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

Chapter 93 (Strong Enough)
Title: But strong enough for what? To attack a herald, or to let her husband be taken, or to face her own truth? Not that last one, since Formless hasn’t been around long enough to deserve that climax, but she could still go either way. Oh, who am I kidding. She’s on the downslope right now. She’ll make the aggressive choice.

Icons: Nale. Presumably because Kelek is rendering judgement today?

Epigraph: Wait. If the bond is broken by capture, how could Kelek feel the difference between Jezrien fading away and simply remaining captive? Obviously some aspects of the bond persisted for him to have that awareness.

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“There are some things only she [Shallan] can do,” Formless said. Would that be a problem, now that Shallan no longer existed?

Oh dear. Formless is supplanting Shallan, not becoming a fourth aspect. Or at least she thinks she is. Hmm, and she appears to have less of a grip on Veil and Radiant than she thought.

Aww, Adolin with the sweet affirmation. Who is stronger, indeed? Don’t let your struggle be a detraction from your determination and diligence. Formless doesn’t listen, of course, but someone surely does.

Pattern perks up when he sees her? That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it sure strikes a sour chord. He’s not always the best at seeing through her aspects, though, so maybe he’s not fully aware of what’s happened.

Radiant is trapped, but not Veil. That’s significant, for sure. But what is Formless planning to do after this “last gift” for Adolin? Is she planning to end herself, or just cut ties with Shallan’s life? And what does Veil think she’s figured out?

Oh, I see. “A new persona couldn’t draw like that.” Shallan is trying to be supplanted, to reinvent herself.

“How would she extricate herself from Adolin?” Yeah, no. Formless no longer gets a vote. You’ve messed with my ship, girl.

Yes, Pattern thinks she’s Veil. His perception is sadly lacking for someone with a direct line to Shallan’s soul, but it definitely shows Adolin well in contrast.
Formless is a fusion of the “best parts” of her three aspects. It’s the poorly constructed version of the organic healing we hope Shallan will achieve, built from what she envies most of her make-belief personas, or from what she hopes will paper over her combined insecurities. What it isn’t is an actual, whole person. 

I have to say, Formless seems much more fragile than I anticipated from the buildup she got.

Huh. Formless being uncomfortable with the impossible box that is Lasting Integrity, to the extent that she avoids looking at the other three planes of the tower. That’s a remarkably apt yet subtle metaphor for her place in Shallan’s psyche. She’s in denial, trying to form a new identity without addressing the “impossible box” she’s created of her mind. I wouldn’t have noticed it except that it was a mention of something Formless “wasn’t got at,” which seemed pretty unlikely for her to admit when she’s trying to be her strongest, most capable self.

Pattern, that was not how you retell a joke. I presume it was something about parroting Wit’s words, and that’s how you are like a chicken? You fail at second-hand jokes, Pattern.

You should have gathered by now that I am all the way here for Shallan’s inner conflict. Yet, I have to admit that this sequence feels more than a tad forced. Formless shows up, and within a page we’re at “You deserve to be loved,” and she suddenly questions her life plan of throwing away the past to join the Ghostbloods. Subtle it ain’t.

She wanted to spend time drawing it, but of course she wasn’t like that anymore. She needed to find all this disorienting and strange. Like Veil. 
Oh dear. If we needed any further confirmation that she’s drawing on the wrong pieces to construct herself, this is it. She’s so desperate to get away from her history that she embraces her invented weaknesses just to displace who she was before.

The plan is to Soulcast the lock to the door? Since when does soulcasting work inside Shadesmar? I am not convinced this is viable at all.

Radiant killed Ialai. Storms. This is some real Third Man type mystery stuff going on here. Literally, in fact. That’s more appropriate a comparison the more I think about it. Huh. 

So, how many recent things have been blocked from Shallan’s memory? I feel like it’s a bit of a cop out to have her unaware of what her aspects do.

Guess I was wrong. Soulcasting is easier in Shadesmar, not harder/impossible. Weird. 

A small glass chicken is Kelek’s memento in the window. What type of chicken? Who was it from? Was it an Ashyn chicken or one further afield?

I love that Veil forced herself into being through lightweaving that Formless didn’t want or intend. This dynamic is great.

Veil is speaking aloud! They are making sounds with their lightweaving, which is something she hasn’t achieved since her mother died. (Unless the sound is mental, but I don’t think so.)

How much of this argument is Kelek hearing? I kind of want to know what he thinks of it. Actually, is Shallan still wearing her Lusintia disguise while talking to Veil?

Wait, but if Veil does this, we won’t get to enjoy her anymore :-( Shallan getting the memories back, and (I assume) losing the partition between some of her skills and talents is a good thing, something we’ve been building toward. But I’ll miss Veil.

Yup. Shallan’s first spren is dead, and she remembers.

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“Oh, God of Oaths.”

Another one for the list!

That’s really rough. Shallan killed her mom. Then her nahel spren. Then her dad. No wonder she’s messed up.

But wait. If Shallan killed her first spren, then the safe really did contain a dead Shardblade. Is it still bound to Shallan? Does she carry that blade as well as Pattern? The screaming could be something else that’s hidden away in her mind.

Hm. Radiant doesn’t seem to be getting a goodbye scene, but I sort of get the impression she’s leaving/integrating as well. Am I reading that right? Ah, actually I don’t think she’s left yet. We’ll have to see in the next chapter. 

Yes, go find your first Pattern! Oh, is this where we’ll get someone dual-wielding Shardblades? I could see it happening regardless, but it’d be even better if she is able to (eventually) revive Pattern the First following Adolin’s example with Maya. 

I’m proud of Shallan for making the better choice about Kelek. I was expecting Formless to be more formidable.

Ah, yes. Protective custody “for your own good.” Definitely not house arrest. And that’s the it-gets-worse moment that allowed Shallan to make the right choice. She didn’t have to make it worse on her own.