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

Title: A Tough Kind of Love
Gaz just described his treatment of the bridgmen as “tough love” and anything that could be used that way for the treatment Mraize showed to Shallan is either euphemism or manipulation. Not a good sign of what’s to come in this chapter.

Icons: Ash
Lots of lightweavers doing lightweaver things. Unseen Court is going to battle (and probably gonna get trounced and tricked)

Epigraph: Nohadon inspired followers in his lifetime, and was intimidated by that fact. I was going to say something about how he didn’t publish Way of Kings until later in his life, so the words must have been disseminated quickly and widely for this to occur, but if this is something he wrote about in that book, then my logic is stupid and breaks down. Obviously people would be influenced by a figure like Nohadon long before he compiled his wisdom into a published work. 

Adolin catches the elevator with Dalinar’s forgotten bodyguard. There’s some unsubtle parallel there for mutual understanding.

Wait, Colot is a former Windrunner squire? I hadn’t considered that people would quit that path and return to their former lives. I wonder how often that happens.

Gawx takes the initiative to hold the elevator doors for Adolin and Colot. It’s a small thing, but he’s asserting himself and I like to see that. This budding friendship with Adolin is good to see, even/especially since it’s somewhat improper for the emperor to even speak to people of unequal station. 

This exchange is illuminating about both of them:
“Do you ever worry you won’t be strong enough?”
“Well, I already failed once when it was my job to save Kholinar, so yes. All the time.”

Gawx really is coming into his own here, filling the role of emperor far better than could be expected of someone with his training.

And of course Adolin’s thought upon witnessing Yanagawn’s self-doubt is “put a sword in his hand and get him to hit stuff.” That is such a high-born Alethi perspective, and also genuine to Adolin’s life experience. Which isn’t to say it mightn’t work for Gawx, but still.

It’s notable to remember that Shallan is the lightweaver, while Radiant has to rely on her for disguises etc. That emphasizes that there are material drawbacks to the way the partition between them is organized. 

I don’t remember which one Isom is. I feel bad that the Unseen Court have taken such a minor place in my memory despite being so invested in Shallan’s personal journey. I should remember and care about her new family, too.

Shallan is pretty good at disguising the sound of her voice at this point, something that she struggled with for quite a while. 

Shob? I definitely haven’t seen that name before. Maybe we simply haven’t been introduced to most of the Court yet.

I had also forgotten that Jushu had the same gambling problem that Gaz does. Good personal connection there, and hopefully Shallan will be able to help them both.

Disgustspren are orange corkscrews, and another new appearance among the spren that are showing up in the revived tower.

The power of love: threatening to torture anyone who enables your friend’s gambling addiction. I was wrong. The title’s Tough Love was actually a good thing. Shallan’s inadequate attempt at a pun, on the other hand, is awful.

Quote

“If you push hard enough with a dull knife…”
“It can still be painful.”
“And if you keep trying with bad jokes…”
“The same. Wait.”

Oh, I like that Gaz got her in this wordplay exchange. Good going Gaz, she deserved it!