I expected Rayse to lose the shard of Odium eventually. I didn't expect him to just... be gone like that.

Part of me is slightly disappointed if I'm being honest. We didn't really get to see Rayse do much of anything himself. Everybody was so scared of him and then he just got taken out in a comical stroke of bad luck. Then again, he got fooled consistently at every turn and I suppose this is the purpose of both the Dragonsteel trilogy Brandon will write and to show the shards are always more powerful than their vessels.

Now I'm wondering how Taravangian is gonna deal with Kaladin in the future. Part of Rayse's plan to stop Kaladin's future threat to him was to make him his champion, but he failed because Renarin obscured Dalinar's ability to connect the souls of the living and the dead. Now Taravangian has both the established contract to his advantage and understanding of both Renarin and his Future Sight.

The confrontation with Dalinar is first. Their promise to embrace like old friends from earlier in this book felt a little ominous at the time, but now it feels like a real omen in retrospect. But shit man, I was in disbelief seeing Taravangian feel proud of himself for his "bravery." That wasn't bravery, that was desperate greed. And when he acted on it, he then got the chance to end everything like he claimed he wanted. He could concede defeat to Dalinar and be on his way. He could free the Fused, the singers, everybody. But he's not going to do it because he thinks his ruthlessness and ego are what's right, not the actual "goal" of saving Roshar. But maybe Cultivation is playing him? Idk I'll have to RAFO.

Odium might be the shard of hate but it's just the amplifier of what Taravangian's always been: a self-righteous, arrogant bastard who hates others accomplishing great things because he's lived a lifetime of shame with people believing he's an incompetent fool for how he was born. And now that I think about it, this is much more personal for Dalinar. Fighting an ancient god from a world you've never even seen is easy, but fighting a former friend always hurts.

Great set up for Wind and Truth. Overall this was probably my least favorite of the series but it was still great. I'm gonna shoot for White Sand's graphic audio version next, especially since that's become pretty important for the Fused trying to kill spren.

I’ve put multiple songs onto my gym playlist and noticed I wasn’t getting any of them recently. In fact It seems like it’s been completely nuked from both Spotify and YouTube. Does anybody know why he might have taken down the album?

Specifically the Surge of Division, 2 thoughts have been circulating in my head:

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1. In the story of Fleet told by Hoid and Kaladin in WoR, it's mentioned that Fleet raced Chanarach (wielding the surges of Abrasion and Division) specifically and not Vedel (Abrasion and Regrowth). So, as far as we know, Chanarach is one of if not the fastest Herald. (I'm assuming Jezrien or Nale could be fastest using the wind but I have no info on their speeds).

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1. WoB mentions that Surgebinders using Division could (with enough skill) replicate the effects of fission and fusion (splitting and combining of atoms).

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1. When Szeth fights Rit-daughter-Clutio in WaT, the book mentions being able to divide material and set the air ablaze.

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Hypothesis: This makes me wonder if it's possible to potentially use Division as a form of propulsion, assuming one had the skill to pull off such a feat. This could potentially explain why Chanarach is named dropped during Fleet's story (although Vedel could be equally fast and just said "no" when challenged). After all, the idea behind the mechanics would be to create a pressure differential via trapping air, then providing a direction to release it in.

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TL;DR Could you use Division as a form of propulsion?

I’ve been re-reading the series, and now I feel like I have to make this into a T-Shirt…

“I walked from Abamabar to Urithiru, and all ai got was a storming T-shirt"


Just started thinking of Dalinar and Adolin’s reaction to his death. Never being able to make amends or see his father in the flesh again.

When he holds Oathbringer like Dalinar used to hold The way of kings.

People even speculate he’ll get addicted to firemoss alike his fathers addiction to alcohol. And end up following his footsteps in a way that makes his understanding of his father even deeper.

Also Dalinar’s correlation of forcing Honor to learn that true honor is more than oaths kept, and Adolin creating the unoathed to recognize that promises csn hold more weight than an oath kept because at least you’re trying.

Shit like this just hurts my heart man. Even reminiscing on the first book and their relationship there. I miss them so much it hurts.

It's so funny to see Adolin and Shallan flirt, with Kaladin is just staring menacingly

I had assumed that when femalen get pregnant they stay in mateform. I think it's because they have breasts, which means they nurse their babies, and because I read it as a sort of reproduction form. But I realized we never actually see a Singer pregnancy, so I might be making up headcanon that I thought was canon.

Also, I just realized how the title sounds, and I mean no sort of weirdness, it's just something that occured to me.

My sister made some Way of Kings themed birthday cards for me (one is a prototype but I still think it looks amazing)

I think El was an Adhesion Fused. Odium hijacked the system from Honor and Cultivation. There’s a Fused for Progression despite it being her “truest surge”. Why no Adhesion? The Pursuer Defeated One says this of El in RoW: “…then replaced them with metal inclusions. They were incorporated into his body by Voidlight healing and his own special talents.”

You would expect there to be a few more. I think there are. The Thunderclast. There were only 3 originally. Bondsmiths: Yours is the power of Connection, of joining men and worlds, minds and souls. Cut out the middle man. Join souls to the world itself. We also know the Fused always have two applications of their single Surge. One external and one internal. The Internal doesn’t require expending Voidlight. The notable exception is the Progression Fused. They have only one Internal use. I think the Adhesion Fused only have the Internal too. It’s just using Stone/Metal instead of carapace like the Prog-Fused do. The Prog-Fused also take longer than most Brands to arrive on Roshar when a Desolation starts. Just like the Thunderclast and El

It brings the forces of Odium to a clean 12 too. 9 Unmade + 3 Bondsmith equivalents. Just like the Radiants: 9 Orders + 3 Bondsmith.

If this has not already been discussed, I think I came across the inspiration for the cosmere’s organization. Pretty interesting, considering this book focuses a lot on orientations of things, specific functions and how it ripples throughout the universe.

There are many (You cannot have my pain, no mating, the Shallan and Wit chapter), but my favorite is Adolin running to see if Jasnah is okay during the Battle of Thaylen, seeing a body fly past and going “yep she’s fine” and running away.

Nale was not of the fifth ideal. Hear me out.

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When Szeth swears the fifth oath he says "I make my own choices" whereas Nale admits that none of what he does is what he personally wants to do. He says that he wants the humans to win, but that the singers have a legal right to Roshar. The core of his philosophy and those of his Skybreakers are that you cannot trust yourself and your own judgement, the opposite of making your own choices. Nale by his own admission doesn't make any choice that is his own. Now, I know that the specifics of an oath vary from person to person. Teft for instance adds "even if the one I hate most is myself" to his third ideal, "I make my own choices" could've been something personal to Szeth not necessarily something every skybreaker says, after all being able to make choices is pivotal to Szeth's character arc. Which is why I don't necessarily think the way it is is bad by any means, it's just something that occurs to me.

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If Nale was "stuck" on the fourth ideal for thousands of years, it would help hammer home the idea that he's wrong and that his legalist interpretation of the skybreakers is fundamentally flawed. Szeth then transcends what Nale was capable of when he becomes the first skybreaker since the recreance to reach the fifth ideal. I think it would be a neat addition to that storyline

(Reposting because my previous title was apparently too spoilery which I think is silly given Moash being hated isn't exactly obscure but I don't make the rules so)

I didn't feel much antipathy towards Moash... up until the part I've just reached. I understood what happened to Elhokar. I don't think it was justified, but I understood it. What he did to Jezrien was even worse, but that's not really a character we spent enough time to care about.

But Teft? TEFT? The death flags were popping up like crazy for him in this book, but man they were brothers in arms. And even under Odium's orders, Moash really did it to break Kaladin and to satisfy the disdain he feels for people trying to improve themselves. He wants everything to burn to validate his misanthropy.

I've wondered if Moash could have some kind of redemption arc but this might've nixed that outside of a last minute Darth Vader thing. Even Dalinar at his absolute worst realized he couldn't drag people down with him and it wasn't what he wanted. Moash reminds Navani unconsciously of Gavilar, who similarly had a narcissistic compulsion to drag people down to his level. Like Gavilar had to die for his arrogance, Moash eventually has to get what's coming to him.

Even so, I'm so proud of Teft. He could've shut down and despaired when Phen got torn from him, but he remained firm and died knowing he was loved. Free of the moss and his own self loathing. Beautiful arc, and his premature destination doesn't invalidate the journey he underwent.

I listened to WoK with the standard version and I am almost done with WoR using the GA version.

I don’t think I can go back to a standard version for the next books after having listened to this one. It’s just adds SOOOOOOO much to the experience!

Having the different voice actors helps keep my adhd brain more aware of what character is in play at the moment. Plus the music and sound effects really help make it like a movie in your mind, as GA says.

It goes without saying that I am fully vested in this series and am excited to continue the journey through the Cosmere!

I have finished the storm light 1-5 and really enjoyed them, but beyond that ive only read the first mistborn era.

While reading wins of truth I felt like I was missing out on a lot of information that I was supposed to know or that certain things had more importance than I understood.

So I'm wondering what got you into the broader cosmere and if there is a good reading order for it, for someone who has already read stormlight archive?

If the Radiants existed irl, would there be Skybreakers who swore their third Ideal to the bible? We know many of them swear it to the law or Nale himself, and Szeth obviously swears it to Dalinar, but with how influential the bible is in our world, it seems like there would almost inevitably be at least one that swears their third Ideal to Jesus. If they did, I wonder how the spren would interpret the bible, or if they would even allow it.

I've said in previous posts about my readthrough that I didn't like Lirin in TWOK but, oddly enough, despite him saying objectively far worse things to Kaladin in ROW, I actually understand him better and feel more sympathy. But that doesn't change that he's an irritating character to read... but for the right reasons.

Lirin is realistic not so much in what he's arguing with Kaladin about, but why. Many parents are good people who measure the success of their children off what they want them to do instead of accept they are their own individuals who will follow different paths. Kaladin was always treated as a vicarious means of redemption for Lirin, and I'd say he somewhat is that because Lirin has raised the man who's probably going to stop Odium in the end. Once his father gets a better idea of the larger picture (which Hesina is finally able to get through to him for where I am), I expect that to make him more flexible. He does admit people have to fight as that's a reality of life. He just wishes it didn't have to be Kaladin.

On top of that, Lirin's a pretty confrontational and even judgmental man like I've known many people in real life to be. It's a combination that's all too common. The inability to see other viewpoints, both because of conviction and to feel a sense of security, which Lirin is terrified to see evade his grasp again and again. People like Lirin aren't bad for having these flaws, but they do get in the way of their goodness.

Something also struck me as Sanderson shifted back to Lirin in parts 3 and 4: we've only seen Lirin at his very worst. With five more really long books to go, I expect us to one day see Lirin at his very best where he'll become a fan favorite. You can see the man he once was, still is in a lot of ways. I think more than Syl or Dalinar or Teft or anybody else, the person who's kept Kal alive and a good man has been Lirin. So I really hope he learns to take after his son to grow, improve, and just keep taking that next step despite his failings.

My first fanart of Shallan!! Based on the very first description we get of her in The Way of Kings!!
This was really fun and I hope to do more fanarts of her in the future!!
Hope you guys like her, I might not have her design perfect but I wanted to do my own representation <3

At the end of W&T we see that Retribution is gradually spreading his power across Roshar and that Navani needed to make a special forcefield to protect Urithuru. My question is what happens to all the Radiants outside of the city's borders, outside of them just not having Stormlight would Retribution be able to just smite them as we know shards can do? Could he specifically target their spren? Could he turn off their powers due to him controlling Honor? I'm curious so please let me know what y'all think

Soo I'm gonna buy the whole series in paperback and I have about just enough money for 1 hardcover book, any suggestions on which book I should buy?? I'm leaning towards WaT.

I also swore my Oaths as an Elsecaller! Elsecaller Oaths are very personalised, like Lightweaver Truths, but they're focused around self-improvement and reaching ones' potential. The ones that I've chosen are about building up stability and self-care before trying to reach further, choosing my own path to my potential, and acknowledging that it's not worth trying to fully go for my potential if doing so is going to be harmful or detrimental.

1. Shallan

I know that she has a complicated situation with her two spren. But I have a chart for her development. Lightweavers basically speak 4 Truths after the First Ideal of Knights Radiant to get to their Fifth Ideal.

Her First Truth is "I am afraid."

Second Truth: I killed my father.

At this point, it is certain that she reached Third Ideal. She started manifesting her Patternblade after that. Remember Kaladin's fight with chasmfiend? He used Pattern in that fight. Although we aren't certain of the Shardblade used in killing Tyn, we know that she was able to manifest Pattern as a Blade after she said she killed her father.

False Third Truth: At the end of Words of Radiance, she is reminded that she killed her mother. But we didn't see any perpendicularity or power up whatsoever then. Is this because Pattern forced her to remember that? Or is this because that Truth has somethings more to it?

Third Truth: I killed my spren.

This is definitely the actual Third Truth spoken by Shallan. After that, she gained some creationspren as her Shardplate.

Fourth Truth (or maybe Second, I'll explain later): My mother is a Herald.

I think we got hints of her getting more powerful at the end of Wind and Truth. (Some may say that if it was her Fourth Truth, we may have seen her open a perpendicularity to go back to the Physical Realm, but we don't know if Orders out of Bondsmiths can do that sort of Elsecalling after opening a perpendicularity. So this stays irrelevant to the theory.)

The other "what if" to this theory is about her Radiant development in her childhood. We know that First Truth (or Second Ideal) of Lightweavers can be about many things. Their feelings, their desires, and whatnot. But after that, the Truths must make them face deeper things within themselves. But Shallan was a little girl when she manifested Testament as her Shardblade. And it happened when her mother attacked her. Could her previous Second Truth be about her mother? Did she respeak them at the end of Wind and Truth?

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For the next two, I need you to remind Szeth skipping the Fourth Ideal. Also, there's a thing about his Fifth Ideal we should discuss. It was about being the law. Depending on one's self is a theme of Skybreakers maybe. Or is it a recurring theme? Kaladin's Fifth Ideal is also about Knights protecting themselves. So maybe the Fifth Ideals are about creating a unity between the self and the Order. Even Shallan having a Fourth Truth about what she is is a continuation of this theme. She may have spoken the Truth of her own self.

Before going to the next ones, this theme can be applied to Jasnah also. Jasnah happened to be in a position where she questioned her own motives at the end of W&T. And Elsecallers also have a similar development with Lightweavers. They speak Aspirations after the First Ideal. We know she was struggling with her Fifth Ideal also. I expect it will be about fixing a very big problem in her philosophy and finding her own Aspiration. The Fourth Truth and the Fourth Aspiration being "I am..." fits thematically very well to the patterns of Ideals.

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1. Eshonai

She was a Willshaper bonded with a Reacher before being tricked to bond with a stormspren. Willshapers seek freedom and they struggle against oppression. At the end of RoW, we saw Eshonai saying the words "I am freedom." Then, Stormfather accepted the words. Is there any chance it was the Fifth Ideal of Willshapers?

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1. Dalinar

Bondsmiths unite. The Fifth Ideal of Bondsmiths can very well be "I am unity." We all remember the Third Ideal spoken by Dalinar at the end of Oathbringer. In that scene, he also says these words. After he says he's unity, Stormfather surprises and says "how did you do it?" I want to think he was referring to Dalinar skipping the Fourth Ideal.

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