Welcome back to The Way of Kings reread here on Tor.com! The end is nigh! With this post we’ll be covering Chapters 74 and 75 leaving just the Epilogue to go. It has been a long journey for not only the characters of Roshar, but for all of us involved in this reread from myself and Carl down to the commenters and those of you that just like to lurk. We love you lurkers, too! But luckily this is only the beginning of a very long and sure to be well-loved series as Sanderson continues to up the ante and reveal more of the marvel of Roshar.
But before things end, I get to talk about Shallan’s realization of the implications of Jasnah’s research, and her new insights to the clandestine group known as the Ghostbloods. And Dalinar revists his first vision; he only just now understands what sort of message has been motivating him and leading him forward.
Now let’s meet a dead God…
Chapter 74: Ghostblood
Point of View: Shallan
Setting: Kharbranth
What Happens: Shallan is engrossed with her latest reading assignment from Jasnah regarding her notes about the Voidbringers. After reading everything over, Shallan comes to the same conclusion as Jasnah that the parshmen must be the Voidbringers, and tells Jasnah so. Jasnah says this is related to her father’s assassination. For once Jasnah is forthright with her emotions, telling Shallan she is “terrified” about what this all means.
For a moment Shallan mentions that the parshmen are “tamed,” thinking this isn’t a big problem, but realizes how “pervasive” parshmen are in the everyday lives of Roshar. The Parshendi were peaceful upon first meeting Gavilar and the other Alethi even leading to a treaty, but they turned suddenly. What’s to say something similar or even more severe couldn’t happen with the normal parshmen? This has happened before during the Heraldic Epochs where there was relative peace in the land only for something to come over the parshmen quickly and make them go “mad with anger and rage,” ushering in the Desolations. Jasnah also feels the Parshendi’s strange singing abilities to commune with one another also play into this.
“Their minds are connected, like spanreeds.” If all the parshmen in the world become active without notice, then civilization on Roshar will be decimated yet again. Shallan says they have to do something. Jasnah insists they are doing that by gathering enough facts to take to the leaders of the world. Jasnah also fears other creatures of legend that fought beside the parshmen in the past. But Jasnah is done in Kharbranth. She gives Shallan a choice of going with her or heading back to Jah Keved.
Though she doesn’t want to abandon her brothers, Shallan knows this is a much more important mission. She decides to help her brothers another way and go with Jasnah. They are to leave the following day on a ship Jasnah has already chartered, traveling to the Shattered Plains to investigate the Parshendi living there.
Time is imperative lest another group try to use this information for their own gain, and Shallan is clearly worried. Jasnah mentions the group that tried to assassinate her recently called the Ghostbloods. Their symbol—three diamonds overlaying one another—was found on Kasbal’s body as a tattoo. This is the same symbol Shallan’s brother Nan Balat found on Luesh and the men looking for her father’s broken Soulcaster. Shallan tells Jasnah that her father may have been a member of this group.
Quote of the Chapter:
“Yet one group turned suddenly from peaceful friends to slaughtering warriors. Something set them off. Just as it did hundreds of years ago, during the days known as the Heraldic Epochs. There would be a period of peace, followed by an invasion of parshmen who—for reasons nobody understood—had suddenly gone mad with anger and rage. This was what was behind mankind’s fight to keep from being ‘banished to Damnation.’ This was what nearly ended our civilization. This was the terrible, repeated cataclysm that was so frightening men began to speak of them as Desolations.
“We’ve nurtured the parshmen. We’ve integrated them into every part of our society. We depend on them, never realizing that we’ve harnessed a highstorm waiting to explode. The accounts from the Shattered Plains speak of these Parshendi’s ability to communicate among themselves, allowing them to sing their songs in unison when far apart. Their minds are connected, like spanreeds. Do you realize what that means?”
Shallan nodded. What would happen if every parshman on Roshar suddenly turned against his masters? Seeking freedom, or worse—vengeance? “We’d be devastated. Civilization as we know it could collapse. We have to do something!”
Yes, Shallan you have to do something!
This passage succinctly boils down the very real dangers of the present from evidence of the past. Jasnah’s fears are close at hand and the Parshendi could be the key. That Jasnah is one smart cookie. Now she and Shallan just have to convince other people.
Commentary:
Once Jasnah decides something she is all in. She has brought Shallan into her inner circle, which now consists of just the two of them. But Jasnah had very valid reasons for keeping her knowledge to herself. Outside of trying to keep the information from groups like the Ghostbloods, she is already skating the edge. She is known as a heretic, but to go further and suggest grand social change such as getting rid of Parshmen would throw her even further away from power without some undeniable proof. Proof she is still searching for. I loved the wonderful observation by Jasnah aligning spanreeds to the Parshendi’s chanting/singing. It is so spot on.
This chapter never felt like a big revelation, as by this point even first-time readers will have decided if they are in the parshmen = Voidbringers camp or not. Jasnah and Shallan are now convinced that the parshmen are or will become the Voidbringers. Those of use who have made it to Words of Radiance certainly know a lot more about the parshmen, but the Voidbringers themselves are more than just one group. Jasnah even mentions that there are “tales of creatures fighting” with parshmen, such as a greatshell and “other oddities.” Voidbringers has just become a catchall term in their age for the creatures responsible for the Desolations, so the Voidbringers will consists of many facets just as the Knights Radiants did.
So Shallan admits her father was probably a Ghostblood. The noose draws ever tighter. Now Jasnah and Shallan are going to the Shattered Plains. Interesting things are bound to happen…
Chapter 75: In the Top Room
Point of View: Dalinar
Setting: The Shattered Plains, Kholin Compound
What Happens: Dalinar is with Navani. She is still upset by the way Dalinar handled things with her son Elhokar, but she is clearly happy to have him back after the events on the Tower plateau. A Highstorm comes sending Dalinar into another vision. Though this isn’t like most of the others, he does find it familiar. He is in the place where he went during his very first vision. He stands on a large flat white plain and there are smoke shapes coming up out of the ground some in the vague figure shapes.
Dalinar again hears the voice he has become so familiar with telling him:
“You must unite them.”
[…]
“Why did you lie to me?” Dalinar demanded of the open darkness. “I did what you said, and I was betrayed!”
“Unite them. The sun approaches the horizon. The Everstorm comes. The True Desolation. The Night of Sorrows.”
“I need answers!” Dalinar said. “I don’t trust you any longer. If you want me to listen to you, you’ll need to—”
Suddenly Dalinar finds himself somewhere else again. He finds himself in a stone field alone, which is uncommon for his visions. He is also wearing his normal Kholin blue uniform; in this vision, Dalinar is himself rather than inhabiting another person’s body.
He wants a better vantage point so he hikes for what seems like hours to a ridge. Once there he looks down and sees the ruins of a city—his home city and capital of Alethkar Kholinar. This isn’t the Kholinar of the past, but instead seems to be a vision of the future.
A voice comes to Dalinar from the side saying “I cannot fight him any longer.” He sees a dark-skinned man with white hair next to him wearing golden clothing. Dalinar asks questions, but the man continues talking as if ignoring what Dalinar has to say. The man keeps pointing towards what looks like a Highstorm, but made of darkness.
After the man says: “You’re probably wondering if this is a vision of the future,” Dalinar recognizes what this man is saying as the exact same words that had been spoken to him during his first vision many months ago. This man and the voice behind him cannot hear Dalinar’s questions and never could. Whenever he tried to speak to this person in other visions, they weren’t answering his questions, but rather speaking as if his lines were scripted. This includes when he assumed the voice told him to trust Sadeas.
The man goes on saying this is a possible future, a very real fear of what could happen if “He” wins. This would be “The True Desolation.” Now the oncoming Highstorm looks like a wall of dust. The man tries to explain these visions are supposed to help someone—in this case Dalinar—to see what is coming and to hopefully prepare. Though it seems this message was meant for anyone who could find it.
He continues saying most of what Dalinar has seen are true events as they were witnessed, but some such as them are “born out of my fears.” Then the ground shakes as everything around him turns to dust as something hits all around them. The very earth is gone except for a small plateau he and the man stand on, and Dalinar realizes these visions are like a journal that you see instead of read. The voice goes on to say this isn’t about the specific viewer of the message, but about everyone, and were left as a hope that someone will be able to fight this darkness. Someone has to unite the people and protect them. Dalinar knows this voice can’t hear him when he says that he will do so.
The man repeats the oaths of the Knights Radiant and tells Dalinar:
“The Knights Radiant must stand again.”
Dalinar says he will try. The man says they never won the battle against darkness, and the stories saying so are false. They lost and are still losing, but there is still some hope. A champion can be chosen to fight one-on-one against the evil. He alludes that “Dawnshards” could help the champion greatly.
Dalinar asks: “Who are you?” The man answers that he was God, also called the Almighty and creator of mankind. But he is dead now, killed by Odium.
Quote(s) of the Chapter:
I couldn’t pick just one so you have two powerful quotes.
“I am… I was… God. The one you call the Almighty, the creator of mankind.” The figure closed his eyes. “And now I am dead. Odium has killed me. I am sorry.”
Sanderson certainly knows how to drop a mic and walk away. Up until now there have been references to God being dead, but this makes it pretty clear the being known as God/Tanavast/Almighty/Honor is dead. But clearly is still carrying his message to Dalinar, so just how dead is he? The question to what delivered the message is at least answered in Words of Radiance…
The bigger question is can God be brought back to life somehow? “Shattered” seems to be the term most associated with God, so perhaps someone will be able to reform him in some fashion. Cultivation may be the key to that—or at least her knowledge.
“You can’t hear me, can you?” Dalinar asked, feeling a horror as he finally began to understand. “You never could.”
This is such a crushing blow to Dalinar. Since the visions began, he was under the assumption he was interacting with someone, but now he knows everything he’s seen and heard is merely the remnant thoughts of a dead God. However, impressive that feat is on its own, Dalinar is more than abashed for interpreting things the wrong way—especially trusting Sadeas. Dalinar has been grasping for meaning. When he first had this vision he how no clue what was going on, and so lost any nuance to God’s purpose.
Still who wouldn’t like a recorded video from their God? Even if they turn out to be dead…
Commentary:
Good lord that was a powerful chapter. Answering so much yet causing just as many questions to be asked. So God is dead, but not forgotten and he left a nifty video will.
“I cannot see the future completely. Cultivation, she is better at it than I. It’s as if the future is a shattering window. The further you look, the more pieces that window breaks into. The near future can be anticipated, but the distant future… I can only guess.”
Cultivation gets mentioned straight out for the first time and it sounds like she’s got some skills. But why has she not intervened in the world? There are some that believe Cultivation is also the Nightwatcher, which for now I can get behind. The Nightwatcher can clearly change people and the passing of her partner Honor could have driven Cultivation over the edge and into virtual seclusion hating to be around people who failed to save Honor thus becoming the Nightwatcher. People started to seek out this odd woman years later for the Old Magic because there were still some believers out there and the more that visited brought even more afterwards. Or maybe Cultivation saw herself as the balance between Honor and Odium and her games as the Nightwatcher are just an extension of that game.
The big news is that Dalinar learns that God is dead and also the being responsible for killing him is Odium. Up until this point Odium had only been mentioned in Kaladin’s chapters around his Highstorm incident by the face in the sky. “Odium reigns,” and Syl’s reaction of horror when Kaladin asked her if she knew that name. Now Dalinar and Kaladin both know it, but neither is forthcoming about their knowledge.
With the last chapter from Kaladin, Dalinar, and Shallan we’ve seen their positions change. All for the better even if what led them there was a very tough path. Kaladin has to learn to let go to become what he is meant to be. Shallan will need to take her honesty to a different level. Dalinar will have to learn to be the man that unites the people of Roshar in whatever fashion he can find.
Honor has tasked Dalinar to unite the people of Roshar along with protecting and leading them, but also more importantly to fight Odium and all that he represents. Now if only Dalinar could find those Dawnshards…
The end has come. Next week Carl will cover the Epilogue, thus ending The Way of Kings portion of The Stormlight Archive reread. We’ll be giving all of you a chance to ask questions of Brandon Sanderson. He won’t answer them all, and remember if Brandon thinks it will be too spoilery he’ll probably R.A.F.O. So make them count!
Michael Pye runs The Mad Hatter’s Bookshelf & Book Review where he shares his views on genre books. He can also be found nattering on Twitter or in search of the perfect piece of bacon.
Chapter 74 is titled “Ghostblood,” for the secret organization that is trying to assassinate Jasnah. The herald icons are Palah/Ishi.
The divine attributes associated with Palah are learned/giving. Palah often appears when a chapter takes place within the Palanaeum, though whether it is associated with the place or with the primary activity that takes place there (scholarship) is not certain.
The divine attributes associated with Ishi are pious/guiding. I find it interesting that Ishi is being used here, since Jasnah is emphatic that she still does not believe in the Almighty. Still, she fears the same thing that a religious person would–she fears the end of the world.
Chapter 75 is titled “In the Top Room” which Peter Ahlstrom has helped us understand refer to the myth that Hoid told in the chapter titled “Wandersail.” The phrase, “In the top room” was used to describe the room at the top of the tower that Derethil climbed and in which he found the Uvaran emperor, long dead. This chapter title has become my favorite one of the book, because it points out the parallel between that story and Alethi society. In this chapter, Dalinar finds that in the symbolic top room of Vorinism, the Almighty is dead and has been for many years. What’s more, Vorinism has lied–they didn’t win the desolations. They lost them–or, they are currently losing them.
The herald icons for chapter 75 are Jez/Jez, likely because the Almighty is Honor himself, king above even the herald Jezrien.
Jasnah is brilliant, but I never really liked her comparison of the Parshendi killing her father with the threat of the Parshmen. The Parshendi APPEARED to change quickly, attending a peace treaty signing and then assassinating the other side’s leader, but in fact they killed Gavilar for what they thought was a justified reason. It seems like Jasnah is drawing false parellels here, something that I find surprising given how smart and logical she is.
Yeah, now we have the final confirmation that Honor is dead, the shardholder has been killed, and Dalinar is clearly not a scholar. We won’t know until next book exactly how Honor was able to contact Dalinar (or his brother before him, or apparently some random guy whose death rattle we read earlier), but Dalinar’s finally on the right track (or at least a track that won’t lead him to trusting storming Sadeas).
I got the last chapter title on first read and absolutely loved it. Hoid just really seems to be able to anticipate the future, doesn’t he? Almost like Cultivation, apparently, even though he doesn’t get along well with her.
I don’t remember which reveal was more shocking on my first time through this: the parshmen/Voidbringer connection, or the fact that Dalinar’s visions were more pre-recorded than they were interactive. Both are pretty major revelations with significant impacts on the characters and how they view the world. Very powerful writing, definitely leading to many questions and a big desire for a sequel.
Never caught that chapter title before. I agree now, it’s a good one.
@3 ,2
I had picked up the fact that the visions were NOT interactive during my 1st re-read, but totally missed the parshmen/voidbringer connection as well as the chapter title here.
Thank you Michael for all your work on the Re-Read. It’s been a great ride. I would know have understood the importance of so many things in the book without this community.
Dalinar’s “You never could” just broke my heart when I first read it.
And his quest with true understanding begins. Nice to see an older man set upon the Hero’s Journey.
@2, MDNY: is Jasnah referring just to her father’s assassination? Or is she referring to how quickly the Parshmen were able to engage in war on the Plains? If the first, yes I agree, a false parallel. If the second, she has a point.
@3 definitely the Parshmen revelation shocked me the most, thats like finding out that smart phones are sentient and will one day rise and cut our throats at night.
The Almighty revelation just made me sad for Dalinar. He could have gotten his son killed because of that mistake.
So, is Dalinar the champion, or is the champion someone he has to choose, presumably out of the potential radiants?
My reaction about the Parshmen being the Voidbringers was completely opposite of everyone else’s here, I remember thinking, “oh ok, now what’s next” and that I was surprised that Brandon revealed that information so quickly (meaning the first book of the series). Makes me feel that there is a Checkov’s Gun waiting to happen, it doesn’t seem that it would be this straightforward.
I like the idea of the term “Voidbringer” being an amalgamation of all the monsters or beings or dark entities associated with evil as opposed to just the Parshmen.
I honestly didn’t understand the whole “Almighty is dead” sections but now have a better grasp thanks to this re-read. I wish I had the time to really dig into all the information everyone has come up with, but I don’t right now so will have to slog behind all the gurus, just barely keeping up enough to say thank you for enlightening me!
@7 – Yeah, the idea that they could all immediately transform into evil/deadly opponents simultaneously is more than a little terrifying. I remember having a moment of “Oh crap. That could suck. A lot.” For Dalinar, at this point, it was more enlightening, in the sense of “Oh, so that’s why following the ‘instructions’ didn’t work out so well – the Almighty wasn’t actually directly answering his questions.” So, the implications of one were a lot more serious (or at least more immediate) than the other.
But as far as which one was more surprising/unexpected, I still don’t think I can say. Having re-read the book several times, and noticing various foreshadowing of each in these subsequent reads, it’s hard to say which one took me more by surprise.
It is not 100% established that parshmen are Voidbringers. It is possible that they are just tools of the Voidbringers, which are something else (the Unmade, perhaps?).
The chapter 75 quote Michael cites above: “Then the ground shakes as everything around him turns to dust as something hits all around them. The very earth is gone except for a small plateau he and the man stand on . . .”
Since some of the visions are “replays”, is this vision Dalinar sees/experiences a replay of the shattering of the plains when Tanavast was killed by Odium?
Also, thanks for this, the penultimate “Way of Kings” post!
The first time I read WoK I didn’t expect the Parshmen/Voidbringers connection. I will admit, I was actually worried that Brandon had dropped a big reveal too early in the series. I guess I’m so used to epic fantasy holding back on the identity of the big bads until a good way through the series (“you may have defeated me, but I was merely a pawn for x!“) that having it at the tail of the first book seemed odd.
Which makes me think that the Parshmen aren’t really the big bads at all.
My guess is that Odium himself isn’t going to be the big bad. I bet we get the final confrontation with Odium next book, or else at the end of the first 5-book sequence; and that confrontation then opens things out into action in the wider Cosmere.
(Spoiler for the Mistborn trilogy!
Similar to the way that the confrontation with the Lord Ruler isn’t the end of the story, but opens things out into the wider conflict between Preservation and Ruin.)
I hope that in future books we get a scetch/illustration of the Ghostblood’s diamond symbol.
Thanks for reading my musings,
AndrewB
(aka the musespren)
@14, David
I don’t think it’s likely that Odium is the big bad in the Way of Kings series–but I also don’t think he’s going to be dealt with in any sort of final way in the Way of Kings. Odium is the big bad of the Cosmere, and we still have, what, 20 books to go on it?
@14 My understanding is that the Roshar books will be two 5-book series. Perhaps the second one is with a free Odium?
It seems clear from this Reread, if not earlier, that Odium is behind the periodic desolations of Roshar and must be defeated if the good is to prevail. Obviously that won’t happen soon in a planned long series of books – unless his role is assumed by a successor (Bavadin?). The way towards such a defeat is outlined by Honor (Tanavast). Odium, it appears, must accede to a combat of champions of each side. That is likely to be Kaladin (the ‘child’ of Honor) vs. Szeth, or someone we haven’t yet encountered in the first book.
@18
I’d agree with you there–but I think that the eventual “defeat” of Odium (which will happen at the end of the series) will not result in Odium being shatterd, but rather with Odium leaving the Roshar system and basically being turned loose on the rest of the Cosmere. Things generally get worse before they can get better, and that’s where I see the Cosmere arc going.
Michael
That’s a very good point you make about the Voidbringers not necessarily being just one group or race.
Then there’s the deal about the Almighty’s pre-recorded message in Dalinar’s vision saying “The Everstorm comes. The True Desolation.” This statement implies strongly (and is confirmed by Taln in the Epilogue, IIRC) that past desolations were just a warm up, bad as they were. Honor was shattered after the last desolation 4,500 years ago (Aharietiam). I’m betting that him not being around to counterbalance Odium for the Everstorm is going to be a big problem. As will the possible lack of the some or all of the Heralds and too few Radiants.
NB–it still seems somewhat as if the Almighty is having a dialog with Dalinar when he appears to answer Dalinar’s question: “Who are you?”
That’s an interesting theory about Cultivation becoming Nightwatcher due to grief (and being a bit “mental”) over Honor’s shattering. I personally believe she is just laying low somewhere waiting for the Radiants and Heralds to return because she is less powerful than Odium and understands she can’t defeat him alone. The two theories could fit together nicely. However, up to this point I was thinking Nightwatcher was just another super-spren.
thepupxpert @9
Yeah, the reveal that Parshmen/Parshendi are the Voidbringers was too early, Brandon is up to something, like what Walker @11 mentioned.
Looney theory: We have seen that people who are ground up and spit out by life on Roshar are likely to be the ones who develop surgebinding capabilities. Nan Balat is certainly a broken individual. So I’ll go out on a limb and say that I think he’ll eventually become a surgebinder at minimum and probably a KR.
TKOCF @19
I like that.
Yeah, it’s boring here at the office today. Nothing to do. Can’t just go home, I’m the only one here and the door has to stay open.
It’s interessting, that for me too, the big reveal about the Parshmen being the Voidbringers stays uncertain, due to the fact, that Brandon gave us the information so freely.
Which is amazing in itself: he gives us a big reveal, but plays with our expectations in such a way that we at the same time doubt it again. :)
I’m quite certain though that the reveal about the visions caught me off guard. And again a lot of information is given – only to leave us with more questions than answers.
@1 King of Carrotflowers
Thanks for the mention/summary about the top-room …
“We love you lurkers, too!”
Aww thanks. I love you guys too. *goes back to lurking*
@8 Who the champion is has not been decided yet. There is not even any information on how the champion would be decided and very little info on what that would do.
@18 I don’t think Odium would risk choosing Szeth as his champion, as Szeth probably would decide to betray him. (Szeth almost disobeyed Taravangian – Odium would need a champion willing to do far more than Szeth has already done or a champion that he can directly control)
Cultivation is not the Nightwatcher (that was confirmed by Brandon Sanderson long ago)
I wonder if there is any possibility of the desolations stopping without Odium winning or being defeated.
What was I doing on Thursday that I missed this? I know what I was doing Friday, but… why didn’t I see this Thursday? Oh, well. Better late than never, they say.
This last chapter reminded me of something Brandon was quoted as saying: The scene at the end of the series is actually in one of these first two books. (Rough paraphrase; I don’t remember the actual wording.)
I profoundly hope that this is not IT – but I have to acknowledge that it could be. It’s possible that Roshar is completely destroyed in the Cosmere-level battle against Odium, whether the result is his destruction, his continued imprisonment, or his escape. (If it’s that last one, I’m going to be really, really mad at Brandon!)
Of course, I’d prefer to find that he’s referring to the opening scene of the last chapter of WoR…
Can we ask Brandon any questions, or only questions pertaining to TWoK?
Wetnw
Last week Carl wrote: “Brandon Sanderson has agreed to answer ten questions about The Way of Kings for us!” Braid_Tug posed the same question in the comments (and I admit it crossed my mind). Until advised otherwise I’m assuming TWoK only.
Re: your @24, me too. There are several more-satisfying options in TWoK and WoR, like Ishikk putzing around in The Purelake.
– Honor to Dalinar near the end of the vision. (kindle position 18151)
Brandon told us right here in WoK – and still it took WoR to comprehend…
(I hope that’s not too spoilerific)
travyl @27
Good catch!
What happened to the Stormlight Archive reread threads? The portal on the TOR home page has disappeared!
Edit: I found the WoR discussion by looking for Alice Arneson (Wetlander) among the TOR bloggers. But I still don’t know why the Stormlight Archive disappeared from the home page.
Hey, I noticed that too – I realized I’d missed Thursday’s post and thought I’d catch it through the front page portal… and it wasn’t there. I had to go back to the previous week, thence to the index, and finally here. Weird. Carl? Any ideas?
The Way of Kings reread is still on the homepage, and has a link to the Stormlight Archive index. We’ve taken the Stormlight Archive index out of the front page sidebar, though. You can use the WoK button on the front page or your bookmarks to hop wherever you need to go. Thanks!
Hi Katharine,
If you don’t mind, what was the reasoning behind removing the Stormlight Archive index from the front page sidebar?
Would one more index on the sidebar somehow cause problems on the page?
If one of the two Sanderson-related indexes needed to be removed, why not rather place the WoK index inside the Stormlight Archive instead of the other way? After all, WoK is only the first book in the Stormlight Archive….
@23
I have never heard that Sanderson confirmed that Cultivation in not the Nightwatcher. Where did you see that?
@32 Hi Alisonwonderland, we try not to overload the front page sidebar, and since the Way of Kings reread is still active, we’re keeping that front and center. We may change things when we have an index for Words of Radiance, but our production team is figuring out those details. Thanks!
An “inner circle of two”…isn’t that technically just an inner line?