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lisasstars · 3 years

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Ok I have finished Oathbringer… one word to sum it up… PHENOMENAL!! ❤️

My thoughts: Spoiler free!

Brandon Sanderson is incredible of making amazing worlds and such intriguing well developed plot and characters. The plot is so intricate and layered, with so many secrets that when you discover one secret another secret is formed waiting to be revealed.

So much happens in the book that you feel like your on a rollercoaster but is well balanced as there are moments of conversation and development of characters that break in between the action to slow down one scene to then focus on another one.

Characters:

Dalinar Kholin: I love Dalinar! He is such a well developed character and I adored finding out about his life back in his youth and how much he has changed as the tyrant he was into the man he has become. His life was filled with sorrow and pain, but I found it all so intriguing as there was light in his life and I think this book really emphasises on the point that even though there is tragedy in one’s life there is also hope and the ability to carry on. I felt really sorry for the people in his life back in his youth and how his actions made them feel, yet still saw the good in him despite his bloodthirsty behaviour. Dalinar has been on journey of finding himself through his past and how his past has moulded him into the man he is today and how he has accepted the pain and his actions he did to carry on the journey he is still going on.

Kaladin Stormblessed: I love Kaladin! What I love about Kaladin is his ability to carry on and protect his people, especially Bridge Four. His determination is admirable and inspiring. I adore seeing him soar and be one with the sky and winds; it’s delightful seeing him feel content and smiling in the skies. His journey is incredible and seeing him come into this new power and the authority that has been given to him is amazing because he truly deserves it. Anytime he feels that he has failed or feel that a death is his fault breaks my heart because he burdens himself with every life with no consideration to his own as he wants to protect everyone. I loved Syl always being there for him and act as a constant being in his life; someone he can depend on and help him when he needs the help. I absolutely loved all the interactions with Bridge Four and how each one helps one another and Kaladin having people looking out for him and in turn he looks out and after them. Bridge Four is built on togetherness and hope; helping each other regardless of past doings and coming through it as together as a family.

Shallan Davar: I love Shallan! It’s heartbreaking to see her personality cracking and the layers coming undone as she has built up such a defence in her mind to warrant her past from leaking out and affecting her, yet the cracks have formed and it’s effecting her, making her confused and troubled. It’s clever how Sanderson intertwines the personalities making them appear completely different people as there are yet are one at the same time. I hope Shallan can talk about her past and can see her heal because she needs to confront things and not let it consume her, while also believing she deserves to be happy and to not blame herself or make her believe she deserved the wrongs in her life. I loved her quips and her ability to smile regardless of everything going on, even if it’s not so good to pretend all the time that’s everything is okay when sometimes it’s alright for things not to be. Her interactions with Kaladin are funny as they understand one another and know and can help each other, with the helps of puns. Her interactions with Adolin are so cute and I loved that he saw her, Shallan, not her other personalities and that he is someone who she can depend on and to ground her and bring her back to the real her not the ones she has created.

Adolin Kholin: I love Adolin! He is such a compassionate, loyal, loving character who wants to help in anyway he can and be there for the people he cares about. He doesn’t judge anyone regardless of their station or who they are and cares and protects those who need help. I love seeing his friendship grow with Kaladin and seeing them care for one another and Adolin knowing when something is up and tries to help him by getting Kaladin to talk and open up. I really loved seeing Adolin being vulnerable and appear uncertain because it showed that he isn’t always the confident, happy go lucky person he appears to be; that he does have vulnerabilities and does worry about his place in the world, especially with Shallan as she is a Radiant. I adored his interactions with Shallan as they are so cute and funny together. His ability to make her feel safe and grounded is adorable because he acts as a focus to her and someone who doesn’t judge but cares for her and to let her talk to him in her own time without pushing her into talking. I love how he knows the difference between Shallan and the other personalities, Veil and Radiant, and loves Shallan and brings her back to the present.

Honourable mentions:

Renarin Kholin: Love him! I feel so sorry for him yet love how he is embracing himself and finding his place in the world with the support from Bridge Four and his family.

Jasnah Kholin: I love her ability to stand up for herself and take no nonsense from anyone and embracing herself and her beliefs yet cares and fights for her family.

Navani Kholin: I really love the authority and the ability to take charge or situations and to remain care and collected in a logical yet protective way especially towards Dalinar and her family.

Evi Kholin: I felt so sorry for her and the life she has lead as she is a pure loving soul who only wants peace for the world and her family, yet circumstances made it not possible for her.

Bridge Four: I love all the members and it was really great hearing from some of their perspectives. They make me laugh and cry for them; both separately and together.

Elhokar Kholin: I loved how he accepted his mistakes and wanted to change them and make himself a better man for himself, the kingdom and his family.

Lift: I love her. She makes me laugh with her non-filter dialogue and how she says it how it is with no consideration to how the words appear to everyone else.

Szeth: I love seeing him grow and try to make up wrong doings by helping the people who need the help, even if he is plagued by his own thoughts and nightmares of his past.

Wit: I love Wit and how he comes up with silly stories that hold actual truths and tries to help people along the way with his odd way by speaking advice clouded in a mix of riddles and tales. I loved seeing him help Shallan and giving her hug, to just be there to let her cry and let her emotions and feelings come bare and give her advice to help and heal her.

Venli: I really liked seeing her perspective on the “enemy” side and how she feels about the treatment of her people and where she fits in in all the chaos of the war.

In conclusion, I loved Oathbringer because it rang with hope and the ability to change and be there for the people you love. Through the strength of love and togetherness. Brandon Sanderson is exceptional of creating a complex plot that doesn’t overpower or overshadow the characters and vice versa. The story and description is so detailed that it makes you believe you are actually there and living the world and the characters’s lives. Despite being over 1000 pages long I found myself wanting more and more because I never wanted it to end. Truly incredible!! 💕💕

No spoilers for the next book, Rhythm Of War, please. Thank you!

How I feel about the book. 👇👇 AMAZING!!! ♥️

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sunroseofthewood · 4 years

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I've seen a few people saying that Moash is a foil to Kaladin, and while I think that is true to an extent, I want to really point out who I think Moash is a much bigger and better foil to: Dalinar

See, Dalinar's whole deal in Oathbringer is coming to realize your mistakes and take responsibility for them, and move forward from them; the idea of "the next step". Cultivation's influence causes him to come to terms with his past, and it all culminates in this one moment at the finale where Odium asks for Dalinar's pain, and were Dalinar to accept, he would have become Odium's champion. Normally, had Cultivation not done what she'd done, the sudden reveal of Dalinar's past to him in that moment on Thaylen Field would have absolutely destroyed Dalinar, and he would have given in and let Odium take his pain.

And this is the key difference between Dalinar and Moash and the reason they are such foils to one another: the idea of responsibility. Dalinar doesn't let Odium take his pain; instead he accepts responsibility for his past actions, moves forward, rejects Odium, and, for a brief moment, becomes Unity.

Moash, on the other hand, is all about letting others take the blame. He conspired to kill the king? Oh, that was Graves, the Diagram. The Everstorm has come? Nothing I can do about it. Might as well let things happen to me. The Fused have given me an honorblade and commanded me to kill Elhokar? Alright, but only cause they told me. I am exaggerating a little here, but if you read Moash's chapters, they just exude passivity, of just letting things happen to him, not taking action himself. Moash finds himself in a singer camp, and just accepts it. He's given a mission by the Fused, and instead of rejecting it or even being eager to take on the task, he is simply indifferent.

This is because he doesn't accept responsibility for what he does. If he's inactive, it isn't his fault. This is all Odium's doing. And I want to highlight something here: this is exactly what it means to be of Odium. To be consumed by your emotions, to let them drive you, to not make choices, to let Odium take responsibility and control you, that is what it is to be of Odium. This is why the Fused take such notice of Moash and why Moash is the complete and utter opposite of Dalinar: he has decided to stop caring, to stop taking responsibility, and let Odium take full control of him--exactly the opposite of what Dalinar does.

I'm going to get on a tiny theory now, but I think this tangent of thought prompts it. Dalinar, directly after he rejects Odium, becomes Unity for a moment (presumably briefly preparing the Shard of Honor? It's unclear). Moash, as we've seen, is the embodiment of what it means to be of Odium. I think it's very likely that now, in the wake of Dalinar having messed up Odium's plans, he will turn to Moash as his champion, a man who so perfectly has placed all responsibility for his actions onto Odium. This might have even started happening with the assassination of Jezrien as Moash's first mission as champion. (However, with Brandon, who knows what will happen wrt Odium's champion)

Anyway, those are my thoughts.

#cosmere #stormlight archive #stormlight #oathbringer #cfsbf #dalinar #dalinar kholin #moash #fuck moash #theory #stormlight theory

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velkynkarma · 4 years

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(stormlight anon) one thing I'm learning from the Dalinar flashbacks is that this one post, saying that before Gavilar's death the Kholin family woulda been the evil tyrant family, has a whole lotta merit and I'm just so incredibly proud of this family for learning and growing and casting aside that future

Oh yeah, Stormlight anon, that’s what I find so fascinating about this series as a whole and Dalinar in particular.

In the first two books we’re introduced to, Dalinar is the spitting image of a classical D&D paladin. He’s all about following the rules (even if they seem silly). He’s all about honor and duty. He’s very much about etiquette and form in how it relates to honor and how he and his men ought to be perceived—wearing a simple uniform and not adhering to fashions but instead dressing practically, not drinking while on duty, no dueling against comrade soldiers, etc. He’s all about protecting his people and respecting every soldier under his command, even if it means leaping into the fight first in order to pave the way for the common soldier. He even treats servants and slaves honorably and respectfully, to the point that even Kaladin, who distrusts all Lighteyes and believes honor is dead, admits by the end of book 2 that Dalinar is just about the only honorable man to exist in this world. He’s a soldier but he treats life as sacred and precious anyway, to the point when he was willing to trade his shardblade for the lives of every single bridge slave and then acknowledge their importance and make them soldiers.

He’s a perfect paladin. Surely somebody like this must have always been honorable, right? He must have grown up like this, right? Nobody becomes like this, right? Sure, he talks about thinking it’s his fault his brother died since the beginning of the series, but that’s probably just that classic ‘responsible’ archetype right? The one who blames himself for failures even when he did everything he could.

Which is why it’s such a shock to learn he was the spitting image of a bloodthirsty warlord prior. He’s an objectively terrible person. Reading Dalinar’s flashbacks is almost painful, because he’s just...an awful person, and it’s kind of like digging up a lot of dirt on someone you’ve grown to respect, and it makes you feel a little sick to your stomach.

But at the same time you know he’s not that anymore. You still don’t know how he got there yet, and what made that change. But you know he did make that change. Something made him see differently. Something made him shape the fuck up and do his best to fix himself. He’s not perfect, and you can see more of it now that you know he’s got those darker things in him (the way he beats the crap out of Elhokar and basically forces him to put Dalinar in charge comes to mind). But he’s trying to change, and you can see how he lives by those words of honor that he quotes all the time and that he believes them.

And that’s just an amazing transformation to understand, because if he can do that, maybe others can too. Everything about the way he is now takes on so much more meaning because it’s a version of himself Dalinar chose to be and strives to live up to every day. And that’s really cool.

Plus it also totally explains some other things too. Like why he kept giving Sadeas so much leeway. Dalinar could change. He genuinely believes others can too. Or why he’s so reluctant to forcibly take command and shape up the army as he sees fit, and lets others push him around for the longest time. He could do it so easily, but he doesn’t want to go back to being seen like that bloodthirsty side of him.

It’s a really interesting character development to see.

#Velkynkarma answers #stormlight archive #stormlight spoilers #stormlight anon #Anonymous

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emjenenla · 5 years

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I’m safe inside the light, so go on do your worst Part Three [A Stormlight Archive Fanfic]

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

Elhokar was a failure at everything he’d ever done. He’d failed as a son, as a warrior and as a king. He saw no reason to fail as a Knight Radiant too. Or the one where Elhokar swears to the first Ideal at the end of WoK.

Warnings: Domestic Violence, Self-Esteem Issues

**Comes back after over two months with this pathetic offering** Sorry, about the wait. I actually have a lot of part four written so hopefully there won't be as much of a wait.

NOTE: While I don’t like Dalinar, I don’t believe that his actions towards Elhokar are consciously malicious. Until halfway through Oathbringer, Dalinar is incapable of realizing that what he did to Elhokar in WoK was wrong and therefore it never crosses his mind that Elhokar might be traumatized by what happened. Dalinar never intends to actually kill Elhokar if it becomes convenient, but he also doesn’t realize Elhokar believes that he would. I’m saying this because I realized that since I’ve never written a meta about Dalinar you have no way of telling the difference between how I interpret Dalinar’s intentions and how Elhokar does.

When Dalinar announced the latest part of his mad plan, Elhokar didn’t even bother wasting time wondering if he was serious. If he’d been less of a coward he might have simply put his head down on the table and groaned, but as it was he just sat stiffly and let everyone else react around him.

“Brightlord, I know we have discussed this before,” Teshav said, “but I think that the objections raised during that discussion still stand. You’re talking about reforming the storming Knights Radiant, people aren’t going to be okay with that.”

“They’re going to have to get used to it,” Dalinar said. Was he trying to sound to self-assured or was that just how his voice was? “The world is changing and people need to change with it.”

“When people normally say that,” Shadow grumbled from Elhokar’s shoulder. “They are talking about legitimate progress not shaping the world to the whims of a old man with delusions of grandeur.”

“I’m not sure I understand how you chose Amaram for this position,” Navani said. “What makes him the right person?”

“He’s an honorable man,” Dalinar said. “He will lead the new Knights Radiant well.”

“Why don’t you just lead them yourself?” Elhokar muttered under his breath. He was a bit surprised by himself for saying it; it appeared Shadow was rubbing off on him. She buzzed appreciatively.

Dalinar looked at him eyebrows raised. Elhokar’s stomach clenched. “Do you have something to add, son?”

“No,” Elhokar muttered ducking his head. “Sorry for interrupting.”

Dalinar looked at him for another moment then nodded curtly and returned to his conversation with Teshav.

~~~~

“Do you have the wording down?” Dalinar asked as they rode to the dueling arena to watch Adolin’s duel Elit.

“I’ve got it,” Elhokar confirmed. “I’ve been practicing the script you gave me. I have it memorized.”

Dalinar nodded in a slightly satisfied manner. “Good.”

The duel and then boon scheme was actually a really good plan, the best one his uncle had ever attempted as far as Elhokar was concerned, which was probably because the girl Shallan Davar has been the one to come up with it. Elhokar was cautiously optimistic about this working and his high profile role in it meant that he would be directly responsible for correcting the error in judgment that had caused him to appoint Sadeas Highprince of Information in the first place. Shadow still got a little huffy when he referred to it like that but the way Elhokar saw it he really should have known better than to trust either of the two men who had helped his father kill his way into power.

“You’re sure?” Dalinar asked again after barely a minute had passed. He was actually really worried about this plan and Elhokar couldn’t tell if it was because he factored so prominently in it, or if Dalinar just really wanted to get Sadeas. He wasn’t sure which he wanted to be.

“I’ve got it,” he assured his uncle again. “It will be fine.”

~~~~

The thing about Elhokar’s life that was somewhere between sad and ironic was that even when he did his utmost to be helpful and not to mess anything up, he always did anyway.

After everything at the duel fell apart, Elhokar practically fled back to the palace. Kaladin Stormblessed was in prison and Sadeas had wormed his way out the trap. It was all Elhokar’s fault.

Elhokar slammed the door to his chambers in the face of his guards. Both were members of the old lighteyed guard. None of the bridgemen had even moved to follow when he’d left. Elhokar figured that they’d officially gone from simply being willing to stand by and let him die on Dalinar’s orders to actively wanting him dead which was always a bad thing for your bodyguards. Things had never been worse.

Elhokar poured himself a goblet of violet wine. It was a pointless thing to do, but there was nothing he could do now. He knew what was coming, and he’d decided that he didn’t want to be completely sober for it.

“I messed up,” he said to Shadow. His hands were shaking so badly he could barely raise the goblet to his mouth without spilling it. “I really, really messed up this time.”

She did not insult him by denying it. “I’ll be right here with you,” she said. “No matter what happens.”

“Thank you,” Elhokar whispered.

There were voices outside in the hallway. Elhokar drained the rest of the goblet and set it next to the pitcher before carefully stepping to the center of the room, trying to brace himself as best he could. The door opened and Dalinar Kholin, the Blackthorn, stalked him. His face was a mask of annoyance and his body was held stiffly. He did not look happy that his plans had been spoiled yet again.

Elhokar had entertained some small hopes of being able to meet Dalinar’s wrath in a manly, stoic way fitting of a king, but the instant he saw his uncle the small measure of courage he’d managed to summon collapsed.

“I’m sorry; I panicked,” he said, his words tripping over each other as they raced to get out of his body. “I had practiced just giving Adolin the boon, and I didn’t know what to do when-”

“Do you understand how far behind Sadeas this has put us, son?” Dalinar interrupted. His voice was cool, much cooler than it had been the day he had thrown Elhokar around the room, but that did not make Elhokar feel any safer. He backed away by instinct, cursed himself for the cowardice, but didn’t stop.

“You knew what you were supposed to do,” Dalinar said. He sounded so calm. It was worse that it would have been if he was yelling. How was Elhokar supposed to know when he was going to attack like this? “There were ways to deal with Captain Kaladin without letting Sadeas get away. I was trusting you to find them.”

Elhokar’s back hit the wall. There was no where else to retreat to. When was Dalianar going to attack? When was he going to say that he had decided Elhokar wasn’t worth the effort necessary to keep him alive? Elhokar was shaking so hard he felt like he was going to collapse. He could hear buzzing, but he wasn’t sure if it was Shadow or his own ears.

“I’m sorry,” he whimpered.

Dalinar ran a hand through his hair. “I know you are, son,” he said. “We were just so close…”

“Brightlord,” a voice said.

Dalinar turned towards the guard standing in the doorway. “Yes?”

The guard--Koen--saluted. “Brightlady Navani Kholin is outside. Do you want to see her?”

“Yes,” Dalinar said. “Let her in.”

Koen nodded and saluted again before heading out of the room. Dalinar didn’t look away from the door and Elhokar tried to pull himself back to together. He cursed himself for being so weak. A real Alethi man would be able act unaffected, but it had already been established that Elhokar was a failure at everything even performing gender. He shouldn’t be surprised by how weak and unmasculine he was being.

Koen held the door open and Navani came in. She looked just as frustrated as Dalinar had. “I can’t see any loopholes in Sadeas’s response,” she said to Dalinar. “I’ll look more thoroughly, but I don’t think we’re going to be able to get him and Adolin into a dueling ring any sooner than next year like he specified.”

Elhokar wanted to melt into the floor from shame.

“Thank you for trying,” Dalinar said. He sounded tired not angry, which didn’t make any sense.

Navani looked past Dalinar. “Are you alright, Elhokar?”

Too late, Elhokar realized he was still leaning against the wall like he was about to slide down to the floor (which to be fair, he was). He attempted to straighten up. “I’m okay,” he said in a disgusting, trembling voice. “Everything’s fine.” He winced. What a lie.

“Elhokar,” Navani said. “It’s alright. You’re not to blame for panicking; the bridgeman was out of line and should have realized that what he did would mess up the plan. There were better ways you could have dealt with the situation, but we’ll find another way to corner Sadeas.”

Elhokar couldn’t handle it. He couldn’t see Dalinar’s face so he had no idea how he was reacting to what Navani was saying. Elhokar needed to get out of here. As far as he knew Navani didn’t know what Dalinar had done to convince Elhokar to name him Highprince of War. Dalinar had probably never told her and Elhokar didn’t want to know what Dalinar would do if the secret somehow got out. He needed to get away from here before he did something to blow it.

“I’m sorry,” he got out. His voice was still trembling. “But I have...something...that I need to be doing. I should go.”

He left the room without waiting for a response.

~~~~

Surprisingly, Dalinar never moved to restart a conversation about Elhokar’s failure at the duel. Elhokar had no idea why that was, but waiting for it was almost worse than it happening. He was barely sleeping. He was drinking more than ever. He was drowning in his own failure. Shadow tried to help, but Elhokar was mostly tuning her out these days. None of her encouragement was helpful, especially not now that there was ample proof that everything she said about him was a lie.

When Dalinar and the others made their plans to march into the Shattered Plains to take the Parshendi in their own home, Elhokar stayed out of the way. He’d made it blatantly clear that he ruined any plan he touched so it was for that was for the best. He couldn’t even look any of the bridgeman guards in the face and half expected one to put a spear through his back in revenge. He half believed that was what he deserved.

~~~~

In some ways, everyone leaving for the Shattered Plains and traditional Alethi glory was a relief, if only because it meant he could drink himself into a stupor without worrying about his mother or Dalinar walking in on him. Elhokar paced his chambers, goblet held in one hand. He was steady on his feet, but fully aware that was only because of the Stormlight. Shadow buzzed tensely on his shoulder. “Maybe you should stop,” he said. “Or at least eat something; I’m worried about you.”

“You shouldn't be,” Elhokar said. “I’ve destroyed everything.”

“Elhokar-”

“Don’t give me any more of that,” Elhokar spat. “This is exactly why I never wanted to become king. I never told you that before, did I? I wasn’t really sad when my father died; I just really didn’t want to be king. Granted, Dalinar was the only one who really was sad; Jasnah took our father’s death as a person failure, and I don’t know how Mother felt, but still: my father died and I was more worried about taking the position I’d been raised for from birth than sad for him!”

“Oh,” Shadow said in a strange tone of voice. “You realize that was a Truth, don’t you? Elhokar-”

And then Elhokar was falling through nothing. He reached out, fingers stretching for a table or a chair or anything to grab on to, but there was nothing. He braced himself to slam into the Soulcast stone floor, but he didn’t. He splashed into an ocean of beads.

He sunk down into the beads, the descent slower than water but still steady. They closed over his head and he struggled, trying to swim back to the surface, but he just kept sinking further and further down. He thrashed in panic, but that only made him sink faster. Vaguely he could hear Shadow screaming for him, but he couldn’t respond. There were beads in his ears and mouth and throat. He was going to drown in them. He was going to die here, wherever here was. He wanted to return to his chambers were it was safe. He wanted to go back to badly.

He back hit solid stone and the beads vanished. He was lying on his back on his chamber floor. Shadow was twisting in terrified circles next to his head, buzzing loudly.

“What was that?” he asked. His voice sounded wrong even though the beads were all gone. There was not even a taste left. “Please tell me it was a dream.”

“That was Shadesmar,” Shadow said tremulously. She was almost as freaked out as he was. “In time you’ll learn to-”

Elhokar didn’t wait to hear the rest of what she was going to say. He scrambled to his feet which were now unsteady for reasons that had nothing to do with all the alcohol he’d consumed. He crossed to the door and hauled it open. “Moash?”

“Yes?” Moash asked. “Your Majesty?” For something reason his honorifics always sounded tacked on, like he had to remind himself to say them.

“Get my carriage,” Elhokar ordered. “I need to speak to your captain.”

~~~~

Kaladin Stormblessed was supposed to be confined to his quarters recovering from his chasmfiend wounds, too weak to come to the palace to supervise his men. Elhokar knew this because he’d asked for the man once or twice figuring that was probably what he was supposed to do in Dalinar’s absence and had been told that the bridgeman couldn’t come. Elhokar wasn’t sure why he was surprised to find that Kaladin was actually well enough to go on walks around the warcamp in the middle of the Weeping but was still backing out of his duties; after all, Elhokar wouldn’t want to be anywhere near the man that had gotten him thrown into prison either.

Knowing that, Elhokar wasn’t sure why he was standing in the bridgeman’s quarters waiting for him. He should go back to the palace, but he had no idea how to deal with what had just happened to him. Kaladin Stormblessed seemed like the only person who might be able to help. There had always been something not quite normal about him, even before Adolin had sworn up and down that the bridgeman had somehow healed from a Shardblade wound during the Assassin’s attack.

“Your Majesty?” a voice asked just as Elhokar was starting to wonder if the bridgeman was ever going to return.

“Ah,” Elhokar said, turning around. “Bridgeman. This is really all that Dalinar assigns one of his officers? That man. He expects everyone to live with his own austerity. It is as if he’s completely forgotten how to enjoy himself.”

Kaladin and Moash exchanged an obviously judging look and Elhokar hoped he wasn’t turning red. He didn’t really care what kind of quarters Dalinar had given Kaladin, he had just wanted to say something to cover up the awkwardness and to keep from getting carried away thinking about how much this man must hate him. Obviously, he’d just made things worse. Again.

He tried again, “I was told you were too weak to make the trip to see me. I see that might not be the case.” Also bad. He winced internally. Can’t you say anything right?

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty,” Kaladin replied. “I’m not well, but I walk the camp each day to rebuild my strength. I feared that my weakness and appearance might be offensive to the Throne.”

“You’ve learned to speak politically, I see,” Elhokar loathed political-speak. It made it much too easy to read between the lines and think the speaker hated you, though, to be fair, most people did hate the people they used political-speak on. “The truth is that my command is meaningless, even to a darkeyes. I no longer have authority in the eyes of men.”

Storms, that was way to honest. He should never have come here. He was panicky, exhausted and just a little too drunk to make good decisions about what to say. He should have waited until he could hold his tongue.

“Out, you other two,” he ordered Moash and Taka. “I’d speak to this man alone.” At least this way he’d only humiliate himself in front of Kaladin.

When Moash and Taka were gone, Elhokar tried to figure out what to say. He hadn’t even know what he’d have said if Kaladin had come to the palace, and he wasn’t entirely sure what had driven him to come here today.

“How did you know how to be a hero?” he blurted out.

The question surprised the bridgeman and it surprised Elhokar for a second too, but only for a second. He was supposed to be a Knight Radiant. How was he supposed to do that if he didn’t know how to be a hero?

Kaladin said something inane about luck and then Elhokar was talking again. He was rambling about how he was always failing at being king and disappointing everyone. He’d never been this honest to anyone other than Jasnah and Shadow, and he could tell that he was making Kaladin uncomfortable. Finally Elhokar managed to rein in the torrent of words and cursed himself for coming here. He was in the exact wrong frame of mind for this.

“I want to be a king like my father was,” he finished. “I want to lead men, and I want them to respect me.”

“I don’t…” Kaladin said. “I don’t know if that’s possible, Your Majesty.”

Elhokar held himself very still. “Do you think me a bad king, bridgeman?” he asked slowly once he’d regained the ability to speak.

“Yes,” Kaladin said.

He had the honestly, the decency, to look Elhokar in the eye as he said it and some very small part of Elhokar was grateful for that even as hearing someone say exactly what he’d feared people believed about him for most of his life tore him apart inside. He tried to balance the full soul-crushing weight of Kaladin’s words where it wouldn’t destroy anything major until he was safely alone.

“Well,” he said because he needed to say something to make it seem like that word hadn’t hurt. Gavilar would have just let the comment roll off and then magically it would have turned into ammunition he could use. Dalinar would have simply killed anyone who insulted him. Elhokar could do neither. All he could do was hang on and hope Kaladin couldn’t see how that little word was going to destroy him. “I did ask. I merely have to win you over as well. I will figure this out. I will be a king to be remembered.” That sounded confident, right? Or did it just sound pathetic? He couldn’t decide.

“Or you could do what is best for Alethkar and step down,” Kaladin said, still brutally honest.

That almost broke Elhokar’s precious wall of calm. “Do not overstep yourself, bridgeman,” he snapped. “I should never have come here.”

“I agree,” Kaladin said, coolly but without a hint of malice.

Elhokar fled. He did not mention the strange place full of beads.

~~~~

After returning from the bridgemen’s barracks, Elhokar headed directly for his chambers. He tried without success to ignore the presence of the other guards, but it was hard. They were whispering and shooting each other looks behind his back. Every once and a while he heard what they were saying, whispers of the same things Kaladin had said. They all thought he was a terrible king who should step down. They all thought Dalinar would be better off in charge.

Perhaps they were right. Who was to say that if Gavilar and Navani hadn’t had another son that child wouldn’t have become king? Perhaps if Gavilar had been able to see the true depths of his son’s weakness and cowardice he would have made Dalinar heir. Elhokar had always assumed that his life would be better if Gavilar had survived but perhaps then his life would have ended in a convenient accident to get rid of an unworthy heir to the throne.

The guards would not stop whispering. It was driving Elhokar mad. He knew he was unfit. He knew that he was failing. Why did they have to rub his face in it?

By the time they reached his chambers he was shaking so badly he could barely stand. He pulled the door open by himself and leaned against it. What did it matter if he looked weak when everyone already knew he was?

“Stay out here,” he told Moash and Taka. His voice was shaking and he hated it. He hated himself.

“But--Your Majesty--” Moash said. “How are we supposed to protect you if we can’t see you?” His tone of voice sounded almost mocking but surely Elhokar was just imagining that.

“I don’t care,” Elhokar growled. “Stay out of my sight.” Then he forced himself into his chambers and slammed the door behind him.

He stumbled across the room and poured a goblet of violet wine. He spilled a not inconsiderable amount all over the table, but he didn’t care. He practically dumped the contents of the goblet down his throat and poured another and then another.

Shadow buzzed sharply. At some point she’s transferred from his shoulder to the table. Though she had no face he got the distinct feeling that she was judging him with a raised eyebrow. “What?” He asked.

“I wish you wouldn’t drink so much,” Shadow said. “Do you feel better about yourself when you do?”

“Does it matter?” Elhokar snapped.

“You don’t need to do this,” Shadow said. “You could do great things if you just tried.”

“Haven’t you been listening?” Elhokar asked. “The only great thing I could do is get out Dalinar’s way.” He downed another swallow of wine.

“Never,” Shadow snarled. “You must never let that man gain any more power than he currently has.”

“But I’m failing,” Elhokar said choking back a sob. “You heard them. They all know it.”

“Then you need to keep trying,” Shadow said. “And if you fail again you need to try again. You are a Knight Radiant; you cannot lie down and let people take everything from you.”

“Where are you pulling these delusions out of?” Elhokar finished off the goblet. “I’m not a Knight Radiant. Amaram is the leader of the Knights Radiant--or he was, at least--and no one would ever let me join magic powers or no magic powers.”

“I chose you not Amaram,” Shadow snarled. “Do you insult me by suggesting that I didn’t know what I was doing?”

“You don’t remember much about before you came here!” Elhokar shot back. He was shouting, but he found he didn’t particularly care if the guards heard. “How do you know that you knew what you were doing?”

“I knew what I was doing,” Shadow said sharply. “I remember enough to know that I knew.”

Elhokar snorted and turned away from her. He went to refill his goblet, then just tossed it aside and drank directly from the bottle. The violet wine burned like fire going down, but he didn’t care, he even enjoyed it.

“Elhokar,” Shadow said, very quietly, almost like she was afraid to set him off again. “Regardless of everything, you really shouldn’t be drinking tonight. Something bad is going to happen. It’s not safe.”

“I don’t care,” Elhokar said and took another swig from the bottle.

#the stormlight archive #stormlight archive #words of radiance #elhokar kholin #dalinar kholin #original spren character #kaladin stormblessed #moash #elhokar kholin has social anxiety #elhokar needs a hug #things are not going well #canon divergent au #I promise this will actually manage to diverge in part four #emjenenla #Emjen writes #tw: domestic violence #tw: self loathing

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basket-of-radiants · 6 years

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OMG!! I DON'T HATE MOASH EITHER!!!! Like I saw Elhokar dying from a mile away and I wasn't that invested in him. Also, Szeth is annoying? Why do people like Szeth (who literally killed SO MANY PEOPLE! And the rock didn't compel him? It was a normal rock?) and hate Moash?

Oooooookay. There’s. A lot to unpack here. I know you were trying to be relatable, but I reeeeeally disagree with a lot of this. (Let’s see how comprehensible I can be this late at night.)

Like first off and most importantly, how dare you call Szeth annoying, he’s my favorite character. He is a massive murderous disaster with the most edgy and Extra™ POV narration I have ever seen and I love him. (You must be new here; this is basically a Szeth fan blog.)

As for Elhokar, I wouldn’t at all say I wasn’t invested-I quite liked him in Oathbringer and I certainly was not happy that he died. I found his arc to be quite compelling, and even though he was late to the game, I appreciate that he was doing his best to assume responsibility in whatever ways he could. Like I dunno, he admitted his mistakes and worked to improve. Maybe it was too little and too late, I don’t think there’s an objective answer to that kind of thing. I do tend to hold characters who are members of the aristocracy to a higher standard than other characters, and I wouldn’t necessarily say he was a good king yet, but he was certainly trying, and that I would have liked to see. (I wasn’t quite as interested in him becoming a radiant, but that plotline didn’t happen anyway in the end so w/e.) I’m not going to be talking about him much, but please know you don’t need to defend him as a person to me, I already appreciate him.

However I don’t see the need to pick Moash or Elhokar over one another. I can understand why if you liked a character then you would hate whoever killed them, but I’m not really like that. Actually I’m glad you brought up Szeth because he’s a great example of that. I have been in love with him since chapter one. In Words of Radiance he tried-and very nearly succeeded-to murder Dalinar, Adolin, and Kaladin. Of course I hoped he wouldn’t succeed. Of course I wanted them to survive. But even if he had killed one-or hell all-of them, I genuinely believe I would still like him as a character. Part of that is Szeth’s circumstances-I know that he never (welllllll) actually had ill will towards these people and I know he’s already going to suffer for any actions he takes. He knew what the right thing was, and he would have done the wrong thing, knowing it was the wrong thing to do. That’s honestly a lot of what attracts me to his character, he has this web of contradictions that he both hates and depends on and it can be fascinating to watch. I both want him to accept responsibility for his actions and find it hard to blame him for them. Moash on the other hand is in a totally different situation, but I feel like I can apply similar principles to him. If I can still appreciate Szeth’s character in spite of all he’s done, then I feel I can do the same for Moash. I happen to not think Moash’s actions were as objectively bad as a lot of people did, but I’ll get to that later.

One thing I do agree with you on is that Szeth is a worse person than Moash. No seriously, if you want to tell me that Moash is bad because of his actions in Oathbringer, you’ll have to convince me that his actions are so bad that they’re worse than all the killing and destabilizing of entire nations that Szeth has done. Again, I don’t entirely blame Szeth, but it is his fault. And if we’re going by actions alone, then he’s done a hell of a lot worse than quite a lot of characters. That’s fine though, because I don’t judge characters by their actions alone. There’s a reason these are told as nuanced stories with the points of view and feelings of different characters taken into account and not as history textbooks just stating the events that happened.

(Hopefully this all ties together. It’s after 2 am and I have no idea where I’m going with this. Be prepared for tangents.)

So! Let’s talk about Moash.

I’m sure I’m not fully representing all the richness of the anti-Moash arguments here because it seems people have spent a lot of time finding reasons to hate him. I’d guess there are a few main reasons? From what I can tell, they are (in no particular order) betraying Kaladin/Bridge Four, Killing Elhokar, Killing Jez, and the whole denying personal responsibility thing. There’s a also just a lot of general hate and calling him an asshole (which I really don’t get? I don’t think he’s ever just been needlessly cruel or anything, I mean he hates lighteyes but that’s about it) but that’s kind of hard to argue about so whatever. Anyway if those are absolute sticking points for you, and you cannot possibly like a character who did those things, then I guess that’s fine, you do you. I’m mostly just going to set out my interpretation of the character and talk a little bit about my beliefs. It’s not really a defense per se, but it’s how I understand him.

I want to talk about the Alethi. Moash’s character is clearly focused heavily on themes of revenge. We’re already not off to a great start here because I personally do not believe in revenge. I do believe in justice, and I think that for Moash the two are one and the same. I also think that for literally the entirety of Alethi culture the ideas of justice and revenge are one and the same. See, that’s something I am willing to blame on circumstance. It’s not just the Alethi, all across Roshar violent crimes (which I would consider the deaths of Moash’s grandparents to be) can be punished by execution, and while, again, I disagree, it’s indisputably the cultural norm. (The act of forgiveness that characters like Kaladin were showing is a radical thing.) In terms of Moash’s vengeance, I find it really hard to condemn that when he’s trying to kill just one guy, if we’re not also going to massively get on Dalinar’s case and Elhokar’s case and fucking everyone else’s case for waging a six year genocide war on the Parshendi for the sake of revenge. Violence is an Alethi cultural value-it has repulsed me since day one but it’s very much undenyable.

That’s just something to mull on, it’s honestly not even one of the more major factors in terms of how I view Moash. His revenge aspect in Oathbringer was less interesting to me than other aspects of him, but as that is a part of his character, I wanted to first set aside why I can…well, set it aside.

In Words of Radiance, Kaladin very much sympathized with Moash. Not only that, he legitimately felt Moash was in the right for a considerable amount of time. The turning point for Kaladin was coming to the realization that Elhokar was an important person to Dalinar, which is all well and good, but it doesn’t actually address these underlying contradictions. I actually found that very frustrating at the time when I read it, so I might not be the most objective judge when it comes to Moash’s betrayal. I do know that before Elhokar’s assassination attempt, Moash had not gone forward with anything until Kaladin was on board. And he didn’t know that Kaladin was “off board” until he was already in the middle of the act. Kaladin, to his credit, did offer him an out, but for someone like Moash who had been working tirelessly in anticipation of this moment…I can understand why he wasn’t that receptive then and there. Moash certainly threw the first punch, but he also felt betrayed in that moment. In Oathbringer, at the core of his anger, there was the thought “Kaladin was protecting a murderer” which was how the whole scene had seemed framed to him. Perspective is crucial for understanding Moash. I guess think if Kaladin’s best friend, after learning the truth about Amaram and all he’d done and acknowledging that it was horrible, had at the last moment put their life on the line to protect him. In the end, Moash still felt terrible about having hurt Kaladin and Kaladin had felt terrible about letting Moash get to that point. Both of them regretted everything having to do with the assassination attempt when they went their separate ways.

I don’t know if it seems like I’m taking Moash’s side here, because I’m honestly not trying to do that, I honestly don’t view it as “sides” I view it as two different characters deserving of understanding.

But again! I actually tend not to think about Elhokar’s death in terms of revenge as much as one might expect!

Next I would like to talk about the circumstances under which Elhokar was killed. Because…it was a battle, you know? People on both sides were killing people on both sides. Moash killed Elhokar, but someone else could have been the hand to hold the spear just as easily. I don’t think there was coincidence, I do think that Moash was intentionally seeking to kill Elhokar once he realized he was there. But here’s my super controversial take? In that kind of situation, revenge or not, I don’t even think he was wrong to do so. Moash’s goal was to help and serve the soldiers on his (the singers’) side. If Elhokar had lived, they would have had a shardbearer and another radiant to have to deal with. Lots of named characters in that scene (god that scene was so sad to read) killed lots of named characters on both sides. If Elhokar’s side had gained the upper hand, Khen and Moash probably would have died. In a situation like that, I’m not really sure I can be mad at him for doing a tactically correct move like that, even if his intentions were more personal.

That’s actually…kind of a big distinction between how I view Moash and how a lot of people do. I know there were a lot of people who were holding out for a potential redemption until Moash killed Jez, but I didn’t…exactly…see it as a thing that needed redeeming. I didn’t want Elhokar to die, of course I didn’t, but Moash was a soldier in combat, who just so happened to be faced off against someone he saw (and not necessarily incorrectly at that) as representative of all the discrimination and suffering he’d endured. What do you expect him to do?

Yes, it sucks that he killed Elhokar while he was in the middle of changing, but you can’t honestly expect Moash to know about that.

I mentioned Jez, so let’s start on him next. I will admit, when I was reading Oathbringer, the point at which Moash killed Jez was a very “what the fuck” moment for me. But…honestly the more I think back on it and try to understand him, the more it seems that that was the obvious course of action for him. After all, at that point in the story, I already knew and had accepted that he had defected to the singers’ side. (God his defection is another really fascinating thing actually! And it’s honestly such a huge part in why I care about him even now. I would love to talk a bit about Moash’s relationships with the singers vs the humans in more detail at some point, but this post is probably already way too long. Someone remind me later, I promise the post will be shorter than this one.) He was also literally a slave, but not just that, he was a slave who genuinely wanted the side he was working for to succeed. And also a soldier who had killed before. Honestly, if the fused had asked him to kill someone for them, it would surprise me more if he didn’t do it for them.

I think after he killed Elhokar, Moash was at his lowest point. He was already depressed and really fucked up, but the idealized idea of vengeance deep inside him still had somehow kept him going. Then when he finally got what he had been dreaming of he didn’t feel happy or satisfied or any of that. Not only that, but in having completed his goal he no longer felt he had any purpose. So why not do whatever the fused ask of him? He has no ambition of his own, but he truly believes that once they’re in power, they’ll make a better, fairer society for people in the future. Honestly the more I think about it, the fact that Jez was a herald is all the more reason for Moash to agree to kill him. It provided a very real tactical advantage in a war. I’m not going to touch on whether this act was right or not, but I know that I personally can understand why Moash felt that helping the side of the singers was the right thing to do. And I guess if I can accept that then everything else follows.

As for the personal responsibility thing, I…don’t judge him very much for that. He was a slave, he was dysfunctional and depressed, and his mind kept returning to how he had hurt Kaladin which I’m pretty sure also sort of makes him hate himself. If he needed coping mechanisms to stay alive in that situation, then I’m willing to accept that. Even if he hadn’t had that mindset, he would still be a slave in the exact same situation. And…honestly he’s really not the first character to be in heavy denial over personal responsibility and past actions. I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you about the other examples.

When I was reading Oathbringer my sister and I talked a lot about this worldview, “Alethi society is bad so anything I did when I was a part of it can be written away, because being in that bad society is really what’s to blame.” I will admit I was sort of doing that earlier in this very post, although my intention was more to highlight hypocrisy than anything else. Moash’s denial of personal responsibility probably would have rubbed me the wrong way a lot more if he…didn’t actually take responsibility…all over the place… He stood up for Sah, Khen, etc. when they were being hurt and took it upon himself personally to risk his life to go talk to management and angrily give them constructive criticism on how to make their society fair. He definitely blames his past on the society he lived in, but in the present he was adamant that that had been bad and so the next thing has to be better. Flawed as it may have been, I think it was his way of putting his past behind him and accepting his new life.

Again, not saying that this mentality is good or even justifiable, that’s up to you. I feel that it’s at the very least compelling.

…WHICH! To tie it all together, here’s why I like Moash. In Oathbringer he is a mess of a person, but I still find a lot of nuance and this broken sort of humanity in his actions. I can tell that he still cares about right and wrong, he just feels it’s impossible to find justice in the preexisting human society. (I wanna talk more about his opinions on the singers later.) He definitely did bad things, but he’s not so far gone that I don’t think he’s worth understanding. I don’t necessarily like characters just because they’re good or nice people, they can even be irredeemable people, and maybe Moash is just that. I don’t know. I understand why people would feel that way about him, I really do. But I still find his story compelling, I’m still interested to see what he does next, and against all reason, I’m still hoping he somehow makes it out okay somehow.

It’s like after 3:30, jesus, I need to sleep. Um. Reeeeal quick end notes. This post was mostly me rambling about the bad shit he did in Oathbringer, but I think he did good stuff too! He is a morally grey character and I would go into that more if I weren’t so tired. Uh. I’m sorry for writing so much, I know this probably isn’t what you expect from this kind of blog. If you actually read all this then 1) wow and 2) lmk how comprehensible it was. Also if there’s anything I’m wrong about lmk I do not mind criticism.

Yeah. G’night.

#stormlight archive #oathbringer #oathbringer spoilers #The Discourse #long post #analysis #Anonymous #moash #FUCK i have no concept of legnth #i'm just #hey tomorrow someone shoot me a message if you want me to use a read more #aaaaaa yup i'm sure this is the kind of content you all expect from me #follow for more fucking 12-page essays #god i'm sure if i went back and read this i'd be able to just see it make less and less sense ghjkghjk

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preservationandruin · 6 years

Text

Oathbringer Spoilers, Part Five: Chapters 121-End

Alright, one last push to finishing the book!

Moash is given a few tasks. Dalinar asks Navani to teach him something. Adolin has doubts for a moment and then gets lectured out of them by Shallan, and also he tells his dad something important. Kaladin runs into some old friends. Taravangian makes a bad deal. Always trust Adolin’s gut instincts about people. Alethkar gets a new monarch. And Wit makes a friend.

For some godforsaken reason, we’ve switched to MOASH. He’s not feeling particularly great about killing Elhokar--gee, wonder why--and we get that there are only nine, not ten, orders of Fused.

Practically speaking, I doubt they can accurately emulate the Bondsmiths. Thematically speaking, there’s that number again.

Lady Leshwi keeps visiting Moash. She says that he has taken Moash’s pain, and will return it when he needs it. Moash just wants to forget the look of betrayal in Kaladin’s eyes.

Good luck with that. It’s like Kaladin told Amaram. You join Odium looking for peace, but you never find it there.

Odium has a command for him. Fuck. Hnanan--one of the higher-ups--pulls out a strange knife--bright gold metal, a sapphire in the sheath. And asks him to kill a god.

With that ominous note, we switch to Navani. She runs out to Dalinar, basically tackling him into a hug. She sends Lopen and Kaladin off. Dalinar says he thinks he knows why the memories came back--Odium would have made him remember one way or another, but this let him prepare. He asks her to study the King’s Drop. And then he asks her something else.

Dalinar met her eyes. “I want you to teach me how to read.”

THIS LINE. I GOT THROUGH ALL THE REST. BUT THIS LINE MADE ME CRY.

Shallan/Radiant/Veil is resting, or trying to. She keeps slipping between Radiant and Veil, which must make her very strange to interact with for everyone else. Jasnah and Navani both don’t make a huge difference to her state.

Someone get Adolin, he’s good at dealing with this. Oh, good, he came.

Adolin is the one who can tell when it’s the real one. He’s the only one who manages to pick it out.

Adolin points out that he could carry her, but then, she’s a Radiant, and he’s tired, so maybe she could carry him. Meanwhile, Kaladin has shown up.

Veil instantly takes over--and also, fucking hell, Kaladin has lost his boots again.

Both Radiant and Veil like Kaladin.

Shallan shoves both of them to the utter back of her mind, because Adolin knows her.

Venli can now switch between old and new rhythms at will, and if she doesn’t have Stormlight, she can make her eyes red. For the moment, then, she can hide her nature.

A Parshendi Knight Radiant. Timbre bound her because so many of their number died, and she didn’t trust the humans.

And she walks over to the singers, and starts telling them about the listeners.

Nale notes that “only Ishar” escaped Braize with his mind intact--but clearly, he didn’t. Szeth swears, and the highspren--which he still doesnt’ see often--approves.

Shallan is looking for Adolin. She also notes that Kaladin has made a habit of just perching dramatically in high places. What a dweeb.

I mean, if I could, I’d do that.

Oh, god, Adolin has decided to “step back” in favor of Kaladin. He says that he’s going to “let [kaladin] have you” which...that phrasing is going to go great. Also, Adolin. Adolin.

I think Shallan can make her own call, here. Adolin points out that Kaladin can fly.

“Oh? And is that what women are supposed to seek in a mate? Is it in the Polite Lady’s Handbook to Courtship and Family? The Bekenah edition, maybe? ‘Ladies, you can’t possibly marry a man if he can’t fly.’ Never mind if the other option is as handsome as sin, kind to everyone he meets regardless of their station, passionate about his art, and genuinely humble in the weirdest, most confident way. Never mind if he actually seems to get you, and remarkably listens to your problems, encouraging you to be you--not to hide yourself away. Never mind if being near him makes you want to rip his shirt off and push him into the nearest alleyway, then kiss him until he can’t breathe anymore. If he can’t fly, then well, you just have to call it off!” She paused for breath, gasping. “And...” Adolin said. “That guy is...me?” “You are such a fool,” She grabbed his ripped coat and pulled him into a kiss, passionspren crystallizing in the air around them.

I LOVE ADOLIN AND SHALLAN

She also notes that she thinks she’s kept it to three personas--and while Shallan’s the hardest, she can probably keep it up with some help. Adolin grins, pointing out that she said she’d kiss him until he couldn’t breathe, but he’s not even winded.

Adolin, I wouldn’t make that bet. She doesn’t have to breathe if she has Stormlight.

Kaladin is also happy for them. He notes that he doesn’t think he’s in love with Shallan--but being around her did make him happy. She reminds him of Tien. He’s picked up a rock, like the kind that Tien always used to give him.

OK, SIBLING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN KALADIN AND SHALLAN IS SO, SO GOOD.

Rock is still recovering--he sees what he did, shooting Amaram, as a broken oath.

Taravangian admits--he pushed Dalinar aside and wanted to seize control of the coalition. Dalinar realizes--Taravangian didn’t become king of Jah Keved by accident. And Taravangian...tells Dalinar what he’s doing.

Moash is going down into the gardens in Khoilnar. His target is a madman, with an eye color nobody can see.

Jezrien. The Herald Szeth saw in the first prologue. The one Dalinar got drunk with. Why does Odium want to kill a Herald?

What is this death, Jezrien asks as he dies. The Fused didn’t want to murder him themselves. Why not? Why use Moash?

SO UH THAT HAPPENED. MOASH FUCKING OFFED A HERALD.

Anyway, Lopen has his spren! His name is Rua, and he looks like a little boy, but Lopen calls him Naco. LOPEN IS TEACHING RUA HOW TO FLIP PEOPLE OFF LOPEN IS THE WORST INFLUENCE ON SPREN AND I LOVE HIM

OH NO, DRU REALIZED THAT, SINCE KALADIN RETURNED ALONE...OH NO DREHY WAS ON THAT TRIP FUCK

BRANDON YOU BRING DREHY BACK THIS INSTANT AND STOP HIS BOYFRIEND FROM BEING SAD

Anyway, Lopen is managing to cheer up soldiers, mentioning that if one who has lost his arm needs some jokes, he has some. Rua keeps hiding from Lopen, so Lopen has to find him.

LOPEN ACCIDENTALLY SWORE THE SECOND IDEAL FUCK AND HE PUT OUT ALL THE LIGHTS IN THE SURGEON’S TENT

I LOVE HIM SO MUCH

HE WAS SAVING IT FOR A DRAMATIC MOMENT AND THEN STORMFATHER ACCEPTED IT AND LOPEN FLIPPED HIM OFF TWICE. AND RUA DID IT WITH HIM.

I LOVE BRIDGE FOUR SO MUCH.

Kaladin immediately runs off, though, and Rua flips him off too. Lopen tells him not to wear it out.

Ash is trying to take Taln to go see Ishar. And then she feels something rip inside her. Taln collapses. That’s...that’s Jezrien’s death, isn’t it.

Oh, god, Jezrien is Ash’s father. She just felt her father die.

She falls unconscious as the sensation stops, and I can’t blame her.

Kaladin’s flying across the ocean, for some reason. And he finds a group of refugees from Kholinar.

A group flying the bridge four flag.

DREHY AND SKAR! They’re okay!!! They’re alive!!

AND THEY SMUGGLED OUT GAVINOR THEY PROTECT THOSE WHO CANNOT PROTECT THEMSELVES

Okay we don’t get that scene but DREHY BETTER HAVE HAD A GREAT REUNION WITH DRU OKAY DREHY WAS GONE FOR A MONTH WITH NO NOTICE AND DRU THOUGHT HE WAS DEAD

Taravangian is stupid today. He reads letters from his grandchildren. He’s crying. None of his granddaughters know anything of the Diagram, and he’s determined that it will stay that way.

He opens the window during the everstorm, and Odium speaks to him. He says he chose this time on purpose--because he doesn’t want Taravangian to ever, ever think he has power.

Odium says that, if Taravangian serves him--he’ll spare Kharbranth, and anyone born in it, and their spouses. And he’ll be a spy, for Odium. Fuck.

Adolin and Shallan are being adorable always. Have I mentioned how much I like the fact that Adolin loves hugs? I love it. Anyway, some of the older people are rolling their eyes at Adolin and Shallan for being stupidly sappy, which is hilarious.

Awwwh, they’ve set the wedding date! For a week from then--they’re going fast, but hey. They road tripped shadesmar and faced down multiple unmade. She’s realizing, though, that she needs to explain some things--in particular, the Ghostbloods thing--to Adolin.

Apparently Veil and Adolin are, now drinking buddies. I love this so much. Watch out, Adolin, she can absolutely out-drink you. Anyway, Shallan has trouble actually paying attention to the meetings because Adolin. I love how, no matter how cutesy they’re being, nobody can really tell them to stop because one of them is a Radiant and the other is Adolin Kholin.

“You think,” Adolin said. “Taravangian might have done it?” “No,” Dalinar said.

I AM GETTING DECIDED FLASHBACKS TO BOOK ONE WHERE ADOLIN WAS LIKE “HEY WAS IT SADEAS” AND DALINAR WAS LIKE “NO OF COURSE NOT”

ALWAYS. LISTEN. TO. ADOLIN’S. IMPRESSIONS. OF. PEOPLE.

At least he notes that he doesn’t want to trust Taravangian very much. At least he’s learned a little.

Dalinar says that Alethkar needs a king--and Adolin might be it. Adolin admits that he killed Sadeas. Adolin says he can’t be king of Alethkar. Dalinar points out that he can’t, either.

...i think i see where this is going.

Gavinor is too young. Adolin can’t. Renarin would be worse than Adolin. Dalinar can’t.

Shallan blinks, thinking. They need someone diplomatic, but also not someone who can be walked over.

It’s gonna be Jasnah, isn’t it.

Palona is collecting gossip while Sebarial pretends to sleep. I still love them.

OH MY GOD I WAS RIGHT:

The doors to the room slammed open, the noise of it sending a shock through the room, complaints falling silent. Even Turi stood up to note Jasnah Kholin standing in the doorway. She wore a small but unmistakeable crown on her head. The Kholin family, it seemed, had chosen their new monarch.

Anyway, Moash is at work again, and I don’t give a shit about him anymore. Kill Jezrien and Elhokar? Yeah, I don’t give a shit about Moash. But Lady Leshwi offers him an honorblade, and a place with them. Not as Moash, as someone else.

Moash takes the Honorblade, and is given a new name. Vyre.

He Who Quiets.

Fuck.

And then, because this loves jerking us back and forward, we cut to Shallan’s wedding day. BRIDGE FOUR GAVE HER BOOTS AS A WEDDING GIFT. Shallan notes that Adolin is probably just getting....lots of swords. None of which will be as good as Maya.

She pulls up Radiant and Veil to give their opinions--Radiant says it’s worthy, Veil says at least he has good taste in wine.

She realizes--it’s alright to enjoy this. It’s alright to be happy.

And then her door opens--and there are three young men. Balat. Wikim. Jushu.

Her brothers.

Mraize sent a note. He’s asking her to capture Sja-anat, or convince her to work with the Ghostbloods. Shallan notes that it is one of Sja-anat’s spren that Renarin bonded.

We don’t get the wedding itself, but we do get Dalinar heading back happy and full from the feast. Szeth just kinda...chills outside the door. And Dalinar starts writing, carefully. When Navani comes back, he offers it to her to read, as nervous as though it were his first day with the swordmasters.

“You said pronouns have a gender in the women’s formal script, and I realized that the one you taught me says ‘I, being female.’” Navani hesitated, pen in her fingers. “Oh. Right. I guess...I mean...huh. I don’t think there is a masculine ‘I.’ You can use the neuter, like an ardent. Or...no, here. I’m an idiot.” she wrote a few letters. “This is what you use when writing a quote by a man in the first person.”

I’m just pulling this out because, as a nonbinary person dealing with a language that isn’t really designed to accomodate that, i appreciate that Brandon realized this would be a problem. And English isn’t even as bad as Italian. I don’t even know how to refer to myself with some of the past-tense verbs, there.

And we get that Oathbringer, the book, was written by Dalinar. And he’s so happy, so proud of being able to read. He can read the Way of Kings, himself. He can read Jasnah’s biography of Gavilar. He can write notes, and he can write his own life.

Oathbringer, My Glory and My Shame

written by Dalinar Kholin.

I like it. A good title.

Wit is, as he tends to be, talking to himself, in a line of shuffling people. All great art, he says, is hated. He’s in the group of people being shuffled out of Kholinar, to work the farms.

WIT STARTS DUSTING OFF HIS CLOTHING AND STOPS BECAUSE “HE’D WORKED HARD TO PLACE THAT DUST”

I love him. He notes that if Rayse figures out he’s here, the entire city will be levelled, so he’s got to move it. He makes a small doll for a girl, and he...oh, he Breathes into the doll, giving it to the girl to protect her. He gives the girl the doll, and then gets a family whose child died to take care of her.

Wit knows some of the old Parshmen. Vatwha is the current sentinel; they once danced together. He wonders if anyone wonders why the Fused are spending so much time clearing this section of the palace. He’s talking to the wall, as though it’s a person.

He promises it truths.

A small, scared Cryptic.

Wit starts saying the First Ideal.

Oh, no, I know where it came from. That was the section Moash was clearing--the section near where Elhokar died. That Cryptic...it wanted to bond Elhokar. But Elhokar died, in the middle of saying the Ideal, so...Wit had to be there for it.

And with that, we end.

#oathbringer spoilers #stormlight archive liveblog #FUCK YEAH BRIDGE FOUR #dalinar voice: unite them #fuck vyre honestly

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nightblink · 6 years

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Blink Reads Oathbringer - Chapters 112-113, Interludes 12-14

Yep, everything’s blowing up in their faces.

Chapter One-Hundred-and-Twelve – For the Living

Still nothing solid on who that ninth Unmade could be from Hessi, though she wonders if she's “conflating two Unmade into one”. Possible, but mmmmm...

“Kaladin remembered a woman's kiss.” That is not how I was expecting this chapter to start. But! MORE TARAH INFORMATION. GOOD. She's still basically an unknown at this point, so more info is always good.

Cultural note: dresses of an old-fashioned Thaylen style – an apronlike front with straps over the shoulders and skirts that ended right below the knee; a buttoned shirt underneath, often in a bright colour

HUGS. SHE'S HUGGING HIM AND HE'S COMFORTABLE AND HAPPY, AAAAAHHHH

It would take forever for tall-and-skinny beanpole Kaladin to find a spear long enough for him to wield properly.

'Slightly plump, with a round face and firm build, Tarah's beauty was a subtle thing. Like an uncut gemstone. The more you saw of it – the more you discovered of its natural facets – the more you loved it. Until one day it struck you that you'd never known anything as wonderful.' Um hello yes snagging this happily to add to my demi-romantic!Kaladin headcanon, along with general note of Tarah's appearance

Haaaah. She has to follow her own path. She won't stick around just to be with him, just as he wouldn't do so for her. She has a point, too - “Maybe someday you'll learn how to be there for the living, not just for the dead.” Kaladin continues to carry the weight of those deaths; he did throughout his time as a slave, in Sadeas' warcamp, and still shoulders it now. He's got such a gentle, soft, caring heart, and it doesn't heal easily when it bruises or breaks, especially as he refuses to let go of the pain of those deaths.

I'm- I'm glad this is ending amicably; I was wondering if she'd end up just another name on the list of those who died/Kaladin believes he failed. THANK YOU FOR NOT FRIDGING TARAH FOR THE SAKE OF MANPAIN, BRANDERSON.

More really cool Shadesmar trees: 'taller, more statuesque ones with deep crimson trunks and limbs like burnt-red crystals that, at the ends, burst into a small collection of minerals.'

Kaladin's still attracting windspren every now and then. What is it that they're drawn to about him right now that's causing them to pop over even a little from the Physical Realm?

So the uncorrupted Oathgate-spren look like a matching pair of salt-and-pepper shakers – one iridescent-black, one prism-white, as opposed to the corrupted black-and-red that we saw back at the Kholinar Oathgate.

And there's an army in their way. Of course.

Chapter One-Hundred-and-Thirteen – The Thing Men Do Best

'Dai-Gonarthis' is our possible last Unmade, then, and maybe one that packs immense destruction as its main ability – perhaps even as much as to destroy Aimia?

“Did you really think that you belonged here? That you were native to Roshar?” Oh come on, Stormfather, why would they think otherwise, when all they know of their history has been here? They didn't even know much about four thousand years ago, much less anything before that, and after the destruction of the Desolations? After the continuing apocalypses that would wipe out 90% of the population? They'd lost all knowledge of what came before, much less so early as that. At least their originating from Shinovar makes sense to believe from their point of view – but complete aliens?

Where. Did. The. Humans. Come. From. Between the Rosharan System blurb in Arcanum Unbounded and the main SA series itself, we know that they have to be genetically distinct, and everything else in the Greater Roshar System screams 'deliberately created this way'. There are spren on Ashyn, aren't there? Were Rosharan-humans originally created by Adonalsium rather than by Shards or transplanted from Yolen, and put on Ashyn instead of Roshar?

“It was not only the truth of humankind's origin that caused the Recreance. It was the distinct, powerful fear that they would destroy this world, as men like them had destroyed the one before. The Radiants abandoned their vows for that reason, as will you.” Okay, that makes a lot more sense. I'm still shocked that it was enough that they would kill their soul-bonded spren to do so, but they essentially looked at themselves and went I have the power to physics-nuke a planet and that's more than enough to shake anyone to the core.

[winces] And the bridgemen get it. “Invaded by people trying to reclaim their homeland. Storms. I'd be mad too.”

Except they've been co-opted by Odium, their fellows transformed by the Everstorm into mockeries of the Radiants – powerful, but still mockeries, and ones that consume the soul of the body that they inhabit, and in the end, they and/or Odium will destroy Roshar so that there is nothing left for either Humans or Parsh/Dawnsingers.

Their unwavering faith in Kaladin is beautiful and heartwrenching at the same time. Dalinar, on the other hand… he's losing hope that Adolin and Elhokar will ever return. 'No news is good news' doesn't quite count when the city they were in has fallen to the enemy and no information was coming out of Kholinar before that anyway.

!!! So- what the Vorins call the Tranquiline Halls could in fact be a reference to the origin of the Rosharan-humans?

Honor sounds like he was going a bit loopy before he died, though even before that, he was egging on the Radiants, perhaps pushing the war even when peace might have have been brokered and Odium's power over the Dawnsingers broken.

“They tried to protect the world. I blame them for their weakness, their broken oaths. But I also understand. You have cursed me, human, with this capacity.” Character development even from the Stormfather, greatest of spren of Roshar. Who would have thought?

[winces] The coalition alliance is cracking along every seam it has. And Taravangian has the sheer gall to say that he's sorry, when he's the one who orchestrated all of it! ~~FUCK OFF, YOU MANIPULATIVE OLD TURDBUCKET~~

“I tried my best to hide this.” “So we could continue living a lie?” “It is, in my experience, the thing men do best.” I… I would say something along the lines of 'fucking ouch', but- but instead I'm reminded of that one Terry Pratchett quote from Death in Hogfather – the one about needing to believe the little lies so that we can believe the big ones: 'JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.'

That's not what Dalinar or the Stormfather sees, of course, but at the same time……

End of Part Four

Interlude Twelve – Rhythm of Withdrawal

The Fused's/Odium's plan for Venli stumping for them now involves her forced into a hermit cave, an essentially 'primitive' existence, and I'll bet it's to help the image of how they want to portray her – the last of a people that had held out against humans for centuries, millennia, now but a dying predecessor to those who will rise and fight.

Oh, no more individual talks? You're right, Venli; Odium probably doesn't want you and your people to realize their history of long ago as Dawnsingers, or how close the world has come to complete and utter unlivable destruction in Desolations past.

!!! She's going to the assault on Thaylen City with the rest of them? OOOOO. Sanderson please let her meet Dalinar in person that'd be great

Yeaaaaah, the Everstorm's sent to push them onward – maybe even awaken new Fused on the way there (especially since Rine says that the “strongest and most skilled of [their] number have yet to awaken”, which is… oooof.)

Interlude Thirteen – Rysn

RYSN RYSN RYSN!!!

Who is very much not happy to be confined to a desk, no matter how 'important' the job may be. Someone needs to invent a kind of wheelchair stat so she can have some freedom of movement.

That Thaylen Gemstone Reserve is going to be important. This is the second time they've mentioned it in only the last few chapters.

That 'Wheeeeeeeeeeee.' has me cracking up istg

She still has her grass! And her insectoid gift from Relu-na! Chiri-Chiri is an adorable name for the larkin; it sounds like an onomatopoeia. Her own tiny iridescent not-axehound!

“You just ate.” Thank you branderson for somehow capturing the exact exasperated tone of voice that all pet owners everywhere know by heart.

Vstim is past seventy! I'd originally though him early sixties or something when I read their WoR Interlude. By Earth calculations, that would now make him… at least 77, and still sauntering around the world to trade up until taking this position. Damn, he's spry.

I love that she has her own little guardian crustacean. Chiri-Chiri: U WILL NOT HURT MY HUMAN

Hmm. Looks like the Growth Surge can't heal wounds that are past a certain point. Hobber's paralysis healed, but he did that by taking stormlight in himself, not receiving healing from an outside source.

Ohhh, Rysn bowed out of going on further expeditions herself- you and Renarin need to have a long talk together on disability, I think.

W A N D ER S AIL

Vstim, you are a gem of a mentor and friend.

“a stuffy meeting with old Kholin and his soldiers” - which in the end turned out to be anything but dull and stuffy, but fair enough.

All of the security – and the assertion that the vault has never before been robbed save through embezzlement – makes me all the more certain that we'll see a robbery happen in this interlude.

Oh, so she does have some sort of wheelchair…? Sounds like it needs a bit more optimization in order to get her into and through more places, though.

!!!! 'The King's Drop' – like Honor's Drop, I believe was the one mentioned earlier? A perfect gemstone that would never lose light? Which would explain why it's still alight after two hundred years without ever being taken out to refresh its light. 'The size of a child's head' daaaaayum but that's a big gemstone. But… I wonder what the other, more mundane objects in there are being kept for, if they're important enough to be secured in the same area as the King's Drop?

“They say it's a chunk off the Stone of Ten Dawns.” That's more mythology and one we don't know about what is the Stone of Ten Dawns tell us Sanderson-

“The queen's guard killed Tlik.” WHAT. JUST. SO CASUALLY STATED. WHAT. Oh no oh noooo, Rysn's knocked to the floor and he's going after Vstim I hope Vstim ends up all right oh noooo

Aw shit, whoever the thief is, they're ignoring the damage – another Radiant associated with Taravangian, perhaps?

Smart decision to use the rope and tie the ruby to her, and if the one killing everyone really is a Radiant, then reducing the available amount of stormlight via Chiri-Chiri will actually be a good thing.

Alone in the darkness, men dead and dying around her as she realizes that there's no way for her to step to load the crossbow, the thief-murderer advancing on her, but at the same time-

“Yes. Yes, I care! I want to sail my own ship!” YEEEEESSSSS

!!! It wasn't a Radiant but a Fused? There's a type of Fused that have the ability to use a Voidbinding that's equivalent to Lightweaving? UM. This is the first that we've heard of that. Also, Chiri-Chiri can feed off of voidlight as well as stormlight.

Odium and the Fused want the King's Drop – or at least one of the perfect gemstones – but for what?

Interlude Fourteen – Teft

TEEEEEEFT. Last POV we had from you, you were falling back into moss-addiction, to the point of selling your Bridge Four coat for money. Sounded like you were stabilizing a little bit there for a while, given Kaladin and the rest of your support group, but then started sliding back again recently.

[winces] Then again, I could have been reading him 'maybe getting a little better' as him just being functional, as outlined here in such viscerally honest terms.

Looks like there's someone who we saw last time who still hasn't given up on him, though. The honorspren is still there, still standing at his side. Has he- has he sworn Oaths already? And how many?

Oh shit. They've got trouble at Urithiru too?! SHITSHITSHIT THEY GOT ROCK AND TWO OTHERS AND THE HONORBLADE-

Rock and Bisig are still alive thank the Heralds but they may not be for long unless they get help, and Renarin was still in Thaylen City, though he left the audience chamber-

An unfamiliar man – who could have been anyone from one of Taravangian's spies to one of Ialai's to maybe even a Fused, now that we know there's a kind that can Lightweave – ...and they were wearing Teft's coat.

He's never going to stop blaming himself for that.

#blink reads oathbringer #oathbringer spoilers

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longroadstonowhere · 6 years

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well, i stayed up an hour past when i should be sleeping, but i finished oathbringer

that final battle was intense, but also managed to not be too horribly confusing - i think any time i felt like i’d missed out on something, it was just because i had skipped something earlier in my rush to, you know, finish the book

i love the culmination of dalinar’s story, how he acknowledges the wrongs he has done and the pain he has created, and he does not try to equivocate or pass the blame down, he just says ‘yes, i did these things, and i will not do them again’

also ‘you cannot have my pain’ was such a badass line

seeing all the radiants (or, well, all the protagonist-aligned ones) working together was also super awesome, like lift

liiiiiiiiiiiiift

hanging out with szeth and his sword (which like, man, lift and that sword is a dangerous combination of hilarity, i kinda hope lift and szeth become a recurring team-up), but then also bumping into jasnah along the way and just being like ‘huh, that’s awesome but i’m in the middle of something’ and moving along

watching jasnah be the absolute master of soulcasting was intensely awesome, oh man, especially how she would just be like ‘hm, there is a problem here, the solution is......... this’ and then just do something and move on to the next problem

wonder when we get a jasnah book

(really hope we get a jasnah book)

also oh man!!!!!! the entire outcome of the battle hinged on jasnah loving her family!!! and choosing to have faith instead of just going with the most logically sound tactic!!!!!! that was great, i will love that moment forever and ever and ever

reading up to that part, i was just like ‘gosh renarin, i’m sorry your life sucked so bad, you barely even got a chance, but i suppose sometimes these things happen, you know like elhokar’ but then he didn’t die and he got to be super awesome against the thunderclast and he got to be sorta witty at the oathgate and i love this kid so much

speaking of the thunderclast, i kinda love how adolin is basically becoming the badass normal of the group - like, he’s got his shardblade and sometimes his shardplate, but he’s probably never going to be a radiant (because he’s just not broken enough maybe) and he still fights on anyway because it’s just what needs to be done

i’m also really glad he turned down becoming king of alethkar because adolin’s a good kid but he would not have held up under dalinar’s shadow at all, it would’ve been like a softer reprise of elhokar - also i somehow did not see queen jasnah coming at all but it is absolutely perfect and i have to support every single moment that led up to that happening

so man

shallan

i like how she’s stabilized into the three personas, and how she’s making sure shallan stays as the primary because sure veil and radiant are cool, but shallan is the best and she should definitely stick around

i am so happy kaladin/shallan is not a thing, like oh my god, it’s something i’d been mildly afraid of ever since the first book (and then really afraid of since the second book with that whole chasm adventure), but adolin knows shallan and wants to keep her around, and he’s not disturbed (or well, overly much at least) by veil and radiant existing (please tell me we get veil and adolin drinking buddy scenes in the future, sanderson, that is a hell of a piece of bait to leave lying around), and they really do bring out the best in each other i think

shallan’s part in that final battle was so supremely epic, though, and i love that jasnah came to get her because shallan can do so much by herself, she’s always had to, but she needs people taking care of her from time to time, too

i probably have a million other thoughts that will pop up in my head from time to time over the next week or so, but i do still have work in the morning and i should probably get some sleep

just

man

i’m so glad this book didn’t disappoint me

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preservationandruin · 6 years

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Oathbringer Liveblog, Part Four: Chapters 100-107

You know it’s a Sanderson book when you’re like “Hey, I’m on chapter 100 and I have three hundred pages left.”

Anyway, Dalinar has PTSD, Adolin gets a makeover, the Shadesmar Road Trip hits a few snags, and Dalinar remembers stuff and has a normal dream for once in his life.

As though the last one wasn’t clear enough, the Mythica here flat-up says that Nergaoul is probably responsible for the Alethi thrill. We’re over by Dalinar, who is...really not doing great.

He’s touring Vedenar, trying to get out of his own head. He’s determined that this time, he can fight it--he’s stronger than he was then, a better man. And he is, he really is. On the other hand, though, he’s still hearing phantom weeping, and smelling only smoke.

And his thoughts aren’t helped by his panic about Adolin and Elhokar. He’s hoping he didn’t send them to die.

Oh, he’s not going to like the news either.

Anyway, Taravangian is coming to talk to him, which...I’ll just be lurking here, quietly suspicious. He shows Dalinar a half-shard and notes that there are “legends of a metal that falls from the sky, silver but somehow lighter,” that can block shardblades.

Aluminum. You’re looking for aluminum.

Taravangian says that fabrials are made using enslaved spren; Dalinar says spren can’t be enslaved, and gets some angry grumbling from Stormy. Taravangian asks if he would have wished the Sunmaker took over all of Roshar, so Dalinar would have a united world to lead against the Voidbringers.

“I...You’d be asking me to consign millions of innocents to the pyre!” “Those people are dead,” Taravangian whispered. “What are they to you? Numbers in a scribe’s footnote.”

They’re still people, Taravangian. And note Dalinar’s word choice--fire wasn’t mentioned but he talks about consigning people to the pyre. That’s not an accident.

And then we get the horrible, horrible truth: the thrill is the reason the Veden civil war is so horrible. It came, it possessed them. Daliinar talks to the soldiers and they all talk about it.

...Taravangian was just talking about luring spren places with things they love. And he, more than anyone, benefited from the Veden civil war.

The Thrill starts nipping at Dalinar again. Rial offers him alcohol, which is...exactly the wrong thing. Oh, Dalinar. Also, of all times, now is when he’s declared a heretic. Because that’s what he needs right now.

Isn’t it so horribly hilarious that the man who torched a city of innocents was religious, but the man trying to save the world is a heretic?

Dalinar forces the Oathgate to work, despite Stormfather’s protests; Stormy withdraws. But Dalinar still feels the thrill, still hears Evi’s voice condemning him.

But that voice is telling him that this is who he is, while Evi was always telling him that it wasn’t who he was. Something’s up. Something is very, very up. Kaladin was right--Dalinar’s in danger.

And he starts drinking again.

Oh, Dalinar.

He gets drunk in Adolin’s room and everyone’s going to think it’s grief, but it’s not. It’s terror; it’s because he thinks it’s that or be a monster again. And I don’t think this is normal grieving, because Evi’s voice is saying things Evi wouldn’t say, and I don’t trust voices in heads after Mistborn.

Anyway. Didn’t Odium say he’d been watching Dalinar for a long time?

I don’t like this. Kaladin saw nine shadows around Dalinar. I really don’t like this.

Moelach is very similar to Nergaoul, though instead of a battle rage, he supposedly inspired visions of the future. In this, lore and theology align. Seeing the future originates with the Unmade, and is from the enemy.

Alright, that’s where that comes from. It doesn’t have to do with Cultivation’s sight of the future at all, unless Moelach is somehow tied to her, which I doubt.

Adolin, meanwhile, is trying to change his outfit. It’s...not going great. He’s also very stressed about the possibility of him having to take the throne.

He couldn’t keep pretending he was the man his father wanted him to be.

Your father, Adolin, from the moment you were born, wanted you to have his strength and Evi’s heart and that is exactly what you got. Stop worrying about disappointing Dalinar.

Kaladin gaped at Adolin, looking down at his boots, then up at his neck scarf, then focusing on the waistcoat. That befuddled expression alone made the work worthwhile.

This is the scene where the girl comes out of her room after a makeover and everyone is just staring except the girl is Adolin and I love it. Kaladin literally gives him a once-over. It’s like the scene where you get the reaction shot. Also Adolin’s just like “Kaladin looked like he was wearing a shirt too small for him, Shallan’s clothes fit but were unflattering, and Azure looked...normal.”

“Did you really sew that?” Azure asked. “There wasn’t much sewing involved,” Adolin said. “The scarf and jacket hide most of the damage I did to the waistcoat--which used to be a smaller jacket.” “Still,” She said. “An unusual skill for a royal.” “And how many royals have you known?” “More than you might assume.”

ADOLIN SHE IS A PRINCESS HER SISTER IS MARRIED TO A GOD-KING

“I discovered when I was younger that being too open with strangers...went poorly for me.” WOW THAT’S ONE WAY TO PUT IT

And we get that Ico, the captain’s father, is a “deadeye,” one of the dead Radiant spren. They search out the humans carrying their corpse. Oh, god, that’s horrible.

“What is she to you?” “A friend.” “A tool. You use her corpse on the other side, don’t you? Well, I won’t blame you. I’ve heard stories of what they can do, and I am a pragmatic person. Just...don’t pretend she is your friend.”

But Adolin, at least, has always treated her as one to the best of his ability. Talking to her, thanking her, refusing to take her name and treat her like a dumb object. Ico notes that his daughter “ran off chasing stupid dreams.” I wonder if she, too, is trying to be a Radiant’s spren?

Syl seems very hesitant to go places in the city. Didn’t we get it mentioned that honorspren tried to conquer Shadesmar? That might be part of the reason.

We get the vast variety of spren present in a Shadesmar City:

The city wasn’t as densely populated as most human ones, but the variety of spren was stunning. Reachers like Ico and his sailors were common, but there were also spren that looked much like Adolin’s sword--at least before she’d been killed. They were made entirely of vines, though they had crystal hands and wore human clothing. Equally common were spren with inky black skin that shone with a variety of colors when light hit them right. Their clothing seemed part of them, like that of the Cryptics and honorspren.

Others look like they’re made of cracked stone with magma shifting inside it; others yet have ashy white skin that blows away in the wind. There are no other honorspren. And then we get asking about how spren babies are made:

“How does that even work?” Adolin said. “Well, it’s certainly less messy than your method!” She scrunched her face up. “We’re made of power, bits of gods. There are places where that power coalesces, and parts start to be aware. You go, and then come back with a child? I think?” Adolin chuckled. “What?” Kaladin asked. “That’s actually not that different from what my nanny told me when I asked her where children come from. A nonsense story about parents baking a new child out of crem clay.”

I love this. Syl notes, though, that most spren don’t raise children very often. They find a market and Adolin instantly stops at a clothing stall run by a spren like Ivory--an inkspren, I think? I don’t want to go look back through my notes to find it so we’re going with inkspren.

Syl finds a poncho and a hat! She likes them. She also points out that because her dress is just part of her, she’s technically walking around naked all the time; Kaladin argues the technicalities on that one.

Over to Shallan. Apparently, voidspren are surrounding Cultivation’s perpendicularity and demanding tribute from any they find. I think this might have something to do with how Rock’s wife said something was very wrong in the Horneater peaks; if there’s an army of voidspren pirates around it, then that’s gotta reflect into the actual world somehow.

We also get a spren saying that she would rather “trade with honorspren” then go back there. Hm. Honorspren are really disliked in most of Shadesmar.

And then Shallan and company see a parshman-looking person conducting inspections of the ships, which is worrying. They’re looking for passage either to Cultivation’s perpendicularity or to Thaylen City, but nothing appears to be going there.

So voidspren rule the city. Which is. Great. That’s definitely going to be helpful in the long run. One of them just set Ico’s ship on fire.

Shadesmar Road trip is going great, gang.

And then we learn that Syl kind of, uh, has a huge bounty on her head due to running away from the fellow honorspren. We also get that Lasting Integrity is the name of the honorspren capital. Of course it is.

“Azure is a bounty hunter,” she said in a small voice. “And I’m...I’m kind of like a spren lighteyes. I didn’t want you to know. In case you hated me, like you hate them.”

Syl... Anyway, then they make it to the dock and see smoke. Anyway, the Fused are looking for “two or three humans, one honorspren, and one inkspren.”

They still think Shallan is an Elsecaller. They’re not looking for Pattern. They’re also not looking for the deadeye spren, or Azure.

That’s good. Any misconception on the part of the Fused is good. Anyway, at least the spren who runs the docks is excited to know that the Oaths of men are being sworn again, and promises to stall the Fused if it comes back.

There’s also an honorspren ship on the docks, which is exactly what they need. Syl has an idea, so nobody listens to her and she just fucking bolts...towards the Honorspren ship.

“Hey!” She screamed. “Hey, look down here!” The vessel stopped ponderously, handlers slowing its mandras. Three blue-white honorspren appeared at the side, looking down with utter shock. “Sylphrena, the Ancient Daughter?” One shouted. “That’s me!” She shouted back. “You’d better catch me before I scamper away! Wow! I’m feeling capricious today. I might just vanish again, off to where nobody can find me!”

Getting caught on purpose. That’s...really smart, actually. The honorspren won’t let the voidspren take them. Anyway, Syl’s hands are tied, Kaladin is preparing to yell at the honorspren, but they got away safe.

Back over to Dalinar.

He feels like he’s having a vision again, in a room he’d been in before. Stormfather isn’t answering, though, and he goes out to find an older version of Nohadon, greeting him like an old friend.

Given that this is an old man in a Sanderson book, I am instantly suspicious.

Anyway, Nohadon goes out shopping--with Dalinar--but the vision remains strange, and Nohadon remains elusive. Dalinar says that Nohadon is reminding him of Taravangian, which only makes me more suspicious.

A thunderclast keeps appearing, rampaging through the otherwise peaceful market. Nohadon touches its hand, and it stills.

“This is quite the nightmare you’ve created,” Nohadon said. “What does that thunderclast represent, I wonder?” “Pain,” Dalinar said, backing away from the monster. “Tears. Burdens. I’m a lie, Nohadon. A hypocrite.” “Sometimes, a hypocrite is nothing more than a man who is in the process of changing.” Wait. Hadn’t Dalinar said that? Back when he’d felt stronger? More certain?

Huh. Could Dalinar just be having a normal-ass dream for once in his life, but even his normal dreams are extra and involve deep analysis of his psyche? I mean, if anyone’s dreams did, it would be his. Still. I kind of doubt that.

Dalinar wakes up. Huh. Might have just been a dream. He wakes up, and he remembers clearly the night of Gavilar’s funeral.

We get a defined sketch of a vambrace made by Navani; it might be what the watch-fabrial she gave Dalinar is mounted on. It looks steampunk and very cool.

Over to Navani, with a note in the epigraphs about Ashertmarn:

Ashertmarn, the Heart of the Revel, is the final of the three great mindless Unmade. His gift to men is not prophecy or battle focus, but a lust for indulgence. Indeed, the great debauchery recorded from the court of Bayala in 480--which led to dynastic collapse--might be attributable to the influence of Ashertmarn.

Navani notes that she has practice holding a kingdom together, especially from Gavilar’s last days, when he’d “gone strange.” That’s...an interesting view of it. Navani notes that he grew darker than most people know, which is also probably not good.

Also, we get that Bridge Four is now essentially lend authority to the throne, which for people who used to be Sadeas’s least lucky bridge crew, is an incredible jump in importance. They still haven’t quite acclimatized to it.

The highprinces are worried about Dalinar, and about the fact that he’s gone back into drinking. Sebarial makes a snarky comment and manages to really piss off Navani. She actually gets Sebarial to back down from a snarky comment.

Anyway, they’re all trying their level best not to let Ialai or Amaram know that Elhokar was planning on making Dalinar, essentially, highking. Because that would be a horrible plan with Dalinar in his current state.

Anyway, they get the meeting wrapped up, and Navani apologizes to Bridge Four about how boring it was. They point out that hey, nobody tried to kill them, so it’s all good.

“See, Brightness?” Leyten said. “New recruits might get bored by guard duty, but you’ll never find a veteran complaining about a nice quiet afternoon full of not being stabbed.”

All of Bridge Four remains perfectly convinced that Kaladin will come back. But things are getting worse--Teft was hauled before the magistrates for public intoxication.

Renarin is working on finding a pattern in where the stones were stored; he is currently joking with Bridge Four, and looks happy. I’m so glad Bridge Four has accepted Renarin.

Also, we get that Jasnah and Navani disagree on the importance of personal histories in a record; Navani makes the mistake of dismissing them and gets a lecture from Jasnah, although at least Jasnah does apologize.

Navani looks through Jasnah’s notes, gets that Jasnah seems to be investigating Renarin’s spren.

Back to six years ago, in Dalinar’s mind. Gavilar’s funeral. The ardent is preaching about it--Dalinar is angry, even at the Almighty himself. We get that Dalinar had been trying to control his drinking, although when he was away from Kholinar he did just get completely wasted, and that he’d stopped yelling at his sons, which...shouldn’t have had to be a thing for him to stop, but good that he did.

“You, always about dreams. My soul weeps. Farewell, weeping soul. My dreams...about, always, You.” The poem slapped him harder than the others. He sought out Navani, and knew instantly that the ketek had been hers. Gazing straight ahead, she stood with one hand on Elhokar’s--King Elhokar’s--shoulder. So beautiful. Next to her, Jasnah stood with arms wrapped around herself, eyes red. Navani reached toward her, but Jasnah pulled away from the others and stalked off toward the palace proper.

And then Gavilar is soulcast into a statue. Elhokar swears that he will have vengeance for Gavilar’s death. Dalinar is still horrified by the man he had been, and makes a note that really undercuts one of the most alarming things about the Blackthorn:

Frightening, that nobody blamed him for the things he’d done. Nobody but Evi, who had seen what the killing would do to him.

And he’s pulled away from his attempt to get drunk by Jasnah, reading aloud the opening to the Way of Kings. He asks her to read it to him.

Jasnah met his eyes, chewing her lip as she’d always done as a child. Then she read in a clear, strong voice, starting over from the first page, which he’d just heard.

For some reason it means a lot to me that Dalinar’s introduction to the Way of Kings was this--him being pulled away from the temptation of oblivion by Jasnah, who herself is desperately trying to heal from this moment. Navani is right--they’re like each other in ways that they don’t really know.

But I’m glad they shared this.

When she read the last word, Dalinar found himself weeping again. Jasnah dabbed at her own eyes. She had always been so much stronger than he was, but here they shared an understanding. This was their send-off to Gavilar’s soul. This was their farewell. Leaving the book on the lectern, Jasnah walked over to Dalinar as he stood up. They embraced, saying nothing. After a few moments, she left.

Dalinar thinks that he has to leave, he has to go on a journey. He remembers Evi’s words about the Old Magic.

Dalinar stood up taller. He turned and stepped toward Adolin, seizing him by the shoulder. “I’ve been a poor father these last few years,” Dalinar said. “Nonsense,” Adolin said. “You--” “I’ve been a poor father,” Dalinar repeated, raising his finger. “To you and your brother both. You should know how proud I am of you.”

So that’s when he decides to go visit the Nightwatcher.

Over to Szeth, with more epigraphs:

I find Ba-Ado-Mishram to be the most interesting of the Unmade. She is said to have been keen of mind, a highprincess among the enemy forces, their commander during some of the desolations. I do not know how this relates to the ancient god of the enemy, named Odium.

We also get that Nale had made several safehouses, but also that--understandably--his conception of time is a bit fucked. They land on a plain in Marat, between the Vorin kingdoms in the East and the Makabaki ones of the center west.

Nale gets the other Skybreakers to leave and takes just Szeth with him. Szeth is unsure of how to refer to the Heralds; he uses “aboshi,” which is a divine honorific his people use to refer to the “great spren of the mountains.”��

They find a ruined courthouse, where people tried to take shelter from the invading Voidbringers.

“You are in a unique position, Szeth-son-Neturo. You will be the first to swear the oaths of a Skybreaker in a new world, a world where I have failed.” They found steps near the back wall. Szeth got out a sphere for light, as Nin did not appear to be so inclined. That drove the whispers back. “I visited Ishar,” Nin continued. “You call him Ishu-son-God. He has always been the most wise of us. I did not...want to believe...what had happened.”

Nightblood thinks that Nale might be evil. At the very least, he wants Szeth to fight him. And to prove that he’s better than Nale’s sword.

We also get something important: Nale is not only a Herald. He also joined his own order and has a Shardblade. He is a Skybreaker of the Fifth Ideal, and he tells Szeth that he’s going to tell him about Aharietiam. The time the nine Heralds sacrificed the Tenth.

Over to Dalinar. He wakes up, feeling surprisingly alright despite the fact that he’s been drinking. He wakes up, cleans himself off, shaves. We get that Gavilar was the one who taught him to shave--”their father had been too busy getting himself cut apart in foolish duels of honor, including the one where he’d taken a blow to the head. He’d never been right after that.”

He also notes that most people seem to remember him as far more noble than he remembers himself. Taravangian was waiting for him, kind of--he and Dalinar go up together. Dalinar asks for word from Kholinar, and there’s been none, but Stormy chimes in:

I...may have felt something, the Stormfather said. During a recent highstorm, it felt like Stormblessed was there with me. I do not know what it means, for I cannot see him--or the others--anywhere. I presumed them dead, but now...now I find myself believing. Why? “You have hope,” Dalinar whispered, smiling.

Anyway, Queen Fen calls Dalinar the fuck out for not doing shit for like a week, he accepts it, and the conversation moves on.

Jasnah joined the group, delivering a stack of papers to her mother. “May I see?” Ialai asked. “No,” Jasnah replied; Dalinar hid a smile in his drink.

I adore Jasnah. She keeps just wrecking Ialai until Ialai gives up. Unfortunately, Highprince Ruthar--who sides with her--decides to keep going.

And then Dalinar has a moment of revelation where he realizes why the battle plan has been bothering him. The Voidbringers aren’t going to attack Jah Keved--the Veden and Alethi know every fucking inch of that land.

It looks like the enemy is going for Thaylen City.

Thaylen City, where Kal has been told to go; where Amaram is; where the voidbringers are, now moving.

Shit, it’s all going to coalesce there. Fen realizes that the ships were spared by the Everstorm so that the Voidbringers could take them. Fen’s son points out that just defending Thaylen City isn’t enough--the Thaylens know naval warfare. Their fleet could just sail on and attack another port city.

On his way out, he passed Taravangian, who had taken a seat by the wall. The old man looked distracted by something. “Taravangian?” Dalinar said. “We’ll leave troops in Jah Keved too, in case I’m wrong. Don’t worry.” The old man looked to Dalinar, then strangely wiped tears from his eyes. “Are...are you in pain?” Dalinar asked. “Yes. But is is nothing you can fix.” He hesitated. “You are a good man, Dalinar Kholin. I did not expect that.”

Oh, god, what’s Taravangian planning.

Dalinar goes to tell Kadash that he’s releasing his ardents from his service, not wanting to put them into the position where they serve a heretic. Kadash refuses, pointing out that the rest of the army needs them.

Dalinar is thinking, trying to figure out if he can bring some sort of commander from Odium’s side into a highstorm vision. Stormfather says he can see one person--it’s probably Venli. Oh, this would be interesting. Also, we get that the Radiants really need to figure out how to power Urithiru and get things growing again.

Over to Taravangian. We get that Moelach seems to have settled in the Horneater peaks--so that’s where the Death Rattles will be now. Also might be why it’s so dangerous, both in Shadesmar and in life. We get that Spark, Malata’s spren, uses “she” pronouns.

“Spark is fine with what we’re doing,” Malata said, pressing her finger down and adding another swirl to the table. “I told you, the rest of them are idiots. They assume all the spren are going to be on their side. Never mind what the Radiants did to Spark’s friends, never mind that organized devotion to Honor is what killed hundreds of ashspren in the first place.”

Anyway, apparently Spark is up for anything that lets her take vengeance on the Radiants for what they did to the ashspren. That’s...interesting. I like this complexity added.

Anyway, Taravangian is going to leak an anonymous essay with a bunch of secrets, and a bunch of Dawnchant translations as well, to make sure they all hit at the same time. He’s planning on crushing Dalinar down.

#oathbringer spoilers #stormlight archive liveblog #shadesmar road trip #adolin kholin is a ray of sunlight #dalinar voice: unite them #to be unmade you have to be made

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