Greetings, Sanderfans and Cosmere Chickens! We welcome you to this week’s read-along discussion for chapters 3 and 4 of Wind and Truth. We saw a LOT of speculation last week about the in-world book, Knights of Wind and Truth. Namely, who’s writing it? We’ve also been seeing various predictions about who Kaladin is hearing in his thoughts. There’s been so much in-depth discussion, and it’s so exciting for us to read your theories and wonderings. Please keep it up and you might see your comments in a future installment! And now, let’s dive into chapters 3 and 4!
Paige’s Summary and Commentary
This week, we get to sink our teeth into chapters 3 and 4 of Wind and Truth. Once again, we’ll be peeking in on what’s going on with Shallan and Kaladin, and Wit will make an appearance in both chapters. Wit’s appearances are always interesting! So let’s jump in and see what’s up in Roshar!
Chapter 3 is titled “The Cost of Heroism.” The epigraph states that “[t]he Wind told me, before she vanished, that it was the change in Odium’s vessel that restored her voice.” It seems obvious that the author is a present-day figure, writing this during or after the events of our book, Wind and Truth. And that they will eventually learn about Taravangian taking up Odium’s shard. I look forward to seeing your thoughts on this, readers!
The chapter focuses on Shallan, who is still at Lasting Integrity. She’s atop the wall of the fortress and leaves Testament to herself to chat with Pattern. They talk about Veil, and Pattern states that she’s gone but Shallan corrects him, saying that Veil is still a part of her, she’s just moved “to the back of the wagon.” Radiant, on the other hand, is still at the front of the wagon, still apart and separate.
Shallan and Pattern talk about Shallan’s childhood, the bits she’d been resisting remembering, and she thinks about how she had bonded a spren, which her mother had not liked. She remembers the man who came to either hurt her or to separate her from Testament. Then how her father had tussled with the man, and how she defended herself against her mother, who came at her with a knife, resulting in her mother’s death. Of course, we all know how badly this event traumatized Shallan, causing her to go for quite some time without even speaking.
Shallan also thinks about how Testament was her friend when she was a child, and how she thinks that their bond may not have been completely severed. This is super interesting to think about, and there’s a lot of speculation about whether Shallan will be able to do for Testament what Adolin has been able to do for Maya.
She stops to talk with Adolin, Maya, Kelek, and the seon that Mraize had given her, now freed from its box. Well, not to the seon, but to Wit, who is talking to them through the seon. Shallan likens the seon to a kind of spren and I guess that’s the easiest way for her to make sense of it, since it’s a thing from another world. Shallan marvels again that the small man with Adolin is the Herald Kelek; he seems unusually timid and unsure of himself.
Through the seon, Wit says he’s worried and, as for me, it’s rather unsettling to know that Wit… WIT… is worried. He’s talking about the contest of champions and how it’s to take place in ten days. Adolin is sure that Dalinar will be his own champion, and Shallan is surprised that the contest is taking place so soon. Yeah, girl… so are we. Of course, traveling home through Shadesmar would take weeks, but Windrunners are on their way to fetch Shallan and Adolin that very day to return them to Urithiru.
Shallan asks Wit about her brothers and if they’re safe (they are), noting that the Ghostbloods—whom Adolin knows all about after he and Shallan had a heart-to-heart—will be after her and those close to her. Boy, lemme tell ya… Adolin is destined for whatever the equivalent of sainthood is on Roshar after calmly accepting the revelation of all of Shallan’s secrets and outright lies. He is truly the best boy.
Shallan tells Wit about Formless, that it was a part of her that could do terrible things and, that although she walked away from it, it’s still there inside of her, that she still has the capacity to do terrible things. Wit is really the sweetest when it comes to Shallan. He tells her the following:
“If it weren’t for that capacity, then what good would choices be? If we never had the power to do terrible things, then what heroism would it be to resist?”
Oh, my poor feels. Some of my favorite Stormlight bits have come out of interactions between Shallan and Wit. He just handles her so gently and it’s a side of him that, frankly, I adore. Shallan asks Wit if it’s her destiny to have to kill everyone that ever mentored her and, after more reassurance, Wit tells her that he’s proud of her. Silently, both Radiant and the part of her that is still Veil repeat the sentiment. ::sniffles::
Once the conversation with Wit is over, Shallan tells Kelek that she needs to know about Ba-Ado-Mishram. Reluctantly, Kelek tells her about how they captured Mishram in a flawless gemstone and hid her prison in the Spiritual Realm. Shallan wants to know how they did that and Kelek grows agitated, saying he doesn’t know, that Melishi hid it.
Once he leaves, Maya mentions having met Kelek before, in the past, and that he’s gotten worse. Shallan wonders how they could take Mishram’s prison from the Spiritual Realm before Mraize and Iyatil get to it, but Pattern says it’s not possible. He describes the Spiritual Realm thusly:
“It is a place where the future blends with the present, where the past echoes like the striking of a clock. Time and distance stretch, like numbers infinitely repeating. It is where the gods live, and it baffles even some of them.”
Sounds like a piece of cake! They’ll just somehow pop into the Spiritual Realm, somehow find Mishram’s prison, and somehow pop out again. Easy-peasy, am I right? When Mishram was imprisoned, something happened to the spren bond, and they think that if they can find her, then the deadeyes might be restored. Pattern is ambivalent, however, and retracts his comment from earlier about Shallan not getting him killed.
Chapter 4 is titled “Listening.” The epigraph mentions the Wind again and how she often spoke to human and singer and stopped not because of Odium, but because people began to fear her, or began to worship the Storm, instead. I’m really curious as to what the Wind actually is. Is it literally wind, or is it an entity that was on Roshar before Odium, Cultivation, and Honor arrived? Looking forward to more epigraphs in future chapters. Note that we didn’t get these in the beta read, so they’re new to me, too.
This chapter focuses on Kaladin and we travel high up in Urithiru with him and Syl, to where they’re scheduled to meet with Dalinar. Kaladin finds Wit reading a book and, once Wit finishes his page, they engage in conversation. And a rather unconventional music lesson.
There’s the usual Wit banter, which can be enjoyable but, I imagine, makes some of you wish he’d just get on with it, already. ::giggle:: I mean, I adore Wit, but he does tend to prattle on.
He offers Kaladin a crash course in reading music, playing a flute that apparently isn’t as good as the one that Wit once gave Kaladin, which was lost and then found again. Kaladin painstakingly learns to read the music and how to hold the flute. After an hour, Kaladin can sort of play a line of the song Wit is trying to teach him, which is what Wit played for them back on the Shattered Plains, the story of the Wandersail. But Syl recognizes it as something else.
“Long ago,” Wit said softly, “that rhythm guided humans across the void from one planet to the other. They followed it to reach your world.”
“One of the rhythms of Roshar,” Syl said with a nod. “Made into a song, with the tones of the gods.”
Iiiinteresting, don’t you think?
Kaladin thinks back to the night Wit played that song for them and says it seemed as if the song came back to them, echoing somehow. With a little prompting from Wit, he realizes that the wind was listening. He asks if the wind is a god and Wit mentions the Old Magic and tells Kaladin to listen to the Wind when it speaks. I find it interesting that sometimes the word wind begins with a lowercase letter and other times, an uppercase letter. I hope we can figure out why as we go.
Kaladin and Wit then talk about the relevance of music, the purpose of art, and we get some more lovely little tidbits of conversation from Wit. Then things grow somber, with Kaladin talking of Dalinar’s worry about the coming conflict and Wit grows serious. Kaladin says it seems as if Wit thinks one of them won’t survive; Wit says that he wishes he was optimistic enough to think that one of them would survive. And I have to tell you, that leaves a knot in my stomach. When Wit gets serious, it kind of scares me.
Wit tells Kaladin that Dalinar will send him to Shinovar to get Ishar’s help with the contest of champions, but that it won’t work out the way Dalinar hopes…but that Kaladin needs to go anyway because this is the last part of the journey. He then tells Kaladin to practice with the flute until the sound returns to him, “because that will mean Roshar is listening.”
It’s at this point that Wit admits that something is wrong and has been for several days, but that he can’t figure out what it is. (Of course, we think—based on the epilogue to RoW—it’s that Odium stole some of his Breath which contained memories.) He speaks of the Passions and how they’re horseshit, that if something bad befalls someone, then by that belief, they just weren’t passionate enough. It’s the first time I think we’ve seen Wit truly angry… angry enough to produce actual angerspren. He then basically says that they need hope, and if that’s not worrisome, coming from Wit, I don’t know what is.
Eventually, Dalinar pops out and asks if Wit is done with Kaladin, telling us that the whole time, Dalinar was waiting for them to finish outside so he could talk to Kaladin.
Kaladin pretty much asks Wit why he didn’t get a story and Wit tells him that maybe this time, he would tell his own story… and then he was gone.
Tell his own story… hmm… interesting choice of words, don’t you think, Sanderfans?
Please share your thoughts on these chapters in the comments… speculate, ask questions, give us your theories, and let us know what you’re hoping to see in future chapters!
Lyndsey’s Commentary: Characters and Relationships
Let’s start with our analysis of the chapter heads and epigraphs, shall we? For this week, chapter three begins with Kalak/Kelek, Herald of the Willshapers, in all four spots. His aspects are “Resolute/Builder,” and his role is “Maker.” (It’s also worthwhile to note that Kelek is Restares, the nobleman who was meeting with Gavilar and Nale in the prologue and the judge of Adolin’s trial in Lasting Integrity.) He actually physically shows up in this chapter, which is probably why he appears in the chapter arches.
For chapter four, the character portrayed in all four arches is what we call the “Wild Card,” but usually he means that Wit/Hoid will be making an appearance. (Please note that I am emphasizing usually.) In this instance, that does seem to be the case.
The Wind told me, before she vanished, that it was the change in Odium’s vessel that restored her voice. I wonder. Perhaps it is the new storm, making people begin to reconsider that the wind is not their enemy.
—From Knights of Wind and Truth, page 3
This leads me to believe that our mystery (presumably Windrunner) author was Kaladin, since we’ve seen Kaladin hearing voices… But are they the same voices? If our mystery narrator is someone else, is there someone ELSE hearing voices? Hearing the Wind speak to them? And what do they mean by “the Wind”? A windspren?
I have read that in the ancient days, the Wind often spoke to both human and singer. It would then mean that the Wind stopped talking not because of Odium, but because of people who began to fear her…
Or to worship the Storm instead.
—From Knights of Wind and Truth, page 4
Well, now we have a gendered pronoun for the Wind. And the following chapter answers a lot more questions about this!
Shallan
Lots of interesting stuff going on in this chapter in terms of Shallan’s character. Sanderson’s doing a great job of recapping past events for those of us like me with poor or fuzzy memories. We’re also getting bits of insight into her state of mind regarding all these profound character revelations. She, like Kaladin, is doing surprisingly okay—a nice change, for our poor little Lightweaver! She’s reincorporating her alternate selves, but maintaining a bit of separateness. I particularly liked this quote:
She didn’t deserve hatred, but understanding.
Very moving words for us all, I think, and a hard pill to swallow when you’ve grown so used to hating yourself that others’ hatred is taken as a matter of course. Loving and forgiving yourself is the first step towards healing—and Shallan has so many different facets of herself.
Shallan and Adolin
As usual, Adolin proves himself to be the Best Boy in regards to his relationship with Shallan. For someone who was a notorious playboy when we met him in The Way of Kings, Adolin sure has proven himself to be a kind, gentle, and understanding partner.
Shallan and Wit
These two have always had an interesting relationship, and that’s continuing here. Whereas Wit can be brusque and rude to others, he’s almost always kind and gentle with Shallan. Sometimes it seems as though he has no patience for others who have endured trauma (cough Kaladin cough), but Shallan continues to be the exception.
Maya
Maya’s healing is one of the more fascinating things to happen in Rhythm of War. I sincerely hope that we learn more about her character over the course of this book, and watch her grow and heal even more. I’m still on the fence as to whether or not I want Adolin to become a Radiant and Bond her, though. I like that he’s the one single solitary member of the Kholin family to be a Normal Guy.
Wit/Hoid
The Ghostbloods want something extremely valuable, and you have the key to it standing with you right now.
And… poof, off he goes. Leave it to Hoid to be unnecessarily vague at a time like this. Sometimes I think he’s physically incapable of just giving a straight answer…except when he’s not.
“Yeah,” Wit said softly. “I feel it too.”
A straight answer. Those were always disturbing.
Even Kaladin recognizes it!
Usually I keep my comments strictly to character matters, but I really have to point this one out:
“Ah, Wema,” Wit mumbled, turning the page. “You’ve finally noticed what a catch Vadam is? Let’s see how you screw it up.”
I find it HILARIOUS that Wit’s reading the same Alethi romance novel (specifically, An Accountability of Virtue) that Ardent Ellista was reading way back in Oathbringer. I probably wouldn’t have picked up on this one if I hadn’t been so amused by the original mention of this in-world book (and the existence of Austen-eque romance novels in Roshar at all).
In the Kaladin chapter, we’re seeing a very stark example of what I mentioned earlier in Shallan’s section, about how Hoid doesn’t seem to have much patience for Kal.
“If only there were something we could do with these curious pieces of wood? They have holes that seem intended for some arcane purpose, beyond the understanding of mere mortals.”
Now granted, he does seem more amused here than he usually does when dealing with poor Kaladin. I think Wit’s come to love our Bridgeboy a bit. Maybe not as much as he cares for Shallan, but Kaladin does certainly seem to be growing on him.
Like crem. (Sorry, my inner Hoid came out a little there.)
You think if they’d had more Passion, the cosmere would have saved them?
Hoid’s certainly getting deep into philosophy and religion here. Not that this is in any way surprising—he is Hoid, after all—but this story is very different from the ones he usually tells. He’s shaken… so shaken that he’s forgone his riddles and half-truths, his fables and parables, and is simply telling the truth. That scares me more than anything else in this book so far.
Kelek
“I… I can’t do much these days. I don’t know why. I can’t decide.”
A reminder that Kelek is afflicted with the same mental malady as the rest of the Heralds. They remind me a bit of that quote from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland: “We’re all mad here.” And who could blame them, after all they’ve been through, and how long they’ve lived?
Kaladin
Kal learning how to play the flute is a very odd character choice. I’m curious to see how this winds up having bearing on the plot or on his character arc. It seems like such a small thing, but Sanderson wouldn’t be wasting pages on it needlessly, so it must serve some purpose down the line. I find it hard to believe that the answer would be something as straightforward as “art as therapy is a means to continue Kaladin’s healing,” which seems to be what this chapter is trying to make us believe.
“But now what? Who am I without the spear?”
“Won’t it be exciting to find out?” Wit said.
Sometimes showing someone a different way of thinking about a problem or situation is the best way to wrench them out of a self-destructive pattern of thought, and Wit seems to have done just that here. He’s encouraging Kaladin to not think about his loss of self as a negative, but as an opportunity to rebuild himself as whatever he wants to be; what he always could have been, had his life not pushed him the way it did.
Drew’s Commentary: Invested Arts and Theories
Right out of the gate in Chapter 3, we encounter a theory elephant in the room: Shallan’s mother. One theory that has slowly gathered steam over the last couple of years (especially after Brandon released that early draft of the prologue) is that Shallan’s mother was actually the Herald Chanarach.
There’s a fair amount of supporting detail for this theory but, at this stage, it’s all circumstantial. We know that she killed her mother sometime around the night of the Parshendi feast in Kholinar. We know that “the world ended” and it was Shallan’s fault. We know that her mother had red hair.
Is that enough to say anything definitively? Absolutely not. I admit that when I first heard this theory, I was not on board. Over time, I’ve softened to it a little bit, but I’m still not totally sold. Brandon loves to lay in foreshadowing and details like this, and he also loves to misdirect his readers. From the start, I thought this theory was a little too on-the-nose.
That said, it’s clear that there is still more for us to learn about the Davar family and their past. Shallan still has another Truth to tell if she’s going to reach the final stage of her Lightweaver identity. Maybe that has to do with her mother… or maybe it has to do with Formless, the newest member of the Shallan wagonload.
But of course, that’s not all that we get from Shallan and company. The Herald Kelek makes it clear that he thinks Ba-Ado-Mishram’s imprisonment is the cause of the deadeyes phenomenon, and reveals that her prison is in the Spiritual Realm! We’ve had plenty of opportunities to get used to Shadesmar over the last few Stormlight books, and now it looks like it’s finally time to see the last unexplored Realm.
It is a place where the future blends with the present, where the past echoes like the striking of a clock. Time and distance stretch, like numbers infinitely repeating.
Pattern really drives home just how alien the Spiritual Realm is, and makes it clear that finding Mishram’s prison won’t be easy—perhaps even impossible. Shallan and Adolin really have their work cut out for them.
But before the end of the chapter, Maya speaks up, throwing another wrench in things:
It is because […] humans have no Honor.
If the deadeyes are in this state because of a combination of Ba-Ado-Mishram’s imprisonment and the death of Tanavast/the splintering of Honor, then it suddenly looks a heck of a lot harder to fix things. There have been plenty of theories floating around about Dalinar reforging the Shard of Honor and various characters potentially Ascending (most popularly either Kaladin or Dalinar himself), and that might have to be something we’ll see happen if the deadeyes are to ever be fully restored.
When this world was created […] long before Honor, Cultivation, or Odium arrived, Adonalsium left something behind on it. Sometimes it’s called the Old Magic. […] Listen to the Wind when it speaks, Kaladin.
Well, chalk up Hoid as one who doesn’t think the voice Kaladin is hearing is Ishar or an Unmade or some remnant of Honor. If this truly is something of the Old Magic, it’s exciting to possibly get a better glimpse at the most enigmatic of the Invested Arts on Roshar. All along, we’ve been given to understand that the Old Magic is from Cultivation; if it’s something older, deeper, more directly related to Adonalsium… well, we might be on the path to getting some answers about why Roshar was made and shaped the way it was.
And there’s one last little mystery to mention here:
It has the same fingerings as the one you lost and recovered, though not the same… capacity.
Hoid’s old flute is more than just a flute. What exactly its “capacity” is remains a tantalizing question. And where it came from…well, let’s just say a lot of people think it used to belong to a certain packman…
That’s it for this week’s big moments, but we have so much more to explore over the next few months. Buckle up.
Fan Theories
“You’re talking,” Kaladin said softly, “as if one of us won’t survive this.”
A common theory, and one we’ve been seeing a lot in the comments regarding last week’s chapters. Many people are worried about the fact that Kaladin is doing better. Breezertree over on Reddit puts it quite succinctly: “Kaladin being content worries me so much. The death flags do be flying.”
Lots of interesting theories about who the author of Knights of Wind and Truth might be…
My theory for now being that Szeth writes Knights of Wind and Truth after “cleansing” Shinovar.
—Kaspbrak, via Reddit
Could the voice talking to Kaladin be whoever the StormFaker is? (If there is a StormFaker at all)
—MIchelsaerperez via Reddit
Calling it now. The voice is the herald Ishar using connection. It’s only when he is sane. He knows he needs help but can only call for it when he is lucid.
—Glexy via Reddit
I don’t have any evidence for this theory, but I think the voice Kaladin hears is Chemoarish or Dai-Gonarthis in Shinovar and the same voice that Szeth heard as a child
—RazorBoomerang via Reddit
I think we are supposed to think at this point that the book is written by Kaladin or Szeth, but in my opinion the language in the book doesnt really line up with how Kaladin or Szeth talk. We also know that at least Kaladin doesnt know how to write (though he could dictate to someone)
Right now my theory is that the book is actually an older text written by Jezrien or something like that.
—nathan, in the comments of the previous read-along
I can’t see the contest playing out straight. Taravangian’s whole thing on ascending is having seen some sort of loophole in the contract, something is very clearly not going to go to plan.
—Otaconucf via Reddit
HUGE props to Hoid17 over on Reddit, who pointed this out:
Interesting that the in-world books is still Knights of Wind and Truth but the actual title is the shorter version.
I TOTALLY missed this and it was staring me right in the face. Well spotted! The ketek of the title is preserved… sort of… (For anyone who might not know what I’m talking about here, symmetry is an important part of Roshar. Many people were excited about the letters in the titles of the books being symmetrical/reading the same front to back, like so:
The Way of Kings | Words of Radiance | Oathbringer | Rhythm of War | Knights of Wind and Truth
TWoK | WoR | O | RoW | KoWaT
There still would have been a minor discrepancy with that “and” in there, but perfect symmetry is usually frowned on anyway.
Lyn’s Funniest Comment of the Day Award goes out to popegonzo on Reddit not only for their hilarious username, but also for this comment which made me laugh:
I’m on board for the Kaladin & Szeth buddy cop show.
I’m pretty sure I made the same exact comment at this point in the beta read.
And the runner-up comes from Worldhopper1990 on Reddit:
I didn’t expect it to become a plot point in this book for Kaladin to figure out the Name of the Wind :)
Didn’t you know? It’s a silence of three parts. The silence of Teft, Tien, and Elhokar. (Don’t look at me like that, dark humor’s my coping mechanism, okay?)
We’ll be keeping an eye on the comment sections and on various social media platforms and may include some of your comments/speculation (with attribution) in 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 5 and 6!
