I Finished Stormlight Archive: Wind And Truth And I'm Devastated

I finally finished Wind & Truth a couple of days ago. Since then, it's been simmering in my mind, and now it's time to word-vomit everything I feel about this book on the page.

This is not a review. It is just my reflection on each main character's journey and how it ends in this book. When I properly review the book, I will update this post to include the link.

If you're ready, let's talk about it.

Adolin The Battleworn

Adolin fought in Azir for most of the book. I believed he might become Radiant by the end of this book. Like a late bloomer, but that's more fitting for Renarin than Adolin. Instead, he did something even more remarkable.

He founded The Unoathed - A group of people and spren who got together and do not need Stormlight to function as sharbearers. They are not Radiant, but their swords and armor are living spren instead of "dead" ones. I feel like this group will become very important in book six thanks to Retribution drawing all Stormlight from Roshar and Shadesmar.

Adolin's journey has been so brutal. He lost a leg protecting the dome from the Fused invaders. Only by the end did Yanagawn stealthily brought them to the throne room where Adolin fought Abidi without Maya, his sword.

The culmination of this fight was Adolin awakening the armor spren by thanking them before Abidi threw him with the full force of his own Plate. The Plate spren did not accept this and saved Adolin. With armor on, Abidi was a piece of cake.

One fun thought I had about this development was how similar it looks to Investiture from Warbreaker. Adolin's mom is Iriali. We see them living the planet. Could her people have travelled from the Warbreaker planet to Roshar? If her ancestors lived there, maybe Adolin could have access to Investiture from souls. People over the years must have told Adolin "I owe you my life" so many times. Maybe that counts? What do you think?

Adolin also resolved his inner conflict considering his hard feelings towards Dalinar. In Rhythm of War, Adolin discovered how Evi died and that complicated Adolin and Dalinar's relationship. By the end of this book, we see Adolin brought low and realize that yes, he still loved his father.

It's a tragedy what happened to Dalinar, and we'll talk about him next.

Dalinar Kholin - Honor's Vessel

Rest in peace, Dalinar Kholin. You've worked so hard to beat Odium and discovered the truth: Honor's power is just as flawed as Odium's.

In the final vision Dalinar is granted in the book, after Honor's power accepted him as its vessel, we see Honor's power depicted as a child. The power doesn't care how oaths are kept. Only that they are.

And what can you expect from a shard of Adonalsium? All of them are aspects of one being. Odium is just as bad. Being so fixated on passion causes all of this.

I feel like Dalinar sacrificed so much and there's kind of a poetic justice in him dying and stealing the emotional reward from Odium. The blackthorn was so ready to fight, but both him and The Stormfather who in the end became his friend, chose a different path.

Thanks to Dalinar's ultimate sacrifice, Odium took the bait and became the most dangerous shard in the whole Cosmere - Retribution. The merging of Odium and Honor. I wonder if Harmony is stronger because he had more time to get used to his two shards.

We will find out as Retribution sent out his agents to Scadrial - the planet where the Mistborn books are focused. This might make Harmony aware that Retribution is planning something and is no longer bound to Roshar.

Let's talk about Retribution a.k.a Taravangian next.

Taravangian - Formerly Odium and Presently Retribution

Taravangian's POV is mostly covered in Interludes before a new day begins, and he becomes more proactive as the contest looms closer. Most of his story was getting used to the power of Odium. This book picks ups straight after Rhythm of War ends. It didn't take Taravangian long to "coalesce" into a new being fitting the vessel of Odium. But he still could make mistakes. That fatal mistake was absorbing the power of Honor - a mistake Odium's former vessel wouldn't have committed.

If he would have destroyed Honor instead of taking it for himself, this book was far darker. The larger cosmere would still be content to ignore Roshar and its problems and Stormlight would no longer exist as it was the power of honor that granted it. The destruction that would follow such a fight would be unimaginable too, but that never bothered Taravangian.

He made some interesting moves that show weakness. For example, he transported all the important people from his life in Kharbranth into his own little section of the Spiritual Realm where they continue to live, oblivious that their homes in the material plane has been destroyed.

The other move was the instant gratification that Odium just can't resist. The other shards have felt the power surge and turned their eyes on him. It's the move from the Towers game that Adolin and May taught Yanagawn. When there's one powerful player on the field, the other players would band together to take them down. That's exactly what's going to happen over the next few books in the Cosmere.

What I loved about Taravangian's storyline is he didn't feel like a chaotic villain. He felt like he was the hero of his own story.

While Taravangian had a very climactic ending to his storyline, he did leave Jasnah with a chaotic ending. Let's talk about her next.

Jasnah Kholin - A Fraud?

Jasnah lost Thaylenah. And she lost it without a single battle. Yes, she thought she was so smart. But could she really compare with a god?

The interesting part was not how Odium picked apart each of Jasnah's beliefs, but rather how Queen Fen reacted to those realizations. Odium did everything to give Queen Fen what she wanted only to satisfy his need to see Jasnah brought low. And he succeeded.

Jasnah indeed seemed broken, especially after reading Wit's vague letter.

I hope the next books in the series would treat her better. Maybe the next books should treat her former ward better, too.

Shallan (Davar) Kholin - A Mother?

One of the realizations that broke me in the aftermath of Retribution's Ascension was to find out Shallan was stranded in Shadesmar and was freaking pregnant!

She went through so much in the ten days leading to the contest and I absolutely loved her final confrontation with Mraize when she said "I refuse to be abused" that was such a powerful line.

And she also didn't need Radiant by the end which meant she grew. She faced more of her past and survived it.

The next time we see Shallan she would still be pregnant because of the time dilation that Retribution's ascension caused on Roshar. But for the other planets years would have gone by (which is fitting as the next book would be released in about 2030).

Shallan seemed to know how to survive without Stormlight for several months in Shadesmar after getting Ala the seon as payment from Thaidakar. I'm curious to know where her journey would lead next. Maybe all of them will need to discover how to use their surges with a different kind of Investiture instead of Stormlight. The surge is granted by the bond. Stormlight is what fuels it.

Renarin Kholin - The Trailblazer

Renarin's journey was a new direction for Sanderson. Never before did a main character Identify as LGBTQ+ and Renarin's whole storyline was finding his own way - that meant choosing Rlain the male singer over the future his family would have chosen for him.

I don't know if it's confirmed, but all the depictions of Renarin saying he can't read social situations, or he's the quiet one, make me think he's also autistic.

I know there would be some other people who read this book and think he might have been a token character, but I didn't feel like he was. It was a refreshing perspective to read in a fantasy book. Especially as Renarin grew and felt more and more empowered by his own decisions.

Kaladin Stormblessed - Herald of Kings

Herald. Kaladin has become a freaking Herald. In the beginning of the series, we saw these Heralds as religious figures. They prevented the Desolations but in some ways also caused them by returning to Roshar.

As the books progressed we know them more and more as the broken people they are for fighting and killing for so long. Their immortal minds have seen too much.

Can Kaladin help them? I believe he might.

Also, it's implied in the scene where he says the Words to become a Herald that Sylphrena has become the successor to The Stormfather with her voice saying "These Words are accepted."

One more thing I want to say here is about Szeth's journey: I believed he would be the one to ascend. In all previous books, the one character who has all the memory chapters is the one character who has a big moment by the end of the book.

Naturally, because Szeth had them I realized he would probably be the one as it was leading up to it. But Kaladin taking the mantle of Herald was not something I foresaw.

Kaladin is no longer on Roshar either. He's body is on Braize, but his mind is somewhere else. Could he project his mind to elsewhere in the Cosmere or Shadesmar? Could we see him in other books? He might have roles in other stories now as Herald as we saw Shallan's mother reach out to her in Shadesmar.

We can only hope I guess.

Repercussions of Retribution's Ascension

The most immediate repercussion is Stormlight no longer exists. Taravangian withdrawn all of it from the Cosmere when he merged his own shard with Honor.

Dalinar himself witnessed some of it being syphoned off. That's probably what's going to sustain the Heralds, Spren, and perhaps some other pockets of Honor's power. But not enough to provide Stormlight to general population.

This doesn't mean Roshar itself is without light anymore. All of Roshar who joined Odium will be provided with Warlight which probably has the same uses as stormlight for the general population - grow crops, use as light sources.

It will be interesting to see how the next book tackles this new development.

The one final hint that something is probably going to change within Retribution is showing that Honor has a personality. Odium's power doesn't, it's only raw passion. But Honor has been alone for so long that in the visions it had its own vessel in the form of a child.

In Taravangian's point of view after absorbing Honor, we see him mentioning Honor's power is questioning within him. Could a power resist its vessel? It would be the perfect growing opportunity for Honor's power to break an oath that causes harm once Taravangian slips one too many times.

Wit's Clues For The Next Books

The biggest clue I'm seeing is Wit, now naming himself Hoid, is heading to Scadrial. This leads directly to the next Mistborn series that Brandon Sanderson announced he is writing called Ghostbloods. If you've read the stormlight archive, you know they were pretty common in Shallan's storyline.

The only question I have is whether the Ghostbloods will be serving Retribution or deciding to go against him? Would they be the villains or the protagonists? I haven't read or watched any of Sanderson's announcements about that yet aside from the name Ghostbloods which I've seen on social media.

If you have new information to share, please do so in the comments below!

Why Am I Devastated?

I thought this book will be a sendoff for the end of the arc. Help us wait for the next one with a good taste. I'm happy for Kaladin that he became a Herald. But my girl Shallan stranded in Shadesmar? Adolin physically maimed? Dalinar dead? Navani and the sibling in a coma? Jasnah mentally broken?

Even Kaladin's ascension to Herald is bittersweet because it means he becomes immortal and will have to live to see all his friends die. Something he always said in his darkest moments. "Everyone dies but me." Unless some of them will replace existing Heralds too. Shallan could potentially take her mother's place if Ishar will change the oathpact to make it happen. I'm pretty sure Chana has had enough.

And above it all, even though Taravangian is upset that the other shards are aware of him now, he still won the conflict on Roshar. He is free. The entire world save Urithiru, Azir, and the Shattered Planes is under his influence now.

I loved that we got to follow our beloved characters again, I really do. I'm just a little sad we leave them in that state and will have to wait so long to see them through the darkness.

Thanks for reading! How do you feel about the book? Let me know in the comments below!