Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.

Chapter 79 (Open Wound)
Bridge Four chapter. Not Teft yet, I’m guessing. Probably the group out on campaign.

Epigraph: Now we get an actual substantive excerpt to play with, since we’ve been introduced to Restares who is now confirmed as the author of these epigraphs. Seems a little abrupt to give up the illusion so suddenly. I would have put the Jezrien mention in the previous chapter, perhaps. Regardless, this is notable:

Quote

I know the truth of what happened to [Jezrien]. It felt like death at first, and I think that is what it ultimately became.

How long was Jez trapped in that knife before he actually died? Was he intended to die or would Odium have preferred him to persist? What does that mean for the immortality of the remaining heralds?

 

Oh, it’s Rlain, at least to start with. Not sure if he’ll get the whole chapter. I shouldn’t have been surprised at his inclusion, but I’d already mentally slotted him into “candidate for corrupted Sibling Bondsmith” rather than Windrunner which overshadowed his membership in Bridge Four. I feel bad for having treated him as separate just like all the prejudiced characters in the book.

The combined ostracization from humans and his own people is difficult and very obviously something that people deal with on Earth when they begin to bridge between outgroups. Being the bridge is hard. Being seen only as a stereotype and not as a person is at least as hard.

At least the ventilation for the tower is working now via Voidlight. It’s a pretty necessary part of living in a cavernous warren system and of living at high elevation. 

Looks like the water and heat are still nonfunctional, though. Not ideal for preserving the city.

I feel oblivious for never realizing that Shen was a derivation of Parshendi. I just thought it was a regular name. I can totally see why he would consider that offensive. However, we also know that Parshendi translated to “Parshmen that can think” so does Shen by itself mean thought or intelligence or thoughtful? That wouldn’t be too bad a connotation. To use his “name the child Human” analogy, maybe it would be closer to turning  Homo sapiens into Sap or something. (While I’m on the topic, though, I can’t help but think of the Koloss named Human from Era 1 Scadrial.)

Is that cremling actually bonded to a voidspren through its gemheart, or is that Venli’s mistaken supposition? I’m inclined to suspect Sleepless whenever we see suspicious cremlings, but if possession by voidspren is also a concern, this is going to make spy identification very tricky.

Did we know the Pursuer’s name before? I don’t recognize Lezian, but it’s been a while since I read the chapter where he was introduced. I could easily have forgotten it.

Interesting that Raboniel countermanded the Pursuer’s order about disallowing the shash glyph tribute. Not sure if she’s aiming to keep the humans docile by allowing them to keep the symbol of hope, or to let malcontents self-identify.

Lirin’s mixed opinion about Kaladin is really interesting in how it bleeds over, or doesn’t, into relationships with Rlain and others. And Hesina’s support of Kal despite that tension is endearing.

A camp on the edge of the Shattered Plains, its occupants still unidentified? Is this the lost legion? Did someone actually survive? Don’t give me this hope after I started to accept that they might be gone after all, when they hadn’t appeared for more than a year.

Wow. Dabbid is talking still, after first opening up to Kaladin, and he’s doing it in full sentences! He’s way more articulate than I’d expect from someone who’d been mute for nigh on two years. Very touching that helping save Kaladin is how he eventually overcame that hurdle.