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Chapter 62


ccstat

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

Chapter 62 (Keeper of Forms)
Alright, let’s see what this El dude is up to.
Oh, not yet. Looks like we’re starting with Eshonai.
So is warform achieved via painspren? I find it hard to believe that over the years of listeners going out into violent, deadly storms, not one has ended up attracting a painspren from injury on their way to change forms. This isn’t a form that should have stayed lost if it’s really painspren as the key. Still, painspren and warform are remarkably apt for one another.

I appreciate the dilemma here with the Five asking about forming a government. How much of the dominant culture is it worth adopting? If you don’t meet them on their terms at all you will have to way to resist being taken advantage of, yet if you convert to their system completely you’ve already capitulated. It’s easy to see since we have examples of imperialism in our recent history to look to, but the listeners are at a distinct disadvantage in even recognizing the question.

Void-corrupted Venli is a jerk sister.
Hm, that reminds me that back in Rhythm of War we saw Eshonai being the dutiful daughter while Venli was busy with her “research,” which is opposite to how these flashbacks started. Is this point (perhapse later in this chapter, even) where that situation reversed?
“Riddens of my life” is a sad metaphor. Partly for the violence it implies in the more energetic years, but partly just from the English translation bringing to mind associations like “be rid of” and “good riddance.” I can only presume/hope that the peaceful tapering rain at the trailing edge of a storm has more positive cultural significance.

The irony here is painful. If we didn’t know that Venli’s motivations had already been compromised this would be a wholesome scene about two sisters trying to find a treatment option for their aging mother. Instead, it’s undercut by El and Venli’s subversion.

I also think it’s interesting that the baseline listeners can’t even recognize the darker rhythms when they hear them. That doesn’t seem to be the case now.
 

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