demandred—she has had an easy time keeping track of all the other Forsaken except for him. She knows Demandred must want an army to command, but there are none left up for grabs.

When Moridin enters, Graendal learns that Semirhage has been captured. Mesaana wants to mount a rescue, but the Nae’blis replies that Semirhage deserves her imprisonment; she was supposed to capture al’Thor and failed, injuring him in the process. For that, she will rot in prison.

Graendal notes that Moridin is flexing his left hand, and appears for a moment to be in pain.

Moridin asks for reports. Mesaana is confident that she will very shortly be delivering a broken White Tower into the Great Lord’s hands, along with all its channelers, who will be made to serve the Shadow, one way or another. Demandred simply replies that his rule is secure, and that he will be ready for war when the time comes.

Moridin dismisses both of them and then tells Graendal that the Great Lord approves of her efforts so far. He says that there may be a position of glory for her, below the Nae’blis but still significant, if she is able to prevent al’Thor’s efforts to bring peace to Arad Doman. He tells her to bring Rand frustration, anguish, and pain of the heart.

Rodel Ituralde waits outside the city of Darluna, watching the approach of the Seanchan through a looking glass. The size of the army that has been sent in response to Ituralde’s raids on the Seanchan supply camps shows a measure of respect—they are not underestimating him. The army has about a hundred pairs of damane and sul’dam with them, though if Ituralde could have anything it would be one of the flying beasts; information is even more valuable than the ability to hurl fire and lightning.

When the Seanchan arrive outside the gates, they fail to suspect a trap. On Ituralde’s signal, the “farmers” in the field throw down their tools and take up weapons, falling upon the Seanchan from the rear while other soldiers attack from the town.

The Prophet and the few of his followers who survived the battle scramble up a hillside as the Prophet’s thoughts bounce wildly back and forth, from despair at his losses to faith in his ability to rebuild and stand next to the Dragon in glory. He had been certain that the Dragon would protect him and his men, leading them to a powerful victory, after which the Prophet would have been able to kill the Shadowspawn Perrin Aybara with his own hands. 

But the tool failed, and the Prophet can’t understand why. He mourns his dead followers, and bows his head in prayer for them, those who are left with doing the same. He believes these are the best, the most loyal and true, and the Prophet is determined to escape and rebuild. And later, he will kill Aybara.

He leads his men away, but when they enter a small clearing he hears a voice greet him by that old name, Masema. He recognizes Faile Aybara, wife of the Shadowspawn, and shouts at his men to take her, but his followers are taken out by the arrows of Faile’s own men. As the Prophet himself is struck down, he wonders again why the Dragon did not protect them. He is proud, however, that it takes several arrows to bring him down.

Faile approaches him with a knife. She thanks him for helping with the assault on Malden, and slides the blade home. As he dies, Masema hears her telling her followers that sometimes a wife must do what her husband cannot, and that Perrin must never know of the dark but necessary thing they have done. Masema thinks of when he was a boy and how proud his father had been when Masema earned his sword on his fifteenth birthday.

I was really moved by the foreword of the book, in which Brandon Sanderson details his love for the series and describes the process of taking Jordan’s notes, outlines, and completed scenes (of which there were apparently many) and finishing the series. Since I started The Wheel of Time many years after the last book was completed, I always knew that Jordan didn’t live to finish his series and that three books were co-written by Sanderson, but I didn’t realize at the time that Jordan was currently writing the last book of the series when he passed, or that Sanderson and Harriet McDougal had so much material to use while completing the series.

When reading Knife of Dreams, I observed that the series felt like it was was very close to its end. The events of the story, especially all the effects of the Pattern’s disintegration under the Dark One’s touch were one sign, but there was also a tone to the narrative style itself that made it feel like we had almost reached the crest of the wave, the peak of the rising action of the story. I had also picked up the information from somewhere that A Memory of Light was intended by Jordan to follow Knife of Dreams, and so I was confused why there ended up being two extra books in between the two. But with Sanderson’s explanation that the manuscript for A Memory of Light was so big that they decided to split it into thirds, everything makes sense.

It must have been a monumental task to finish the series without its original author. I’m particularly interested in how Sanderson will have, in his own words, “adapted [his] style to be appropriate to The Wheel of Time.” Having begun with the prologue, I noticed that his sentence structure tends to be much shorter, giving the lines and paragraphs a slightly clipped feeling in comparison to Jordan’s longer, more complicated phrasing. However, Sanderson’s descriptions of place are very evocative, and I could picture the setting and the action vividly in my mind, which is something I always loved Jordan’s writing for. Sanderson also declares in the foreword that his main goal is to stay true to the souls of the characters, and I really hope he achieves that goal.

That last sentence of the prologue really caught my attention because of the way Renald’s experience with the storm clouds was described in the first part of the prologue. In Renald’s section it is described as an “endless, suffocating blackness” that he knows is going to take him, while in Masema’s section he tumbles into “an endless sea of blackness” and is described as joining with the void. The imagery of “endless blackness” is not an unusual one when it comes to describing the experience or the concept of death in stories and the like. But because the first description is connected to these supernatural clouds that are almost certainly a manifestation of the Dark One’s touch, à la the “bubbles of evil,” Renald’s sense of being taken by suffocating blackness would appear to be an awareness of the Dark-capital-D, rather than of a regular, natural experience of death.

I have a tendency to want to be very granular in my analysis of word choice when it comes to Evil and the difference between things like natural decay vs. the corruption of the natural by the Dark One’s touch, because it’s interesting and also because it seems so important to understanding the nature of the Pattern, how it works, and possibly even why it exists. However, it’s also possible that I might be reading a little too much into this particular description. Perhaps the endless void Renald saw was simply ordinary death, even if it was coming to him by spiritual means.

Either way, the thought I find the most interesting is that I don’t think Masema would have gone to the Dark One or been consumed by Darkness when he died. Obviously the Prophet was clearly not a force for good in the world, but he believed himself to be. He intended to be. Whatever else Masema was or wasn’t, he was not a darkfriend, and he wanted to serve the Dragon Reborn and the Light.

We already knew he was insane, of course, but it felt very different to view that fact from inside the man’s own head and POV. The way he couldn’t understand how the Dragon could have allowed him to fail. The way he bounced back and forth between love and grief for his followers and the belief that they were darkfriends who betrayed him was actually really heartbreaking. More than one character has referred to him as a mad or rabid dog that needed to be put down, and you can really see that in his section. Given the circumstances, it kind of feels like his death was a mercy, not just to protect other people from him, but also for Masema himself.

It feels important to note that Masema’s madness is not in any way comparable to any real mental illnesses, and that the concept of a mercy killing is an agreeable one because of the way “madness” works in the world of The Wheel of Time. It is a fictional creation, this insanity, and could very reasonably be called supernatural one, given that it was sparked by Masema witnessing the fight between Rand and Ishamael over Fal Dara. I don’t think it would be a stretch to presume that his actions were sparked by Rand’s ta’veren nature, in the same way that some people have been moved to throw down their tools and leave their homes to wander aimlessly across the continent.

Maybe Masema’s transformation into a misled zealot is the bad that balances out the good of all those who were pulled by ta’veren power to ally with and serve Rand in the way he actually needs.

And of course we now know that Masema was also being manipulated by one of the Forsaken. Only that could account for the “figure of light, glowing in the air in shimmering robes” that Masema witnessed the night before the attack on Malden, especially since we know that Moridin has given orders for Mat and Perrin to be found and killed. I wonder which of the Forsaken it was, and whether they weren’t also exerting some kind of force on Masema’s mind. That’s only speculation, but it would be well in keeping with most of the Forsaken’s playbooks, and some kind of compulsion-esque tampering might explain the extent of Masema’s scattered, disorganized mind, which is in many ways very reminiscent of Mordeth-Fain’s pendulum-like thought processes. 

Whether caused by Rand’s ta’veren nature, influenced by the Dark, a result of the strain of living through the years before the arrival of Tarmon Gai’don, or some combination of all three, Masema’s madness destroyed him in much the same way the taint destroyed so many male channelers, or the way the evil of Mordeth and Mashadar destroyed Aridhol. In these cases, mercy killing is the only option available to the characters in the story. Even in the Age of Legends there was no cure for such destruction and decay of the mind. And whatever else he was, Masema was not a darkfriend, and did wish to serve the Light. I have no doubt that he will find peace in death, and will indeed be sheltered in the Creator’s hand.

I wonder if Faile will bury him in the Shienaran fashion, so that the last embrace of the mother can welcome him home. It seems like a thing she would do; she knows a lot about people and different cultures, and I can see her wanting to honor the Shienaran way in this moment.

Masema’s death isn’t the only tragic one in the prologue. Mishima (I have definitely mixed up the spelling of these two names a time or two!) also meets his death, one that Perrin prophesied when he told the Captain that he would regret his wish to see Trollocs for himself. Technically, Mishima didn’t even get to see them, since he was killed before they burst from the trees. But if any of Tylee’s army survives—and some probably will, given the strength and skill of her forces and the presence of sul’dam and damane in their midst—she will be able to confirm to the Seanchan that Trollocs are actually real, which should be helpful in Rand’s bid for a truce, provided that Falendre actually delivers Rand’s message to the Daughter of the Nine Moons in a timely fashion. Since she intended to do so only once she could spin things to protect herself as much as possible, it might be a while before Tuon hears the message. Once more, the transmission of information (and lack thereof) is messing things up for Rand and the forces of Light.

But to get back to Moridin and his orders for a moment, I hadn’t even thought about the fact that he might be approaching the issue of Rand differently now that they are connected through their weird balefire collision. Obviously he already didn’t want Rand killed, since the Dark One doesn’t want that, but Rand losing a hand might not have bothered him so much if he didn’t have to feel that pain, too.

He has ordered Graendal to bring Rand anguish, frustration, and “pain of the heart.” I kind of laughed when I read the line, because Rand has already known so much pain of the heart, so much frustration and anguish, that worrying much about bringing more almost seems like overkill. But it got me thinking about the question of how the Last Battle will unfold, and what, exactly, Rand’s role in it is supposed to be.

From the beginning of the story, the main fear of the side of the Light was that Rand would be killed or go completely mad before the Last Battle arrived. Rand himself feared this, because the one thing that everyone is sure of is that without the Dragon Reborn the Last Battle will be lost.

But it does not seem to be the stance of the Dark that killing Rand is a clear path to victory. Or at least, it seems he can’t just be killed in an ordinary way. It almost feels like he is needed for something, and not just by Moridin, but by the Dark One himself.

In the beginning, after all, Ishamael sought to turn Rand to the Darkness, not to kill him. Then there was the order to “let the lord of chaos rule,” which seems to have been a strategy to weaken trust in the Dragon. That makes sense, but the Forsaken could just as easily impersonate him as let him make his own choices. They hope, or even suspect, that those choices will be destructive and ruled by taint madness, but they can’t actually predict what Rand will do, or how successful he will be in dealing with the world.

True, Graendal also observes that, so far, none of the Chosen have actually proved able to kill Rand even when trying, but I still feel like there’s more, like the Dark might still hope to use or turn Rand in some way before the end. Moridin’s orders appear to be aimed at breaking Rand completely, which would certainly make him easier to control or turn.

Graendal seems to have some questions about this as well, as she observes that Moridin is entirely “focused on killing those fool boys from the village of Rand al’Thor,” when Rand himself is the real threat, and why don’t they “just kill him and be done with it?”

I’m almost as curious as Graendal is about what Demandred is up to. He says his rule is secure and that he has an army, and as Graendal observes, one of the Borderland rulers seems to be the only option for him. The Forsaken don’t tend to impersonate the opposite sex, so that only leaves King Easar of Shienar or King Paitar of Arafel as options. Demandred’s influence might explain why the Borderlanders chose to take their army away from the Blight, which seems a dangerous decision at the best of times, and a terrible one with the Last Battle so near on the horizon. On the other hand, the Borderland army doesn’t really seem to be readying to be used by one of the Forsaken in the Last Battle as much as it seems to be distracted from being useful on the side of the Light.

There is, of course, one more nation in this world that we know of, although we know very little about it other than that outsiders aren’t allowed in past the harbor and that Jain Farstrider is practically the only one who ever saw any of Shara. Noal has mentioned a few details about that land to Olver, either because he heard about it from his cousin or (as I suspect) because he actually is Jain. We have no idea what the military capabilities of that continent are, but if Demandred was to show up to the Last Battle with a huge force that even Rand couldn’t have accounted for, that certainly would be a feat, and a very useful one for the Dark One’s side.

In some ways, this book feels like a beginning, like we’re starting into a new trilogy. Sanderson does say in the foreword that it would be appropriate to think of the three books as three separate novels or as A Memory of Light broken into three parts, and so the sensation that this novel is in some ways its own beginning (not the beginning, but A Beginning) feels right and appropriate. The continuous mentioning of the storm coming, and the feeling that people have of the fact that the storm isn’t just a storm, reminds me so much of Nynaeve’s instincts when we first met her, and when Renald and Auaine decided to follow Thulin and Gallanha, it reminded me a lot of the ordinary Emond’s Field citizens our main heroes used to be, and how they were driven to leave their homes by signs of coming evil and by some deep instinct in their blood to do what must be done.

I was thinking of a lot of moments of The Eye of the World as I read this section, in particular the scene when Nynaeve told Rand it wasn’t right to send the damane back to Ebou Dar instead of freeing them.

All in all, I really enjoyed the prologue and am very much looking forward to starting into the book proper. Join me next week for chapters one and two, in which we catch up with Rand and then with Egwene, both of whom are doing their best to weather suffering in an attempt to unite the Light before it’s too late.

Favorite passage of the week:

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The post Reading The Wheel of Time: <i>The Gathering Storm</i> (Part 1) appeared first on Reactor.

Books Wind and Truth Reread

Wind and Truth Reread: Chapter 99, Interludes 15 and 16

Shallan confronts her mother, Dalinar meets with the Stormfather, and Dawnshards collide!

By Paige Vest, Lyndsey Luther, Drew McCaffrey

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Published on September 8, 2025

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Greetings Sanderfans! We’ve reached the end of Day Eight, can you believe it? We can’t believe it. This reread is just flying by, like Lift in a dream! This week we see Dalinar facing his painful past again as he prepares to meet Honor, while Shallan confronts her mother—her actual mother, not a memory. Then in the interludes, Rysn must go into hiding; Hoid is holding a WHAT?; and Odium is a vile, reprehensible creature… as we all know. Let’s dive in and let’s chat about all the things!

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

Chapter 99, the final chapter of Day Eight, is titled “Never Too Late.” We are still at Shallan’s wedding in the vision as she leaves Adolin to go after her mother, who flees when she realizes that Shallan is approaching her. Shallan catches up with her, though, and they talk. Shallan forgives Chana, though she thinks her mother may not be deserving of forgiveness. Still, Shallan offers it and when she does, it’s a truth that she speaks, not a lie. Painful, yes, but not a lie.

Chana tells Shallan how she broke and how the Desolation is her fault. Shallan disabuses her of this notion, but Chana says that she died again a few months ago but felt Shallan calling to her, pulling her mother to her. Then Shallan realizes this is really Chana—not her mother from the vision of her wedding, but actually her mother, there, as herself. Chana insists she must go and tells Shallan not to trust anyone but Taln. Then she’s gone, and a shadow falls across the room. Testament whispers that Odium is there and the vision breaks apart.

It’s also important to note that during this vision, as she prepares to confront Chana, Shallan tries to push the responsibility of facing her mother onto Radiant, who refuses. So Shallan shoulders the burden and takes the pain that comes along with this difficult encounter. I honestly don’t recall what, if anything, happens with Radiant in this book, so I’m going to speculate that Shallan is nearly ready to absorb her, too.

POV Shift!

Dalinar is still being shown the many horrible things that he’s done in the past. Then a vision coalesces and he finds himself in a room with several bunks. It’s the room in Rathalus where Evi died. A young boy speaks and Dalinar realizes that it’s Gavinor, though it doesn’t look like him. Dalinar tells him it’s Grampa and the boy cringes. Then Evi is there, having risen from one of the bunks. She assures another man that her husband will come.

Then they hear screaming. Dalinar leaves the room to intercept barrels of burning oil and then finds himself face to face with the Blackthorn. He wants to punch him but refrains. He sends Kadash to stop the killing and save as many civilians as he can. He sees Sadeas and doesn’t refrain from punching him.

Dalinar hears a voice speaking to him and comes to realize that it’s Nohadon. When that voice fades, Odium appears and speaks with Taravangian’s voice. Dalinar is terrified, as he knows that there is no one worse to hold the power of Odium. Taravangian tells him he must suffer and Dalinar looks down to see a glowing light forming on his chest. It’s Connecting him to something; when he touches it, he feels agony.

He takes hold of the light and begins to pull himself through the chaos. He stands and begins to walk, holding to the line of light, even though it’s agonizing. Odium offers to end his anguish; Dalinar ignores him, which seems to vex him.

Dalinar then steps into a vision… and finds a huddled old man weeping in the corner. It’s the Stormfather. Dalinar, immediately overcome by anger, calls him a liar—and then stops, thinks, and tries to choose a better path than anger and aggression. He touches the Stormfather’s shoulder and feels the same agony, realizing that’s what led him to this vision. He asks the Stormfather to show him what he remembers of Honor and the spren says that it hurts. He insists that Dalinar will hate him and Honor for what they did. Dalinar denies this.

And so the Stormfather touches Dalinar’s hand and takes him into a new vision with a god.

And so ends Day Eight, as Dalinar finally finds what he came to the Spiritual Realm to find: Honor. We’ll see how that goes for him in Day Nine!

Interlude 15 is a Rysn interlude! Our girl is at Urithiru for the signing of a treaty. It involves patents, of all things. Those silly Thaylens! But she does hold the patent on her chair and the fabrials that power it. And so the ardents agree to the treaty. Then Dalinar walks in, only Rysn can tell that it’s not actually Dalinar. She sees Hoid, and sees that he holds a Dawnshard.

Dun-dun-DUNNN!

Hoid/Dalinar orders everyone out and confronts Rysn, demanding to know who she is. She demands the same, in turn. Then a Sleepless shows up and the two Dawnshards begin to interact. Rysn finds herself pulled toward Hoid and knows that if they meet, she will be destroyed. Then Hoid says, simply, “NO” and Rysn is left lying on the floor. Hoid leaves, saying he’ll ensure that they won’t meet again.

The Sleepless, having been joined by another, discuss how Hoid had given up the Dawnshard previously, and that he was there when they were all used to kill a god. Rysn realizes that she must go into hiding lest Odium discover her, and she makes a plan…involving her ship.

Interlude 16 is an Odium interlude, of course, and is titled “Surprise.” The surprise in question is experienced by the power of the Shard when Dalinar, who had been a pawn to Odium, suddenly disappears from the Spiritual Realm. Odium realizes that only a Shard could hide Dalinar and that the power of Honor must be taking a hand in things. He feels that it’s becoming dangerous, having gone too long without a host, and contemplates destroying it.

And thus end the Interludes. As we go forward into Day Nine, Dalinar will be speaking with a god; Navani is… ???; Gavinor is at Odium’s disposal; Shallan has healed a smidge; Renarin and Rlain are… also ???; Adolin is doing his best to cope with his disability and the inevitable fall of Azir; Sigzil is facing annihilation on the Shattered Plains; Venli has been offered a deal by El; Szeth is preparing to finish his pilgrimage and become a Herald; and Kaladin, against the odds, is becoming quite the therapist… He has two clients now!

Lyndsey’s Commentary: Character Arcs

A note here on the chapter arch Heralds… I looked ahead to the next “Day,” and this is the final day in which the Heralds are visible. After this point, all the figures are too worn away to be discernible, and are exactly the same for each chapter. So this will be the final Chapter Arch analysis section of this book, and I’m sad to see it go. Including the Heralds and how they relate to each chapter is one of the coolest of the subtle features Sanderson has worked into these books; but the deterioration of the arches also makes perfect sense. So, raise a glass with me to the Heralds, and the themes that they represented; from here on out, we’re on our own, Chickens!

Chapter 99’s Heralds are Shalash, Chana, Nalan (or maybe Vedel? I can’t be 100% sure) and Ishi. Shalash and Chana don’t need much explanation; Shalash is here for the Radiant of her order, Shallan. And Chana, of course, physically shows up in the chapter. Ishi also makes sense, as he’s the Herald of Bondsmiths, and Dalinar’s the other main POV character in this chapter. But Nalan (or Vedel)? I suppose Nalan could be the stand-in for Taravangian, who is acting as judge, jury, and executioner here. He’s also quite confident, which is another aspect of Nalan.

Rysn’s interlude features Kalak, Nalan, Palah, and the Joker/Wild Card. We’ll start with that last, as it’s the most obvious. That particular “Herald” icon is almost always indicative of Hoid, who appears in this chapter. Kalak, one of whose attributes is “builder,” makes sense as Rysn is an inventor and displaying that attribute of herself to full effect, here. Palah is likely here for the same reason, as her role is that of the scholar. Nalan, though… he’s a bit more of a mystery. Perhaps he’s here as Rysn is being particularly confident in her business dealings.

Odium’s brief little Interlude features Ishi in all four spaces. This makes sense, as it’s dealing with Dalinar, our resident Bondsmith.

Shallan

I love how, even at this moment, she still falters and almost falls. But Radiant and Veil are still here for her, pushing her forward into the light.

::confetti cannons::

And the big reveal! This was actually happening; it’s really Chana, and not just a vision of the past. I’m so glad for this, because otherwise Shallan may have felt that the conversation lacked true meaning or depth.

Dalinar

Oh, just wait, Dalinar.

Who wouldn’t want to relive the absolute worst day of their life? The day they literally murdered the one person who always believed the best of them?

This whole section is just chock-full of great motivational quotes.

Something that we all could be reminded of, from time to time, I think. Mistakes happen. We all flounder and fall. But we rise each time with the opportunity to be better people.

Oof. Even when he tried to do the right thing, it comes back to bite him.

Watching Dalinar’s growth from “guy who solves everything by punching it” to “wise counselor who spouts off deep thoughts about empathy and love” wasn’t on my bingo card when I started The Way of Kings, but boy, am I here for the ride.

Wow. That’s a hell of a statement, isn’t it? Reminds me a bit of good old Ender from Ender’s Game: “In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him.”

Rysn

Hooboy, if that doesn’t ring true… Your land might be at war, with soldiers fighting for their lives… but kids still need to be fed.

More’s the pity. Mobility devices should be on the top of the priority list. But we all know that some people would argue that without the military, people wouldn’t be alive to begin with to need those devices. (Despite the fact that war creates the need for so many more…)

After having come so far, to be forced to give it all away? How awful.

Five bucks says she’s heading off to worldhop. But hey… at least she had a choice in it. Not in the leaving…but in the journey, and the destination.

Drew’s Commentary: Invested Arts & Theories

This scene is one of my favorites in the entire book, for several reasons, but this one bit of dialogue is particularly fun from a theory perspective. How in the world was Chana able to be pulled into Shallan’s vision? The Oathpact works the way it does because Braize is a magnet, but somehow Shallan can simply call her mother’s Cognitive aspect into a Spiritual Realm vision, just like that?

And I’m sorry, but:

That is not a satisfying answer. There are an unfortunate amount of really crazy things that happen in Wind and Truth, things that open up all kinds of new avenues for Realmatic possibilities… and then are handwaved away with vague statements like this.

Oh, yeah, and… how did Chana die this time? Who killed her? Did she try to get back into the fight? Where did she show up, after breaking, and why wasn’t it with Taln outside of Kholinar?

Given what we know about Chana’s personality and role among the Heralds, I have to imagine she would’ve tried to find her way back into the struggle against Odium, regardless of whether or not she had her Honorblade. Taln and Shalash make it pretty darn clear that Heralds are walking killing machines with or without their Surges, especially when they have serious combat training. Taln’s obviously the most lethal, but Chana was the bodyguard—she certainly had a great deal of martial prowess.

Speaking of martial prowess, we have to at least touch on the Blackthorn here.

In retrospect, this appears to be the moment where the “Blackthorn spren,” as many have taken to calling it, that Retribution commandeers at the end of the book is manifested. The air warping, the unified moment, the translation of memories and emotions, all point toward a Connection-based action on Dalinar’s part. Good ol’ Bondsmith powers, at it again.

And then we get to the Stormfather, to Tanavast, to the Cognitive Shadow. We will be spending a great deal of time on the details of his memories in Day Nine, but this is still a big moment. There has always been a good amount of confusion around what, exactly, the Stormfather is. Through fairly early Words of Brandon, we “knew” that he was a Cognitive Shadow, that he was both sliver and splinter of Honor. But in execution, throughout especially Oathbringer, the Stormfather seemed too confused, too ignorant, for that to be the case.

Wind and Truth reveals the lie to it all. Tanavast was much more present than we imagined, and was obfuscating, hiding, and occasionally being outright false to Dalinar. But the time is nearly here for the truth to come out.

First, however, we have to check in with everyone’s favorite Thaylen merchant and hoverchair-using Dawnshard holder.

Rysn has always been a fun time for me, and becoming the holder of a Dawnshard only enhances that. This paragraph goes into more detail about the passive senses it grants her—life sense, perfect pitch, perfect color recognition—and it remains powerfully curious how much these directly align with the side effects of various Heightenings on Nalthis.

The easy explanation is that these are all simply side effects of being powerfully Invested, but we’ve seen many other highly Invested characters across many other books, and Sanderson never spends the same amount of time or exact wording drawing parallels between Breaths and Heightenings and any other Invested Arts.

Rysn’s Dawnshard appears to have the Intent of Change. There are certainly some mental gymnastics you can undertake to tie Endowment to Change, though other Shards (like Ruin and Cultivation, notably) would fit much more neatly. If so, why does Lift, for instance, not experience similar sense-enhancing effects when she’s full of Lifelight?

Of course there’s also the four-by-four theory of Dawnshards and Shards, thanks to the mural out in Aimia: that each of the four Dawnshards is tied to or responsible for the Intents of four Shards. If this is indeed the case, you have to imagine that the four Shards tied to Change are Cultivation, Ruin, Invention, and Endowment.

But that’s not all that’s interesting in this interlude. Oh no, no no no…

Hoid also has a Dawnshard! For so long, we operated under the same assumption as poor Nikli here, that Hoid once held it, but gave it up. The Sunlit Man reinforced that perception, though it also introduced complexities to things.

And now we know why. It really is clever, hiding the Dawnshard in plain sight, knowing that anyone aware of it and its history will discount Hoid because he used to hold Exist.

So this scene is pretty freaking harrowing. I have to think that, if they were to merge, the Dawnshards would generate at the very least an immediately destructive outpouring of energy. But was this merging what Shattered Adonalsium? We know the Dawnshards were involved, but not the actual mechanism. If the process actually involved merging all four of them and releasing a cataclysmic outburst of Investiture, I could see that being enough to cause the Shattering.

But either way, Rysn and her Sleepless buddies are going into hiding:

And I’m pretty sure this is the first step toward Shadesmar ships, culminating in the sort of stuff we just recently saw in Isles of the Emberdark, with the Dynamic.

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 as we embark on Day Nine with our discussion of chapters 100 through 104![end-mark]

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