Welcome back to the Words of Radiance Reread on Tor.com! Last week, a tentative expedition to observe a chasmfiend chrysalis and gather information ended in an unexpected Parshendi sighting and a collapsing bridge. This week, Kaladin and Shallan find themselves the only two who somehow survived the fall, with one day to make their way back through the chasms to the warcamp before the next highstorm hits. No pressure, though.
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 69: Nothing
Point of View: Kaladin, Shallan
Setting: the chasms
Symbology: Pattern, Jezrien, Shalash
IN WHICH Kaladin falls; Syl screams; Kaladin gets a rush of Stormlight and hits the bottom; he wakes, hurting but alive; Shallan Davar appears around a corner, and they scare the daylights out of one another; she explains the bridge’s emergency latch; they search the bodies nearby, but no one else survived the 200-foot fall; Kaladin mendaciously credits windspren for protecting the two of them, though privately he wonders how he saved her as well as himself; they confirm that neither Dalinar nor Adolin are among the corpses; however, there are dead spearmen and Parshendi, verifying that there was a skirmish of some sort; they determine that a highstorm is due the following night, and that they should try to get back to the warcamps through the chasms; Shallan reflects on the fall, and Pattern’s speculation that the Stormlight had somehow kept her alive; she assumes that somehow she’d inadvertently saved Kaladin, too, and is grateful that he’s superstitious enough to believe the folktales about the windspren; as they trek through the chasm, Shallan can’t keep from noticing the beauty of the plant life here in the chasm; Kaladin is less than chivalrous, but finally takes Shallan’s pack of waterskins while she carries her satchel; Shallan tries to be pleasant—if snarky—and Kaladin snarls back; they snap back and forth and toss accusations at each other, getting louder and louder until they hear a noise that puts a stop to it: the sound of an approaching chasmfiend; they run.
Quote of the Week
“Storms,” she said, hurrying to catch up. “That was supposed to be lighthearted. What would it take to make you relax, bridgeboy?”
“I guess I’m just a… what was it again? A ‘hateful man’?”
“I haven’t seen any proof to the contrary.”
“That’s because you don’t care to look, lighteyes. Everyone beneath you is just a plaything.”
“What?” she said, taking it like a slap to the face. “Where would you get that idea?”
“It’s obvious.”
“To whom? To you only? When have you seen me treat someone of a lesser station like a plaything? Give me one example.”
“When I was imprisoned,” he said immediately, “for doing what any lighteyes would have been applauded for doing.”
“And that was my fault?” she demanded.
“It’s the fault of your entire class. Each time one of us is defrauded, enslaved, beaten, or broken, the blame rests upon all of you who support it. Even indirectly.”
“Oh please,” she said. “The world isn’t fair? What a huge revelation! Some people in power abuse those they have power over? Amazing! When did this start happening?”
I really do like Kaladin. Honest, I do. But this particular attitude annoys me no end and makes me want to pound on his head. Honestly, how can his imprisonment possibly be construed as an example of her treating people of lesser station as playthings? Later in the conversation he brings up the boots, which she acknowledges as a fair point, but her point is much stronger: he’s looking for excuses to do what he wants to do and blame someone else for “making him” that way. Which is the whole root of what’s going on with him right now.
Commentary
This really launches the worst stretch of Kaladin’s arc, in my mind. He no longer has access to Stormlight, or to his constant companion, confidant, adviser, and sense of humor. Arguably, with the loss of Syl’s company, his sense of perspective—already skewed by imprisonment—suffers almost irreparable damage.
If you were following the discussion this past week, a very cogent statement was made regarding the Windrunner bond. To boil it way down, the synergy between the behavior and the relationship is one of constructive interference—but it goes both ways. The desired behavior reinforces the budding relationship, and the strengthening relationship reinforces the desired behavior, and it’s just not possible to have one without the other. But “constructive interference” can be a two-edged sword—when the results are undesirable, it’s also known as a vicious cycle.
Allow me to tell a story, completely unrelated to epic fantasy. Many years ago, I was working on an aerospace project, and we got word that the test flight was returning in… interesting condition. When the aircraft came in for its landing, the guys in the control tower burst out laughing and asked the flight crew incredulously what on earth they’d done with their tail. The flight crew was baffled—they hadn’t known anything was wrong, though the rudder had seemed a bit sluggish on the way in. Turned out that in the testing, the last event in the kick test had set up a harmonic oscillation in the rudder that essentially tore the tail off. (Let me tell you, it’s a weird feeling to look at a 707 whose tail fin appears to have been ripped away like a piece of paper. From then on, the call sign for the aircraft series was “Gecko”—because how many airplanes can still fly with 1/3 of a tail?) But the point is, this test has been done with dozens and dozens of aircraft; this one was structured a little differently, and when the rudder was kicked under certain conditions, instead of coming back to a center balance, each flip of the rudder created further momentum, until it was flipping back and forth so hard the metal couldn’t take the strain, and it tore apart.
I’m sure you can see the analogy. When things were going well, every honorable thing Kaladin did reinforced his bond with Syl, and as she got stronger, his powers and his ability to do honorable things increased. But when things went badly, each vengeful impulse tore at the bond, weakening it; the less she could influence him, the more his instincts turned from honor to vengeance. Finally, it’s torn, and there’s no more Stormlight. No more tiny piece of a god to tweak his nose when his thoughts turn sour. No more Windrunning, no more incredible healing, no more Kaladin Stormblessed.
Stormwatch
This is, of course, the same day as the previous chapter. The countdown is at ten.
Sprenspotting
I have to start this with a series of quotations:
Syl screamed, a terrified, painful sound that vibrated Kaladin’s very bones. In that moment, he got a breath of Stormlight, life itself.
—-
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? The distant voice sounded like rumbling thunder.
—-
I got some Stormlight right at the end, he thought. I survived. But that scream! It haunted him, echoing in his mind. It had sounded too much like the scream he’d heard when touching the duelist’s Shardblade in the arena.
The following is speculation, of course, but I have suspected that what happened here was Sylphrena voluntarily spending her last remaining Physical connection to grant Kaladin the Stormlight he would need to survive and heal from the fall. Without sufficient autonomy to determine for herself what “honor” looks like, she had yet enough autonomy to make the choice to sacrifice herself to save his life. I think that the rumbling-thunder-voice is the Stormfather speaking to Syl in the Cognitive realm, because he doesn’t think the outcome was worth the price.
However… I feel like I’m missing something; I can’t quite put my finger on some elusive piece. Why did her choice have a result so similar to the Recreance? Or am I wrong? Did Kaladin manage to pull the Stormlight through her, against her will, and destroy her Physical presence in the process?
Gah. I’m missing something; I think there’s something about this event that should give us a clue as to what really happened at the Recreance. What we’ve actually been told so far came from either handed-down tradition (in-world “Words of Radiance”), or the external observation of a soldier (Dalinar’s vision). I think there’s a hint in here of the spren’s perspective on what the Recreance was about, and I can’t tease it out.
*sigh*
Help a girl out here, folks. Pummel this around and see if you can get hold of a thread to pull.
And having now mixed my metaphors into a muddy brown paste, let’s move on, shall we?
All Creatures Shelled and Feathered
Trust Shallan to get distracted by the local flora at a time like this! To be fair, though, this would be a unique experience for her. Kaladin has been in the chasms many times before, and besides, he’s not that interested in plants unless he can use them (see: knobweed). Given Shallan’s interests, of course she’s going to be fascinated: while some of these plants are varieties of plants she’s known elsewhere, some may be unique to the chasms. It’s a good thing she has her Memories, because there’s really not a lot of time for study just now.
Ars Arcanum
It’s notable that Pattern could only speculate as to how the Stormlight was able to preserve Shallan despite a fall of 200+ feet. As she says, it proved how little she—or he—knew about her abilities. It doesn’t help matters to have a false data point, either; she’s trying to not only account for saving herself, but for somehow saving Kaladin as well.
It does make me wonder, though. What are the mechanics of an event like this? Did she fall and then heal? Or did the Stormlight somehow protect her from injury in the first place? The same questions should probably apply to Kaladin, but I can at least think that Windrunner reflexes would let him use Stormlight to slow the fall, and then heal himself from whatever other injuries were sustained. But what does a Lightweaver have in that regard? She’s got Illumination and Transformation; how do those help? Or… is it like the explanation in the (officially not-yet-canonical) Jasnah excerpt, where someone holding enough Stormlight will just immediately and automatically heal from any injury short of a crushing blow to the head?
Heraldic Symbolism
The Heralds for this chapter are, appropriately enough, those associated with the respective Orders of our two would-be (or wouldn’t-be) Radiants: Jezrien for the Windrunner and Shalash for the Lightweaver. Suitable, since it’s only their bonds that allowed them to survive. They’re also singularly apt in the roles these two take, however faulty their execution: Kaladin takes the lead (though he doesn’t do much protecting), while Shallan is both bluntly honest and determinedly artistic despite the desperate situation.
Shipping Wars
And thus begins the series of events leading to the Kaladin/Shallan ship—a ship which I most fervently disavow. While the trope of “they fight and fight and all of a sudden they’re in love” is a staple of romance novels, and is not infrequently seen in fantasy, it’s hard to write believably, IMO. This is one (of many) reasons that I really hope Sanderson doesn’t decide to bring Kaladin and Shallan together; all wishful fanfic aside included, it would be bloody awful trying to make these two complement one other while maintaining both continuity and any semblance of credibility.
There. That ought to keep us busy until next week, when these crazy kids have a narrow escape from a nightmare.
Alice Arneson is a long-time Tor.com commenter and Sanderson beta-reader. Believe it or not, she used to be an engineer, which is how she realized that she loved writing. Go figure.
When we see Kaladin fall from a height, stormlight explodes from him on impact. The release of stormlight seems to absorb the kinetic energy of the fall.
OT3 aside, Kaladin and Shallan’s arc here seems to echo Kaladin and Adolin’s arc. First hostility and then friendship. I think their abysmal emotional intelligence will cause all sorts of drama until Kaladin settles into a solid friendship with the two of them.
This part of Kaladin’s story arc was pretty dark, but I think it’s going to alter his attitude towards life significantly, and especially towards Syl.
I agree, Kaladin and Shallan aren’t a good romantic match. They’ll make pretty good friends, though, after they learn to actually communicate with people other than their spren.
Alice, I support your theory that Syl somehow someway took an affirmative action that allowed Kaladin just enough Stormlight for him to survive the fall.
I think the “what have you done” quote (which I agree with you was said by the Stormfather) was because had Syl not done what she did, Kaladin would have died. The Syl would be “free” (in the Stormfather’s mind) of her connection with the Son of Honor. As one of his “daughters”, the Stormfather is against spren (at least honorspren) from initiating the Nahal bond. Her saving Kaladin (or allowing him to save himself) kept in tact the bond between Syl and Kaladin. It also kept alive the possibility that had Kaladin continued to veer away from his instincts of honor, then Syl would eventually die in the same manner that the spren who were bonded to the KR died during the Recreance.
Thanks for reading my musings.
AndrewHB
aka the musespren
I just want to say that the constant complaints about Kaladin’s attitude towards lighteyes is really starting to bug me. Does Shallan directly deserve his abuse? Probably not but it is completely understandable and he is not wrong that all lighteyes are to blame for their treatment of darkeyes. What is he supposed to say? Yes sir, whatever you say sir, thank you sir may I please have another? Would anyone have this opinion if Kaladin was a tortured African American slave put in command of an Army in the Civil War?
That being said, I do agree with Dalinar that the best thing Kaladin could do for his people is to play the role in a Jackie Robinson mold. Suck it up, take it and lead by being the best but I can not and will not blame someone for choosing to speak out and act against it if they so choose. If no one is allowed to point out the problem, nothing will ever change.
wingracer @@.-@ – “he is not wrong that all lighteyes are to blame for their treatment of darkeyes.” I have to disagree with you on that. Holding Shallan responsible for Elhokar’s decision is childish. For that matter, Kaladin didn’t have any general complaints about lighteyes for most of his life. Wistiow was a good man and a good citylord; the darkeyes in hearthstone, while they sometimes complained about life, didn’t have any reason to blame the lighteyes for it. I don’t believe Wistiow was alone in being a good lighteyes – in fact, I would bet that in the large majority, there’s far less conflict between lighteyes and darkeyes than Kaladin would admit.
Is it a good system? Meh. Does it sometimes put unscrupulous people in a position to abuse others? Of course – show me a system that doesn’t! Does it sometimes create intolerable conditions for some people, while others seem to have it easier? Again, of course – but show me a system that doesn’t. The problem, IMO, is not lighteyes and darkeyes, or a social system that is very hierarchical in nature – the problem is human nature and uncontrolled selfishness.
I’m not the kind of reader who gets angry at Kaladin for his feelings and reactions, especially when the details of Alethi social structure are involved. His journey has always been a struggle to understand people as individuals apart from their group affiliations, just as he wants to be considered on his own merits. As we’ve read and discussed the low points of Kaladin’s arc in WoR, I’ve maintained that a lot of readers are too harsh in their judgments of him.
At this point, I don’t think Kaladin is under any obligation to become a Knight Radiant. He neither asked for, nor was prepared for the bond with Syl. It’s hard for me to agree that the “rules” of the Nahel bond with Syl are binding and paramount under those conditions. The damage to the bond results from a disparity between Syl’s expectations and Kaladin’s actions, but I can’t say that Kaladin’s behavior rises above anything more than frustrating because we know the direction his arc must take.
There are interesting parallels between Kaladin and the bonding spren, especially the Stormfather. Both are deeply wounded by their past experiences with power structures and people they don’t quite understand. Both are justified in feeling burned by their suffering at the hands of others. Because of that suffering, both are reticent to trust members of the same group who harmed them before. We hear independently from Pattern (in his matter-of-fact way) and from the Stormfather that Nahel bonds are expected to end in the death of the bonding spren, based on their interpretation of the Recreance. Yet, the spren and the Stormfather in particular, don’t come in for heavy criticism of their distrust toward humans.
I’m glad that Kaladin and Shallan have breakthrough in their future and decide to learn about each other. Afterward, Kaladin does rightfully feel sheepish for making assumptions about the ease of Shallan’s life. But I do think he’s justified in seeing the institution of lighteyed power as oppressive because many of his interactions with it have been negative.
I just reread the full book with my boyfriend, who was reading for the first time. His thoughts about what happened during the fall that were similar to Alice’s. His notion was that when Kaladin made that last desperate inhalation, Syl allowed her being to be taken into his body in place of the Stormlight he couldn’t access.
I agree with Alice that we are seeing Kaladin here at a low point – both literally and figuratively. He is frightened at the ostensible loss of Syl as well as his surge-binding powers. He is in a perilous situation where he might conceivably be able to find a place in the chasms amenable to his climbing above the flood water level. However, he is honor bound to save Adolin’s ‘betrothed’ even if he dislikes her. Her snarkiness certainly doesn’t help his mood and leads to a series of mutual shouted insults. Of course, he is wrong to blame Shallan for anything bad that has happened to him – other than being forced to give up his boots (a relatively minor matter for which she has apologized). Had she been less snarky and more empathetic or realistic, she would have realized that taunting and arguing is counterproductive. They need to marshal all their resources to escape what could easily be a death-trap. Even Shallan’s stormlight healing power would be insufficient if the expected flood smashed her head violently against a chasm wall. As to the reconciliation and mutual admiration that develops subsequently in the chasms, that may or may not lead to a romantic involvement in the next book. I can see it either way and would prefer not to prejudge the issue. Certainly stranger matches have occurred in the real world, and they share high intelligence and curiousity. Moreover, Kaladin needs Shallan’s optimism; while Shallan needs Kaladin’s unshakeable support and intense interest. However, she is physically attracted to Adolin who has been a better match to her personality. So, we’ll just have to wait and see what develops.
Halien @6 – Nice observation; I hadn’t actually considered the inherent contradiction in Kaladin’s attitudes. He wants to be valued individually, and yet he can’t readily grant lighteyes the individual valuations he so much craves. Fascinating…
::steeples fingers thoughtfully::
Something I have to constantly remind myself – and hence, y’all get it too – is that there is a difference between “understandable” and “justifiable”. It’s understandable that Kaladin holds all lighteyes responsible for his treatment – but it’s really not justifiable, because there are only a few who actually gave him the treatment he so resents.
@7 STBLST
Fear is always lurking in the background of Kaladin’s thoughts, even when it’s not rational. He keeps telling Syl he’s afraid that the lighteyes would find a way to take away their bond and his growing powers.
He is duty-bound to protect her, but it ends up being just as much of her saving him as him saving her.
On the one hand, I think some people feel sympathy for Kaladin because this particular hierarchical system, like slavery in the US, is based on physical characteristics that he had no control over.
On the other hand, I think some people get frustrated with him because when he perceives mistreatment (which is different from when mistreatment actually occurs), his immediate reaction is to sink to, or even below, the level of his “oppressors.”
His ethos is all wrong.