Welcome back to the Words of Radiance Reread on Tor.com! Last week, Carl spoke of cons and curry; this week, we turn to Kaladin’s Comedy Corral for your entertainment.
This reread will contain spoilers for The Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, and any other Cosmere book that becomes relevant to the discussion. The index for this reread can be found here, and more Stormlight Archive goodies are indexed here. Click on through to join the discussion.
Chapter 25: Monsters
Point of View: Kaladin
Setting: Dalinar’s Warcamp
Symbology: Spears, Chach, Jezrien
IN WHICH… HORSES!
What? It’s horses! Lots and lots of horses! And a Ryshadium for good measure!
Okay, okay.
IN WHICH… horses stalk grass, dawdle, terrify the bridgemen (except Moash), smell horsey, have equal-opportunity grooms, trick the grass into being eaten, are way too smart for Kaladin’s comfort, meander boringly, and pitch Kaladin on his backside. Also, IN WHICH the stablemaster turns out to be a woman who drops hints about male/female roles in Vorinism, delivers boring lectures, and throws rocks at Adolin; Syl teases Kaladin, who displays no sense of humor whatsoever; Kaladin connects a few dots about the assassination attempt, and tries very hard to ignore some other dots; Adolin taunts Kaladin about riding children’s training mounts; Kaladin decides he needs to ride something more suitable for war but really just more suitable for falling off; Dalinar gives orders for bridgemen to practice riding and use the horses for patrols; Adolin makes small overtures toward Kaladin; and Amaram’s presence does more damage to Kaladin’s frame of mind than a dozen horses could do to his body.
Quote of the Week:
“This is going to be like back at the lighteyed practice grounds, isn’t it?” Kaladin asked. “I’m going to end up on my back , staring at the sky, feeling like a fool.”
“Probably,” Syl said lightly. “So why are you doing this? Because of Adolin?”
“Nah,” Kaladin said. “The princeling can storm away.”
“Then why?”
“Because I’m scared of these things.”
Syl looked at him , seeming baffled, but it made perfect sense to Kaladin. Ahead , Dreamstorm —huffing out huge breaths from her run— looked at him. She met his eyes.
“Storms!” Adolin’s voice called from behind. “Bridgeboy, don’t actually do it! Are you mad?”
Well, probably. The ability to magically heal oneself, as well as the ability to magically stick oneself to the saddle could be mitigating factors… Then again, “That only meant that instead of being tossed from horseback like a limp cloth, he got whipped back and forth like a limp cloth.” Nope. Certifiably nuts, he is. But that’s the Kaladin we know and love, right?
(In passing, I have to wonder why I find Adolin’s use of “Bridgeboy” so much more offensive than Kaladin’s “princeling” epithet. They’re both being more than a little condescending, after all.)
Commentary: Well, here’s a turn-up. A Kaladin chapter that’s actually mostly comedy. If y’all haven’t read this chapter recently, you totally should. Everyone needs a few laughs on a Thursday, amiright? (I actually felt bad getting this chapter—Carl does comedy so much better than I do.)
I remember looking at the chapter title “Monsters” on the gamma and being a little baffled as to what this would turn out to be; I didn’t remember monsters. Then I started reading, and remembered how Kaladin felt about the horses, and started laughing uncontrollably. Horse = monster is just not a standard fantasy equation, folks. Horses are a staple of fantasy, almost as much as swords are—but here, they’re set up to be so different from every other animal that the men are actually creeped out by them. They’re just not normal.
Did anyone besides me find the whole thing with the groom worthy of a big cheesy grin? “Let’s just say that anyone who wants can be a groom, all right?” The Great Book of Acceptable Male and Female Activities missed a few—such as the care and feeding of horses. (Now I wonder if Brandon is going to name one of the SA books Arts and Majesty. That’d be a hoot.) Aside from the obvious class-difference issue, there’s also a double-edged gender difference to this interchange. Jenet seems to waver between defensive and condescending, for some reason. She sounds like the standard gender restrictions are galling to her, but at the same time she forgets that a darkeyed men not only can’t read, he’s even less likely than a lighteyed man to have someone who can read to him. He doesn’t even know the source of the gender distinctions, much less the details. (I wanted to slap Kaladin for putting words in her mouth, though: “But I’m just an ignorant darkeyes?” Dude. Check the attitude, already.)
Okay, plot progression. There is some. Yes. Kaladin realizes the mistake he’s been making in trying to figure out who could have cut the railing, when it finally registers that a highstorm would have made a sabotaged railing really really obvious, so it has to have been done after the storm was over. (Took you long enough, dude!) Then he gets whacked with the information that Moash was out on the balcony during much of that critical time. I had to look it up to be sure, but at this point Kaladin is justified in dismissing any particular suspicion of Moash; up to this point, he’s observed that Moash hates lighteyes, and especially Sadeas, but there’s nothing unusual in that. Kaladin will have to figure that out later on, when he hears Moash’s backstory.
There’s just a smidge of set-up going on here, as Dalinar confirms that the bridgemen will start patrolling the lands to the west of the warcamps, and they’ll do so using horses part of the time. (Much to Jenet’s dismay.) This won’t become a big thing, but it will give Kaladin a chance to meet a certain Horneater princess.
Oh, and Kaladin finally realizes what a fool he was to turn down Zahel’s offer of training. The Kaladin we all know and love…
Actually, I guess this chapter really is about the Kaladin we know and love—doing crazy stunts just because they need to be done, whether for his own sake or someone else’s, taking the consequences, and then laughing about it when it’s all done. The Kaladin we know and want to smack is the one who shows up again at the end of the chapter, when the sight of Amaram sends him right back down into his pit of anger and bitterness.
Sprenspotting: Not too many spren show up here; just Syl as a small horse made of light, galloping past Kaladin in the air, and a bunch of painspren.
(Hey, someone who’s going to a signing—ask Brandon what painspren look like in the Cognitive realm. To humans in the Physical realm, they just look like little orange hands grabbing this way and that. I’ll bet they aren’t that comical in Shadesmar.)
All Creatures Shelled and Feathered: Bridgemen and horses make for an odd combination. Between Moash wanting to “just slap it over the head with a reed, like you do a chull?” to Natam being seriously bothered because his horse was warm rather than cool like a chull, and Kaladin in the middle worrying about the possibility that his horse might suddenly decide to take off running and he’d be unable to do anything about it… yeah, horses are definitely foreign territory for these guys.
Not that we needed it, but there are more indicators that Ryshadium are really not just horses. We still don’t know enough about them, but they’re definitely something special.
But my favorite part of this chapter will always be the horses stalking the grass, and the one fooling it into coming out of its holes to be eaten. I guess if you have smartgrass, you have to have the smarthorse to match, eh?
Ars Arcanum: Kaladin’s trick of gluing himself to the saddle with Stormlight cracked me up—but not as much as Dreamstorm finally calming down, then tossing him off as soon as the Stormlight wore off.
However, did anyone beside me find it curious that the Stormlight Kaladin was holding completely healed his head, but ran out before it finished healing his arm? Had I actually thought about it, I’d have assumed it would heal everything partway, rather than completely healing the more critical injury before starting on the lesser. Huh. I wonder if this will be Significant somewhere along the line.
Heraldic Symbolism: Chach and Jezrien generally symbolize courage & obedience, leadership & protection. Additionally, Chach’s role is that of Guard, while Jezrien’s is King. Normally, I associate Chach with Adolin if he shows up at all, but in this case I think it’s more likely Kaladin who is the brave and obedient one, as well as the guard on duty. It’s a toss-up whether Jezrien represents Dalinar or Kaladin.
Shipping Wars: I have a new ship for your sailing pleasure: Kaladin and Jenet!! Not that we get to see her again in this book, but I like her—and Kaladin does too, despite the fact that she’s rather rude to him. The fact that she throws rocks at Adolin when he tries to flirt with her probably doesn’t hurt any, on either count. (Also, her outfit would make a much more comfortable cosplay than many I’ve seen.)
Just Sayin’:
“I was with the guys who ran out there and found him flapping in the wind, like the Stormfather’s own ears.”
Natam, referring to the assassination attempt on Elhokar a few days ago. I… I think I’ll just let that stand on its own merits.
::gigglesnort::
Well, there wasn’t a lot to talk about, but I talked about it anyway. Next week, Carl will take us with Adolin into battle and beyond. For now, join us in the comments and let’s talk about it some more!
Alice Arneson is a long-time Tor.com commenter and has the privilege of being a Sanderson beta- and gamma-reader. She enjoys playing master-servant at book signings, creating themed crossword puzzles (mostly for signings), and hanging out with fantasy fans. It’s a good life.
A point in favor of Adolin possibly becoming a Radiant – we learned earlier that Ryshadium choose their riders, and in this chapter it’s brought out that no one really knows much about Ryshadium – other than the Radiants rode them.
Kaladin decides to further demonstrate his idiotic pride in this chapter, Syl continues to be charmingly amusing, Adolin continues to be somewhat annoying but in a likeable womanizing rogue sort of way, and Dalinar contines to play the straight man for the comedy around him. That’s my chapter summary.
MDNY @2 – Pretty much. Except that at least Kaladin bursts out laughing after the horse throws him, so that’s a point in his favor today. It doesn’t happen often; he takes himself too seriously, as a rule.
@1 If we’re arguing that anyone with a ryshidium is a potential radient, then Highprince Hatham would be a candidate…which could be interesting to say the least if two Alethi Highprinces develop magical abilities. I really want this to happen now.
I went to the Phoenix signing last night and had a great time. And I got some great questions answered. These are paraphrased.
Q: I said since Shallan has a unique ability of Memory from her blended surges, is fighting what Kaladin has?
A: No. His unique ability is “Strength of Squires”.
Q: And Jasnah?
A: RAFO
Q: Can Vasher use Stormlight to Awaken things?
A: No, all it does is keep him alive. But he has tried and has not figured out how to awaken things.
Another person asked about the plague in the Pure Lake. Turns out, that was a pathogen introduced by worldhoppers. People on Roshar normally have greater health than elsewhere in the Cosmere because they are more invested (stormlight and all that). This plague was what we call… the common cold.
This last one I got, was really interesting. I asked about predicting High Storms, because I was thinking of making a Stormwarden manual. I figured if Tolkien started with linguistics because he was a word nerd, then what is a math teacher supposed to do?
I asked if knowing the positions/orbits of the moons would be enough to predict the storms. He said not enough. You need the historical records of storms as well because there is a pattern. You need that pattern and the tides, to correctly predict the timing of the storms. He said it was more than a simple beat. I then turned back and asked, “Are you saying the High Storms are music?” He replied, “I didn’t say they were music. (emphasis on ‘say’). You said that.” I figured that was better than a denial or RAFO, so I let it drop.
I am strongly reminded of the Listeners and their rhythms.
Maybe some insight from Brandon on Painspren in the cognotive realm.
http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/08/stormlight-archive-scene-after-words-of-radiance
I really love it that our (or at least my) hero, Kaladin, is afraid of horses, and especially, because they are too intelligent.
If those are “normal” horses, they aren’t as intelligent as would be healthy for them: I seem to remeber that horses can be driven into a chasm (which are abundant on the Shattered Plains), while you could never force a mule to do that.
Seems Kaladin is right: too much intelligence isn’t necessarily a good thing in a war horse…
@Zen: interessting Tidbit about the plague. I’m relieved, that it’s just a common cold, especially since I don’t remember anything about it.
I have recently begun a serious phase of introspection and self development – and as a result have discovered that I have a mixture of 2 personality disorders-passive aggressive PD and Narcissistic PD. In looking back at this re read I wonder if the character exploration of Kaladin is meant to mirror a real life journey of self discovery highlighting his flaws – meaning that I definitely see a bit of myself in Kaladin and always have(his ability to see so clearly faults in others, a tendency to beat himself up at even the smallest of perceived or actual failures, his fragile ego and tendency to view things negatively). Thoughts?
I have gone through bouts of depression before, and his struggle always felt very real and relateable to me.
Adolin a Radiant? Is there a sect of Radiants whose duties were assassinations? I thought that once he killed that rat troll Sadeas that it removed any chance of being a Radiant, at least for the foreseeable future. I sought of like Adolin not beholden to any Spren’s values, and free to get dirty for the good guys.
I am betting Adolin will be a Dustbringer, and will certainly be willing to get his hands dirty doing what needs to be done, regardless of personal cost.
Mikey @10 – we don’t know yet whether Adolin will be a Radiant. However… while we can be reasonably sure he’s not on the path to being a Windrunner, there are other Orders who would think he’d done a fine thing. I get the feeling there are Orders (can anyone say “Dustbringer”?) who did plenty of “getting dirty for the good guys” – at least from a certain perspective. Remember the time Syl admonished Kaladin for thinking about “getting justice” by his own means, telling him essentially, “You’re not a Skybreaker, so this isn’t the right approach for you.” For that matter, a Windrunner might not have been “allowed” to lure some thugs into a dark alley for the purpose of killing them on the spot, but apparently an Elsecaller can do it without compunction.
Different Orders have different approaches and expectations; we can’t set our assumptions by what we’ve seen of Kaladin and Sylphrena, or even Shallan and Pattern.
Personally, I hope Adolin does become a Radiant, but I don’t know whether he will or not. Brandon might very well decide that he’s going to be the odd one out, with practically (or altogether?) everyone else in his family becoming Radiants, while he just has to struggle along as an ordinary Shardbearer. I want him to be either a Dustbringer or a Willshaper, but I’ll be content with whatever happens.
Carl – I was hoping for the whole scene with Dreamstorm because I literally laughed my ass off when I read it the first time, which is not something that I do normally… I might snort or hah! or something like that but really the whole scene had me laughing out loud for a while. I’ve re-read the book a few times but not reading it now so don’t have anything constructive to say, other than someone please post the whole scene so I can try not to laughoutloud at the office!
Oh, and I agree Ryshadiums (plural?) are more than horses… I don’t think they are from this world.
edited for spelling
@@.-@ – If you’re right, then what does that say about Adolin? He lost his Ryshadium, does that now mean another has to pick him before he can become a NR? So many questions!
I got the impression from Jenet’s reaction to Adolin that she might have been one of his numerous failed courtships.
@5 – Did he elaborate on what “Strength of Squires” is? Or that that something already described in the books and I’ve just missed it?
16. Nick31
No, there was no elaboration. I have heard mentions of squires outside the text, but only just mentions. We know almost zero about them. Perhaps this means we will see more of Bridge 4 as squires to Kaladin?
I really want to see people discuss the pattern of the high storms, and how that may be similar to Parshendi songs. Anyone?
For a while, I was wondering about a Jenet/Kaladin romance, but she has not shown back up yet.
@15 – I doubt a Jenet/Adolin romance is in the future unless she is a noble, which it does not sound like she is but I could be wrong.
@10 His actions there do rule out certain orders, neither the Windrunners nor the Skybreakers would take him after that. But others, such as the Dustbringers and the Willshapers would be perfectly okay with it (and may even laud him for it).
Edit: and I forgot to refresh the page before answering so missed people who already responded… Oops.
@12
Another interesting Radiant possibility for Adolin would be as a Skybreaker. I know we already have Szeth earmarked for their camp, and it would be more plausible if another yet unknown Radiant order had representation, but it would make for some really interesting developments.
The reason why he would be a good fit is a bit of a stretch, admittedly, but he does seem have a certain impulsiveness about him in setting things to rights, especially where Sadeas is concerned. At the end of WoR, you could say he meted out justice against Sadeas which was something that was well deserved — it’s just the means of accomplishing that were questionable. The raison d’etre of the Skybreakers always came across to me adminstering justice in the context of local laws, and while they are beholden to the laws for the judgment of the suspected criminal, they seem to be ABOVE the law when it comes to doling out the punishment. So, if Adolin strongly believed that Sadeas deserved to be punished, his cold-blooded murder doesn’t necessarily fly in the face of what the Skybreakers are all about. He also did have suspicions that Sadeas was a snake well before the betrayal on the Tower, which could be explained by his budding Skybreaker knack for “dividing the innocent from the guilty”. Again, all of this is a stretch, and I’m cherry-picking my examples, but it seems somewhat plausible.
Why it would be interesting? Well, think of all of the interesting character development that could occur with Adolin on this track and how many of his relationships would be complicated (to the benefit of the story). Kaladin and Adolin started off with a brief, comical rivalry of sorts before their bromance blossomed during the second half of WoR. What if Adolin was exiled from Urithiru and Alethi society for his actions, fell in with Nal and his group, had a reluctant comraderie with Szeth of all people, still pined for Shallan and desired reconciliation with his father from the other side of the fence, and had a classic Skybreaker/Windrunner rivalry with Kaladin on top of his utter jealousy over the romantic relationship that Kaladin and Shallan are bound to have? THAT would be friggin’ fun.
@20 – Wow that was well thought out! I don’t think I could ever have figured that out but until we get to read it from Brandon, it could be a possibility!
@20 Brandon has explicitly stated that the Skybreakers will not take Adolin, he broke the Law, motivation doesn’t factor into it.
@20 – I also don’t think that Adolin would enter into even a “reluctant comraderie” with Szeth. Szeth killed his uncle and attempted to kill his father. A really hard thing to get over.
@wetlander excellent point about Jasnah, completely forgot about that.
@22 Missed that particular Word of Brandon, so thanks for info.
@23 True, but there could have been other reasons to set aside or at least tamp down his hatred if he had a powerful enough motivation or reason to do so. Buuut either way, moot point if Brandon says Adolin can’t join the Skybreaker team. I was grasping at some straws in my speculatin’, but it would have been a pretty interesting development.
Those are some awesome question/answers. I’m going to be calculating number of days between the highstorms we know about from now til the end of the series I think. Very, very interesting. There’s been some speculation over in the black hole of 17th Shard that the magic focus on Roshar is related to music, I’m sure once someone there gets ahold of this, that theory’s going to take off again.
As per Adolin, I find it interesting that many of Brandon’s magic systems have a somewhat genetic component and the number of Kholins we have with spren bonds is getting interesting. We’re up to three confirmed, an argument can be made for Gavilar, who was also getting visions, arguments have been made for Elkohar and his seeing symbolheads in mirrors….compared to the rest of the population of Roshar, even with just the three confirmed ones, that’s mathemetically unlikely without something else going on.
I’m part of the camp that’s still holding out hope that Adolin’s going to be the one to figure out how to either cure or at the very least “release” all the dead spren shardblades. Even though I know there’s a WoB saying it’s incredibly difficult. I don’t care. I WANT IT!! But there certainly isn’t anything in the story saying he can’t be a Radiant, although certainly Syl would not approve. “Not all spren are as discerning as honorspren”
I can get on the Kal/Janet ship, because I don’t see Brandon doing my Kal/Shal/Adolin threesome ship hahaha. And I like Janet and Kal needs someone capable of smacking him upside the head. Still curious about Tarah though, although she may be dead.
For a set of books that are supposed to be stand alone, we are getting an AWFUL lot of worldhopping influnce already, only two books in. I was really surprised to find out that the Purelake plague was caused by worldhoppers for only that reason. Awesome parallel to our own history though.
Horses are so out of sync with the rest of Roshar. The more and more we read about “normal” earth things that exist there, the more certain I am (And I’m already pretty certain) that the humans on Roshar came from off-planet. Poor Parshendi. Ryshadium are still a perplexing puzzle. None of Dalinar’s visions have them, and many of the orders certainly don’t need them to get around more quickly. I feel like I’m missing a major piece involving them. Perhaps, as has been suggested elsewhere, they have their own spren bond. I think I’d prefer it if they wound up having a spiritual link instead. Then each knight would have a spren link to the cognitive and a horse link to the spiritual and I have no idea where plate fits into that, because we’re still missing how that’s formed and where the idea for it came from. Still too many questions and not enoug answers!!
I think it’s interesting that Brandon said “strength” of squires, not number. I wonder if that means Kaladin’s squires (Bridge 4 and possibly other bridgeman) will have stronger-than-usual powers due to their exceptionally strong bond with Kaladin himself. We’ve already seen Lopen do some pretty impressive stuff ;) There’s only one mention of squires in the text, and that’s that 16 Windrunners brought a large number of them when the Skybreakers were separating innocent from guilty…so we know they existed, but nothing else. (from WoR chapt 16 epigraph)
All in all, a greatly entertaining chapter and YAY NEW INFO
I love this chapter! I believe this is when I started liking Adolin. I
do not know why, but there is something about him that is just
endearing. He may be spoiled and arrogant at times, he is so down to
earth and sympathetical, I just cannot help rooting for him. They way hechallenged the insufferable know-it-all that is Kaladin was priceless. Kaladin’s response was just as priceless. Two roosters fighting to be the alpha male. I also loved the end game where Adolin is forced to thank Kaladin for not telling his father of his childish behavior. These two are cracking me up.
@12 Count me in with those wishing for Adolin to become a Radiant. Whereas the story of him being a regular man within a Radiant family would provide opportunity for interesting angst, I feel it would rapidly grow tiresome. There is also the fact I simply wish to see Adolin take a larger role within the story. Within a sea of rather introspective characters prone to inner thoughts and reluctant to share their conclusions, Adolin’s brutal honesty, his genuine out-going personality as well as his external emotional display often feel like a breath of fresh air. I am seriously distressed upon thinking he may be shrinked to the position of a minor character in order to make room for one of the 10 major KR viewpoints, especially since those announced so far tend to be on the introspection part of the spectrum.
He would also make a terrific Dustbringer, bringing havoc on the battle field.
I also saw your answer to my previous concern over Tien in the previous thread. I wanted to clarify my thoughts. My assumption Tien should have been able to heal himself sprouted from the Jasnah’s chapter where she states the only lethal wound for a Radiant was a head wound. I thus concluded Tien’s injury could have been healed. However, I do agree a killing blow is a killing blow and once one is dead, there is little opportunity to heal oneself…
As for Pattern’s ignorance over a second Cryptic, I guess it could go both ways. Either Pattern has not been given proper information or it is, upon seeing the near disaster with Shallan, the Cryptics decided to send another representative.
There is also a recent where WoB where Brandon stated we have seen more than one character for a few orders. Peter also specified there is a minor named character who will become a non-major KR character. Therefore, for those of us who thought there would only be 10 KR for a while, we have been proven wrong. It seems we may be getting multiple KR per order as soon as next book. Forgive me for not being able to paste it here. I read this yesterday.
@26
“Not all sprens are as discerning as Honorsprens”
Hopefully. If it were the case, the war would be lost in adavance. Sometimes, just sometimes, you need to step outside the thin line between morality and immorality to do what needs to be done.
Kaladin literally has his hands tied down. He is strong enough to protect in the advent of a direct thread, but he does not have the power to get his hands dirty to fix the wrongs. I am hoping to see Adolin take up this role.
The “Adolin revives his Blade” has to be one of the most endearing theory. It is also widely popular which makes me fear Brandon will not use it.
I recalled reading something earlier today about the Rhysadium… Apparently they were not exclusivetly reserved to the Radiants… They were something else.
Alice–
Perhaps it’s because the term “bridgeboy” is demeaning regardless of the recipient, while “princeling” might be an acceptable description in certain situations (not Adolin’s). I thought Gaz’ use of “marbles” was a strong racial epithet; and, therefore, rather offensive, but no one else commented when it came up.
Enjoyed this chapter, nothing else to bring up right now.
I think it is good odds that Adolin will be a KR partially because it seems to be genetically based. Think about it, in Mistborn it’s all about your genes. We’ve got Jasnah, Elokar (he’s seeing spren possibly cryptics in the mirror), Dalinar, and Renarin, and I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Gavilar was on the path. I’d give it 95% odds that Nethani (sorry if I spell names wrong, I listen to the audiobooks) is going to be some sort of crafting/fabrial KR. I know Brandon said he wanted a character that was a crafter/creator like the ones in the Wheel of Time but I don’t know if he said they’d be KR per se but would expect it. So… I think Adolin definitely has the potential. (I also see someone else made these connections too, I opened this screen a few hours ago so my comment is a bit old) And as has been pointed out the different orders have different approaches to things. We’ve got Darkness/Nal going around killing people in cold blood and we’d have to assume he is above reproach when it comes to deciding if something is right or wrong.
And besides Sadeas is the exact opposite of “life before death”. If anyone needed justifiable killed by a Knight it was him.
Shippings Wars: Adolin had definitely had some sort of fling or interest with Jenet before. Not everyone he’s chased has to have been a high ranking noble. Nor did their relationship have to have been one with potential for marriage. He probably made out with her in the stables or something like that. But I LOVE the little touch that when a projectile comes at him he automatically blocks where he would be vulnerable while wearing plate: his eyes. I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t react like that to being startled by loud noises, it’s a crucial survival skill for a shard wearer.
I’d say Jenet has much higher odds of falling in love with Moash considering his interest in horses. People forget about the side characters sometimes but remember that Breeze and Spook both found love in Mistborn.
On a side note the one thing I want to see happen is Rock and Jasnah fall in love. I’ve been planning for years to get WoR signed by Brandon with the inscription “To Joe, who hopes that Jasnah and Rock will fall in love” because I just feel so strongly that they would be perfect together. Jasnah needs some polynesi… err.. I mean Horneater cheerfullness in her life to balance out her seriousness and it just feels right. I was super depressed when it looked like Jasnah died before that could happen but am happy and optimistic about it now :D
@30 On the very very side note, I somehow seriously doubt Adolin ever made out with anyone.
Not much of substance to add. Count me in with those who hope we see more of Jenet in the rest of the series. That said I hope she and Kaladin do not become an item. This is not because I think it would be a good match for both of them, but I still hold out hope that Kaladin will end up with Laral. If Kaladin is able to make it Hearthstone, I hope he will meet up with Laral. I would love to see her reaction when she finds out that he not only has a Shardblade, but is in fact a Knight Radiant.
I would love to see the sight of Syl as a horse made of light galloping past Kaladin on the screen. That would be very funny.
Thanks for reading my musings,
AndrewB
(aka the musespren)
@28: The “Adolin revives his Blade” has to be one of the most endearing theory. It is also widely popular which makes me fear Brandon will not use it.
I have word of Brandon that it’s possible for the spren of a (dead) shardblade to be revived in theory, but that it would require the knight which betrayed that spren to still be alive. This mostly rules out the possibility of Adolin reviving his blade, unfortunately.
32. AndrewHB
Not Laral… anyone but Laral.
Zen @34 – I find myself in complete agreement. :) I’d like to see her reaction when she finds out that Kaladin is a Windrunner, that’s about it.
I simply cannot ship Kaladin & Laral. I don’t know that Kaladin & Jenet is very likely – in fact, I doubt it – but I think she’d be a far better match for Kaladin than… pretty much anyone else we’ve met, actually. (Not that Kaladin needs a love interest, of course; he’s got plenty to keep him busy at the moment.)
I agree….anyone but Laral. She never accepted Kal for who he was and didn’t seem to consider him worth anything unless he became a lighteyes by winning a shardblade. Granted, probably partially a result of her upbringing, but still, not an endearing quality for me. And it’s entirely possible she’ll get some more screen time that may change my opinion. And Moash/Janet….aren’t in the same place at all anymore.
I think the reason the Adolin-revives-blade theory is so prevalent is Brandon’s own fault. I’m pretty sure Adolin’s interactions with his blade were meant to be hints that the blades were, or at least had the potential to be, living, but it’s pretty poignant and left a lot of us wishing Adolin would “figure it out” because he was far closer to the truth than anyone else we’ve seen carrying a shardblade before Syl/Pattern. I mean, he has conversations with it! But I agree, it’s highly unlikely. I refuse to give up hope though. I mean, something is going to have to happen with all these dead blades we have running around as we get more and more legit KR. Nobody who’s a legit KR can use one, and I can’t see many of the spren being happy about them, so what are they going to do with them? Keep fobbing them off on random people who aren’t KR? I don’t like that idea, I have the feeling that something else is going to happen, although what exactly, I’m not yet sure. But I can’t see Dalinar and co wanting to send people into battle with blades that can be picked up by the enemy when their owner dies (This shouldn’t happen with legit KR, as long as they don’t break their oaths.) Just seems like poor tactics to me, now that they understand what’s truly going on.
The Rock/Jasnah ship is real random. I like it.
I wish I knew exactly what a squire is. They might be able to use and bond the blades.
Maybe.
@33 Actually, Brandon did not explicitly say it was impossible: he said it would be extremely hard. I believe it is Pattern who stated you would need the original knight to reform the bond. This very specific WoB has left enough opening for fans to keep on dreaming the “Adolin revived his shardblade” theory may come true. Also, a recent WoB explained the dead spren still retain some conscience. It is therefore not so far-fetched to think Adolin’s blade may be hearing him talking and may try to attach itself to him. Maybe. Adolin’s behavior with his blade is remiscient to Kaladin/Shallan’s behavior with their sprens, with the exception he cannot hear it respond. @35: Not Laral either…. I would personally be interested in meeting Tarah. He seemed to care about her. Could she be the minor named character soon to become a minor KR viewpoint? @36: I do not see why Dalinar would banned people from using the dead blades…. The army needs shardbearers. There are not enough KR to replace them all and most of them are not warriors. The sprens may not like it, but they sure do need the fire power. The enemy has always been able to pick the blade from the dead soldiers. No change here. I am more worried about Adolin’s reaction upon learning the truth. This may be a chunk of information he’ll have a hard time to process. Imagine how poignant his conversations will be once he finds out his blade is a dead suffering spren!
If Brandon is planning on having Adolin revive a blade, he was planning it before we started squeeing about the possibility, so I don’t think our potential glee affects whether or not it will happen. He could be planning on causing crushing disappointment instead.
Bridgeboy sounds a lot more domineering to me than princeling, especially since Kal has no status to back up his epithet. And bridgeboy sounds more suitable to S&M, so there’s that.
Wow. I am in the minority. It seems that I am the only one who likes Laral. I saw her hope that Kaladin would win a Sharblade as the only way that society would allow her and Kaladin to be a viable couple. Later in WoK, she seemed embarrassed when Rillir hastles Kaladin. I still have high hopes for her. If Kaladin makes it back to Hearthstone, I think Laral will surprise most of her haters.
Thanks for reading my musings,
AndrewB
(aka the musespren)
I have no antipathy towards Laral and hope that she has survived the initial Everstorm and its transformations. She is a victim of the expectations of her culture, rather than a bad actor. I can’t imagine that she has been happy being married to the much older and misanthropic Roshone, who was only interested in her inheritance. On the other hand, I don’t see that she has anything in common with Kaladin other than shared childhood experiences and memories. If she has not become embittered by her experiences, I would rather match her up with Adolin than Kaladin. I do see a Kaladin-Shallan match up far more than other suggested pairings. They are both highly intelligent, responsible leaders who have surmounted great obstacles. Shallan’s irrepressible optimism would be marvelous therapy for Kaladin’s moodiness. They also have developed an incipient and smoldering fascination, if not passion, for each other which has more than replaced their initial antipathy and sniping. However, I would not presume to predict how BWS will develop the saga and personalities.
Just to emphasize the point, at the previous signing (the one for Words of Radiance), I also asked this question about reviving the dead shardblades. Brandon really emphasized how difficult it would be, cosmere-wise. He compared it to connecting a USB drive after the port has been ripped out. It is still possible, but it would take a lot more than most of us have at our disposal. He did not, however, rule it out.
@38 “The enemy has always been able to pick the blade from the dead soldiers. No change here.” – A bit nitpicky perhaps, but I would like to make what I consider a crucial distinction here. Yes, “the enemy” has been able to pick up shardblades since the Recreance which happened after the last desolation. Therefore, during the time we’ve had dead shardblades that can be picked up by anyone, the only “enemy” has been other humans. Not the case anymore, nor what they were designed to fight. Live shardblades do not do this when their owners die, so during past desolations, this wouldn’t have been an issue.
I will readily admit that I highly doubt that my Adolin wish will come true, for a number of reasons, and yes, I’ve seen that USB metaphor WOB *sad face* However, my personal opinion is that is seems very silly to allow the opportunity for Voidbringers in whatever form to be able to kill someone and then pick up a shardblade on the battlefield. Granted, based off what we’ve seen in the visions, I doubt any of the Voidbringers NEED them to be super destructive, but I still can’t see that possibility being a good thing. I would settle for Adolin (or anyone really, but I want it to be him) figuring out how to at least “release” the dead spren from their sword form.
Also, I am entertained that the horse chapter ended up turning into a shipping conversation ;) I wonder if Ryshadium can/will interbreed with regular horses, or if they are regular horses that gain investiture somehow, or if they are their own species……
@43: I somehow do not think it is possible to universaly “release” all of the dead blades… I understood the process to release just one would be tedious and difficult, most likely requiring a compatible wielder. In this optics, a massive revival of al the dead spren appears implausible, though it is not exlcuded there may be a way. I have always figured if Adolin manages to revive his own blade, it would be due to his own personality and the fact he has been investing himself into this bond for years.
I am unsure what we befall the dead blades, but I doubt we will see shardbearers being deprived of their weapons in the next book… You cannot just force a shardbearer to unbond its blade. If Dalinar were to pass this decree, people would think it mad and not rampaged. Perhaps once KR starts being more numerous, but so far they are four. We have had indications of another minor one surfacing in the next book…. Szeth and Eshonai will most likely make their row grow. However, I would be surprised to see more than 10 KR by the end of next book.
Rhysadium… Would it be sweet if Sureblood had had time to reproduce before dying?
While our actual Knights Radiant can’t use dead shards, that doesn’t keep anyone else using or bonding them, does it? Not all of Dalinar’s army will becomes Knights, I would expect.
FWIW, I just dumped the second hour’s worth of transcription from the Firefight signing table at the end (comment #118) of Chapter 23’s thread, where the other two are. One more hour to go…
Could Dalinar use his bondsmith powers to unbond shardbearers from their dead blades?
@47
I like that idea. Perhaps he can do something about releasing the dead spren too.
That sounds like he would need the Division Surge.
@49 Which brings us back to Adolin becoming a Releaser ;)
No, I don’t think there’s anything to keep non-Radiants from bonding the dead blades. I just don’t see it as a wise military move, but that’s my own personal opinion, and we all know however Brandon writes it will make perfect sense in retrospect and be way better than anything I can imagine anyway. I’m not sure Dalinar or anyone else could just “break all the bonds” but the Kholins already have a fair contingent of blades, and an awful lot of people are going to be dying during this desolation, so I think it’s safe to say there’s going to be an awful lot of unbonded blades at various points in time.
As to the “lack of radiants” someone pointed out, I personally think that while we are only going to get close-up, personal viewpoints of a few, that there are going to be many in the days to come. Refounding the orders to only have one member or two members each doesn’t make much sense to me. The Stormfather will no longer be holding back the honorspren. Pattern was sent as a sort of test subject, now that Shallan is progressing, I’d think they may send more. If it comes down to being corrupted by Unmade or odiumspren or whatever happens to spren in the cognitive realm during a desolation that they’re all so scared of, or bonding with humans and risking death that way, I’m willing to bet a fair number are going to take the latter choice. I don’t think we’ll see the personal stories of them all, but I think there’s going to be quite a few. Dalinar doesn’t need to be a bondsmith and have all these magical leadership powers to “gather” the four we know about at the moment, he could probably talk them into it personally. I think he’s going to be gathering more than many people think. But once again, pure speculation. Which is of course, all the fun.
Well, here’s another advantage to the hours I’ve
wastedspent on the 17th Shard lately. Peter said something recently about one minor character we’ve met already who will become a KR. Make of that what you will.@51: I saw it too. I believe I posted something recently on that matter. Nobody had caught on it though.
My personal guess: Mysterious Tarah as a Stoneward
Sebarial seems unique. Perhaps he has some kind of trait a particular type of spren like….
Which Order is supposed to be resourceful?
That would be the
Willshapers.ETA: Oops. Wrong. “Resourceful” is the Stonewards.
But now I’ve got a case of the giggles. Along with being resourceful, Sebarial is a builder – and talk about “capricious, frustrating, unreliable”… Heh. I can totally see Sebarial as a Willshaper.
Isn’t Sebarial supposed to dead after he and Palona decided to wait out the Clash of the Storms(*giggles* that has a nice ring to it) on the plains?
17th Shard is a timesink, no doubt……
Sebarial would be an entertaining Radiant. That thought actually gives me the giggles too, just imagining the rest of Alethi reacting to it. I always figured Eshonai for a willshaper, since there’s so much emphasis on how she was the super-adventurous Parshendi before she got stuck being their last shardbearer.
Xaladin @49
Hmmm. Could be. Wish we knew more about the Division surge. And Dustbringers/Releasers.
Yep, 17th Shard = black hole.
Sebrarial would indeed make an interesting non major KR POV.
I have also though of Kadash the warrior ardent… He seemed to know more than your average ardent on Radiants and was more willing to speak about them, even if contrived.
Twenty @55 – No, I think they made it to Urithiru okay. At least, there’s a bit in Ch. 87 about word coming in from Highprince Sebarial, and that’s after the storm.
@46 – Thank you for posting that!! Although the answers Brandon gives always leave me with more questions than I started with. #CosmereProblems
If Brandon was not planning it, we ought to beg him for it. Sebrarial would be a hilarious KR.
I can just imagine him saying the first oath. “Life before death, because obviously, if I wanted to be dead, I’d have marched out and let a chasmfiend eat me. Strength before weakness, because nobody likes a weak twit. Journey before destination, because the longer the journey the more time I have to annoy the crap out of everyone.” Or something equally irreverent. Let the begging commence!
And finally, the third and final hour of the signing table Q&A is available back on the Chapter 23 thread, comment #122.
::heaves great sigh of relief::
I agree that Sebarial would make for an interesting and entertaining KR. However, his entreprenurial talents and interests don’t fit well, in my mind, with Radianthood. On the other hand, his mistress, Paloma, may be such a candidate (or a world-hopper). Consider, that she immediately warms to this strange, self-invited girl, Shallan, and gives her luxurious accomodations. More importantly, in an incipient highstorm and worse, she is occupied with reading a book seemingly untroubled by the lack of adequate shelter. Her, apparent, unconcern could be viewed as an intuition as to what is to happen, i.e., the Urithiru refuge, rather than a general fatalistic attitude.
Not all the Radiants worked on the battlefield. Keeping people and civilization alive can be just as important as swords on a battlefield.
I’m hoping to get back to this discussion soon, but in the meantime:
If anyone going to a signing gets a chance to ask Brandon about this, I’d love any info!
“Preservation and Ruin both manifested in multiple ways – solid, liquid, and mist, for instance. Do Honor, Cultivation, and Odium likewise manifest in multiple ways? What can you tell us about those manifestations besides highstorms being similar to the mists?”
Here’s my thought process – not at all unique to me, and based on lots of what I’ve read on the 17th Shard and on Theoryland’s interview database.
One manifestation of Ruin and Preservation is in solid form – the godmetals atium and lerasium. Ruin’s body (his power/energy in the form of solid matter) was atium. Preservation’s was lerasium (the beads of metal found in the Well of Ascension, which turned Elend and the Lord Ruler and co. into full Mistborns).
But Preservation also manifested in the form of the Well of Ascension – which looked like liquid. In previous interviews, Brandon’s said that Ruin also had a similar pool/pools – the Pits of Hathsin, I think, although I also think Alendi mentions seeing a dark metallic lake in his log. Anyway, a second manifestation – liquid/y. This has also been linked to the pool in Elantris. And these pools have also been linked to a Shard’s Cognitive Aspect – a way to access the Cognitive Realm/Shadesmar.
Which, in theory, means that Shards (like Ruin and Preservation) have a Physical manifestation (in their case, as the godmetals – I assume Shards on other worlds would have a Physical manifestation that wasn’t necessarily metallic) and a Cognitive manifestation.
But Preservation and Ruin also both manifested as ‘mist spirits’ – and Preservation, at least, covered the world with mist. A third, gaseous manifestation of the Shard, and I presume tied to the Spiritual Realm in the same way lerasium is Physical and the Well is Cognitive.
I’d love to have some confirmation if this understanding is right, and if so, if all Shards have similar solid/liquid/gas manifestations.
I know there was an interview where (I think in response to Alice?) Brandon said highstorms were similar to the mists. Maybe Honor’s equivalent of Preservation’s mist?
And there’s the strange pool in the Horneater Peaks that Rock mentions – the one where a mysterious white-haired stranger (Hoid/Wit!) suddenly appears from nowhere (worldhopping!). I’m assuming that’s a Pool like the Well of Ascension or the pool in Elantris. And probably linked to Cultivation or Honor.
@66 Part of that has been answered already. I don’t remember where I saw it exactly, likely on 17th shard, but BWS has already stated that each Shard has manifestations in the physical, cognitive, and spiritual realm. As you said, Ruin presented in the Atium, in the shadowy figure who escaped the Well of Ascension. Preservation had the mists, and the mist figure. And of course, each also had a mortal whose body died when they were killed. On Nalthis, the tears of Egli are part of Endowment’s power, just as on Sel both Aona and Dominion still exist, despite being splintered by Odium, so the AonDor still exists producing Elantrians.
There have also been examples of what are termed “shardpools”, e.g. the well of ascension (Preservation), the Pits of Hathsin (Ruin), the lake near Elantris (Endowment)… It is theorized that the Horneater lake is another Shardpool, though it also appears to also be a point that worldhoppers can access, if we think Rock saw Wit emerge.
There’s a WoB in which Brandon said the horneater lake and the elantris pool are “the same thing.” I’m pretty sure it’s on Theoryland. A separate one strongly implies that it’s Honor’s pool, so cultivation’s is still missing, and I’m assuming (hoping?) that if Odium has one, it should be on Braize (and that’s my theory as to how the heralds are getting back and forth and why Taln was wet when he showed up.)
(sidenote, pits of Hathsin weren’t a pool, but the parallel to the lerasium beads near the well of ascension…lots of speculation that the “black lake” in the diary of the guy Rashek killed was Ruin’s shardpool though.)
Syl tells Kal that the Honorblades are “pieces of honor” so that could be an argument for the physical representation of honor, and I think the heralds must have some type of plate (of Cultivation perhaps? Or we’ve just never seen even an inkling of her manifestation yet?), even though we’ve never seen it, because otherwise where else would the radiants have gotten the idea for it from? We know the people in the visions are incredibly primitive and if spren are forming the blades by “copying” honorblades, I think it stands to reason that shardplate must be “copying” something as well. No proof for this whatsoever though.
Same issue with the gaseous manifestation. It’s pretty widely assumed that stormlight is that for honor, at least, but whether it’s a combination of honor/preservation essence, or solely honor isn’t completely clear. And therefore we have no idea what cultivation’s manifestation in this form might be. But she seems to hold sway in western roshar, so perhaps as we get more viewpoints from that area, we’ll know more. It seems like the highstorms die out to a large extent before they hit Shinovar at least, so it seems reasonable that there might be a separate investiture of Cultivation at work there.
Welandernw, while both terms are deprecatory, ‘bridgeboy’ is worse than ‘pinceling’. Adolin is a kind of prince even if the ‘-ling’ suffix tends to demean. However, Kaladin is not a boy and has moved on from being a lowly bridge-carrier. The term is demeaning as used by Adolin. Shallan still uses the term much later when she knows that Kaladin is a Radiant, presumably out of habit. Either that or some Cosmeric significance is intended as in ‘bridging the physical and cognitive realms’. The chapters in the WOR reread that are focussed on Kaladin whet my apetite for more material. Given that the next book is due next year – at earliest, why can’t we have the rest of the draft chapter 1 dealing with Kaladin arriving in his hometown after the Everstorm has passed? What has been issued to date is just a tease.
69. STBLST
I am not convinced Adolin always means it in a deprecatory way. Sometimes, it is just a knickname. It is gradually transitioning to a knickname. I can imagine in book 3 or later, Adolin exiled, unwashed and starving and meeting Kaladin (now a full Knight Radiant) and still referring to him as ‘Bridgeboy’.
Didn’t we have the rest of Chapter 1? I thought I read that.
@69 & 70 – Given how much of the third book isn’t written yet, I wouldn’t count on either of the chapters we’ve seen (Jasnah or Kaladin) to be included in the book, or at least not without significant changes. They might be, but then again, they might not.
Brandon recently answered an interesting question on Twitter.
Q: Were the Alethi made by some creator-figure and given the Thrill deliberately?
A: Roshar was inhabited before Honor and Cultivation arrived. The Thrill did not exist then.
Q: So it is a response to the power of one or both of them?
A: I didn’t say that…
Well, there’s a sidestep if ever I saw one.
@72 That’s an interesting comment, but I think the follow-up question missed the mark. Isn’t the thrill generally thought to be of Odium? That’s how I read it, anyway.
Isn’t the Thrill caused by one of the Odium superspren Taravangian talks about?
Well, there’s a strong suggestion that something with a name is responsible for the Thrill (or at least Taravangian is sure of that) – but we don’t know enough yet to be 100% sure they are Odium superspren. It’s a fairly reasonable assumption, but not a proven point.
@75 and 76 – Taravangian (in I-14) attributes the Thrill to an ancient, evil spren named Nergaoul who, it appears, must be somewhere near Alethkar and Vedenar, where the Thrill is strong. If anything, stronger in Vedenar than Alethkar, which might mean Nergaoul is closer there.
As Wetlander says, it’s not 100% proven that it’s an Odium superspren, as there could be other evil spren. But it’s certainly a reasonable assumption which I share. (I suppose one counter-argument might be that the Alethi feel the Thrill while killing Parshendi, who don’t seem to feel the Thrill.) (And I suppose a counter to the counter-argument could be that it’s all part of making the Parshendi desperate enough to risk Stormform.)
While I’m on it, the other spren Taravangian mentions is Moelach, who is responsible for the death rattle/prophecies. Which are fading away, as apparently something out west is attracting Moelach away from them…
Prophecies, we’re told, are not of Honor. So presumably Moelach is connected to Odium…or to Cultivation, who we also think holds more sway in the western part of Roshar…
Hi everyone – new poster here. First, can I just say how freakin AWESOME it is to meet a group of people who love this stuff as much as I do? For so many books, over so many years, I’ve had to digest them on my own… :(
Anyway, this may have been proposed by someone else at some point, but what about the Purelake as Cultivation’s pool? It’s strangely warm, strangely shallow, strangely clear, strangely round, and even (IIRC) contains strange fish that may or may not confer strange abilities/mental state to their eaters. I’m at work so forgive me for not being able to look up what Ishikk actually says during his Interlude.
Really, really enjoying finally having a ‘family’ of fantasy book lovers.
@79
Welcome :) I have seen a couple of theories about the shardpool being the Purelake. We’re just not sure. It’s possible. One knock against it is that it appears to be much larger than any other shardpool we’ve had contact with, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. People living in it is also a marked difference from other pools we’ve seen – normally they have some revered significance, whereas the Purelakers seem to just take it as part of life. But it’s not impossible. It’s also been suggested that the shardpool is in the center of the Purelake. The fish have been confirmed to have special properties, so that’s a point in favor for sure.
You should also check out 17th Shard, if you really like Sanderson’s work.
aaina @79 – Let me add my welcome to the Storm Cellar! Good to have you here. Join on in; it really is a big family. I know what you mean – I was a total loner on the Wheel of Time until I discovered the reread here on tordotcom. Now I have a whole new circle of friends, all over the world! I’m glad you found us.
What I can’t figure out about the Purelake, is how anyone survives a Highstorm? You should have massive waves, from the winds. And there is no where to hide, like behind a hill or in a stone building.
Zen – don’t forget that by the time a highstorm reaches the Purelake, it’s not nearly as fierce as when it first hits the east coast. Also, the water recedes into holes when a highstorm hits (sorta like the flora!), so the residents just find an appropriate ridge (which would normally be underwater) to shelter behind, and just wait it out.
@83:
What? The Purelake water disappears for the time of the highstorm? I know it’s mostly only knee-deep, but my RL-mind balks at such an image (and a logical explanation for it).
Where do “we” know this from?
Or did you just made that up, to see if you can get away with it :)
travyl @84 – Moi? Would I do that? I’m hurt. Deeply hurt.
Well, okay. I totally would do that. :) But in this case I didn’t.
I’m still trying to figure out how that works, too – but if anything, it argues for serious involvement by Cultivation, I would think. And possibly the Purelake being, or disguising, her Shardpool.
I totally forgot that, likely intentionally.
Maybe stom causes a pressure-difference which moves the water. …
Or it’s divine intervention, as you proposed. Thanks.
@72 That’s a very interesting quote. Though of course Brandon doesn’t say it was previously inhabited by humans. We know the listeners lived on Roshar before humans arrived. So humans could have arrived at the same time as Honor and Cultivation.
I also believe that the Thrill is pretty obviously derived from Odium and one of his Unmade, and since Odium arrived after Honor and Cultivation the listeners who lived on Roshar before H and C arrived would not have experienced the Thrill.
Re- the Purelake receding during a highstorm. I thought that Kaladin had also seen this when he “flew” over the land with the Stormfather in his vision in TWoK. I went back to look at it and it turns out I was wrong but I did find this:
Maybe it’s related? I’m guessing wherever that is is too far away to be related to the Purelake but I thought I’d throw it out there.
Btw, I’ve been slacking here for a few weeks so I didnt see all the rest of the transcriptions from last week until now. Great work Wetlandernw. You do us a great service! Now moving on to more current chapters…
Totally add me to the Kaladin/Jenet ship. I latched onto that idea within a couple paragraphs of when they started interacting — before she even started throwing rocks or Kaladin admitted (to himself) that he likes her.
A lighteyes being able to win points with Kaladin at this stage of his progression is pretty incredible. And she takes his flak pretty well, and then gets to see him in a rare moment of not taking himself seriously.
Sadly, my hunch is that we won’t see much more of Jenet, that she’ll never be more than a minor character. Sigh. So I’ll have to go back to having mixed feelings about Kaladin/Shallan, or hoping that Tarah comes back into the narrative.
LOL @@@@@ Sebarial as a Willshaper. He does fit the description …