#unoathed

[salz-and-pepper]

Days Twelve, Thirteen and Fourteen of reading Wind and Truth - the final stretch!

Managed to bring WaT on the camping trip, and got it finished on the car ride home!

I strongly enjoyed reading it, not entirely sure where I'd rank it out of all of Stormlight but it was great seeing all of the different plot threads come to fruition :)

Time to go through them all indiviually:

The Knights of Wind and Truth, Szeth-son-Neturo and Kaladin Stormblessed, and the Cleansing of Shinovar: THE OATHPACT IS REFORGED!!! KALADIN IS A HERALD NOW!!! NIGHTBLOOD HAS MORE CONTROL OVER ITSELF!!! Szeth is missing an arm though which is VERY rough, but the parallel between Szeth (the best swordsman in Shinovar) losing an arm and Adolin (the best swordsman in Alethkar) losing a leg is pretty funny. I also am so happy that The Recreance Part II: Electric Boogaloo was limited to only a few Radiants, the detail that Szeth hits the Fifth Ideal and rejects his spren & that Syl and Kaladin are together as part of the Oathpact are great. Finally, both Szeth skipping an ideal and the Fifth Ideal of the Windrunners were just CINEMA.

The Bridger of Minds and the Son of Thorns, Rlain and Renarin, and the release of Ba-Ado-Mishram: They successfully proved to everyone, not least Mishram herself, that humans and singers can coexist and even have a relationship with one another. Rlain and Renarin both came into themselves so much over the course of their journey through the Spiritual Realm, and I'm so psyched to see what happens in Arc 2.

The Bondsmiths, Navani and Dalinar, and Honor's power: Dalinar is dead, and Navani is in a coma. I don't feel too disappointed though, I think both of their stories were pretty resolved, Dalinar ascending to Honor and then forcing Taravangian to Ascend to Retribution was an incredible move. I am not yet sure when Navani will wake up from the coma, probably sometime in Book 6, but I think it'll be cool nonetheless.

The Unoathed and the defense of Azimir: THE UNOATHED!!! DEADEYES ARE HEALING!!! MAYA IS AS COOL AS EVER!!! Thirty-something sets of Plate and Blades will be amazing, and the fight between Adolin and the Monarch guy was very enjoyable, with Adolin commanding the Plate to him... Also Yanagawn is great as always, love that guy, and I love how his origin became actually crucial to the plot! AND NOTUM, MY BOI NOTUM, MANIFESTING IN A SET OF PLATE LIKE THE GOAT HE IS.

The Windrunners and the defense of Narak: Sigzil renouncing his oaths was both heartbreaking and incredibly courageous. Moash is a dick as always (will be interesting to see when & where Vyre crops up in Arc 2). I'm also looking forward to reading the Sunlit Man to see what Sig and 12124 get up to, probably gonna read it after I finish MBE2.

Venli and the Listeners: AUTONOMOUS LISTENER SOCIETY!!! EL GAVE APPROVAL!!! YAYYY!!!! ALSO CHASMFIENDS GO BRRRRR, and I love how Venli is redeeming herself. The line about atonement before redemption hit me pretty hard, it's just such a deep line.

Shallan and the Ghostbloods: Kinda poetic how Mraize is killed by Anti-Stormlight, also Brandon cannot keep edging us by referring to Thaidakar so vaguely, just tell us outright who he is already... Shallan is the most pregnant pregnant to ever pregnant, and she should do pretty well in Shadesmar before she can get back.

Jasnah, Fen and Thaylenah: Taravangian completely cooked Jasnah, and I feel so much sympathy for how Jasnah feels - the line about there being no-one there to hold her when she needed it most just goes to show how incredibly raw her emotions are. Thinking about Fen, she made the best decision in the situation she was in - to stay as part of the coalition would be incredibly foolish. It's just such a shame that it was the only way there was a good outcome for her people.

The Champion of Odium, Gavinor, and the Ascension of Taravangian to Retribution: Gavgot done so dirty by Taravangian. Spending 2 decades breaking him and turning him against his great-uncle, before tossing him aside at the earliest opportunity, goes to show how much of a villain Tara is. I also spoiled myself on the fact that Gav becomes his champion, but the way it happened STILL blew me away... Finally, the fuck you mean Kharbranth's people are all still alive. Taravangian. He blathers on about the greater good but the amount of hubris and selfishness he displays is OFF THE CHARTS. I hope all of the Shards absolutely slime him out.

I think that's all the main arcs and my thoughts on them?

The time bubble is a GENIUS way to allow other series to progress before Stormlight rejoins the wider cosmere, without breaking the continuity. Massive kudos to Brandon.

Also Hoid my boy, off to go try speak to more Shards. AND he is getting a job in the Ladrian house, perfectly setting up his entry into Mistborn Era 2.

I hope you enjoyed following along as I read Wind and Truth! Next up, I'm planning to finish off Mistborn Era 2 (I've only read Alloy of Law so far), then move on to Sunlit Man to tie up what's been happening on Roshar, then I'll finish off Arcanum Unbounded, and then read Tress and Yumi and Emberdark to get fully caught up!

Going forward with this blog, expect some reblogs of random cosmere posts, and little summary posts as & when I either finish a book, or there's a big reveal that I just HAVE to share my thoughts on.

Thanks for all the support everyone, and see you around!

Life before death, Strength before weakness, Journey before destination.

~~~ Day Eleven Tag List: @burrbeast, @cosmereplay, @mysticotta, @lrkshyejdyeuehsh

If anyone wants to talk to me in more detail about Wind and Truth, or anything else to be honest, feel free to either DM me here on Tumblr, or add me on discord - my username is s42ndy, and I'm relatively active in the Cosmere Chat server :)

[jennydolfen]

Kaladin: "Adolin, we need to get you a spren."

Meanwhile, in Shadesmar, Maya swatting off the occasional peakspren: "Mine."

[itsaboon]

can we talk about how adolin Kholin is like, the character of all time?

firstly, he helps not only his wife, but his best friend and dad get through their trauma, but he then goes on to murder an evil prince who once betrayed his dad and is planning to betray the fucking SVAIORS OF THE WORLD, saves a spirit who is determined to hate him, helps restore sanity to the spirit of his sword, gets the good guys a bunch more magic knights, and then saves an ENTIRE FUCKING COUNTRY from the evil god of hate, all of this while not being a magic user and supporting his gay brother.

[surgeknight]

Think it’d have been thematically interesting for there to have been 9 Unoathed. I mean their whole thing is pretty explicitly not drawing their strength from the power of oaths, just seems like it’d be appropriate. Also a good way to cut that privileged wet rag Colot from the roster

[17th-shard]

February 2025 Art Commission

ART.

It's best boy again, this time by Gar Leyva! Here a rather more aggressive Adolin summons the Unoathed to battle:

[l3st1b0urn3s-707]

The unothed are one of the coolest and loveliest things that have happened in Wind and truth. I swear, Adolin (and also Szeth) have carried the weight of the whole book all by themselves. Anyway, unoathed. What a cute group of people!!!! Maya's spren friends working with (but not bonding) Adolin's, all of them helping each other... I love seeing this. I also love how much not making an oath means for Adolin, and how he sees a difference between oaths and promises. Really really cool, I'm excited to see the importance they'll have in the next books!

[mistywitcher]

finished wind and truth about 2 hours ago and I have just finished crying enough to compose some thoughts.

my heart is broken for Dalinar, and watching everyone grieve for him. I kinda felt like it was coming, but I refused to believe it, and when it did happen, I don't think I've sobbed like that over a book since Mistborn era 1.

I take back what I said about Adolin being angry in a different post. I still agree he got to be angry and that was valid, but never seeing Dalinar again and his last interaction with him being so awful absolutely killed me and oh fuck I'm crying while writing this. I'D ONLY JUST MANAGED TO CALM MYSELF.

Kaladin. KALADIN. that hurt too, In a bittersweet way. I fucking bawled at the idea of everyone thinking he's dead, and Szeth burying him. ruined, I won't recover from this for a long time.

I am beyond pleased he got such a wonderful ending and set up for the next arc, cannot wait to see everyone's faces when he fucking shows up as a HERALD!!!

Adolin fucking princeling wonderful human best guy Kholin was probably my favourite part of this book. His stunning relationship to Maya. His whole arc was incredible, his courage, his acceptance and realisation, FORMING THE UNOATHED. What a fucking baller move, so proud of my pretty boy, I didn't think it was possible to love him more but I do.

Shallan was brilliant as well, although she didn't feel like as bigger part as I expected for this ending, I feel like she was set up brilliantly for Arc 2 and I cannot WAIT to see how she escapes Shademar.

Also I could be so so so wrong, but I feel like, maybe, just maybe, she may, perhaps, could be... pregnant???? idk why I get this feeling but I do. only time will tell.

Renarin and Rlain absolutely shone in this book. I loved every second of it. Was so glad to see how much time they both got! As a neurodivergent, gay person, it was a fucking honour to see myself represented so much and so well in Renarin's chapters. beautiful, stunning, can't wait to see what happens next with my fave gay boys.

Poor Jasnah, those last chapters of hers were so rough. I felt so sad for her, and also so taken with how Sanderson wrote her failure, in such a compelling, tragic way. I can't wait to see what she does next.

Szeth, oh my sweet man Szeth. I wasn't that bothered about Szeth before this book but now I would die for him. I LOVED his chapters and flashbacks, I loved his journey, I simply loved him.

GAVINOR!!!! that twist at the end, with him being a grown man now, I look forward to seeing more of him, and honestly I found his child character to be massively entertaining and so so lovely.

there is so much more I could say, but I am so tired, I read for 7 hours straight with no breaks and then cried for 2 hours, and my head hurts.

so in conclusion, I am slightly broken right now, intimidated by the huge wait we all have, grieving for Dalinar, but ultimately, incredibly satisfied with that ending to Arc 1.

Life before Death

Strength before Weakness

JOURNEY BEFORE DESTINATION

[supreme-leader-stoat]

It occurs to me that as badass as the Unoathed are in general, Notum in particular is going to be an absolute nightmare to fight. I don't imagine he can actually fly in it like a Windrunner, but since he can summon and dismiss his armor at will, he can just fly around in ribbon form and then become corporeal again at his destination. He's like if you mashed together a full shardbearer and a Husked One with infinite respawns.