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

Title: Obstacle
Not sure if Shallan is the obstacle here or if she’s facing one. Glad to see it is in fact a Shallan chapter, though. I rather expected a POV switch again.

Icon: Chach
Destruction from the fight, is my first guess, but maybe it’s for obedience. Or possibly Mraize or Iyatil’s spren makes them an alternate version of a Releaser/Dustbringer. Still guessing they’re Elsecallers, but we have no actual evidence yet.

Epigraph: “sometimes it is not weakness but strength to stand up and walk away.” Sure, I’ll buy that moral. Who in the story is it meant to apply to, though? Dalinar for turning down Honor’s power eventually? Restares for trying to nope out of Roshar? The Heralds in general for abandoning their oaths? Something else?

Armoring up is a great idea. I’m concerned about the anti-Light, especially since it’s known to be lethally harmful to spren. Not asking Testament to kill again and using her as a shield is great, and something I highly approve of, but that also puts her first in the line of fire if Mraize shoots his hand-ballista. I do not want Testament’s conditioned worsened by having half her essence detonated in an explosion.

Quote

Facing a Shardberer without Shards was not a wise proposition. Unless you were a storm-faced bridgeman, of course.

Um, storm-faced? Is that an insult? A “stormy expression” is a thing and fits Kaladin’s dourness, but that doesn’t really match what I expect from a “[something]-face” insult or from the use of storms in a Rosharan swear.

Shallan is at least worried about the effect of anti-Light on Testament, so she won’t unknowingly fall to that mistake. As predicted, Mraize is proud of her successes.

Two of the other ghostbloods present have nahel bonds and are producing Shardblades. That’s more than I expected, honestly. It probably shouldn’t have been. Why not take advantage of the easy power-up, and/or recruit powerful individuals?

Okay, I’m impressed with Shallan’s counter to the ballista bolt. Illusions failed to divert the shot, but intentionally depowering yourself entirely and dismissing your armor and weapons so that there’s nothing to set off the explosive is a brilliant and risky tactic. 

I thought she was going to rip out the gem and then re-empower herself, but the arrow injected the light into her directly. That’s concerning! Can she use anti-Light for surgebinding? If so, she’ll be okay pretty quickly.
Shallan has the same thought but decides not to risk it. She has some premonition that pulling in anti-Light would be bad even in the absence of Stormlight infusion.

Iyatil is smart enough to try to ensure Shallan’s death, despite Mraize being willing to save it for another day, but fortunately the cavalry arrives. 

The hole in the ceiling doesn’t seem like a Releaser technique, so that’s not the reason for the chapter icons. Yep, it’s a Stoneward, who is apparently Darcira’s husband. Interesting new instance of spren paying attention to the families of Radiants. I’m assuming it started with Darcira, but there’s no reason for that to be true.

Yup, elsecalling. Lieke also disappeared, so either all three of them got enlightened inkspren, or one of them can carry passengers when they transfer. Presumably the second, but I can’t be sure.

Oh, Szeth’s flashbacks are being relayed orally to Kaladin? Didn’t expect that. He doesn’t seem the type to really open up or reminisce. He’s not just teaching about his homeland if he’s sharing personal stories like that.

I am increasingly confused about why spren appear to avoid Shinovar. It doesn’t make any sense to me. Different ecology shouldn’t matter. Presumably the storms still deliver stormlight despite being fully weakened by the time they reach that part of the continent. It can’t even be related to the presence of Unmade since that didn’t dissuade any of them in Kholinar when there were three of the unmade present.

The softness of the soil makes Kaladin think the grass wants to swallow him. Szeth is fully on board with this interpretation.

To Szeth’s eye, everything looks darker than expected. Kal can see wisps of shadow rising. Sounds like unmade business, which is sooner than I thought they would notice effects. Ominous that the effect seems concentrated at a monastery.

They have ten monasteries, one for each Honorblade (though several would necessarily be empty).
Oh, Szeth is going to spell it out for us: Talmut (Taln), Nin (Nale), and Ishu (Ishar) all have their own blades. 

I wonder how many people are “elevated” and train with the Honorblades to learn the surges. It’s certainly more than the number of blades, but I don’t know how exclusive that cadre of surgebinders would be.

But unmade encounter is for tomorrow. Tonight soup is on the menu!