This is my reaction blog for Wind and Truth. Beware of spoilers! Index post here. 

Title: Musicspren
Gonna rescue Gallant and learn more about the Ryshadium and their bonded spren.

Icon: Ash
First repeat of the book. I suspect that Brandon just wanted to give us a full set in the first 10 chapters + prologue, and that from here on they will follow a less forcefully varied sequence, but we'll have to see. This one obviously follows Shallan's fourth Truth and the accompanying lightweaving breakthrough. More lightweaver magic ahoy!

Epigraph: does the use of “while” here suggest that the two contests (the clash of champions and the mystery event set to occur in Shinovar) are going to happen simultaneously? Or is it just a looser statement of “despite that one thing being important, this other one is too”? The Wind thinks Kal and Szeth's thing is “equally vital” to Dalinar's contest, if not moreso. Best guess is still an unmade (as parallel to BAM that Shallan will be seeking out), backup guess being Ishar (the OG Bondsmith who instigated the destruction and evacuation of Ashyn, and who is a current threat while insane).

Oh, I thought that was a kill shot and Abidi would be dead. No such luck, and he's regenerating. Forget the other Fused and their backup, this immediate fight is still a major obstacle. 

Uh oh. “Substantiation” is the name for solid illusions, and it's apparently on the list of forbidden surgebinding skills–presumably the same list that keeps Radiants from destroying Roshar with out-of-control magic. That's worrying by itself, as of the fact that Abidi considered it a big enough deal to immediately withdraw to report its usage to Odium.

It's “supernaturally convenient” to find the bead she needs right away–she's learning to draw on Fortune for other things, too. It would be worth going back and looking for other lucky breaks in the books so far, though I imagine that the effort she's making to repair the bond with Testament is strengthening the imbrication that gives her that access. Presumably her ability to use Fortune is also increasing. 

Who is speaking in her mind and giving her hints about Adolin’s location? Veil? Pattern/Testament? Shallan herself isn't sure, so it is most likely none of the above. 

The bead’s eagerness to help seems most likely to be a result of the contrast between Stormlight and Voidlight that was present during their fight. If the beads really do hate voidlight, then some helpfulness in this moment would be natural.

Oh no! I thought about the effect of Substantiation on Radiant, but didn't consider it might lead Shallan to question reality. Adolin is too perfect, so she must have made him up… that's a mood, and a step back for her psyche. I knew we were all being a bit too optimistic here. Adolin, you'd better jump in to reassure her right quick! And try not to get interrupted by more Fused if you can help it.

The voice tells her to trust him. Who is it? Title suggests a musicspren, and Gallant wanting to help save Adolin makes a lot of sense, but that's a lot of sapience that I wasn't expecting from a “lesser” non-nahel spren, so I'm somewhat doubtful. 

Mishram manifesting in her creations of beads not just in her drawings was a terrifying surprising-yet-inevitable development, and BAM’s vows of vengeance and violence are concerning to say the least, especially the way they overwhelm Shallan here. Granted, she wasn't expecting that mental assault, but it was also only a shadow of a shadow of the unmade. I'm getting shivers here thinking about it. 

Shallan gets super Fortunate again by finding exactly the bead she needs, and she now has a flying submersible room. 

Quote

“For years, Shallan had hated herself. Now she merely feared herself. That was progress.”

Sure, we're backtracking along the path to the Dark Side. We were at suffering, then hate, now to fear. Next step is practically neutral! You're almost a not-Sith, Shallan!

I thought Abidi was gone, but he's still here leading the attack and decides to focus on Shallan again. So much for withdrawing. 

Adolin cracking Abidi’s gemheart is great, and Radiant appreciates him. Doesn't look like it kills this body, which I was going to be disappointed about but it doesn't really matter whether he gets rescued now or re-embodied later. There's no appreciable difference to Shallan’s group as long as the attack is broken off.

Radiant can shoot a shardbow? Awesome! Definitely worth Substantiating her. I wouldn't have thought the solid manifestation would have that sort of range.

She managed to drive her submarine to retrieve all of their spren. Glad that none of them had to wait long at the bottom of the sea.

The compass fabrial points to:

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“the Grand Knell, source of the Current, the death of a god.”

That's the Sibling’s description, and it's “far in the distance.” The only thing local it could be is the Origin, but I sincerely doubt that's it. My money is on this being the site of Adonalsium’s shattering.

I really have to ask what the Current is. My first thought is similar to oceanic currents, a flow of investiture across the cosmere. My second thought is less likely, but it could be more like an electric current, a directed supply of investiture energy. The difference between the two ideas  is in the connotations. The electricity analog would imply a designed system, rather than the oceanic natural system, and the difference in energy between the Current and its ambient surroundings would be much more dramatic for inside vs outside of the “wires” than for inside vs. outside the flowing “water”. The ocean metaphor feels far more fitting in general.

The Grand Knell sounds like it must be the source of the Pure Tones of the cosmere, but we don't know enough about those to really make a strong conclusion.

Gallant is hanging out with a herd of ghostly horses, the same as the one that Notum rode before. These must be the musicspren, then. Interesting that Gallant attracted an entire herd of them. 

They can run on top of the beads, without constant expenditure of Light. Or at least I think it's not a high cost? Those glowing footprints and flying sparks seem like a use of kinetic investiture, just cheaper than a Lashing. But maybe they can also fly? Shallan thinks so, and I'm reading this at Christmas time, so reindeer are on the mind. 

What do musicspren look like in the physical realm? Shallan can't see the resemblance between that and their horse forms. 

Shallan realizes that there's a musicspren bonded to Gallant. She hasn't thought this far yet, but the way it overlaps Gallant’s body even here on Shadesmar is a strong indicator that it somehow resides in the horse, possibly in a gemheart. Otherwise I would expect them to be independent like the radiants and their nahel spren. That does make me wonder about how Venli and other radiant singers will experience Shadesmar. I expect the spren that give them their forms will remain bonded inside the gemheart, but that the nahel spren will act just like the human’s spren…except that Timbre is also trying to keep the voidspren in Venli’s gemheart trapped and suppressed. Would that make a difference? 

One of the spren comes up to Adolin for a moment, recognizing him. That must be the one that had been bound to his horse killed on the Shattered Plains, Sureblood. Neither Adolin nor Shallan appear to have made that connection yet. 

Making musicspren illusions around them is a good idea, and Shallan being able to do it without drawing them or even taking a memory is an impressive step in her ability. 

The lights are a large singer army, thousands strong. I'm impressed by the logistics of preparing mandra-pulled boats for those troops and coordinating the assault. 

Drehy hypothesizes that the army came by way of the singularity in the Horneater peaks, which makes sense but I wasn't sure how much the characters knew about that. I also didn't remember the peaks being occupied by the singers, but if the Fused are marching an assault force through there and counting on it being a secret, they must have very secure control of the area. Actually, thinking back I recall that being an issue in Oathbringer. So yes, the Horneater Peaks must be in Fused control, which doesn't say good things about what's happening with the unkalaki. How was Rock planning on receiving his people's judgement if they didn't have access to the shardpool any longer? I can't imagine their people's guardianship of the perpendicularity is standing up in the face of Odium’s direct attention. Then again, Cord was saying in Dawnshard that she wanted to become a Shardbearer in order to help protect the pool now that it is about to be recognized as a valuable target, and that was only a few weeks ago in-world. I think I’m a bit confused about the state of that territory.