This is a rough one indeed, Chickens. Kaladin chapters that happen in the Sander-lanch do tend to be such, don’t they?
I’m not going to belabor the opening. Let’s just get into it, shall we?
Reminder: We’ll be discussing spoilers for the entirety of the series up until now. If you haven’t read ALL of the published entries of The Stormlight Archive (this includes Edgedancer and Dawnshard as well as the entirety of Rhythm of War), best to wait to join us until you’re done.
Once again, you’re free of wider Cosmere spoilers here.
Heralds:
- 2 x Jezrien (Jezerezeh, Yaezir, Ahu), Herald of Kings. Windrunners (Adhesion, Gravitation). Protecting/Leading. Role: King.
- Talenelat (Talenel, Taln), Herald of War. Stonewards (Cohesion, Tension). Dependable/Resourceful. Role: Soldier.
- Vedeledev (Vedel). Edgedancers (Abrasion, Progression). Loving/Healing. Role: Healer.
Lyn: I’m actually surprised that we don’t have Shalash in here, since she’s the Herald of the Lightweavers. According to Brandon, that’s the order that Tien was on the way to being, so I’m a bit surprised not to see her here. Not at all surprised to see Jezrien represented twice, as this is a solely Kaladin POV chapter. Taln isn’t surprising either, as the soldier—since the flashback we see is of Tien and Kal’s time in Amaram’s army. Vedel makes perfect sense, as Tien’s embodying the roles of loving/healing in this chapter.
Icon: Banner and Spears, for a Kaladin-centric chapter.
Epigraph:
For ones so confused, they are somehow brilliant.
—Musings of El, on the first of the Final Ten Days
P: Why, thank you. *buffs nails*
Chapter Recap
WHO: Kaladin
WHEN: 1175.4.10.4
WHERE: In the sky outside of Urithiru
(Note: For the “when” notations, we are using this wonderful timeline provided by the folks at The 17th Shard.)
RECAP: Still falling, Kaladin wakes up in a tent in Amaram’s old army. He realizes that he’s in the past, seeing Tien being ordered to his death. Tien speaks to him and reminds him of why he needs to keep going… and Kaladin finally sees. He swears his next ideal.
Chapter Chat—Tien
L: There’s a lot that Tien says in this chapter that’s just… heart-achingly beautiful, and we’re going to quote most of it here. Honestly, sometimes we may not have words to say about the specific quotes, but they’re so, so important to read. Perhaps they’ll be the Words you need, just as Kaladin needed them. If not now, then maybe someday.
P: Many of us have needed, or do need, or will need these words, so I’m fully on board with sharing them all! Grab a tissue or three, friends! And be prepared for us to talk about our feels a lot!
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The Lost Metal
Tien came and took Kaladin’s hand, then walked him forward. “It’s all right,” he said. “I know you’re frightened. But here we can stand together, all of us. Three are stronger than one, right?”
“Tien,” Kaladin said. “Why did you do it? You should have stayed safe.”
Tien turned to him, then smiled. “They would have been alone. They needed someone to help them feel brave.”
“They were slaughtered,” Kaladin said. “So were you.”
“So it was good someone was there, to help them not feel so alone as it happened.”
L: I know the (WoB confirmed) theory is that Tien was going to be a Lightweaver, but man… he would have made a superb Windrunner, too. He was such a beautiful person. Both he and Kaladin… imagine what could have been, had he survived? If they’d been able to support one another?
Honestly, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see him as an Edgedancer, either.
P: He was a beautiful person. He was too good for this war, though. Too pure. I think he would have made a great Edgedancer, too. And the healing would have harkened back to his father, the surgeon.
Kaladin fell to his knees. Then Tien, poor little Tien, wrapped his arms around Kaladin and held him. “It’s all right,” he whispered. “I’m here. To help you feel brave.”
L: Oh, storms. My heart.
P: Our Tien had such a good heart. He was always there for his brother and it’s fitting that Dalinar connected him to Kaladin when Kaladin most needed it.
“Why do we fight, Kal? Why do we keep going?”
“I don’t know,” Kaladin whispered. “I’ve forgotten.”
“It’s so we can be with each other.”
“They all die, Tien. Everyone dies.”
“So they do, don’t they?”
“That means it doesn’t matter,” Kaladin said. “None of it matters.”
“See, that’s the wrong way of looking at it.” Tien held him tighter. “Since we all go to the same place in the end, the moments we spent with each other are the only things that do matter. The times we helped each other.”
L: This is… storms. It’s really beautiful. We only have so many moments here, together, in the same place. For Tien, that’s the meaning of life… and I can’t think of a more beautiful way of looking at it.
P: The moments we spend together are so precious. We need to cherish them more than we do, I think. Because you never know when you won’t have the chance for more moments together.
“If you think letting Teft die is a failure—but all the times you supported him are meaningless—then no wonder it always hurts. Instead, if you think of how lucky you both were to be able to help each other when you were together, well, it looks a lot nicer, doesn’t it?”
L: Yes. Yes, it does. Thank you, Tien. I needed to hear that, too.
P: I think we all need to hear that.
“I wasn’t there.”
Tien smiled. “You are here for me, Kal. You’re here for all of us.”
L: Tien’s really speaking for us, the reader, here. For many of us who relate to and understand Kaladin on a deep, emotional level… his very existence is so very validating.
P: It really is. I don’t think I’ve ever related to a character so much as I relate to Kaladin.
“But I want to see his face when he realizes the truth. Don’t you? It’s going to be delightful.”
L: Yes, it’s going to be quite delightful when Moash realizes the truth.
P: At first I thought this meant Odium, but yes… it will be so satisfying when Moash gets to this point. Don’t disappoint me, Brandon.
“If he kills us,” Tien said, “he’s simply dropped us off at a place we were going anyway. We shouldn’t hasten it, and it is sad. But see, he can’t take our moments, our Connection, Kaladin. And those are things that really matter.”
L: Brandon’s so, so good at this. I… I honestly don’t have much I feel I can say. Coming so soon after my friend’s death, this hit way too hard and I’m typing through a lot of tears.
P: *hugs Lyn* Brandon is good at this. His words just reach out and wring the emotions from us.
Bruised and Broken
“I’m not strong enough,” Kaladin whispered.
“You’re strong enough for me.”
“I’m not good enough.”
“You’re good enough for me.”
“I wasn’t there.”
Tien smiled. “You are here for me, Kal. You’re here for all of us.”
“And…” Kaladin said, tears on his cheeks, “if I fail again?”
P: I don’t know about you, Sanderfans, but it’s so hard for me to see Kaladin like this. Because I know how he feels. I’ve been in this place where you feel weak and worthless, where you feel like a failure and a fraud. And passages like this in books like this can have the power to lift you up and brush yourself off and take the next step. Thank you, Brandon, once again, for Kaladin.
Oaths Spoken, Powers Awakened
A pinprick of light, weaving around him. But that wasn’t her.
“SYL!”
Another pinprick. And another.
But those weren’t her.
L: Hello, little windspren! Wouldn’t you like to be armor?
P: Why yes, I believe that they would very much like to be armor!
“Besides,” he whispered, “I know the Words.”
Say them, Tien whispered.
“I have always known these Words.”
Say it, lad! Do it!
“I accept it, Stormfather! I accept that there will be those I cannot protect!”
L: And here we have our next Ideal, the one that we (and likely Kal) knew was coming a mile away. But just knowing what the words are supposed to be wasn’t enough—not for Kal, and not for us. He needed to truly believe them. To feel them. And, finally, Tien helped him to do so.
P: And Teft gave him a boost, as well. That stabbed me right in the heart, to have Teft’s voice here, encouraging Kaladin to speak those words.
Also, this was incredibly satisfying after Kaladin was unable to say the words in Oathbringer while in Shadesmar.
“We couldn’t save Teft, Syl,” Kaladin whispered. “We couldn’t save Tien. But we can save my father.”
L: Oh heck yes. GO KAL!
P: You know, I wasn’t really concerned about whether Lirin would live or die, but I’m glad it works out as it does for Kaladin’s sake. After that chat with Tien, and after losing Teft, losing his father would have been utterly devastating for him.
We’ll be leaving further speculation and discussion to you in the comments, and hope to join you there! Today’s discussion topic—do you agree with Tien? Do you think that the meaning of life lies in the connections we make with one another? If not, then what is it for you? (Really going with the softball questions this week, I know.) Next week, we’ll be back with chapter 109, in which we join Venli, Navani, and Rlain.
Paige resides in New Mexico, of course. She very much misses baseball and is psyched that Spring Training starts next week. Links to her other writing are available in her profile.
Lyndsey is currently traveling in Ireland, and will likely be posting the occasional photo on her Facebook page. If you enjoy queer protagonists, snarky humor, and don’t mind some salty language, check out book 1 of her fantasy series. Follow her on Facebook or TikTok!
