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

Chapter 95 (What She Truly Was)
Icons: Forgot to do this part before I’d read a couple pages already, but Chach is appropriate for the association with destruction. Also for the inverted virtue of bravery→cowardice.

Sad to see all of the listeners overwhelmed by the new form. Venli’s familiarity allows for resistance, which is fortunate for her.

Heck of a time to have a change of heart or moment of realization. I like that it’s once again the rhythms that clue her into the way her reactions are not quite right.

Wow. Conceit being seen as desirable. Good going, Venli you are definitely on the winning side now. *eyeroll*

Oh no, is that Adolin’s horse? Sad times. The death in WoR was not built up well enough to have a big emotional impact, but this callback is still a mood killer.

She’s going to watch Eshonai’s fall. And as she does it she reflects on the changes that have occurred. 

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It was hard to associate the terrible warlord Eshonai had become with the thoughtful female who had tried so hard to find a way out of the war.

A reminder here that Eshonai was working to escape a war while Venli not only incited it but spent years doing her best to fan the flames. Sisters working against each other to the tragedy of all.

She feels a void when Eshonai falls, no powerful emotions at all, not even weak ones. Odium has taken her passion.

She can feel Odium’s joy in destruction and sorrow as the new storm builds.

The violence of the colliding storms is really awe inspiring. And for Venli to watch it all through this open doorway cut in stone, shielded only by crem, is a striking image. With plateaus themselves about to be tossed into the air, as we know from Szeth and Kaladin’s fight, it’s shocking that she or anyone was able to survive this.

The rhythms go crazy as opposing perpendicularities clash with each other. The pure tones of Roshar, of Odium and Honor meeting. Do they harmonize into the Rhythm of War for her, or will that only happen when there is union rather than opposition?

And in the face of those storms, alone and terrified, she is forced to confront the fact that she is scared, powerless, and selfish, not a genius or a potential queen. Just a coward.

Like I said, heck of a time to face all that…but, if this destruction of her home and her people wasn’t enough to get through to her then I’m not sure what would have been.