Happy reread Monday, Cosmere chickens! In this week’s installment we’re diving into a Szeth flashback in which he takes initiative, does some cool stuff, and then immediately gets in trouble for it. Like most teenagers, and yet somehow like no teenager EVER. We also check in with Adolin, who’s having trouble training reinforcements for the defense of Azimir. Finally, we see Venli speaking with the stones while chasmfiends protect her and the others from a highstorm, getting hints of the shrouded past on Roshar… It’s good stuff, come chat with us!
The book has been out long enough that most of you will hopefully have finished, and as such, this series shall now function as a re-read rather than a read-along. That means there will be spoilers for the end of the book (as well as full Cosmere spoilers, so beware if you aren’t caught up on all Cosmere content).
Paige’s Commentary: Plot Arcs
Greetings, Sanderfans! We have a lot going on in this week’s chapters, so let’s dive in! Chapter 59 is titled “Whatever it Takes,” and we’re flashing back to an incident which took place eighteen years ago, when Szeth is 19 years old. He’s on a mission to protect a seaside village from a raid, only he does more than protect. He offers up “prisoners”—soldiers who will be taken aboard the enemy ships, free themselves, and set the ships on fire.
Szeth seems amazed that his men follow him so readily. They are loyal to him, even though he’s unapologetic about his superiority and skill with the sword, and even though he doesn’t mingle with the men during time off.
It seemed he had found three different militaries in his life. One represented in the corrupt soldier he’d killed. Another represented in those of the camp, who enjoyed their easy life. The final one was out here, among those assigned to defend their shores.
The plan is underway when an errant villager, a boy who should have been evacuated, is about to be discovered. Szeth distracts the raiders, revealing himself, and is taken hostage, as well. His men, on the boat he’s taken to, are shocked to see him, but they do their duty by setting the boat on fire and heading toward shore.
The second ship is already sinking but the third ship is not on fire and Szeth is worried about his men. He heads to the third ship; once on board, he cannot hide the fact that he’s not some beaten down village boy. So he dances the spears. Wait, wrong fandom—I mean, he lays into the crew with his sword.
Szeth became death for the first time. Before, he’d borrowed that darkness. Today he embraced it.
Szeth truly kicks ass for the first time, and then he takes a killing blow, a sword through the gut that will end him. But… the Voice saves him. Heals him. And basically tells him that that one was a freebie. The Voice then instructs Szeth to address the raiding party, telling him what to say in the language of the men on the boat:
You said that you were of the Stormriders. That you’d heard of the raids on this land, and had finally brought your immortals to stop them.
“I don’t know what the Stormriders are.”
Legends among them, the Voice said. From a long time ago, when your people left their lands and walked stones. Back when the Shin were fearsome warriors.
Then the Voice tells Szeth to stab one of the men where he had been stabbed, ensuring that the raiders will rush back to their homeland to save the sailor’s life. So, of course, Szeth stabs two of them just to drive home the point.
And boy, oh boy, once riders come down from the monastery, does he ever get chastised for his plan to burn the ships, and for letting a ship go. Even his father is critical of his choices. The General is angry and Szeth gets angry, in turn. He says he has done what he was told to do, only to be told that he took it too far.
And here again we see Szeth struggling to do what is “right.” He was ordered to find a strategy and he did that, but then gets in trouble for putting it into action. I think this kind of nonsense is why Szeth is so effective as Truthless. He’s been struggling his whole life to know what is right; with the Oathstone, “right” is whatever he’s told to do. When he becomes Truthless, he doesn’t have to ponder the intricacies of what is right and what might be right and what others see as definitely not right. He just does as he’s told to do by the holder of his Oathstone. Seeing Szeth’s past helps us understand so clearly how he becomes the Assassin in White.
Chapter 60 is titled “Come and See,” and we look in on Adolin as he visits soldiers at mealtime. He moves from group to group, working to remember as many names as possible as he speaks to the men. He chats with them about their families, how bad the food is, and basically lets them know that he sees them, that he knows them. And then he thinks something that makes me want to cry:
Because Adolin Kholin was bad at a whole terrible host of things. But he refused to let people be one of those.
This just gives me so many feels, because as much as Adolin lifts up other people, he has nobody to lift him up. And he needs it, I think, because of thoughts like this. He’s not “bad at a whole terrible host of things”—he just thinks he is because he’s not Radiant and because of his strained relationship with Dalinar. But Adolin is just the best, best boy! An accomplished fighter. A perfect duelist. A stunning fashion plate. A great instructor, as we’re learning from his interactions with Yanagawn. And a storming good husband and friend. I just want to hug him and tell him that he is good!
But things are tough in Azimir. This isn’t like a regular siege, or a situation with occasional skirmishes. This is a relentless attack, and there is no reprieve for the Alethi and the Azish. They’re constantly being hammered with the hope of reinforcements still days away. Adolin finds himself haunted by the sight of exhaustionspren around his men, and too many empty seats.
So he sets out to fill those seats with willing Azish who hadn’t been accepted into the Azish army, and finds several hundred that had been gathered. He has to weed out nine of every ten people who aren’t fit to serve as soldiers, though many can be put to use in other places. Then it’s time for his duty in the dome—just as a new attack comes.
POV switch!
The chasmfiends sing at the approach of the highstorm and gather in a circle to protect their young… and to protect the listeners. Venli is amazed at their songs and wonders at the four tones of the planet that resonate with the beasts. The stones tell her to watch them; she sees the sand vibrating and forming geometric groups. At the urging of the stones, Venli uses Stormlight to shift the stones into a rendition of the Shattered Plains, only with ridges instead of chasms.
Venli wonders why the chasmfiends go to the Plains to pupate. The stones tell her to come to the center of the Plains, despite the battle going on there. Venli asks the stones to show her what they can here, and her mother and several other listeners gather to watch the stones change. The stones tell her how humans made a city there and brought power to make the stones vibrate. They think it wasn’t long ago but it was apparently around the time of Nohadon. The stones tell her that once the humans sang with the stones without Radiant power, which had been dangerous.
Because of the new gods, the stones thought with sorrow. They didn’t understand. No one understood the alien stones at the place’s heart.
Alien stones?
The fourth moon. Now dead. Now fallen. With stone that is not quite stone. And when gods came here…
The stone beneath her hand that had formed the Shattered Plains with ridges begins vibrating at an intense speed and Venli sees destruction. Honor had broken the landscape with his own hand, and when the stones settled, Venli and the others see the Plains as they knew them, with chasms. The stones tell Venli that it’s still there. She asks if it’s the strange stone. The stones tell her to come see and then… then they tell her that the Plains were broken at the time of Aharietiam, when the Heralds had vanished. They again call one her to come to the center and see.
Thude and Jaxlim are both there, having watched the scene unfold, and Venli tells them they must go to Narak, that there is a secret there they need to see.
And thus begins Venli’s main arc in the book: to go to the Shattered Plains and find the secret that lies there.
Whooeee! Things are getting exciting, aren’t they, Sanderfans?
Lyndsey’s Commentary: Character Arcs
Jezrien and Taln are interesting choices for this Szeth flashback chapter. Usually, we see Nale for one of these, but he’s nowhere to be found this time around. Taln, I can understand, as the Herald of War and his role as Soldier. Both of these aspects are well suited to this chapter, in which Szeth is waging a battle to keep his shores safe and trying to be a good soldier. He is also displaying good leadership qualities, which probably explains Jezrien.
Our next chapter, chapter 60, features Kalak and Vedel. As this is primarily an Adolin POV, Vedel makes sense for two reasons; first of all, Adolin is really embodying her attributes of Loving/Healing in his actions with the soldiers under his command, and secondly, well… his Blade is an Edgedancer Blade, after all, and we usually see Vedel for his chapters. There’s one other thing in this chapter in particular, too. Adolin is holding to the Edgedancer Ideals: “I will remember those who have been forgotten,” and “I will listen to those who are being ignored.” Now, as for Kalak… he’s likely here for our other POV character, Venli. She and most of her people are all Willshapers, Kalak’s order. We could also make a case that her people are resolutely rebuilding their own culture, and “Resolute” and “Builder” are his attributes.
Szeth
This is a really important flashback chapter for poor Szeth. We’re seeing a lot of things happen, character-wise; he’s finally grown to a point where he’s capable of taking lives for the greater good, though he (thankfully) still doesn’t like it much. I’m sure Drew will get into that really cool healing thing but I have to mention it briefly; a brush with death is sure to affect anyone, especially a young man as sensitive as Szeth is. And of course his interactions with the Voice here are key! Szeth takes his orders and executes them flawlessly once he’s had their necessity explained to him. He even goes above and beyond, stabbing two of the invaders rather than the one the Voice recommends.
But he doesn’t get away with these actions scot-free. When he arrives back on land, he’s soundly berated by his commanding officer and his father. He took his orders and went “above his station” in carrying them out… Does that sound familiar? Like, say, a certain Bridge Boy who took it upon himself to try a side carry in The Way of Kings, not realizing the bigger picture?
Of course, the examples aren’t exactly analogous, as Szeth was looking at the bigger picture. He was doing what he thought (and was told) he had to, in order to keep the invaders from returning. It’s very Ender Wiggin of him, if you know what I mean. Both he and Kaladin were thinking of the soldiers under their command, but Szeth was trying to ensure the safety of the rest of his people too.
There was one other aspect of this chapter I wanted to touch on, and that was Szeth’s thoughts regarding the little boy.
Until he saw men heading toward the boy’s location. They’d push into that shack, and with the way the boy was whimpering …
You know what you need to do, the Voice said to him.
Szeth stood up from his hiding place.
I meant you needed to remain in hiding, Szeth, and let the boy suffer the consequences of his actions.
I love that Szeth’s immediate gut reaction is to protect this child who reminds him so much of his younger self.
Hopefully he hadn’t ruined the entire operation to protect one silly boy.
But if it’s not to protect silly boys, Szeth thought to himself, then why am I here?
Why indeed? He has the best of intentions, and is just doing his best in a terrible situation to ensure that his people are safe. Who can blame him for getting frustrated at his commanding officer at the end? Szeth appears to be the type of person who needs instructions spelled out to the letter.
Adolin
Learning names carried a price, because Adolin knew the faces of the fallen. It was a price he’d pay again and again, because if you were going to die for someone, you could at least do it for someone who knew who you were.
Once again, Adolin proving that he’s simply the best boy. I particularly liked this bit:
Dalinar would speak of kingdom, king, and ideals—not play the charismatic commander. He’d tell the soldiers to fight for something, not someone. Because if the someone fell, Adolin’s way could lead to chaos, while a nation or ideal could outlast any one man’s death.
It was good, reasonable leadership advice. It ignored the fact that none of these soldiers really fought for their country or their ideals. Not in the moment. It might have been why they signed up; maybe it was why they said they fought. But in the sweat and blood and chaos and storm of the battle, they fought for none of that. They fought for one another.
This is truly beautiful, and very true to life. I am not a veteran myself but I’ve read memoirs and conducted a lot of in-depth interviews with veterans of various conflicts, from WWII to Iraq/Afghanistan, and this sentiment of fighting for your fellow soldiers rather than lofty ideals has been repeated time and again. It makes sense; when you’re in the heat of battle, high-minded concepts like civic duty are by necessity replaced by staying alive and keeping your friends alive by whatever means possible.
“I’m used to it, sir,” she said. “I have papers.”
Papers? He hesitated, then glanced at his scribe.
“One who has filled out the forms,” Challa the scribe whispered, “to live as a man.”
Ah. He’d heard of that. Well, the Azish did things their own way, didn’t they?
“Good to have you, Sarkuin,” Adolin said to the man, and moved on.
For starters, kudos to Brandon for so deftly weaving trans people into his worldbuilding. As for character insights, I really appreciate not only Adolin immediately accepting this (“when in Rome” and all), but him internally switching to the correct gender in his internal dialogue. For someone who isn’t used to this sort of thing in his culture, he’s remarkably open-minded in accepting how other societies do it.
Adolin squatted by Zabra as she lay on her back, shield fallen beside her. He did empathize with the frustration. Storms, he’d felt it, as he strode into this new world with Fused and Radiants. The world upending, and his dueling skill suddenly meaning so much less.
Poor Zabra. And poor Adolin, having to dash her dreams like this. But it’s wholly understandable. She physically can’t do the job that needs to be done.
Venli
A few people slipped out from the shelter, off to seek new forms. She wasn’t certain she’d ever do that again—she liked the limber form of power she held, so long as she could remain free from Odium’s interference by virtue of Timbre.
Interesting to me that Venli has found a form that speaks to her so strongly that she doesn’t ever want to change. I wonder if a part of her, deep down, fears the change, as she was responsible for such a negative change not so long ago.
Drew’s Commentary: Invested Arts & Theories
We have another flashback to lead things off, and it was during this chapter that I started to wonder a bit about the mechanics of Ishar and the Voice.
Today, the spren said, they learn.
Szeth assumes this is a spren speaking inside his head, and we’re meant to think the same on first read—we’re meant to be wondering which of the Unmade this is, in fact. But on reread, knowing that this is Ishar, it raises the question of how Ishar is speaking in Szeth’s mind like this.
We have plenty of examples of spren of several varieties speaking like this, of course—from Radiant spren like Syl to the Unmade—but this is the only time a Herald is doing it. The easy answer is some sort of mumbled something something Bondsmith, something something Connection, but that’s not very satisfying to me. Especially because Ishar had no particular reason to Connect with Szeth as a child, and sort of suddenly spoke in his head after he killed the soldier.
Maybe it’s a situation where Ishar Connected with all of Shinovar as a place, and that allows him awareness and access to speak in anyone’s head there. But even that raises some interesting questions. In Mistborn, it’s pretty clear that Invested entities need “cracks” to slip into someone’s Spirit Web and speak directly in their mind. That’s most commonly achieved through spikes/Hemalurgy, though we also have examples of madmen being vulnerable to this.
I can’t imagine that every single person in Shinovar has suitable “cracks” for this. Maybe the trauma of killing the soldier and Molli’s death was enough for Szeth, and the creation of those cracks attracted Ishar’s attention? Maybe all the Honorbearers are suitably vulnerable, through whatever means?
I’m not sure. But: On to Endowment’s latest!
I am well aware that if you were to know of my plans, you would be compelled to interfere. It is your way, is it not?
This made me chuckle a little. It’s definitely true that Hoid has a compulsion to tinker. I wonder how much of this Endowment is getting from knowing Hoid prior to the Shattering vs. what he’s been up to in the ten thousand years since then. Would be an awesome callback if, in the Dragonsteel trilogy, we have a plotline where Hoid messes up Edgli’s plans either deliberately or accidentally.
Venli approached the leg of the [chasmfiend] sheltering her and gazed out at the passing
Stormstriders, enormous spren with long limbs.
Oh, the Stormstriders. Another reminder of the myriad mysteries yet remaining on Roshar. These things have been wandering the highstorms, taunting us readers, for a decade… and we still don’t know what their deal is. At one point, a common theory was that they were somehow tied to the chasmfiends, perhaps instrumental in their pupation on the Shattered Plains. But here the chasmfiends treat them like enemies and try to “run the odd spren off” by roaring at them.
Sadly, it seems that we’ll have to wait for a future book to get answers. If you’ve got a Stormstrider theory, sound off in the comments!
And once more, before I wrap up this week, I have to give mention to the fourth moon and this crazy “stone that is not quite stone” under the Shattered Plains. The stones of Roshar tell Venli here of how it reacted to the power of the Shards, going “haywire” and destroying the city when Honor took action.
I’m starting to wonder more and more if this isn’t related to the Aethers in some way—perhaps the fourth moon was made of an Aether. We’ve already seen Aether moons on Lumar, after all…
We’ll be keeping an eye on the comment sections of posts about this article on various social media platforms and may include some of your comments/speculation (with attribution) on future weeks’ articles! Keep the conversation going, and PLEASE remember to spoiler-tag your comments on social media to help preserve the surprise for those who haven’t read the book yet.
See you next Monday with our discussion article of chapters 61 and 62!