Welcome, Sanderfans and Cosmere Chickens, to another Wind and Truth read-along discussion. Last week we covered Chapters 14 and 15, and kicked off Day Two with numerous POVs right off the bat. It’s almost Sanderlanche-y. (Yes, that is a word that I just made up.) But things in Roshar are really ramping up, with enemy troops heading to coalition centers of power. Today, we dive into three new chapters—16, 17, and 18—to find out what Dalinar is going to do about it.
Note that this post will possibly contain full Cosmere spoilers, so beware if you aren’t caught up on all Cosmere content. And please remember, when posting or commenting about these preview chapters on social media, to follow your platform’s spoiler rules. Pattern says, “Mating is now okay for Shallan and Adolin, but no spoilers!” Your comments here, however, don’t need to be spoiler-tagged, so feel free to comment as you will down below!
Onward to this week’s commentary!
Paige’s Summary and Commentary
Chapter 16 is titled “Vague Promises and Hints” and the epigraph picks up again with Nohadon talking about the family he encountered on his travels. Lyndsey will have more on the epigraphs for all three chapters below. These epigraphs seem so disconnected from what’s happening in the story, after having the previous Day One epigraphs about Kaladin and Szeth’s quest(s) in Shinovar. I felt like we were getting more information from those than we are from these Day Two epigraphs. But that’s just me wanting more of the in-world book Knights of Wind and Truth! What do you think, Sanderfans?
We find Shallan laying in the shower, basking in the afterglow. Rawr. As Adolin heads to the meeting with Dalinar, she’s greeted by a group of excited creationspren… and Pattern, who basically assures her that mating is allowed now. With Pattern watching, she looks for Testament, who apparently doesn’t manifest in the Physical Realm as Pattern does, despite the fact that they’re somehow still bonded. She vows to fix it, though I can’t imagine how she might do so.
Once dressed, Shallan goes to the balcony where she finds Gaz and Red disguised as planters. They’d been standing guarding and watching in case anyone attacked from that direction, but they had seen nothing. Next, Stargyle and Darcira enter from the hall (where they’d also been disguised), and hadn’t seen anything suspicious, either.
Gaz reports that Wit sent word that Shallan’s brothers are safe but that he won’t disclose their location. Shallan says she trusts Wit. Do you think she should, Sanderfans? I mean, sure, Wit has helped her through some tough times, but he also told Dalinar he’d watch the world burn to attain his goals.
They have drawings from Wit of a dozen Ghostbloods, including two more offworlders with masks like Iyatil wears. Shallan again wonders if she’ll end up killing all of her mentors. I think she needs to choose better mentors.
Radiant and Shallan both discuss forming a strike team and trying to find out why the Ghostbloods want to find Mishram’s prison. Shallan seems quite proud that she knows where it is and the Ghostbloods don’t. Oh, my sweet summer child. She’s too confident, and is grossly underestimating Mraize.
There’s also a fun bit from Gaz where he claims that Kaladin acts so heroic just in order to annoy him and he gets made fun of by Red. After Shallan confirms that she now has armor, they talk about about how Kaladin was able to send his armor to other people after he leveled up. Red asks if he can wear Shallan’s armor and she agrees to test it—the creationspren seem reluctant, but then they successfully encase Red in armor… only he can’t move. The creationspren are embarrassed that they can’t do it right and Shallan reassures them that it’s okay, they are new to this. I found this scene rather endearing. It was a nice bit of writing to show us that the Unseen Court hasn’t been forgotten by its founder.
At this point, they all agree that yes, they’re going to take on the Ghostbloods and Shallan says that they need to start by finding their base. Urithiru is absolutely huge… good luck with that!
Next, we see Dalinar, demanding to know what Cultivation is doing at the tower. Watch your tone, son! He asks if she’s there to help and wants to know whether she can tell him how to defeat Odium; she basically responds by telling him to just figure it out.
THEN she reveals that Honor’s shard is still out there somewhere, waiting for someone to take it up. Dalinar is shocked, wondering if she’s advising him to seek it out and take the power. She’s very cryptic and tells him to seek the Spiritual Realm.
“You have the ability to get there, perhaps even the ability to return. There you will receive the final truths of the Heralds, the Radiants, and Honor himself. Go and seek it, Dalinar Kholin, if you would finish this journey.”
So what do you think, Sanderfans? Could Dalinar take up Honor and face Odium, god to god? After Cultivation disappears with a little pop of lifespren, leaving everybody shocked and a little freaked out, Dalinar catches a ride to the top of the tower. On the way, he talks to the Stormfather about what happened. The Stormfather didn’t sense Cultivation in the tower, and speculates that perhaps she was visiting to see what was going on with the Sibling because she was always fond of them.
Dalinar asks if it is possible to visit the Spiritual Realm and seek answers and the Stormfather doesn’t seem very pleased about this turn of events. He warns Dalinar to take care and turns his attention elsewhere as Dalinar reaches the staging area where the lifts reach the top of the tower. He meets Jasnah, who explains that Wit thinks Odium will exploit loopholes in the contract, which is still an unsettling thought. Then they prepare for the meeting.
Chapter 17 is titled “A Tough Kind of Love,” and the epigraph mentions that the family Nohadon encountered in his travels had left their home because of his teachings.
The chapter opens with Adolin arriving at the lifts after checking on Gallant. He sees Colot, Dalinar’s guard who’d been left behind when the king had asked Sigzil to zoom him to the top of the tower. Adolin takes Colot and runs to catch the lift that Yanagawn is in with his retinue. On the way to the top—which goes quite quickly, since the tower awoke—Yanagawn asks Adolin about the force in Shadesmar that’s headed to Azir. Adolin tells him that it’s substantial, maybe fifteen to twenty thousand troops. Yanagawn is discouraged by the news and wonders if the fighting will ever end.
They talk about how Adolin actually fights to defend his people and how Yanagawn admits that he sometimes feels relieved that he doesn’t have to do so. Adolin sees the man in him and thinks that he needs a good session with the sword… is this foreshadowing, or just the wish to take the emperor under his wing?
Radiant is disguised using a Lightweaving and she watches Adolin board the lift. She has sent Stargyle to represent the Unseen Court at the meeting, and another Lightweaver is sent to keep an eye on Adolin.
Shallan takes over and talks with Gaz about how quiet things are and how she had hoped the Ghostbloods would strike at someone so they could tail them to their base. Doesn’t seem like much of a plan, but then I’m not a Lightweaver spy! They talk a bit about Gaz’s gambling, or rather his inability to gamble, since Stargyle and Red had threatened the people running all of the gambling dens, leaving Gaz with no place to lose his money. Shallan gets gooey and declares that’s a kind of love, hence our chapter title. Then a Ghostblood is spotted.
Chapter 18 is titled “An Exception to the Rules,” and we learn that the family in the epigraph had left their home to search for a mythical land.
Adolin and Yanagawn are seemingly the last to arrive at the meeting and Adolin takes note of who is there before the Reshi king requests entry. And he’s a Dustbringer? Was this common knowledge prior to this scene because I’m like, what? I’m just glad to have a Dustbringer on our side! I mean, on Dalinar’s side. Oh, who am I kidding?
The meeting starts with Queen Fen and Yanagawn each understandably concerned about their homelands and the forces advancing on their seats of power. Fen blames Dalinar for this, saying that the borders should have frozen the moment the contract was agreed upon. Yanagawn defends Dalinar and Fen calms down. All the while, Adolin, who didn’t greet Dalinar upon his arrival, is stewing and thinking ill thoughts of his father. And who can blame him, really? He’s still torn apart by the knowledge of what happened to his mother.
As Yanagawn calms the whole room (not just Fen), Adolin thinks about how much he’s matured and then wonders why he himself hasn’t done the same. I don’t think he’s being fair to himself, here—he’s absolutely matured throughout the course of the series. Don’t you make our boy doubt himself, Brandon! But even Adolin recognizes that he’s taking his bitterness and animosity too far.
But then Wit interrupts Dalinar, cursing himself for a fool and an idiot and announces that there are loopholes in the contract he hadn’t caught before. He and Dalinar talk over some of the details (some of which Adolin is just hearing about now) and Wit says he should have known that Odium would target the capitals. When Dalinar asks why they would risk everything on that, Wit says something chilling:
“Because,” Wit whispered, “if he takes the capitals, he gets the kingdoms. In their entirety.”
Dun-dun-dunnnnn…
That’s bad. That’s really bad.
But as an aside, I know a whole bunch of Sanderfans will be happy that they guessed right that Wit was going to go to Frost for advice, Well done, friends!
But, back to the bad turn this meeting has taken. Dalinar insists that Odium had promised not to take advantage of loopholes and that this seemed like a pretty big loophole. Wit, however, has figured it out. Sorry, but I kind of have to quote the whole bit:
“So… what?” Dalinar said. “I’m missing something.”
“As are we all,” Wit said with a sigh. “Odium is exploiting a loophole in your agreement. Rayse wouldn’t do that. Rayse couldn’t do that. So…” He looked around the room, meeting their eyes. “So we are not facing Rayse. My old enemy must be dead, and someone else has taken up the Shard of Odium. I should have seen it the moment he started acting so oddly, but now I’ve confirmed it by sensing the rhythms of Roshar. My friends, we are facing an enemy we do not know and cannot anticipate. And whoever it is, they’re a genius—one who has devised a ploy to conquer all of Roshar in ten days.”
So, Sanderfans… do you think they’ll figure out who took up the shard of Odium? And will it be Wit that comes to that realization, or Dalinar?
Lyndsey’s Commentary
Chapter 16 has two characters in the arch; the Joker and Vedeledev (Vedel), patron of the Edgedancers. Her attributes are Loving/ Healing and her role is Healer.
We can pretty safely assume that Vedel is here for Cultivation, I think. As for the Joker… Wit does make an appearance, but it’s very brief.
Considering that Shallan and her Unseen Court take up a good portion of Chapter 17, it’s unsurprising that Shalash (Herald of Beauty, patron of the Lightweavers) is in all four places.
Chapter 18’s arch is composed entirely of the Joker, probably because it’s primarily a war council chapter with a lot of characters in it. Wit does also play a large part.
They had left behind family and hereditary home, something many would find unconscionable.
What I learned from their glyphs scribbled in dust trembled my soul: it was because of me, and the stories they’d heard of my teachings, that they had left.
They’d gone to seek a land some told them was mythical.
—From The Way of Kings, fourth parable
Well, this is getting more and more interesting. What mythical land?!
Shallan
…she’d opened herself to Adolin, and he had accepted her: flaws, issues, and dreams alike.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again—it’s wonderful that Shallan’s found someone so incredibly accepting and supportive. It’s exactly what she needed. Not that she can’t take care of herself, she’s shown that she’s perfectly capable of that, but it’s nice that she has someone who can be there for her when it’s needed.
“Hey,” she said softly. “Hey, you all right?”
“Oi know Oi probably am,” he replied. “Oi know it’s just in my head, all these things Oi feel. So yeah, Oi suppose. It ain’t real.”
Shallan suddenly felt guilty. She’d dismissed his attitude as silly earlier. How many would call what she dealt with “silly”?
I really appreciate this. Shallan’s always been protective of her little chosen family, but I like that she’s overcoming this immediate dismissal and is instead reaching out on a more personal basis. Now that she’s more stable, she can afford to focus some attention on helping others with their problems. This is summed up quite nicely in the final sentence of chapter 18:
“You… pay better attention now. What happened on that trip?”
“I found a few pieces of myself,” she said, “that I’d lost.”
Unseen Court
There would be other Lightweavers, but they could form their own family. This group—the Unseen Court—was hers, and she wasn’t going to let it grow unwieldy.
Aw. Shallan’s made her own Bridge Four. Her own family was certainly… shall we say, less than familial, so it makes perfect sense that she’d have built her own. Her own little band of misfits, all of whom need this dysfunctional little family just as much as Shallan does.
Stargyle and Red went to every gambling den in the whole storming tower and threatened the folks that run them! Said if anyone let me in, Stargyle would rip their toenails off and wear them as a necklace. When I came by, the staff wouldn’t even talk to me!”
Now that’s real friendship right there.
Gaz
“Weren’t you crying the other month,” Red said, “because of what you did to them?”
Well, it’s nice to see that Gaz does feel some remorse for the way he treated Kal and the Bridgemen. (I still haven’t quite forgiven him yet though.)
“Each win felt good, like I was taking a step toward being worth something.”
Ouch. So, he feels worthless, and that’s led him to try to seek out worth through other avenues.
Dalinar
“You need to take a journey, Dalinar Kholin. A dangerous one, but the path to defeating Odium is not through your powers alone. It is through understanding. You need to see the history of this world, live it.”
Well, Dalinar’s character arc certainly does lend itself towards empathy. He started off as a mindless killer, and through his suffering began to see the pain he’d caused others, and sought to atone for it. So going on a journey to better understand the past (and the people who shaped it) tracks.
Once, if he’d trembled before a battle, it had been with excitement. Now it was because of the daunting realization that everything rested upon him.
With great power, Dalinar Kholin, comes great responsibility.
Jasnah/Wit
“We’ll get answers from Wit—if we’re lucky—on his timeline, not ours.” She seemed expressly annoyed with Wit.
I do wonder if this is the beginning of the end for their relationship.
I’d just like to take a moment to praise Brandon’s art team for not making ridiculous boob armor. This is exactly what armor made for the feminine form should look like—even fantasy armor needs to make sense for battle, something that a lot of fantasy artists used to ignore in favor of sexualizing it. This is beautifully elegant and feminine while also being functional. Bravo.
(However I should note that Edna Mode would be having a fit over that cape.)
Adolin
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll find my way up once the important people are taken care of.”
“Nah, you’re coming with me,” Adolin said, pulling him out of the line.
Once again, Adolin proving himself to be a better leader in some ways than his father. He notices the little guys, the common people. Is this only because his mind isn’t so focused on the huge, world-ending issues? Maybe. But I think that even if Adolin did have those responsibilities, he’d still retain his empathy. Dalinar had to find his; Adolin’s always had it.
“Kholinar fell when I was sent to save it. Not a day passes that I haven’t thought about that.”
Oh, trauma. Kaladin’s not the only one afflicted. Shame Kaladin never seemed to notice it in Adolin; Adolin’s buried it pretty deep.
Maybe he should have greeted his father, whom he hadn’t seen in weeks. He glanced toward Dalinar.
No. After how they’d parted, they’d do the proper thing: ignore it and let it fester.
Okay, first I have to say that I love Adolin’s sense of humor, as this made me snort. More importantly, though, we’re seeing more of this resentment between the two of them. I can only hope that they find some way to reconcile before the end of all this.
Yanagawn
“You did well, Dalinar Kholin,” Yanagawn said.
Wow. Leave it to the child emperor to be the most mature person in the room. Yanagawn has grown so much.
Drew’s Commentary: Invested Arts & Theories
This week’s set of chapters gives us two nice threads to grab when it comes to the magic of the Stormlight Archive. The first comes from Shallan and her Lightweavers, where we’re reminded once again that different orders of the Knights Radiant simply work in different ways, no matter how similar the fundamentals of the Nahel bond seem:
Shallan stepped back. And Red stood there. Motionless. Arms out.
Shallan might be able to consciously send her Shardplate to protect someone, but it sure doesn’t work the same way it does for Kaladin, as a Windrunner. And to be honest, that makes sense. Shallan has squires, the same way Kaladin does, but they’re squires (and ultimately Radiants) in an essentially different manner.
Kaladin, as a Windrunner, gathers a group about him whom he has protected and who share his ideals when it comes to protecting others. Shallan gathers squires for different reasons; similarly, Kaladin can use his Shardplate to protect others in a unique manner, while Shallan’s Plate reacts differently.
I think this will be something to keep an eye on as we head through this book, to see if there’s anything else unique about Shallan’s Shardplate and how the ethos of the Lightweavers might inform its utility.
Second (and Brandon absolutely knew what he was doing by keeping us waiting after that bombshell at the end of Chapter 15), we finally get Dalinar speaking directly with Cultivation. He knows more now, realizes in a new way that Cultivation is a Shard of Adonalsium, rather than being ignorant and out of his element when he went to see the Nightwatcher. But that doesn’t mean he’s on equal footing at all.
“Please just give me an answer?”
Yeah, Dalinar is floundering. But Cultivation feeds him just enough here to not only tease him, but also tease us as readers. Her hints about the Spiritual Realm, about Honor and the possibility to reform and Ascend to the Shard…
Well, I’d be lying if I said the fandom at large hasn’t been theorizing about this possibility for the better part of a decade. This chapter seems to be confirming a lot of what we’ve been thinking—but it also throws a wrench into some aspects.
“But they’re wrong. The spren existed before Tanavast’s death. They are of him, but are not the core of his power. It still exists.”
This is, frankly, huge. The idea that the spren weren’t a safety valve for the splintering of Honor, and that perhaps the preponderance of his power is in fact held in or through the Stormfather, is absolutely groundshaking information. Dalinar already has access to it, at least in a limited capacity, via his bond with the Stormfather. The Spiritual Realm seems to be the conduit to full access.
Her suggestion is dangerous, Dalinar. Too dangerous. Take care.
Is the Stormfather saying this because he’s afraid of having the core of his essence ripped from him and subsumed into a reforged Honor? Is it because Tanavast’s Cognitive Shadow is still holding the wheel, and he’s jealous? Or is it something more altruistic, and the Stormfather is concerned that Dalinar will open himself up to Shardic interference on an unprecedented level if he attempts to Ascend?
This chapter opens up all kinds of possibilities. Dalinar certainly ends the moment at loggerheads with the Stormfather, frustrated by being treated like a mushroom: kept in the dark and fed a steady diet of…well, you know.
But how much horse hockey is the Stormfather actually doling out here, and how much of Dalinar’s frustration is truly warranted? The contest of champions is supposed to be just that—a contest between two non-Shard combatants, standing in as proxies for the Shards themselves. One of those champions willingly choosing to Ascend to the place of the Shard he’s supposed to be proxy for is messy. And we’ve already seen plenty of consternation in these early chapters when it comes to finding loopholes in the contract.
Meanwhile, Hoid is being Hoid.
Wit sat on the floor at the rear, holding a scroll of paper in one hand and some kind of white bone in the other.
What do we think that is all about? Is it perhaps related to the “branch of a tree with writing [Shallan] couldn’t read” that we saw in Words of Radiance? Is the bone of a Dakhor monk, from Sel? (Are those the same thing?)
Even as the main plot ramps up, Brandon keeps weaving in these little threads, enticing those readers who want to engage with the deeper mysteries and lore of the Cosmere. This book isn’t messing around.
Fan Theories
Greeninator on Reddit caught something that I had totally missed:
Take a look at the chapter heading artwork.
It has deeper cracks and crevices in it than it did in Day 1. For each new day, I expect that they will continue to crumble more and more.
Lyn: GREAT catch, Greeninator!
Megaman78978 called it on this one:
I’m assuming Hoid is talking about Frost when he says “old friend”. I hope we see this conversation directly instead of letter epigraphs.
Lyn: Sadly we don’t even get letter epigraphs, just an off-screen mention. Ah well. Dragons’ll have to wait for another book, I guess…
And for this week’s “Reddit comment that made Lyn laugh out loud”:
Ladies and gentlemen, if you ever feel sef-conscious(sic), know that a ten-thousand-year-old guy with all the tricks up his sleeves and access to several magic systems still has performance anxiety. —TukiHido
On Reactor, Arindakshan says this:
Now cultivation will tell dalinar about Todium right? Right??
Paige: Oh, my sweet summer child.
Steve-son-son-Charles turns the conversation to Gavinor:
Queue the Baby Gav champion theories… the night of 3 massive invasions and he is heading outside to the gardens?
While I do not subscribe to the baby champion theory, I do think something will happen to that child, why else is he in this chapter?
And drrr responds:
His eyes are red (like a Voidbringer) and Dalinar thinks of teaching him swordplay (a duel) at the top of Urithiru. It could be a red herring or a reference to the child champion theory, but either way it’s very deliberate.
And finally, HeroicLich chimes in:
Duel your grandfather and I’ll give you revenge on the man that took your father. I’ll take away your fear and nightmares. You won’t even be in danger, and i’ll make sure your grandfather never dies. You just need to agree, and you’ll be free from the pain of your past and free from the pain of the future.
We’ll be keeping an eye on the comment sections of posts about this article on various social media platforms and may include some of your comments/speculation (with attribution) on future weeks’ articles! Keep the conversation going, and PLEASE remember to spoiler-tag your comments on social media to help preserve the surprise for those who choose to wait for the full release. See you next Monday with chapters 19 and 20!
