Hello, Cosmere Chickens! Welcome back to the Reread!
Lyn: Hi everyone! I’m back! I’m back! Oh boy! I’m so excited to be getting back on the reread saddle! ::rubs hands together:: Now, to check and see where… we… are…
Paige: Ah, I do love your gifs, Lyn. You inspire me. It’s good to have you here.
L: Technically I’m a millennial (1982) so I have to represent my generation in our most well-known method of communication. It’s a responsibility I take very seriously!
P: We have a super short chapter this week but a lot happens in these few pages.
L: And, of course, this is just the lead-up for what’s on the horizon. Oh, by the way, I’m back for the rest of the reread. Alice has a short message at the end of the article to explain why. Now… on to the fun!
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.
There are no direct spoilers for other Cosmere works in this article.
Heralds: Jezrien (Jezerezeh, Yaezir, Ahu), Herald of Kings. Windrunners (Adhesion, Gravitation). Protecting/Leading. Role: King.
Vedeledev (Vedel). Edgedancers (Abrasion, Progression). Loving/Healing. Role: Healer.
L: I’d say it’s likely that the heralds here are stand-ins for Teft and Lift. Kaladin’s in this chapter too and Jezrien could be referencing him too, but his part is pretty minor in comparison.
P: Relatively minor… though we are introduced to the Pursuer as the “Defeated,” and we see Kaladin’s confidence, or cockiness, in dealing with him this go round, which is pretty significant.
Icon: Bridge 4
Epigraph:
Watch them struggle. Witness their writhing, their refusal to surrender. Humans cling to the rocks with the vigor of any Rosharan vine.
—Musings of El, on the first of the Final Ten Days
Chapter Recap
WHO: Teft, Kaladin
WHEN: 1175.4.10.4
WHERE: Urithiru
(Note: For the “when” notations, we are using this wonderful timeline provided by the folks at The 17th Shard.)
RECAP: Teft and Lift manage to get past a Stormform Regal and into the infirmary as Kaladin and the Pursuer draw attention with their battle. Kaladin and the Pursuer trade threats outside, but inside, Teft and Lift are met with a deadly foe… Moash, who was lying in wait for them inside. Moash slices Lift’s legs with his honorblade, rendering them useless, then prepares for battle with Teft.
Chapter Chat — Teft
You did good with that one, Teft, he thought—giving himself permission to feel a little pride.
P: Yeah, Teft. You did do good with that one. ::sniffle::
Buy the Book
The Lost Metal
L: He did. He really did. And it’s a tiny bit of a comfort to know that this part of him will live on; the part that influenced and changed Kaladin, and helped him to become the person he is. We never really know how many other lives we change, like ripples in a pond.
If his family hadn’t gotten involved with the Envisagers, he wouldn’t have known how to help Kaladin when he’d needed it. … So… maybe it was time to let go of what he’d done.
L: Oof. Anyone who’s familiar with story structure and character arcs will look at this and know he’s doomed. Teft’s letting go. He’s made peace. His character arc is over. There’s only one more place to go from here…
P: Yes, he’s come full circle and has reached his potential. It’s incredibly sad, but it didn’t hit me as hard as it hit a lot of people who I’ve seen comment about it. But we’re not there yet… first, we’ll see Teft be awesome. Onward!
L: I’m always up for seeing Teft be awesome. We’ll leave an extended discussion about his fate for when it actually happens.
Teft rushed the singer, tackling him around the waist and throwing him backward through the open door. The Regal’s powers sent another shock through Teft, but in the confusion, Teft was able to get him to the ground and put him in a deadman’s hold.
P: Say what you will about Teft, but he’s a bad-ass. To just tackle a stormform Regal and put him in a chokehold? Dayum, man.
L: All while continuously being shocked by electricity! Certifiable BAMF for sure.
He pulled in all the Stormlight he had, but felt the stormform’s power growing—the creature’s skin crackling with red lightning.
“Healing!” Teft said.
Lift leapt over and pressed her hand against his leg as the stormform released a bolt of power straight through Teft into the floor. The crack it made was incredible. Teft felt a burning pain, like someone had decided to use his stomach as a convenient place to build their firepit.
But he held on, and Lift healed him.
P: More badassery from our beloved, grizzled old Radiant. He knows it’s going to hurt like Braize and he does it anyway, counting on Lift to heal him as he’s injured. Fitting for Brandon to show us how incredible Teft is now, considering what’s coming.
L: Of course. He wants us to cheer for him all the harder, so the grief hits all the harder. Brandon really is a master of his craft. He manipulates our emotions like a wiley puppetmaster.
Lift screamed.
She leaped back as one of the bodies on the floor nearby emerged from beneath the sheet. The figure—dressed all in black—swung a Shardblade at her.
P: Such a snake, to lay in wait, daring to hide amongst the fallen Radiants. I mean, how dare he? He’s not good enough to lay beside them, even in their infirm state.
L: That’s an insult to snakes. I feel like we need Gordon Ramsay to just follow Moash around for awhile to come up with some insults that would be harsh enough to suit him.
This wasn’t a weapon for slaying great monsters of stone. It was a weapon for killing men.
L: Dear Moash…
P: Dear Lyn…
L: #noredemption
Moash kicked Lift toward the wall, sending her limp and tumbling. She lay still and didn’t move after that.
P: There he goes, kicking kids again.
L: Okay… I hadn’t thought of it in those terms but…
P: You know, all of the people who say that Moash did nothing wrong just really don’t see how unbelievably awful he is. Who cuts a child down with a storming Shardblade and then kicks her body out of the way? I was so scared for Lift in this moment during the beta read. Even though the Blade went through her thighs and we didn’t see her eyes burn, I was so scared for her!
L: Yeah. It’s like everything Moash does is just… ugh. While his original motivations may have been understandable, he’s pushed the envelope so far past redemption at this point that he’s undeliverable.
Teft cursed himself for a fool. He’d focused on taking care of the Regal at the door; he should have known to check for irregularities. Now that he looked, he could see Kal’s parents and brother bound and gagged, visible through a gap in the cloth of the draped-off section at the rear.
P: Oh, and of course he binds and gags the whole family… including the child.
L: Of course.
“Hello, Teft,” Moash said softly, landing in front of the rows of unconscious people on the floor. “How are the men?”
“Safe from you,” Teft said, pushing aside his cloak and unsheathing the long knife he had hidden underneath.
P: As Teft thinks here, he couldn’t carry a spear with him whilst sneaking through the atrium. Not that it would have done any good had he been able to smuggle one into the infirmary. What’s a spear against an honorblade? And, if I may rant a bit more? Moash has some gall asking after the men of Bridge Four. Pal, you burned that bridge when you tried to kill Kaladin in Words of Radiance. You don’t get to act like you care now.
L: Ha. Burned that bridge. I see what you did there.
Oaths Spoken, Powers Awakened
Lift collapsed, her legs ruined by the Blade.
L: I’m sure she can heal herself from this, but even so… it’s such a jerk move. (Surprising absolutely no one, given that it’s Moash, of course.) This is a CHILD. Radiant yes, but still a child!
P: Yet another reason to loathe him. As if we needed any more. But we’ve seen his regard for children in the way he kicked Gavinor out of the way in order to kill his father. ::rage::
L: Yeah honestly I’m not sure I’ll ever get over that. Not only did he kick him out of the way, he killed his father right in front of him. Despicable.
Your life isn’t the blood in your veins, but the legend you live. Each death kills that legend a little more. Each time I defeat you, it will rip you apart. Until you’re no longer known as the Pursuer. You’ll be known as the Defeated. The creature who, no matter how hard he tries, can’t ever beat ME.”
L: This is so, so good.
P: I love how he just legit renamed the Pursuer with no thought to it. Oh, yeah, by the way, you’re the Defeated now. Get used to it, bub. And as we’ll see in the full battle to come, Kaladin eats away at the Defeated’s confidence with his own brand of confidence. Confidence gained as a member of Amaram’s army, then as a member of Bridge Four, then amplified as Highmarshal Kaladin Stormblessed. Yes, he took quite a hit earlier in the book, and even if he’s just posturing here, it still has the same effect on Lezian.
L: It’s nice to see Kaladin being confident about something for a change.
Cosmere Connections
Black sand? What on Roshar?
L: I do find the wording here to be rather amusing. No, Teft. NOT on Roshar. The exact opposite of that, actually…
P: Lol! Definitely not on Roshar. But as you all remember, this is the same sand that Raboniel gave to Navani for her to measure the stormlight in gemstones. If you haven’t read White Sand, the omnibus is out, and you can also get the Kindle editions from Amazon.
Brilliant Buttresses
Kaladin turned heads, even if he was dressed in rags. He was that kind of man.
L: I know Teft means that he just has a magnetic/strong personality/bearing, but I’m gonna pretend that he meant Kal’s incredibly hot because I love the mental image.
P: I’ll take both. Hot young warrior who is both charismatic and commanding. He just draws people to him. Can be for any number of reasons.
L: Do you have any idea how hard it is to find gifs of hot guys with long hair spear fighting? (Note to self: Make some when faire season starts again.)
“Boy likes to grandstand,” Teft said.
L: I mean… he’s not wrong…
P: Kaladin doesn’t just talk the talk, he can walk the walk. And dance the spears. Oh wait… wrong series.
***
A Special Message from Alice:
Hey, all! It’s been so wonderful to share the Stormlight Archive reread with you for the last… oh, my… eight and a half years, when I started working with Carl on the Words of Radiance reread. Now I’ve come to the end of my tenure. You already know both Paige and Lyndsey, so you know I’m leaving the reread in very good and capable hands; I can’t imagine anyone who could do it better.
For personal reasons, I’m extricating myself from all Dragonsteel-related commitments, and will be focusing my literary efforts in other directions. I hope to drop in from time to time and participate in the discussion here, but I can’t continue to pour this much of my energy into Sanderson fandom.
Feel free to contact me through the Tor messaging, or through Facebook if you’ve found me that way. You all have been wonderful people to interact with over the years, and I appreciate you more than I can say. All the best!
~Alice
***
We’ll be leaving further speculation and discussion to you in the comments, and hope to join you there! Next week, we’ll be back with chapter 104, in which things continue to escalate…
Paige resides in New Mexico, of course. She very much misses baseball and is counting the days until Spring Training. Links to her other writing are available in her profile.
Lyndsey is prepping for her trip to the UK in a month and couldn’t be more excited. 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!
