Fantasy Explorations

Wind and Truth - my epic reading journey

• Episode 8

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Please join me in this journey through book five in the Stormlight Archive, Wind and Truth, by Brandon Sanderson. This is the book that ends the first arc in the series and it was a wonderful fan experience. 

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He starts as a goofy and powerful son of a drunk and becomes a beacon of light himself.

Intro
Welcome to Fantasy Explorations, the place where to geek out about fantasy. I'm your host, Solseit, and I'm in love with fantasy, in all of its forms. I have been exposed to fantasy for most of my life, and I want to keep learning about this genre, so this is the adventure we're on.

Wind and Truth introduction
In this episode, I want to talk about Wind and Truth by Brendan Sanderson, which is book five in the Stormlight Archive and really the last book out of the first arc of the Stormlight Archive. I'm invested in the story and I've been since Way of Kings was first published in 2010 and I've been pretty consistent in reading these books but for I think Rhythm of War was the last one that I waited for publication or close to publication of Wind and Truth then to go through. And 2024 was the year for me dedicated to rereading the Stormlight Archive. So not only I'm invested in this story and that's why I want to talk about it and I want to share my experience here, but it's also because I was expecting December to be a fan experience, which to some extent it was.

So I came in with a lot of expectations and to replicating a few different events that I've seen and I've experienced. And this one did not live up to the same level of hype, but it was very close. I've been experiencing it mostly on threads and the atmosphere was quite festive, right? There was a lot of Sanderson mania, maybe is the way that I can call it where everybody was all about Sanderson and there was also the convention by his company, Dragonsteel. So there was a lot of buzz around Sanderson and it was very good, very appreciated. The thing about the Wind and Truth fan experience was a bit weird in the end because on one hand, while I was reading it, I was avoiding the spoilers as much as I could and I often use the dodging GIF to show the world what I was trying to do when it came to spoilers. And on the other hand, I did not want to spoil it for anybody else. This was such an important event for everybody reading, everybody experiencing Wind and Truth. And also it's an important experience for those who will be reading Wind and Truth. So I did not feel like sharing much. I've cryptically tried to put a few emojis here and there, but then I've decided I've essentially dropped it and I just report it when I actually finished it.

Rhythm of War Recap
So what was our starting point? And without spoiling anything, although there are many Booktubers that have dedicated one episode to making the point again of where we were with Rhythm of War, and I'll try to put a few references in the episode notes, the big picture is that we got to a pretty tense ending. And this is one of the reasons why I was particularly delighted not to be on par with Rhythm of War, because I think I would have been fairly frustrated if I needed to wait four years, four years to get to Wind and Truth and know what happens next. So the big one was Dalinar and his agreement with Odium. But then something very unique happens and I don't think I've experienced this in many other fantasy stories. If anybody was going to do something interesting with the villain, it was going to be Sanderson and I believe he delivered with Odium. And so Odium has an agreement with Dalinar but Odium is not the same entity, the same person, the same being as it was at the time of signature of the agreement. So the individual, the entity, the being called Rayse is the one who signs the agreement. But a few seconds really before the book ends, he loses his footing as Odium and his persona, his identity is transformed. And the one who takes over the mantle of Odium is Taravangian and he is a quite terrifying foe. He's been already while he was merely human with his absolutely terrifying amorality because he ultimately does not apply morality, or better he says he applies morality for the greater good, but really he is willing to take villainous actions in order to ensure what he believes is the greater good. And so he is both powerful mind and very dispassionate in making decisions. Although again, it's a dispassionate that many times is colored by a passion. And now he becomes a godlike or a being that transcends humanity. Again, very curious to see what happens. We also, for the first time, I think in any other Sanderson book, I think Hoid is invested in the agreement. He wants to make sure that things are shaping in a certain direction.

On top of that, his relationship with Jasnah has been something of kind of like a candy, not very much explored and so it's something that it's interesting is on the sidelines. But most importantly, we are not getting enough storytelling around Jasnah. So we have that problem. Then we have Navani and the Sibling. I had a blast with Navani's story in Rhythm of War. She clearly comes across as a very tortured character and the amount of emotional abuse that she shares with us over the 1,200 something pages of Rhythm of War is quite tragic. And it shows how much of a woman, how much of a well-rounded woman she is and she becomes. And so her relationship with herself and with the Sibling are quite unique. And I cannot wait to see what happens with that particular experience. We also had Venli in her redemption arc. It was very heartwarming. I very much like what is going on with the Parshendi and I think there is so much more to explore when it comes to them that we haven't seen just yet. Last but not least, Shallan and Adolin. And of the two, Shallan has the more interesting spin on the character as she has a split personality and her traumatic past that is essentially the trigger for this split personality mental issue. And I cannot wait to see what more comes out of Adolin in Wind and Truth.
Last thought around Rhythm of War before we got into Wind and Truth. Rhythm of War is sharing or gives us really characters that are flawed. We are seeing characters that in especially Knight Radiant that went through either traumatic events or they're battling with mental issues, depression, multiple personalities, we also had alcohol abuse as one of the triggers. So we definitely have a lot of material, a lot of flawed individuals that become Knights Radiant. And it's not to say that they are a better version of themselves is to share how, and that's the way that I interpret Knights, Knight Radiants in the end is that they have overcome or they battled with their issues, with their mental health concerns, with whatever else that became problematic in their history and they came out better. They were able to make something different with themselves and that makes them great material for Knights Radiant. Again, flawed beings, but that have taken that experience with them and made something more interesting for themselves.

Spoiler free review
And so let's get to the non-spoiler section. It's not going to be a very long section of this episode, but it is something that I definitely want to share so that those who haven't gotten yet to Wind and Truth are able to get enough of, let's say, a flavor of it and get even more hyped while all get in there. So this book delivered on the two things that matter to me, which were plot and emotions. On the plot side of things, this story was not what I expected it to be. So we've had a few books now that covered a quite long period of time and then we are experiencing instead a different take on timing. It is a countdown to the final showdown. And I thought that was a very clever way to allow us to see more and having a time constraint. And to some extent, it reminded me of, for those who are old enough, the 24 episodes when we had the countdown since the first minute of the episode and we got to the end of the hour. And I felt we were creating the same time of expectation. And so every day that passed, it was a bit more of an emotional roller coaster and getting closer to that final showdown was becoming more important and more compelling. And we didn't have, we weren't getting where we needed to be just yet. So I love the way that the story again was a countdown approach.

But at the same time, it did not approach time in a linear way necessarily. And when it wasn't linear, it was particularly interesting. And there was so much more world building that was explored with this particular installment of the series. And I loved everything about it. I also found myself asking through the reading journey, what was going to be the most powerful approach to the ending? I liked it. I thought it was going to go in that direction or the general idea of the direction, not clearly that particular ending, but I thought I was expecting something different, but also similar. And so it was a very good combination of surprise and expectation being met that satisfied me with the decision being taken. I also found myself wondering what was going to be the most powerful approach to the end of this story? What could be the second arc of this story? Will it still be in Roshar or would we go into a Cosmere story? And I kept wondering and I have my reading notes and it was interesting to me how I kept almost at the end of every reading day, I was forcing myself to think about what were going to be the consequences in the ending. And we'll get there in a second, but it was an interesting mix of expectation being met and surprise. And I particularly loved the packaging that it came into. Emotionally, it was also very tough story. Every character was put through the wringer. Each character is already human. They've gone through their own stuff. And then they're being given 10 days of harsh realities and truths, not only about themselves, but also about the choices they made, or they're willing to make, or they have contemplated to make.

In all of these circumstances concocted a unique emotional storm, pun intended, that took me through a very long, emotionally draining and satisfying at the same time journey. Before we get to my few non-spoilery thoughts on the ending, the book itself had an interesting pacing approach, while most of it, most of it, was quite difficult to put down. I found myself reading days because again, the story is told in days, days that I couldn't put the book down. I also find myself on a few stretches where I was like, my God, there's another page. I'm just so tired of this. I can't wait to move into the next story. So it's a bit of a pacing hit or miss. Rhythm of War was more compelling to me as the chosen pacing more than Wind and Truth, but overall it was a very, very, very good pacing approach to it. And as promised the ending was exceptional. The last 100 pages contain so much material and so much information that the next arc is set up successfully with a lot of expectations, with a lot of meat to what is going to happen next. And I am particularly happy about the ending, as I said, as a mixture of expectations being met, especially in relation to characters. And also surprised because we are going in a direction that I was kind of like hoping for, but not really hoping for, because if that wasn't going to be the direction that would have been probably disappointed. But I did not expect the scope that we end up going into this. And so with this, I'm warning you that we're going to go into this spoiler section of the episode.

Spoiler review - intro
So you've been warned. The review of this book feels a bit eclectic because I'm going to focus on they want an ending and then a long middle section dedicated to the characters and some the journeys as I've seen them and the cluster of characters for each journey and each exploration. There were a lot of incredibly powerful moments. There are incredibly powerful couples that are incredibly powerful plot twists, and I think overall this book, as I said already in my non-spoiler review, it is a very good book with a little bit of a pacing issue, but overall very good when it comes to plot and emotions.

Spoiler review - day one
So day one, day one starts as the most beautiful day one can think about. It's a nice walk in the park, perfect weather. We're walking at sunset. Everything is coated in a blue, beautiful shade of gold. And some of the interactions of that particular day one were the most powerful. Although in hindsight I wonder if that conversation between Dalinar and Kaladin really needed to take place because it really didn't go anywhere. So I wonder if there's going to be a longer play for this one. And then the second part of the conversation really focuses on Kaladin being asked by Dalinar himself to go and accompany Szeth through Szeth's most important journey just yet. And he had a few that were particularly interesting. Syl as usual is the happy moment of every single page. She just shines through the pages with both a combination of naivety and strength. She's a happy camper who sometimes deals with being alive and having to manage those difficult moments of realizing that not everything is happy and rainbows and unicorns, but she has a drive, which is she wants to make things best for Kaladin and for humankind and for the spren overall. So, you know, she's a pretty, pretty positive influence and a pretty positive character. And what's more interesting, and I think if I had to remember one moment of this entire book, or at least of day one, let's say of day one, I think for first half of the book, probably, it would be Gallant being surrounded by horse-shaped spren and floating. Essentially there's a flying Gallant surrounded by other flying or horse shaped spren, I feel like this would be the perfect, is either the money shot or a typical scene from a Disney movie that would just make me happy. And following this beautiful moment of peace and rest, then we really are immediately thrown into the deep end. We have reality kicking in.

Spoiler review - main body
And then from day two, it becomes a race to find the right tools to win against Odium. Not only the protagonists find out that Odium is not Rayse anymore, but they also don't know how to fight Odium. And now that race is not the embodiment of Odium, the same Hoid is quite concerned about what will happen out of this particular dynamic. And one of the first findings, I'm particularly fascinated with the point about how Hoid was cheated, if cheated could be the word to be used here, was blindsided into leaving such a big clause. Like it feels like people who do this type of work should be already knowledgeable about the fact that capitals would mean something and not having covered in the agreement. So I felt on one hand is like, would this be really the way to look at it? know, Hoid being as experienced as he says he is, but maybe he isn't, right? But would Hoid be as world hoppery as he is? Would he really have been tricked by something so, that feels so, I don't know, basic to me? Maybe others had different experiences, but I felt that particular reveal about the capitals or better that the reigns were going to be subject to Odium's influence if at day 10 they were, the capitals were taken or were under control of Odium, I thought it was a big, big gap in the negotiation that someone like Hoid with his experience should have known better. But nonetheless, this is where we're starting from, so there isn't anything else that I can add or I should add to this particular moment in time. There are also a lot of themes that are being explored in, again, days from two to ten.

Some of them are theology and divinity, and in particular what it means to be and what it takes to be a god or a larger than humanity being self-determination and living consequences of decisions. And next to this, there is a constant theme of powers and the search for power and what the whole getting power and holding power actually mean. And many different facets of these topics, many different perspectives. And overall, I found it a particularly interesting collection of thoughts and ideas and discussions that felt really compelling. So as I mentioned before, we're going to go through a few different storylines.

Spoiler review - Kaladin and Szeth
The first one I want to stop and reflect for a second is Kaladin and Szeth. Theirs is a story about free will and self-determination and the appreciation of free will. Most of the characters are either leaving decisions to others or to chance essentially, and/or each comes to the realization that leaving someone else in charge is a coping mechanism for their own issues. And at the end of this particular storyline, there is a clear appreciation of the fact that self-determination, the ability to freely determine one's future is the most powerful tool that any person, any being, an individual can have. I also enjoyed two particular developments, one per character. On Kaladin's side, it was interesting and it was good to see Kaladin understand that his exploration of his own challenges and his mental health makes him a better person, but also allows him to connect with Ishar in particular at a different level. This also allows him to find a new level of understanding about himself and his powers, enabling him to go to the next level, say the next words, and take that final step at the ending that was so powerful. And so to some extent, I felt full circle, going full circle with the Kaladin’s character. There is a weakness in the entire five book arc still in my opinion, which is suddenly we find out that Kaladin had depression and it wasn't, I think, consistently and cohesively developed. It was rethinking of, we can add mental issues here. And if the story was framed around depression since book one, I think it would have been significantly more interesting, significantly more powerful and inclusive. I still I'm still going to take the representation moment out of that.
And for Szeth, I think he might be the character that gets put through the wringer more than anybody else. Kaladin experienced slavery as much as Szeth does. Szeth experiences a lot of abuse, a lot of damage, emotional and physical throughout the story. And so I feel like he is the character that most embodies tragedy. So Szeth has a very tough journey to go through. We already know in the prior four books, that he had a very challenging life up until that moment. He has become a slave. We know that he has been a slave. He's lived as a pariah to his own people. He has experienced tragedy, but we haven't seen really how much tragic his background is and his story and his family's history is. And this is what this book gives us. It tells us this journey by which he becomes essentially enslaved. He almost looked forward to the moment of becoming a slave to not having to make the choices anymore, to not having to make the choices that make him miserable. He just wants someone else to take the reins. And sure, he was manipulated. Even if when he still had free will, he was manipulated. And it turned out it was Ishar himself. And it is a story that it's quite emotionally taxing from his own first tragedy when he had to deal with Molly's death and how he deals with Molly's death to having to elevate himself to a point where he needs to deal with his own father, who's been an incredibly supportive parent, almost to the extreme where it's almost too much, but he's been there and the twisting that it's been done to his father is the straw that breaks the camel's back and allows Szeth to reconcile himself with his choices and his past, his elevation, becoming the law, realizing that humans are flawed and they will be right and wrong. Potentially at the same time is really what makes Szeth the new version of his own understanding of himself. What we have is a cool element on top.

Spoiler review - honorable mention, Sword-nimi or Nightblood
And in addition to what Syl offers in this particular storyline, is Sword-nimi or Nightblood. And I will always be enthusiastically reading every single line that comes out of Nightblood's brain, assuming we can even call it brain, personality, mouth, ideas. So anything related to Nightblood, I will be game for it.

Spoiler review - flashbacks crowd
Then we had this story arc dedicated to flashbacks. And this is a very crowded space. We have Dalinar and Navani, but also Shallan, Rlain and Renarin, and then suddenly we have also the little Gav. So there is a lot of different moving parts in this particular flashback type of approach. But what is interesting about this storyline is that we are exploring Roshar, how humans came to Roshar and moving forward to the events of the prologue all those years ago in Way of Kings.

Spoiler review - Dalinar, Navani and little Gav
And Dalin and Navani specifically go through a difficult process both as a couple and as bondsmith. They need to find a way to learn the truth, they need to a way how to win against Odium, but they also need to find how to better use their own powers and their own strengths. Probably one of my favorite parts of this entire book was how humans came to Roshar and how destructive their arrival was, but it wasn't because humans wanted to be destructive. And this is where the other interesting piece of information here, the new point of view that was offered later on and I'll speak to it later. I thought it was very appealing to me to see how the destruction of Roshar comes from the decision of very different beings than human beings. And so the effect of Honor and Odium on previous land and then Roshar was particularly well-drafted. Dalinar eventually becomes honor's latest incarnation. But he has to deal with the toughest challenge yet. So not only Gav, the little Gav, is Odium's champion, but Dalinar needs also to do the most difficult decision of them all, which is to delegate. He needs to trust that he's prepared his own children, the other Knights Radiant, his own wife, to the fact that he WILL sacrifice everything for the ultimate goal and he will allow them to complete what he started.
And then Navani gets a smaller role compared to Rhythm of War, and she gets a little bit more understanding about her powers. But I think we're going to have a lot more from her and about her in the next installment.

Spoiler review - Shallan
We then have Shalan, and I think Shalan is like a story of, it's almost a redemption arc in such a positive way. So she is able to resolve a lot of her issues in this installment. She is able to gain greater control of herself and of her own emotion that she's ever done before. She needs to learn about her past. She needs to experience her worst moments. However, she is able to come on top of all of them. And it doesn't matter what challenge, what additional challenge the book and the plot throws at her, she's able to manage. Also because of her newly found in construction confidence and the embodiment of this maturity comes from her fight with her foe, the foe that she had almost since the beginning, is Mraize. And that tangle was particularly effective, both emotionally, as a person, and as the plot device that it needed to be.


Spoiler review - Rlain and Renarin
And then we get to probably one of my favorite couples at this point. I really liked Renarin and Rlain. While I was reading about them, they reminded me so much of Wiccan and Hulkling. And if you don't know who they are, you want to google them, because it is one of the more interesting gay couples of the comic book space. because Rlain is a Prashendi and Renarin a human, they really gave me this Wiccan and Hulkling vibe all along. There are a couple that breaks all types of standards. They belong to different races. And they uniquely find each other because they've been on the outside of their own worlds, of their own society, but because they were on the outskirts of their society, they were always able to look at people, at individuals differently, beyond what their physical appearance is or gives. So their ability to connect with each other is due to the fact that they are able to see who and what personalities they really carry. And it's just heartwarming overall to see this couple coming to this moment of coupleness. It's obviously the wrong terminology, but I really liked how Rlain and Renarin found each other and became an interest, love interest, one for the other. And I'm really curious to know what's going to happen next, because Rlain and Renarin are set up for something fantastic, I think, for the next arc. They also have to deal with a complicated decision, which is to a complicated but also bold decision to free Mishram. It is also a cinematic moment. I think there is so much value in it and it's going to be interesting to see what's happening next.

Spoiler review - Adolin and Sigzil
And then we have another storyline dedicated to the protection or the conquest of capitals having Adolin on one side and next to Bridge, former Bridge 4 members and in particular Sizgil, know him and Jasnah on the other side. Adolin has probably, and I hope I haven't said it before, but I think Adolin has my favorite arc of this entire story and is a complicated arc because he is the best example of what free will in a military context means.

Adolin's character development has been a cornerstone for me for a few books now, but it is in this book, particularly, that he becomes his own best version. And by best version in this case, I mean it quite literally. He is becoming the next level of what he can be and what he wants to be most importantly. He starts as a goofy and powerful son of a drunk and becomes a beacon of light himself. He needs to go through his own journey of finding out who he really is and what he really wants, realizing that he is a selfless person, a person that his mother prepared him to be. And this is one of the more interesting moments of recognition in this entire story, the realization that he's not his father's son, or he's not only his father's son. He's also his mother's son. And I think this realization, this confirmation, this understanding of what is going on in the background really makes a difference for him. We confirm what we already knew about him, that he's really good with people. And what one key sentence that he shares with himself, but also with others, is the fact that he holds promises to a higher standard than oaths, where oaths cannot be broken, but promises are stronger because they have in intrinsic value while oaths are awards that you need to comply with. So I don't necessarily agree with his thought process, but I love the fact that he really puts thought into it. And this explains why he never really wanted to be a night radiant. He doesn't want to recite oaths. He wants to live up promises that he makes himself to himself, but also to others. And he is so powerful and so convinced in his beliefs that he does something that nobody else has ever done which is to connect with the deadeye, the dead spren linked to blades and plates who were forgotten. And so we have a powerful moment in which you hear a lot of different deadeyes who yell, “Sir”. And it's all a coordinated effort of all these forgotten friends that come together and help him with the aid of Maya. And there was one very, very powerful sentence that Maya says, and I think this is another powerful moment of sharing again how Maya herself has developed in the last couple of books, but most importantly I think it's a reflection of Adolin himself. so Maya says, “life before death, she replied. Or maybe life after death this time. I never really understood that motto anyway. Let's kick some Fused ass.” So I really like Maya. think she's the embodiment. She's a personification of what Adolin stands for. And she understands that. The other thing about Adeline's storyline is that it's very cinematic. And there is one very interesting moment that reminded me of the, one of the iconic moments in The Two Towers when Gandalf arrives with reinforcements. So we are replicating this particular moment with Maya and I think it's done in great style, in grand style, and I think a cinematic representation of this will go a very long way. Two more interesting facts about Adolin and the fact that I'm spending so much time on it. Adolin really shows you how much I enjoyed his story and I really thought it had the most meat to the bone overall. Adolin loses a leg because he is a soldier. He doesn't really spend a lot of time reflecting on that loss. He's just accepting it. And then the end of the book, really, where his connection with the deadeyes allows him to regain movement of the limb really shows what an interesting take of the character. He is the second man who is able to defeat a shard bearer, but he does it with a leg missing and because he is connected to Maya, he realizes how he needs her help in order to win. in fact, he needs her and the deadeye to win. overall, very fascinating.
Sigzil also is going on an interesting journey. So first he has to make and he decides to make one of the most challenging choices of all the book, which is to renounce his oaths in order to save his spren from dying. And that was a very emotional moment I think I had a little bit of a tear. My eyes were singing a little bit when I was reading it. But also he is carrying a Dawnshard. And so I'm curious to see what will happen next.

Spoiler review - Jasnah
And then the other perspective that we have when it comes to the cities either being conquered or that need to be saved is Jasnah. And this is another of those scenarios where I'm going to complain about the fact that Jasnah doesn't have enough visibility. And I think the reason why she doesn't have enough visibility is because it's a difficult character to write, but at the same time, it could be very boring if not executed well. So I wonder if this is the reason why we're not getting a lot more of Jasnah. But in general, Jasnah is a proud and intelligent woman, and she needs to go through a humbling experience of being outsmarted by a divinity, but realizing that she really defeated herself. I really love the chapters in which Jasnah had to debate against Taravangian and how she realizes that she was her own worst enemy in that particular process and how she has followed with so much certainty her own philosophical moral compass to then realize that she was let down by that particular process. Very fascinating and I'm hoping that this sets her up for a stunning arc in the next 5 books in the Stormlight Archive.

Spoiler review - Venli
Last but not least I have Venli and in Rhythm of War I loved her redemption arc. I really appreciated most of the story around Venli and her choices. And in this book we have a Venli who doesn't crave power, she just wants to do what's right for the parshendi and I love conniving approach at the end of the book that allowed the parsheni to really make a difference, both for themselves, but also for humans in their fight against Odium. Venli does not want leadership, she just wants to be accepted for who she is, by her people and by her mother. And this choice really elevates her. She's able to connect with her mother. And it was something that she craved for a very long time, and she never really understood why, while she was doing and taking all the right decisions she wasn't connecting with her mom. And that particular moment in which they hug, I'm just tearing up just at the idea of that. And the humility, the humility that she shows in this book is truly revolutionary. She also has one of the coolest shots in this book where she is riding a chasm fiend. So the way that my brain connects that moment is Paul Atreides riding worms. So that's what I'm visually expecting Venli to be doing in this particular shot.

Spoiler review - Honor
On top of all of this, which is already lot of goodness, and I've hinted at this before, is that from day nine, we get Honor's perspective to the history of Roshar. And so that's why we end up seeing a lot of that tragic history and his relationship with Cultivation and his relationship with Odium and how that is really the catalyst for a lot of the tragedy that we see both in Roshar and in other worlds where they were able to express themselves at their fullest. On this, though, I have kind of like a remark mostly driven by another author whom I really admire, which is Steven Erickson. And I remember Erickson commenting on the fact that Anomander Rake, who is a character that lived for more than a thousand years, was a difficult character. In fact, he barely touches him, if I'm really paraphrasing, but what I remember that quote says is along the lines of, because I don't have the depth and the character ability to represent someone with such a long life and so much experience, I will try to limit as much as possible my need to have to talk in his shoes, essentially, as the author. And I feel Sanderson kind of took this and delivered to some extent because Honor's perspective is quite limited overall, but also not really taking it, right? Because the way that Honor comes across is that he's a petty individual who only focused on the negative side of his relationships instead of focusing on the positive sides of his relationship. And so his need to challenge and make sure that Odium is addressed really shapes the way that Honor comes across and instead of focusing on the positive of his relationship, which is Cultivation, and I would love to know so much more to experience a lot more of cultivation in the next installment of the Stormlight Archive.

Spoiler review - The ending
And with this, we move to the other big chunk of this review, which is the ending. And when I came into the book, I had the expectation that we were going to have some form of ending which is a bit of a silly mindset to have because it is book five of ten. But at the same time, we're talking about this being the end of a first arc.
And in Wind and Truth actually delivers some form of ending, but really it opens up to the full Cosmere for the next installment. And so it really feels like it's really a different take. We move from a world and we end the story on a world. And I think we're opening up a much, much much larger conflict map than we had before.

And I think the teaching of this book is self-sacrifice. Dalinar, in the decisions that he made, he definitely focused on sacrifice for the greater good. Kaladin does the same. Setz does the same. But also, ultimately, Shalan and the others are focusing on, need to do something so that the other will have a better position overall. And while at the end of this book we are in a limbo, we are getting back to some of Sanderson's origin with the Dark Lord being in charge. And I'm really curious as to how he's going to deliver the, we have hope approach in the Stormlight Archive. And while we're in a limbo, I feel like we're getting back to some of Sanderson's origin work with the Dark Lord being in charge. We have hope and it's hope carefully built by Dalinar who understood what to do. He actually hatches a brilliant plan using Wit's or Hoid’s own words. “I was so meticulous, so deliberate. I tried to be so clever and then poof, it was all destroyed by a grand act of majestic improvisation”.

So Dalinar understands the assignment and he does exactly what he needs to do. And I love how this is the halfway point of a ten book series. I know things are going to get more interesting moving forward. We have again the whole Cosmere to play with and this makes me wonder what books I will need to reread in the whole Cosmere to be able to follow everything about the Cosmere lore. And I also love how, despite having a glimmer of hope, and I'm really clinging onto it, there is also a lot of despair. Jasnah is broken, we have Shallan, who might be pregnant, stuck in Shadesmar, not being able to get back to Adolin and with time running much slower for her than people in Roshar, we have Adolin who, again, like on a glimmer of hope type of approach, restored the deadeyes somehow, and he is one of the few who has access to powerful abilities. So we'll see how that, what that entails for the rest of the world. But at the same time, I think Adolin is in for a heartbreak scenario because he will be separated from his love, Shallan so how will he take it? Navani is protecting Urithiru with Sibling, but they are in a coma. So what does it mean for her and her powers? And considering that they are both in this particular, let's medical condition, there is also no stormlight. I really am curious as to what happens and will happen with Navani, especially in relation to the fact, and the Sibling, especially in relation with the fact that they are very location-bound and they are specifically powerful in Urithiru, but they're not much outside of the city. So it's going to be interesting how Navani will be used moving forward. And then we have Renarin and Rlain. And while they are not broken, they still will need to process quite a lot of grief and they will need to be mentors to Gavilor. And what is probably going to be a very twisted mind. Another gift from Odium. Odium, who, by the way, based on the events of the last one hundred pages, is not Odium anymore. He's a combination of Odium and honor, and he is now retribution. So what does that mean for the rest of the Cosmere? I imagine there's going to be quite, quite significant impact. And then Sigzil, we mentioned him briefly and he has, and I already mentioned it, how he has a Dawnshard and we have a half a paragraph, really, with Rysn before where we know that Dawnshards are very important, but also you cannot have two Dawn Shards next to each other. Otherwise, one will eat the other up for lack of better terminology. So I'm really curious to know what happens next.

Spoiler review - What next?
And so now what? We will need to wait. And although Sanderson says that he will come back to Roshar with book six in the near future, I'm actually not sure what that entails from a timing perspective. I'm curious, obviously, to know how we're going to shape the world in the next five books. I also though understand that getting to the Stormlight Archive might require a little bit of world building across the Cosmere. We might need to make progress in other storylines like Elantris to be able to better digest what happens in the Cosmere in a grander scheme. And I am thrilled about the Cosmere and what comes in the next fourteen, it’s a hopeful wish that we're going to need fourteen years to get through the next five books. It might take longer and in the end it doesn't matter. I am really excited about what comes next. And with this, we end this journey through Wind and Truth by Brendan Sanderson. And I hope you enjoyed this episode or at least found it entertaining by taking part of the process with me, enjoy going down memory lane and experiencing, one more time, wind and truth in, let's say, a twisted perspective. I will certainly be revising this episode once the next books are going to be out.

Outro
Thank you for spending time with me and I hope once again you've enjoyed the journey today. Next time, we're going to be talking about dragons. And yes, we're going to go through different explorations, different interpretations of who dragons are and what they do. If you had fun and did not hear other episodes, please feel free to follow and listen to the other published episodes. If you want to know more about my fantasy adventures, please go over to www.solseit.com where you can find a little bit more information about what I like and the themes and topics associated with fantasy. See you next time!