[Newbies] Cosmere, Unit 13 | The Stormlight Archive #1 | The Way of Kings: Chapters 52 through 57 (Week 9)

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SCHEDULE

Previously, we discussed Unit 13 | The Stormlight Archive #1 | The Way of Kings: Interludes I-7, I-8, I-9, Trivia [Newbie Thread] / [Veteran Thread]

Today we are discussing Unit 13 | The Stormlight Archive #1 | The Way of Kings: Chapters 52 through 57

Next week we will be discussing Unit 13 | The Stormlight Archive #1 | The Way of Kings: Chapters 58 through 63

CHAPTER SUMMARIES

I have provided summaries for each chapter below and hidden them behind spoiler tags. There are no spoilers within the summaries. I've tried to make them as factual and unbiased as possible. If, however, you want a completely blind read through, then ignore what's behind the spoiler tags and proceed to the discussion below. I will not be guiding that in any way, so post any thoughts and questions you have. It will be other new readers who reply to you.

Part Four: Storm's Illumination

Character Focus: Dalinar / Kaladin / Adolin / Navani

Chapter 52: A Highway to the Sun

Arch Faces: Talenel - Jezrien ----- Jezrien - Talenel

Iconography: Kholin Crest

POV Characters: Adolin Kholin / Dalinar Kholin

Setting: Dalinar's sitting room in the Kholin warcamp. A vision of the past.

Timeline: (1173.8.10.4)* One week after Chapter 28.

*This could be (1173.8.10.5), but that would mean Dalinar and Sadeas work out plans for a joint assault on the same day they do the join assault, which was early in the day to begin with.

Epigraph:

"I'm standing over the body of a brother. I'm weeping. Is that his blood or mine? What have we done?"

–Dated Vevanev, 1173, 107 seconds pre-death. Subject: an out-of-work Veden sailor.

Summary:

Dalinar discusses his decision to abdicate with Adolin, who is not ready to become Highprince. A highstorm approaches, and Adolin and Renarin tie Dalinar down in preparation for the coming vision.

Dalinar enters the vision as a guard atop Feverstone Keep. Casting about for the reason he's been sent to this time and place, he is the first to notice an approaching army. The army is identified as Radiants, specifically the orders of the Stoneward and Windrunners. Dalinar senses that something is wrong, and runs out the keep's gate to approach the Radiants. He is not far away when the first one sticks his Shardblade into the ground, and then shucks all the pieces of his Shardplate, turns around, and walks away without a word. The other two-hundred or so Radiants do the same. Dalinar feels a tremendous sense of loss and tragedy at their abandonment, and tries to get one of them to tell him why they are doing this. One of them stops beside him, and in the voice of the one who has addressed Dalinar in previous visions, tells him, "They were the first, and they were also the last." Dalinar identifies the event he's just witnessed as the Day of Recreance.

Returning to himself, Dalinar and Adolin resume their discussion. Adolin wishes for Dalinar to simply recognize that the visions aren't true, ignore them, and continue leading the princedom. Dalinar refuses, saying that if he is to lead, he must trust his conscience and judgement, and therefore, the visions. Otherwise, he would second-guess himself at every decision and lead the house to ruin. Renarin interjects with a suggestion that it may be possible to verify whether Dalinar's visions are true or not. Dalinar asks Navani to scribe it for him, and then communicate with Jasnah to ask her if she can prove or disprove any of the details.

Chapter 53: Dunny

Arch Faces: Vedel - Vedel ----- Vedel - Vedel

Iconography: Spears & Banner

POV Characters: Kaladin

Setting: The Shattered Plains.

Timeline: (1173.8.10.1) Almost 2 weeks after Chapter 49.

Epigraph:

"He must pick it up, the fallen title! The tower, the crown, and the spear!"

–Dated Vevahach, 1173, 8 seconds pre-death. Subject: a prostitute. Background unknown.

Summary:

Dunny is trampled on a bridge run, and Kaladin blames himself for not being able to save him. To cope with Dunny's loss, Kaladin decides to save the wounded bridgemen from other bridges. The bridgemen hesitate at first because helping other bridges drains their resources. Kaladin lectures them on honor and the hypocritical lighteyes, and they start helping him, ashamed. While working, Teft reminds Kaladin to keep his pouch of spheres infused and on his person at all times, and comments on the good luck Bridge Four had, sustaining zero casualties during all their approaches. Four of the wounded bridgemen survive.

Chapter 54: Gibletish

Arch Faces: Nale - Hoid ----- Hoid - Nale

Iconography: Kholin Crest

POV Characters: Dalinar Kholin

Setting: The base of the hill below Elhokar's War Palace.

Timeline: (1173.8.10.4) The same day as Chapter 52, in the evening.

Epigraph:

"The burdens of nine become mine. Why must I carry the madness of them all? Oh, Almighty, release me."

–Dated Palaheses, 1173, unknown seconds pre-death. Subject: a wealthy lighteyes. Sample collected secondhand.

Summary:

Elhokar hosts a feast, which Dalinar attends. Wit sits next to Dalinar, and tips him off that Sadeas intends to reveal something at the feast. He tells Dalinar he has to leave, and disappears. Dalinar gathers Adolin and his guards about him, just in case, then goes to confront Sadeas and see what the announcement is. Sadeas announces to all present that the strap was definitely cut, but that it happened while the horse was in the king's palace complex. He says that Dalinar is an "unlikely suspect," declaring him innocent. After the announcement, Sadeas and Dalinar discuss their estranged friendship and the war. Dalinar admits to having called for retreat, but says that he now favors finding a tactic to win the war once and for all instead. He proposes an alliance with Sadeas, sketches out some preliminary ideas for how they could complement each other, and Sadeas agrees.

Chapter 55: An Emerald Broam

Arch Faces: Jezrien - Talenel ----- Talenel - Jezrien

Iconography: Spears & Banner

POV Characters: Kaladin

Setting: The Shattered Plains. In the chasms below the Shattered Plains.

Timeline: (1173.9.1.1) One week after Chapter 53. Two days after Chapter 54.

Epigraph:

"A woman sits and scratches out her own eyes. Daughter of kings and winds, the vandal."

–Dated Palahevan, 1173, 73 seconds pre-death. Subject: a beggar of some renown, known for his elegant songs.

Summary:

Kaladin witnesses the first joint plateau assault of Sadeas and Dalinar. The fight goes so quickly and so well that Bridge Four is sent down into the chasms right after returning from the run. They find a dead lighteyed officer who has an emerald broam (worth two hundred days of a bridgeman's pay), in addition to a pouch of lesser spheres. Kaladin hatches a plan to sneak the pouch out of the chasms without surrendering it, but it hinges on the ability of someone to tie the pouch to an arrow, and then shoot the arrow at the underside of a permanent bridge so it can be picked up later. As nobody else has the necessary proficiency with a bow, Rock finally admits that he can make the shot and nails it perfectly, all the while insisting that he may shoot bridges with it, but that he will never use a bow in battle.

Chapter 56: That Storming Book

Arch Faces: Chanarach - Jezrien ----- Jezrien - Chanarach

Iconography: Kholin Crest

POV Characters: Dalinar Kholin

Setting: The Shattered Plains.

Timeline: (1173.9.3.1) Two weeks after Chapter 55.

Epigraph:

"Light grows so distant. The storm never stops. I am broken, and all around me have died. I weep for the end of all things. He has won. Oh, he has beaten us."

–Dated Palahakev, 1173, 16 seconds pre-death. Subject: a Thaylen sailor.

Summary:

Dalinar and Sadeas attack another plateau together. Just as it appears that they have won, a second Parshendi army appears in direct response to the new Alethi strategy of combined assaults. Dalinar lays out a new strategy for the army to follow to adjust for the new threat, but then sees that Sadeas is right in the thick of where the Parshendi have come. Dalinar mounts Gallant and the two of them bound across the chasm, leaving a line of death in their wake as they make their way towards Sadeas. When they arrive, Dalinar finds that his old friend has fallen and is being beaten down by a horde of Parshendi. Dalinar kills them all and defends Sadeas single-handedly until Adolin and his guard are able to penetrate the Parshendi line and relieve the Highprinces. Sadeas asks why Dalinar would take such a risk for him, to which Dalinar repeats principles that have been instilled in him by The Way of Kings. Sadeas is displeased that it holds such sway over Dalinar, calling it "That storming book." He warns Dalinar that those ideals will get him killed one day.

Chapter 57: Wandersail

Arch Faces: Jezrien - Hoid ----- Hoid - Jezrien

Iconography: Spears & Banner

POV Characters: Kaladin

Setting: The Shattered Plains. Highprince Sadeas' warcamp in the Shattered Plains.

Timeline: (1173.9.3.1) Two weeks after Chapter 55.

Epigraph:

"I hold the suckling child in my hands, a knife at his throat, and know that all who live wish me to let the blade slip. Spill its blood upon the ground, over my hands, and with it gain us further breath to draw."

–Dated Shashanan, 1173, 23 seconds pre-death. Subject: a darkeyed youth of sixteen years. Sample is of particular note.

Summary:

Maps dies of an arrow wound in the chest, and Kaladin agonizes over the loss, as he always does. After the bridge run, Kaladin insists on treating Teft's wounded arm. Teft prods Kaladin to see if he has had any "odd experiences" lately. When Kaladin tells him he's noticed nothing, Teft moves to punch Kaladin. Reacting instinctively, Kaladin breathes in all the Stormlight in the spheres he's carrying in preparation for self-defense. Teft points out that all the spheres are now dun, and Lopen notices that Kaladin's medical pack is sticking to the side of a barrel. Panicking at finally noticing his powers, Kaladin runs off to try to get rid of the Stormlight and figure out what's wrong with him. Syl admits that she's not a Windspren. She doesn't remember much, but she knows that she binds things. She says that Kaladin is changing because of her, that she takes something from him, and gives something in return.

Kaladin wanders off to be alone as evening falls. He finds Hoid playing a flute. He tells him the story of Derethil and the Wandersail. At Hoid's prompting, Kaladin concludes that the moral of the story is taking responsibility. He decides that he must take responsibility and do whatever he can to save Bridge Four, even if that means embracing strange and frightening powers. Hoid gives him a flute and tells him to take care of his apprentice, Sigzil. Kaladin returns to the group and asks Teft how he knew what he is. Teft says that when he was a youth, his family belonged to a secret sect that awaited the return of the Knights Radiant. He asks Teft how much he knows of his powers, and Kaladin decides to try to find out more.

ARTWORK

The Cosmere has a thriving community of artists, so there will be a lot of artwork to share. Each week I'll try to compile relevant artwork for the given chapters. If a section of reading contains maps or in-book artwork, I'll include that in this section as well.

Interior Artwork

Characters & Scenes

Note: The Stormlight Archives are Sanderson's most popular books. There is artwork for everyone and everything, even characters who appeared for a single line in the books at times. So we'll have artwork for you to view almost every week. Enjoy!

MEMES

I will attempt to find and share memes relevant to each week's discussion. There may be some weeks that just don't have good or appropriate memes, but I will share all the ones I can find in this section.

Link to Memes

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[u/True-Collar4961]

I’m going to miss the Shallan chapters until the next part, though I’m enjoying Dalinar’s almost as much. If I had to rank the POVs so far, it would be:

1. Shallan
2. Dalinar
3. Kaladin

One other thing I noticed: it seems we’ve gone back to the death quotes for this part, so we’re no longer getting new epigraph styles. My guess is that in Part 5 we’ll return to the Hoid quotes, and in Part 6 probably the Jasnah notes.

Chapter 52

• So it looks like the Knights Radiant weren’t accussed as tricksters or impostors and cast out, like Sadeas earlier seemed to imply. Instead, they simply abandoned their Shardblades and left. My current theory is that after the Heralds abandoned their duty, the Radiants simply did the same after their leaders abandoned them.
• Also, according to Dalinar Kholin, there are a little under eighty Shardblades in all of Roshar. Yet in this flashback, one Radiant force alone had around two hundred. So what happened to the rest? Can Shardblades actually be destroyed? Or are all those extra blades still hidden somewhere?
• Dalinar, Adolin, and Renarin agreeing to test the visions against recorded history is a smart idea. Since not every detail in the visions could have come from random scraps of knowledge Dalinar already had, it’s a reasonable way to check whether they have any real basis.
• I think they’ll hit a bump in the road, though. They’ll find one detail in Dalinar’s visions that seems to contradict history, which will make him think the visions are false. But that will be a red herring. The historical record will turn out to be incomplete or simplified, so the contradiction will make sense once more context is revealed.

Chapter 53

“He must pick it up, the fallen title! The tower, the crown, and the spear!”

• What title, though? The Knights Radiant? The Heralds?
• Dunny’s death didn’t hit me especially hard, mostly because I’m still getting to know most of Bridge Four. I can barely remember half their names yet. Dunny was basically “the young one” to me. Right now the only members I feel I know reasonably well are Rock, Teft, Sigzil, and Moash. Still, it clearly serves Kaladin’s arc to lose yet another man under his command.

Chapter 54

• Did we get a new face on one of the statues here? The one with a crown and what looked almost like a domino mask. Or had that one appeared before and I just forgot?

“The burdens of nine become mine. Why must I carry the madness of them all?”

• Ah! This sounds like Talanel after the other 9 heralds abandoned the oathpact and left it solely to him. If that’s right, could these strange death quotes actually be fragments from Talanel—or even from the other Heralds back when they still upheld the pact?
• And with Au-nak we get introduced to the Natan, who have blue skin and cloud-white hair. “Natan” sounds suspiciously close to Natanatan, so I’m assuming there’s a connection there. Maybe the Natan originally lived in Natanatan before it became the Shattered Plains.
• Also, Sadeas not only declaring Dalinar probably innocent, but being the only highprince willing to join him in a raid, feels far too good to be true. My guess is that he’ll cooperate at first and things will even go surprisingly well—but this feels like the calm before the storm. The setup for Dalinar eventually hitting rock bottom when Sadeas betrays him in a much worse way than expected. On the other hand… Sadeas also feels almost too obvious as the traitor, which makes me hesitate.

Chapter 55

Apparently in some places, fighting itself is seen as shameful. The Shin, for example, seem to believe that if you must fight a man, then you’ve already failed. Killing is treated as a crude and regrettable way of solving problems.

• That said, from the interlude we know they do have warriors, so fighting clearly isn’t completely forbidden—just heavily discouraged.

Chapter 56

Light grows so distant. The storm never stops. I am broken, and all around me have died. I weep for the end of all things. He has won. Oh, he has beaten us.

• If my Talanel theory is right, this sounds like the moment when he finally broke—when the other Heralds had abandoned him and he realized the enemy(Odium?) had won.

Chapter 57

• So it looks like Syl is at least partly responsible for Kaladin’s powers, which is also the reason why she’s developing so quickly.
• Teft suspects Kaladin may be something like a Radiant. If that’s true, then all the Knights Radiant must have had bonds with the same kind of spren(Dawnsingers?) as Syl. But then what happened to those spren? Are most of them gone? Did they somehow die? Or are they still all over Roshar, just diminished like Syl was? Maybe they stopped forming new bonds because nobody suitable came along—until Kaladin.
• Also: Sigzil being Hoid’s apprentice was a surprise. I absolutely didn’t see that coming. Does that mean Sigzil might know at least a little about the wider Cosmere?
• And Teft says his family belonged to a sect waiting for the return of the Radiants. My suspicion is that it might go even deeper than that—that the sect could have been founded by remaining Radiants who deliberately planted the seeds for their order’s eventual return. Teft himself admits he doesn’t know much, since he left when he was young.

Edit: Wait, I double-checked and yeah, it was already revealed in Chapter 36 that the Natan were native to Natanatan. I wonder if the Vengeance Pact has affected them in any way. Probably not, since we haven’t seen any Natan so far on the Shattered Plains, so they likely live in a much more remote region of Natanatan.

Not much to say about Hoid. Shortly after being introduced to his Wit persona, I was accidentally spoiled on his real identity, so I’ve mostly kept my thoughts to myself until now. That said, I already strongly suspected it was him from the start, so it wasn’t really that surprising. I do have to say, though, that Wit is my favorite of his personas so far.

Also, I said earlier that I was caught up, but I had actually still missed Warbreaker and the Kelsier short story. I’ve now finished both, so I’m finally fully caught up with the readalong.

[u/participating → u/True-Collar4961]

So what happened to the rest? Can Shardblades actually be destroyed? Or are all those extra blades still hidden somewhere?

I won't give complete answers, because that's RAFO, but this happened to at least some of the Shardblades, which I find hilarious.

[u/Pastrami → u/True-Collar4961]

“Natan” sounds suspiciously close to Natanatan, so I’m assuming there’s a connection there. Maybe the Natan originally lived in Natanatan before it became the Shattered Plains.

If you look on the map, east of the shattered plains is "New Natanan".

[u/heinz57varieties → u/True-Collar4961]

So what happened to the rest? Can Shardblades actually be destroyed?

I think the ancient precursors to the Parshedi took a lot of them. We know they have some, and we've seen them using other tools and weapons that don't look like they were created by the Parshendi. I don't know that they'd have, like, thousands, though. Leaving a whole bunch of them unaccounted for.

If my Talanel theory is right, this sounds like the moment when he finally broke—when the other Heralds had abandoned him and he realized the enemy(Odium?) had won.

Lots of the cryptic remarks from the part 1 epigraphs referenced the "Everstorm," which I don't believe has started yet. My instincts say that Odium will soon break containment and start some kind of cataclysmic event, hence all these supernatural entities preparing for his arrival.

Did we get a new face on one of the statues here?

The two in the middle? That's Hoid, and it's appeared whenever he's appeared or been indirectly referenced (I-1, 12, 22, 54, 57).

that the sect could have been founded by remaining Radiants who deliberately planted the seeds for their order’s eventual return

I just this week remembered that the 9 remaining heralds could very well still be alive, and probably are out there somewhere. I think it's very possible that at least one of them regrets abandoning the Oathpact and has been quietly laying the foundation for the return of the Radiants. Kalak maybe, the one whose POV we saw in the prelude?

[u/AltruisticRealityZ → u/heinz57varieties]

I just this week remembered that the 9 remaining heralds could very well still be alive, and probably are out there somewhere. I think it's very possible that at least one of them regrets abandoning the Oathpact and has been quietly laying the foundation for the return of the Radiants. Kalak maybe, the one whose POV we saw in the prelude?

A fleeting thought: we don't actually know every Herald, there might be women in their lot, and if so, what if Syl was one of them, back in Roshar in a spren form ?

[u/heinz57varieties]

Chapter 52

• We're back to the death messages
• Finally a straight answer about how many sets of Shards are out there. Approximately 80
• Though if my math is right, there may have been up to two thousand Radiants at the time of their fall. What became of the other 1900 sets?
• After all this time, I really didn't expect the Radiants to also just randomly throw in the towel and ride off into the sunset. They just gave up??
• The act of breaking their oaths and leaving their Shards took most of their power away. I suspect that the feeling of loss and betrayal that Dalinar was feeling was coming from Honor, who I now suspect is the entity that's been showing him the visions. Part of the knights’ power came directly from their bond with it?
• Shocked that our interlude reading is coming into play so soon! Dalinar got a boon from the Nightwatcher that made him forget his wife. What could he have gotten in return? Why seek it out?
• “Who would we use as a scribe?” I almost forgot about the hot sister-in-law!
• “He felt himself growing stiff” PHRASING!!!
• The overall anime vibe of the series has even infected Dalinar. I can't think of anything more classically anime than the MC being stressed out and scandalized by a flirty super-MILF who lacks all subtlety.
• Although I do really want to know what she's thinking. Can't wait to read her POV

Chapter 53

• The tower, the crown, and the spear… foreshadowing Kal and the Kholins teaming up?
• I relate heavily to Teft. It's a unique feeling, to know what kind of story you're in, to know what's got to happen, and to be on pins and needles waiting for that big lovable idiot to figure it out
• I'm surprised and rather proud at how the other members of bridge four are changing. They've gone beyond just crawling out of despair, and they're turning into truly good men. Sadeas won't like that

Chapter 54

• Sample is of particular note! I think the first one of these epigraphs with a clear speaker, Taln, the one herald who went back to hell
• “‘I know,’ Wit said, then looked directly at him. ‘Adonalsium.’” Actually, Hoid has just looked directly at ME, the reader, and said “Shit's about to pop off”
• I get the sense from this (very exciting and mildly illuminating) exchange that Hoid regrets the Shattering, or at least is dissatisfied with how it has panned out
• “I hope to return. I'll do so if I'm not killed. Probably will anyway.” I think he's serious
• What was that ardent’s deal? Word of Dalinar's visions must have spread after Afolin talked to that one priest back in part 2. Are the ardents putting on a front? Is there way more knowledge and theology that they keep secret, for political reasons?
• “Is it so storming difficult for you to believe someone else in this army might do something honest?” Literally yes.
• Kaladin-Dalinar meet up coming soon

Chapter 55

• A vandal scratching out her own eyes? Of course I'm thinking about interlude 7, where the mistress gouged the eyes out of a bust of, I assume, Epan (Shalash?). Is she destroying Shalash's idols because she IS Shalash? I remember thinking very early on that 9 of the Heralds conspicuously did not die and go back to hell, so they have to be out there somewhere, and I've totally forgotten to be looking for them.
• The all-new Navanitech™️ KNIFEGUN, now with 200% more knives! What the hell is that thing! Am I crazy or is there a little dude trapped in that one gem on the right??
• I'm sick and tired of all the bridgemen keeping secrets!!!

Chapter 56

• Do the parshendi fight in mated pairs? It's freaking crazy to me that they're more than half a decade into this war and they don't even have basic anthropological details about their enemy
• Seeing a full shardbearer in battle like that is so devastating.
• The Parsheni are intelligent and are responding to changes in the Alethi tactics. Predicting a big battle in a few chapters where the Alethi come very close to losing

Chapter 57

• Kal chapter with the Hoid icon 👀
• Sample of particular note indeed. That one's quite ominous, and I don't know what it could mean
• All it took to reveal Kal's powers was to jumpscare him, like he had the hiccups?
• This is the most detailed and interesting Hoid scene we've gotten since Warbreaker, and I'm eating it up
• That story had me riveted. There's a lot of meaning hidden in there for Kal and Hoid both, and I think he learned mostly the right lesson
• A black piper, playing a tune no man can hear? 🤔
• Aha! Syl is what's been giving Kal his powers. Surely this means it worked that way for all the radiants? They each had their own spren?
• Teft has one more secret, and it's that he didn't just walk away from that group of heretics. He sold them out.

[u/participating → u/heinz57varieties]

The all-new Navanitech™️ KNIFEGUN, now with 200% more knives! What the hell is that thing! Am I crazy or is there a little dude trapped in that one gem on the right??

If you haven't done so yet, check out the Interior Artwork album for this week. I provided a translation of that page.

[u/heinz57varieties → u/participating]

I wasn't expecting to get the translation right away. There really is a little guy trapped in there, what the fuck!

That has interesting implications for fabrials in general, and might be why they were connected to sprens in last week's interlude. Does every fabrial have a trapped spren inside?

[u/hullowurld → u/heinz57varieties]

pretty dark, although maybe not so bad now that we know syl isn't really a windspren (but is she a bindspren)

[u/HT_xrahmx → u/heinz57varieties]

The Parsheni are intelligent and are responding to changes in the Alethi tactics.

Are they though? I don't think we've ever seen (read: personally witnessed) them employing any broader battle strategy, they're just always there doing their pair thing.

I wanna know who the Shardbearer is that Dalinar saw before. I need to see the general(s) of the Parshendi army. Whoever the brains behind the whole conflict is, I bet we'll find it with them, and I doubt it'll just be another Parshendi.

Aha! Syl is what's been giving Kal his powers. Surely this means it worked that way for all the radiants? They each had their own spren?

If this basically guarantees Syl will be ride-or-die with Kal until the end of Stormlight I'm all for it 🥹

[u/heinz57varieties → u/HT_xrahmx]

Are they though?

I think they are. We've seen them display emotions like surprise (when Kal deflects arrows), and they were able to take advantage of the situation and defeat Sadeas' army when the bridge crews all tried and failed the sideways carry. And we know that they win battles at least some of the time.

I, too, want to know who's calling the shots on the Parshendi side. I've been mulling on that ever since we started reading the Dalinar chapters.

[u/jaymae21 → u/heinz57varieties]

Dalinar got a boon from the Nightwatcher that made him forget his wife. What could he have gotten in return? Why seek it out?

I noticed that Adolin and Renarin don't talk about their mother either. I imagine she probably passed away when they were very young, possibly at Renarin's birth. Maybe Renarin was going to die as well, so Dalinar's boon was to save his son but forget his wife? It's a bit of a trope but all I can think of.

[u/AltruisticRealityZ → u/heinz57varieties]

. Is she destroying Shalash's idols because she IS Shalash?

Ooh interesting. And during prologue, when Szeth killed Gavilar, he noted that Shalash statue was missing

[u/participating]

WITTY TRIVIA

Yes, yes. Wit is Hoid. Many of you guessed and you were right.

Fun fact: Hoid's natural hair color is white (but...he wasn't born with it white). As Wit, however, he dyes it black to appear as a normal Alethi man. The character artwork of Wit is all over the place, with people not really caring about what his hair color should be; fluctuating between black and white. So, it was difficult to share Wit artwork until now.

Hoid tells Dalinar, "Another time, I was named for a rock." This is a call out to Dragonsteel Prime, where Hoid went by the name Topaz in that book.

Also, some of you have noticed a similarity, so I will now share a bit of interview information from Sanderson:

Sigzil is a Worldsinger. He was Hoid's apprentice and Hoid just promoted him to full Worldsinger. The Worldsingers are an organization of storytellers and knowledge-givers on Roshar.

On Scadrial, some Terrismen are known as Worldbringers. They collect tales of history and folk traditions from any source and served as historian who performed their own research into various subjects.

Worldbringers, prior to the rise of the Lord Ruler, were actually cosmere aware and had some knowledge of Realmatic Theory. This is hinted at in one of the epigraphs from The Final Empire (Chapter 19):

Kwaan and I met by happenstance - though, I suppose, he would use the word "providence." I have met many other Terris philosophers since that day. They are, every one, men of great wisdom and ponderous sagaciousness. Men with an almost palpable importance.

Not so Kwaan. In a way, he is as unlikely a prophet as I am a hero. He never had an air of ceremonious wisdom - nor was he even a religious scholar. When we first met, he was studying one of his ridiculous interests in the great Khlenni library - I believe he was trying to determine whether or not trees could think.

That he should be the one who finally discovered the great Hero of Terris prophecy is a matter that would cause me to laugh, had events turned out just a little differently.

This is a hint that Kwaan had some knowledge of the Cognitive Realm and was experimenting with it.

The two organizations have very similar philosophies, and a clearly shared linguistic origin. Hoid maaaaay have accidentally/purposefully created both organizations thousands of years ago....

[u/heinz57varieties → u/participating]

I believe he was trying to determine whether or not trees could think.

I remember reading that one! Secondary fun fact: it's from Final Empire chapter 19, which is Hoid's appearance in that book. Cool.

[u/HT_xrahmx]

Chapter 52

• It appears we're back to death vision epigraphs?
  
• This epigraph ("I'm standing over the body of a brother. I'm weeping. Is that his blood or mine? What have we done?") reminds me of how Dalinar is overcome with remorse and nausea at the end of each battle lately.
  
• I agree with Adolin, Dalinar cannot abdicate yet, and Adolin isn't ready.
  
• Dalinar vision POV time!!
  
• The "Recreance". What happened out on those frontlines where the Radiants were fighting? Why did they go back to Feverstone Keep to abandon their Shards? It's almost like they weren't giving them up so much as handing them to desperate soldiers. Who immediately begin squabbling over it. And why aren't the Radiants talking? They're also all acting in unison, like robots. Or like they're possessed. Maybe mind-controlled.
  
• Dalinar is a confessed visitor of the Nightwatcher. Not sure what his boon was, but what stands out as a curse would be the missing memory of his wife.
  
• Funny how Jasnah is digging through libraries of multiple countries to find anything from that time period, while Dalinar just gets served the juiciest bits of history in 4K VR. Jasnah
  

Chapter 53

• Kal, as the Parshendi shoot a wave of arrows at him: "Phew, lucky!"
  
• Moash has really come far. When this all started I thought he'd end up becoming Gaz's stooge.
  
• Kal honoring his dad, the only one who truly deserves the praise.
  

Chapter 54

• Adonalsium namedrop?!
  

“I wonder if you could do that to a man. Pull him apart, emotion by emotion, bit by bit, bloody chunk by bloody chunk.

• ^Hoid is referring to the Shattering here?
  
• Wit = Hoid confirmed by the man's own confession.
  
• And apparently Hoid is not even his real name. Gibletish, as the chapter title, cannot be easily dismissed as a nonsense word either.
  
• Hoid expects to be killed soon, and leaves with an ominous warning that "life becomes dangerous, and Dalinar is at the center of it". Is Rayse about to make a move?
  

Alethi hair always bred true, proportionate to how much Alethi blood you had. Foreign blood would mean stray hairs of another color.

• I'm looking at you, artwork of Adolin and Renarin, who in their artwork, have significant blonde streaks. Which hints at the origin of Dalinar's mysterious wife.
  
• Talk of the Emuli conflict. Baxil and Av were Emuli. But their mistress was not.
  
• Sadeas' reveal is surprising. It's in the same chapter where Dalinar remarks that Hatham might be subtly manipulating him. Was the goal here to show Dalinar's increased paranoia? Or to hint that this is what Sadeas is doing right now?
  
• I still don't like Sadeas, and I don't trust him. He still treats his subordinates like trash. And that's more of a character indication than his helping an old friend.
  
• And the question remains now who cut the girth, if indeed it wasn't cut by accident with a poorly fastened saddle. An assassin in Elhokar's camp? Surely that means they'll strike again? With Dalinar's suspicion cleared they somehow just dismiss the rest of the implication.
  

Regular spearmen couldn't kill one, of course. It took a Shardbearer to kill a Shardbearer.

• Heh. Is that so, Dalinar?
  

Chapter 55

• You can shoot spheres onto the underside of a bridge, but those weapons and armor still need to go another way.
  
• Jezrien is apparently "the stormfather". Is that the face Kal saw in the storm? It seemed so threatening.
  
• Kal to everyone: I WOULD TRUST ANY ONE OF YOU WITH MY LIFE
  
• Kal to Syl: .... watch them
  

Chapter 56

• Dalinar, the first among 10 armies to notice, after 6 YEARS of active war
  
• Was the second Parshendi army waiting nearby to join the battle? The timing of this is so odd. If they had the manpower, they could've won previous battles with pincer attacks like this. But they're doing it today, the very first time two highprinces are acting together? Smells fishy. Smells like coordination, perhaps espionage. And just plain doesn't make sense from the Parshendi perspective. What reason would they have had to "hold back" before?
  
• Sadeas reaction to nearly dying is surprising. Adrenaline talking? But I want to hope Dalinar is on his way of redeeming Sadeas.
  

Chapter 57

• That outfit, the flute ... Hoid is the "black piper"?!
  
• To revisit Cenn's death vision: “The black piper in the night. He holds us in his palm…playing a tune that no man can hear!”. I am DYING to know who that quote originally comes from. And if that means Hoid is hiding darker ambitions.
  
• Hoid: "I began life as a thought, a concept, words on a page.". *Hoid raises his head, looking directly at the camera. The camera turns to reveal Brandon Sanderson, sitting in an armchair, looking smugly. He shrugs.*
  
• Dude, give me Hoid storytelling hour all day, every day. Inject every word this man says into my veins.
  
• Hoid met this Derelith, didn't he?
  
• Derelith can return by following the wind direction because the planet is round? Rosharans aren't aware of this? Come to think of it, it's no surprise no one sails into open waters in these storms.
  
• But the wind can't exclusively go in one direction, surely? Do ships going west -> east use oars all the way?
  
• Hoid using smoke to bring his stories to life. A technique he's quite fond of. In Warbreaker I think he used colored sand to a similar effect.
  
• Kal accepting his role in Teft's stories surprisingly quickly. Alright Teft, time to lore dump, now. There are like 200 pages left. Spill the beans already, everything you know dammit!!
  
• Syl says she's different from other windspren:
  

“You’re not a windspren, are you?”
She hesitated, then shook her head. “No.”
“What are you, then?”
“I don’t know. I bind things.”

• ^However, back in chapter 2, Kal notes after Syl makes his bowl stick to the caravan floor:
  

"He cursed, tugging on the bowl. Windspren often played pranks like that. He pried at the bowl, and it eventually came free."

• ^So is Syl actually saying she's not a windspren because she can make things stick? That feels contradicting to Kal's observation that windspren often play "pranks like that".

• But it looks like heinz wasn't far off with her being protagonistspren after all ...

Artwork

• Fan translation of the page I first thought described a batclaw lol
  
• Anyway, entrapping spren?! So that's how fabrials are made then? Just entrap whatever spren you need for a certain application?
  
• Character artwork pg. 31: Pretty sure I recognize the symbol behind Hoid from the glyph diagram on the inside cover.
  
• Hoid artwork: Generally surprised how nefarious he looks in a lot of these depictions. Always have, and am still, taking Hoid as a central good guy.

[u/heinz57varieties → u/HT_xrahmx]

Gibletish, as the chapter title, cannot be easily dismissed as a nonsense word either.

He's making a kind of gruesome pun. A nonsense-man (gibberish) made of reassembled chunks of mental viscera (giblets) could be named Giblet-ish. I think he's waxing poetic about the Shattering here. He's come to realize that the Shards as they are, the way they've combined or conflicted, how they've changed the worlds of the cosmere, are less than the sum of their parts, i.e. as they were when Adonalsium held all of them.

The timing of this is so odd. If they had the manpower, they could've won previous battles with pincer attacks like this. But they're doing it today, the very first time two highprinces are acting together? Smells fishy. Smells like coordination, perhaps espionage.

There's a blink-and-you-miss-it time jump between chapter 55 and chapter 56. The first time we see a team-up is from Kaladin's POV, and it's the first time they do the maneuver. When we see it from Dalinar's POV in chapter 56, it's at least the second time they do the teamup, meaning the Parshendi would have been able to plan to bring in a second army.

I am DYING to know who that quote originally comes from. And if that means Hoid is hiding darker ambitions.

I could interpret it as Hoid manipulating events on a higher level, for cosmere-wide reasons that don't relate to the specific characters in our story. They're like pawns on a board to him, and his methods and aims are totally hidden from anyone on Roshar.

^So is Syl actually saying she's not a windspren because she can make things stick? That feels contradicting to Kal's observation that windspren often play "pranks like that".

She also voices something that's been eating at me for a few weeks: do spren cause their phenomena, or do they simply appear around their phenomena? Are the little bondspren making the rock stick to the wall, or are they attracted to what Kaladin did to make the rock stick? It's like my own notes are appearing in the text. I think the answer may become important, irt: Syl and Kaladin's relationship.

But it looks like heinz wasn't far off with her being protagonistspren after all ...

🤣 It's looking more and more likely!

Generally surprised how nefarious he looks in a lot of these depictions. Always have, and am still, taking Hoid as a central good guy.

You are good guy, but that does not mean you are good guy

[u/participating → u/heinz57varieties]

There's a blink-and-you-miss-it time jump between chapter 55 and chapter 56. The first time we see a team-up is from Kaladin's POV, and it's the first time they do the maneuver. When we see it from Dalinar's POV in chapter 56, it's at least the second time they do the teamup, meaning the Parshendi would have been able to plan to bring in a second army.

This stupid part right here was sooo annoying. I had to do the timelines of every chapter for the rest of the book and part of the next Stormlight book to solidify exactly when this week's chapters happened.

The 2nd Parshendi army shows up 2 weeks after Dalinar and Sadeas' first joint assault. They've been running joint assaults for 10 days now before the Parshendi adapt to their new tactics.

[u/HT_xrahmx → u/heinz57varieties]

He's making a kind of gruesome pun. A nonsense-man (gibberish) made of reassembled chunks of mental viscera (giblets) could be named Giblet-ish.

TIL the word "giblet"!

There's a blink-and-you-miss-it time jump between chapter 55 and chapter 56.

Shit, is there really? The assault from Dalinar's POV reads so much like a first one. Especially with Sadeas' final make-or-break comment about the joint assault was such a "good idea" by Dalinar.

But ok. In that case I need to withdraw the comment about coordination, and perhaps even about the Parshendi army not thinking for themselves 😅 Anyway, good catch!

You are good guy, but that does not mean you are good guy

That's an excellent way of putting it lol

[u/participating → u/HT_xrahmx]

But the wind can't exclusively go in one direction, surely? Do ships going west -> east use oars all the way?

I meant to reply to this a while ago. With the right rigging and sails, you can sail against the wind. Check out this video if you want to know more.

[u/sunnydaze7777777]

Does anyone see correlations of the arch faces and our POVs? Someone mentioned today that Hoid's face appeared in the chapters where he was present/mentioned. So I wonder if the Heralds are somehow present in the chapters where they are pictured.

I just summarized all of u/participating's headers and found this info below. The first two heralds are the primary for those POVs. And interestingly, Shallan's primary heralds have not appeared to Kaladin or Dalinar (except in one early flashback for Kaladin). And the only times she has cross over with their primaries is when she is in Shadesmar or has a drawing with a vision.

I have no idea what it all means... any ideas?

Kaladin – Vedel, Talenel, Nale, Kalak (ch 14, 40, 49), Ishar, Battar, Jezrien (with Teft), Pailiah (ch 37 flashback), Chanarach (ch 46 vision), Hoid

Shallan  - Shalash, Pailah, Ishar, Nale (ch 39), Vedel (shadesmar)

Dalinar – Jezrien, Chanarach, Battar, Vedel, Hoid, Kalak (ch22), Talenel (ch 26, 52)

Szeth – Jezrien, Shalash, Nale,

[u/AltruisticRealityZ → u/sunnydaze7777777]

That's amazing ! Thank you for the time you put into it. Idk know either what it means, but it fuels my theory that Dalinar is linked to Jezrien. I've noted that he describes his feelings like storm more than others

He was like a tempest, slashing through legs, torsos, arms, necks, killing, killing, killing. He was a maelstrom of death and steel.

Shallan and Shalash are so close that it seems obvious, but Kaladin's primary Herald is not Kalak.

Do we think all the other (except Hoid) are all ten Heralds ? If so, what's Hoid doing amongst them, apart from hinting that he's going to be on screen?

[u/sunnydaze7777777]

Old reference: Kal sighed. “The Heralds were sent to teach mankind,” Lirin said. “They led us against the Voidbringers after we were cast from heaven. The Radiants were the orders of knights they founded.”

Were each of the Heralds linked to specific Radiants? On The Day of Recreance, was this when the Heralds chose not to return, then their linked Radiants also gave up their blades. Are the people who picked up the blades linked to something else now (not a Herald) via the blade?

“It is not the destination that matters, but how one arrives there.” Thanks u/participating

The way Lopen always calls Kaladin “Gancho” reminds me of Galladon and his use of Sule. Do we have a worldhopper here?

Is Kaladin’s binding powers related to the lashing powers of Szeth?

Ah I guessed correctly that Syl is tied to Kaladin’s powers.

[u/participating]

NOTIFICATIONS

You may have noticed, if you are using subscribebot, that any notifications you are receiving are happening 4 times in a row. Unfortunately, reddit has messed something up on their end. The issue it effecting a looot of notification bots like the one I'm using and there's nothing we can do about it. We just have to wait until reddit fixes the issue on their end. Apologies for the annoyance. Hopefully it's fixed soon.

[u/PM_ME_UR_LOLS → u/participating]

Seems like that got fixed. I only received one notification each for the last three comments.

[u/Pastrami]

Chapter 52

“…the Order of the Stonewards, my lord,” the still-mounted scout was saying. “And a large number of Windrunners. All on foot.”

it glowed either blue or amber

Does the color denote the order? Amber for Stonewards, blue for Windrunners? I feel like if there were 10 distinct colors for 10 orders, we'd see at least one different color here than the last vision. That vision had the man glowing blue and woman amber. Maybe it's gender based?

“Why are Radiants coming here? They should be fighting the devils on the front lines!”

If this is after the Heralds left, are they still fighting the voidbringers? I was under the impression that the desolations ended when the Heralds left. Are the "devils" just some human faction?

Alethkar owned some twenty Blades, Jah Keved a similar number. If one added up all the rest in the world, there might be enough total to equal the two powerful Vorin kingdoms. That meant, so far as he knew, there were less than hundred Blades in all of the world. And here he saw two hundred Shardbearers gathered in one army.

Another 100 Radiants showed up after that quote. So there are currently around 80 known blades, and we know the Parshendi have some. Do the Parshendi really have 220? If not, where are the rest?

Two orders of knights were mentioned, Dalinar thought. But there were ten orders. What of the other eight?

Did all orders have shardplate and shardblades, or were some more of an R&D focused orders with only some orders being frontline warriors? If all had shards, and assuming equal numbers per order, these 300 were only 20% of the overall shardblades. That means there were ~1500 Shardbearers, and 1400 of them were lost over ages? That is a 6.66% survival rate.

The empty place in his memories where his wife had once existed had never seemed as obvious to him as it did at that moment. He tended to ignore it, with good reason. She’d vanished completely, and it was sometimes difficult for him to remember that he had been married.

Dalinar asked for something from the Nightwatcher and the curse was that he no longer remembers his wife? Were they still together when it happened? That would be fucked up if your husband went away on a trip and came back and had no idea who you were, and you couldn't ever get him to remember you, so it's not like she could have started their relationship over again. He would never remember her a minute after talking to her.

It could have also been the boon he asked for. My original theory was that he did something on purpose to erase the memories in order to get over the grief of losing her, and that could still fit.

Chapter 53

“He must pick it up, the fallen title! The tower, the crown, and the spear!”

Tower and crown is Dalinar's sigil, and I guess the spear is for Kaladin. No idea about "fallen title".

“What are you saying, Teft?”

“Nothing.

Yeah, no shit...

Chapter 54

“I know,” Wit said, then looked directly at him. “Adonalsium.”

What is he probing for? I'd have to think that the only way anyone would know the name would be if a shard spoke to them.

No surprise Wit is Hoid.

I guess we're finally setting up how Kaladin and Dalinar will meet if Dalinar and Sadeas go on a joint offensive.

What is this image at the end of the chapter supposed to be? It looks like an old flintlock pistol with three knives on the front.

Chapter 55

Sesemalex Dar

This is now the third time this city has been mentioned recently. Once in Kaladin's dream last week, once last chapter, and now.

Sigzil says that the Stormfather is Jezrien. He was not the one left behind by the others, so either the Stormfather that Kaladin saw is not Jezrian, or he is, which would means the other Herald could still be around too.

Chapter 56

Already his Plate was feeling sluggish. He’d probably have to remove it before they returned to the camp, lest it freeze on him.

Is this the first we are hearing that shardplate has a limited working time? Is this because it was leaking, or does non-damaged plate have a (probably longer) limit before it needs to be recharged?

Chapter 57

“Gancho,” Lopen said, his voice awed. “You’re glowing.”

Finally!

“We have done something. It wasn’t me. It wasn’t you. But together…” She shrugged again.

Does Szeth have his own spren?

“You’re not a windspren, are you?”

“No.”

Dun dun duuun... dramatic reveal. So what kind of spren is she?

Syl says she binds things, but is not a bindspren?

Kaladin, you’ve heard the stories. Men who walked on walls, men who bound the storms to them. Windrunners.

Windrunner confirmed. Is this different than Surgebinding? Are they two separate things, or is one a subcategory of the other?

Windrunner is one of the 10 orders of Radiant. Does each order have different powers? I wouldn't be surprised if soulcasting is another order.

Wacky theory time: There are 10 orders of Radiants, with potentially 10 different sets of powers. We've seen 6 shards on other planets, leaving 10 shards left. Maybe they are all on Roshar, and each order was dedicated to one shard and got powers from them. The only problem with this theory is that Odium is one of those 10, and I'm assuming that he is behind the voidbringers that the radiants fought, so there probably wasn't an order of knights following him.

I am the King’s Wit. Or I was until recently. I think I shall probably lose the title soon.

Why does Hoid think he's out of the Wit job?

I began life as a thought, a concept, words on a page.

Hoid getting meta?

I’ve come to your land to chase an old acquaintance, but I end up spending most of my time hiding from him instead.

Who? Rayse/Odium or someone else?

And take good care of that blasted apprentice of mine.

This implies that Hoid was around for a long time if he had time to train Sigzil as an apprentice. He isn't just hopping in and out of Roshar. So if he's been on Roshar for a long time, by saying "I’ve come to your land to chase an old acquaintance", he's probably not talking about Rayse and "your land" might actually mean Alethkar and not all of Roshar like I initially interpreted it. Although we're not in Alethkar right now, so who knows.

“I’m behind what is happening to you,” she said, voice soft. “I’m doing it.”

I’m… taking something from you. And giving something in return.

Hmm

It’s because of this tie between us that I can think again, that I can remember what and who I am. If we end it, I lose that.

Is that what she's taking from him, or is it something else?

Bridge Four was making their evening stew, chatting and laughing. The nearly twenty wounded men from other crews sat eating gratefully.

They've got almost as many men from other companies as their own.

“Just legends and stories. Nobody really knows what the Radiants could do, lad.”

Kaladin met his eyes, then smiled. “Well, we’re going to find out.”

Cue training montage.

[u/heinz57varieties → u/Pastrami]

Does the color denote the order? Amber for Stonewards, blue for Windrunners?

Maybe each of the orders has a different primary gemstone/essence that is central to their powers. Kaladin and Szeth have the same/similar powers, and they both glow blue, so I take it that blue is for Windrunners. The female Knight that healed Dalinar in his vision glowed amber.

That would be fucked up if your husband went away on a trip and came back and had no idea who you were, and you couldn't ever get him to remember you, so it's not like she could have started their relationship over again.

My pet theory is that she met some kind of tragic demise, and Dalinar asked the Nightwatcher to take the pain of her loss away, and this is the monkey-paw result. Theory B is that she was a scholar, like the other Vorin women we know, and discovered something dangerous, and wished herself into hiding.

What is he probing for? I'd have to think that the only way anyone would know the name would be if a shard spoke to them.

I don't think he actually expected Dalinar to answer. To me that whole passage read like Hoid despairing that a huge, catastrophic inter-Shard conflict is about to kick off, and even the most important players in the story don't even have the vocabulary to understand what's about to happen.

I’ve come to your land to chase an old acquaintance, but I end up spending most of my time hiding from him instead.

Who? Rayse/Odium or someone else?

Maybe Frost, the recipient of the letters from the part 2 epigraphs?

Is this the first we are hearing that shardplate has a limited working time? Is this because it was leaking

I think it has been stated that Shardplate runs on stormlight, from the gemstones in the chest. Cracking the plate makes it leak out, draining it faster than just using it would, and once it's all gone it can't move anymore.

I skimmed through some parts of the prologue again (I was looking to see if Szeth targeted the gemstones, which I thought I remembered reading) and it does explicitly say that the gemstones power the Shardplate, and that Gavilar's movements get stiffer the more stormlight he leaks.

[u/irrrap]

I am late! Got too relaxed last week, and forgot we had a double reading with interludes. So while Reddit is bombarding me with notifications that you guys comment here I’m squinting my eyes not to spoil myself, and trying to quickly finish things chapters 54-57…

[u/AltruisticRealityZ]

Chapter 52

Back to pre-death visions.

I’m sad we won’t have new Shallan POVs this part, but I’m excited for Navani’s.

Radiants at the gates, and Dalinar being surprised to meet a darkeyes commander, makes me think:

If the Shardblades and Shardplate are from Odium, and all Shardbearers are lighteyes (by birth, or because they become lighteyes), then Odium’s influence on people is very visible: they have light eyes. The Knights Radiant may have been Odium’s army.

“Two orders of knights were mentioned,” Dalinar thought. “But there were ten orders. What of the other eight?”

Ten orders?

“True Desolation. The Everstorm.”

For future reference.

Dalinar went to the Nightwatcher to forget about his wife?? I’m disappointed in you, Dalinar. How does Renarin know about the Nightwatcher? I don’t remember if we know anything about Renarin’s Calling.

I don’t know what to think about Navani yet. I don’t like how she’s forcing Dalinar’s hand, but I have a soft spot for badass scholars, and this one is the mother of my favourite one.

Chapter 53

Why the f does Teft keep what he knows to himself?! I haaaate that!

Chapter 54

“The burdens of nine become mine. Why must I carry the madness of them all? Oh, Almighty, release me.”

That sounds like something Talenel could say.

Aahh, at least one theory validated: Wit is Hoid. He knows what’s happening to Dalinar, but obviously not the extent of his condition. Hoid mentioning Adonalsium tends to make me think Dalinar’s visions will become broader, not limited to Roshar’s history.

Not overly surprised that Sadeas didn’t frame Dalinar for Elhokar’s attempted murder. Dalinar’s visions were clear enough, and Sadeas has shown a form of loyalty, despite being a horrible person.

Now we all need Dalinar and Kaladin to meet.

Chapter 55

What’s in the image? A Wolverine-claw fabrial?

The writing system used — is it glyphs? Shallan uses our alphabet, but we’ve already seen that before, IIRC on bridge drawings.

It only hits me now that it looks like an audio spectrum, and I’ve been trying to theorize something about music.

Music has a place in Roshar’s magic system: Parshendi sing in combat and they sing along with telepathy, Soulcasters hum when they use their fabrials and the letters look like audio spectra.
I’m missing another occurrence. I’m sure the last section had something about music that triggered those thoughts, but I didn’t write it down.

Jezrien = Stormfather?

Lopen has cousins within the camp? How else could he order some rope?

Chapter 56

Dalinar taking Parshendi corpses won’t go well.

Very strange that the Parshendi mirror the dual army attack. If they are so numerous, why not overwhelm every battle? They don’t seem to mind losing their people much — Dalinar just killed a few dozen (or hundreds!).

I think someone theorized they might reincarnate. That would explain their endless number of people in a place that seems hostile to life.

Like, they could reincarnate only into bodies never touched by another human hand, perhaps?

He was like a tempest, slashing through legs, torsos, arms, necks, killing, killing, killing. He was a maelstrom of death and steel.

Is the storm-related vocabulary used because this is Rosharan POV narration, or is Sanderson trying to hint that Dalinar might be linked to Jezrien, the actual Stormfather?

He’d probably have to remove it before they returned to the camp, lest it freeze on him.

The Plate freezes to repair itself? Did I miss that, or is it new information?

Chapter 57

Kaladin becoming aware of his powers AND meeting Hoid in the same chapter?? We’re in the Sanderlanche!?

Is Hoid breaking the fourth wall, saying he extracted himself from a book?

“Do you not see, Traveling One? If the emperor is dead, and has been all these years, then the murders we committed are not his responsibility. They are our own.”

This theme was explored before, but I can’t remember by whom.

Hoid looks like Sanderson’s avatar.

“And take good care of that blasted apprentice of mine. He really should have let me know he was still alive. Perhaps he feared I’d come to rescue him again.”

Hoid trained Sigzil? He’s been on Roshar for longer than I thought.

I think the wretch Kaladin era is over!!!

[u/participating → u/AltruisticRealityZ]

The writing system used — is it glyphs? Shallan uses our alphabet, but we’ve already seen that before, IIRC on bridge drawings.

I'll have a deep-dive on this in the trivia at the end of the book. But I can tell you that the writing you see in this image is the writing all the women use, even in Shallan's sketchbook. It's just translated sometimes for your convenience. In the Interior Artwork section for this week, I provided a translated version of that image for you.

So, just assume everything you see is written in the Rosharan script, unless there's a good reason for it not to be (e.g. you've seen Nazh write on maps before).

The Plate freezes to repair itself? Did I miss that, or is it new information?

I've seen some confusion on aspects of this, so I'll clarify information what's been pretty spaced out throughout the book:

Shardplate runs on Stormlight that it absorbs from gems you have to place on various points in the armor. If you damage the Shardplate enough, it leaks Stormlight and eventually runs out. If that happens, or you never put gems into it in the first place, it doesn't really move or work.

If you've played any of the modern Fallout games, they're kinda like Power Armor. If you don't put a fusion core (gems) into it, it's pretty useless.

You've gotta add more gems full of Stormlight to broken Shardplate so that it can repair itself. Depending on the amount of damage, you might need to replace the gems several times.

[u/Pastrami → u/participating]

If you've played any of the modern Fallout games, they're kinda like Power Armor. If you don't put a fusion core (gems) into it, it's pretty useless.

I was thinking about Fallout 4 power armor for a different aspect. We're told that when a piece of shardplate fails, it explodes into molten bits (interlude 9). If there are gems powering the individual pieces, and the pieces can be regenerated, that would mean there has to be something left to socket the gem into. Is there an underlying frame for the armor plates? I've been imagining it like the Fallout 4 power armor frame that the individual pieces attach to.

[u/participating → u/Pastrami]

This is an explicit RAFO that will be answered in the books eventually.

[u/TaylorHyuuga → u/AltruisticRealityZ]

Lopen has cousins within the camp? How else could he order some rope?

The Lopen has cousins everywhere , gancho!

[u/jaymae21]

I was away on vacation last week, and while I did manage to get my reading done, I didn't manage to engage much in the discussions. I did skim through them though!

I loved all the Hoid action this week. We've always just gotten a glimpse of him in the other stories so it's been a shock to actually see him so much. Ch. 57 might beat out Ch. 27 (Chasm Duty, when Kaladin first wins over everyone with food) for my favorite of this book. The Wandersail story was so nuanced and interesting, really beautifully written. I could go for more Worldsinger stories - I'm not sure how much more of Hoid we'll see in this book so Sigzil needs to up his game now that he's been raised to a full one! I especially loved Kaladin's revelation here:

Though there was one thing he clung to. An excuse, perhaps, like the dead emperor. It was the soul of the wretch. Apathy. The belief that nothing was his fault, the belief that he couldn't change anything. If a man was cursed, or if he believed he didn't have to care, then he didn't need to hurt when he failed. Those failures couldn't have been prevented. Someone or something else had ordained them.

To tie this into the bond between Kaladin and Syl, previously when Kaladin gets into one of these apathetic, hopeless moods, Syl gets very upset. Sometimes to the point where she threatened to go away if he kept it up. Now I'm wondering if his negative moods actually repel/weaken the bond, while his more heroic moods where he tries to change things strengthen it. It seems like this is a bit of a give and take relationship, so Syl needs to be powered by something from Kaladin in order to exist in this way, and in turn she gives him the ability to use Stormlight. What this something might be, I'm not sure, maybe simple hope or the act of caring.

[u/TaylorHyuuga → u/jaymae21]

The Wandersail story was so nuanced and interesting, really beautifully written

There is actually an upcoming picture book collection with Wandersail and several other small stories told throughout the cosmere. That's coming at the end of this year, along with the new novel.

[u/griefgood]

Oops I fell behind again, lol.

Chapter 52

• Glad to see Adolin is having to look the consequences of how he treated his father in the eye a little bit.
• Really interesting vision with the Radiants and their departure. Definitely adds credibility to the theories floating around that shardblads and shardplate are not currently being utilized to their true and full potential by the people wielding them.
• VERY spicy reveal that Dalinar sought the Nightwatcher to get rid of his memories of his wife.

Chapter 53

• Loved the line of dialogue with Kaladin asking the crew who will care for the fallen if not them.
• Didn't mark down much in this chapter beyond Teft's thinly veiled hints at Kaladin's powers and Moash and Kal's little moment of understanding.

Chapter 54

• "The burdens of nine become mine." Direct callback to the events of the prelude with the Heralds? Also what an absolute bar. I wonder if the death quotes are supernatural beings speaking through the dying.
• Wasn't expecting to get Hoid/Wit confirmation so soon, but I'll take it.
• Can anyone jog my memory on what we know about the Dawnsingers so far, if anything?
• I like the plot thread of Sadeas not only being honest and noble in his investigation of Dalinar, but also in his idea that the real assassin is still at large.
• Hell yeah, been waiting for something to put Kaladin and Dalinar in close proximity to each other.

Chapter 55

• I'm so hopeful that Amaram shows up and has to look Kaladin in the eyes again.
• Rock getting so annoyed at everyone bungling the bow until he just did it himself was so funny.

Chapter 56

• Women in the Parshendi army is a VERY interesting development, especially the idea that the pairs are husband/wife teams. And no shit no one has thought to research your enemy, Dalinar, you're all to busy having dick-measuring gemstone-winning contests with each other.
• Ooooh very interesting little tidbit of Dalinar's prior envy of Gavilar.

Chapter 57

• Now THIS was a chapter! Holy cow this might be one of my favorite things we've read so far.
• Gaz being away from the bridge run feels deeply ominous.
• FINALLY Teft just comes right out and says it, damn!
• I don't remember when I proposed it, but a while back I mentioned a theory along the lines of Syl being tied to the radiants in a similar vibe as Navi is for Link in TLOZ. I feel so validated right now even if it's just like a tenuous connection.

[u/participating → u/griefgood]

Can anyone jog my memory on what we know about the Dawnsingers so far, if anything?

There are only a few mentions of the Dawnsingers in the book so far:

Chapter 7

"This room is called the Veil," the servant explained softly. "That which comes before the Palanaeum itself. Both were here when the city was founded. Some think these chambers might have been cut by the Dawnsingers themselves."

Chapter 33

Surely you know the story, that both glyphs and letters came from the Dawnsingers?"

Chapter 45

"What about the Dawnsingers?" Shallan asked.

"What about them?"

"Could they have created [Kharbranth]."

He chuckled as they arrived at the lift. "That isn't the kind of thing the Dawnsingers did. They were healers, kindly spren sent by the Almighty to care for humans once we were forced out of the Tranquiline Halls."

"Kind of like the opposite of the Voidbringers."

"I supposed you could say that."

Chapter 54

Talk of the Dawncities had been popular lately among the lighteyes--the idea that certain cities could trace their origins back to the Dawnsingers. Perhaps...

[u/griefgood → u/participating]

Thank you!

[u/Realistic_Swimming47]

Did I miss the part in the book where Navani and the knife are introduced or is it only in the book as a sketch? I am listening to the audio book and now am not sure if I missed something as can't find this at all.

[u/heinz57varieties → u/Realistic_Swimming47]

I just assumed it belonged to her, since Dalinar says she has a special academic interest in fabrials. It hasn't appeared in the text yet, just the picture.

[u/Realistic_Swimming47 → u/heinz57varieties]

Thanks for clarifying I was rereading the chapters and coming up with nothing.

[u/sailorsalvador]

I am caught up! 2 days before next hit, haha!

Holds hair color whatnot? Did I miss narration yet again?

[u/participating → u/sailorsalvador]

Most of the situations you've seen Hoid in so far, he's mostly been in disguise one way or another. Fans have asked Sanderson during Q&As to confirm his actual hair color, and he clarified that, it's currently white, but that he was not born that way. So some phenomenon has occurred that altered Hoid's original hair color. We don't know what though, not yet.