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

Interlude I-10 (Hesina)
Alright, I’m excited for Hesina to get a turn. She’s been far more in the background than Lirin and needs a bit of time in the spotlight.
Icons: Vev. Because loving is pretty much what we need from her right now.

Tomat? Where is that? Oh, it’s her hometown. I don’t think we knew its name before. And we see that her parents are both high nahn and also forceful enough personalities that they bully the lighteyed citylord into doing whatever they want. Not really surprising, but I have a much more refined and snobby image of them in my head from the few passing mentions Lirin made of them. It’s possible that’s still the case, but this description feels less snobby than simply stubborn.

Interesting that the singers repaired things that had been left broken for generations. There is a lot of industry happening right now with a motivated workforce.

Lirin is trying to be supportive, but the stress is getting to all fo them.

Lirin, I really sympathize with you trying to find the right answer. The problem is, she’s not going to believe the right answer because she knows what you actually think.

Quote

“My wife needs a supportive husband, not a self-righteous one.”
“And our son? She asked. Which version of you does he deserve?”

Ouch.

Lirin blaming himself for Tien’s death is not the form I expected this to take, but it makes way too much sense. I guess I hadn’t really considered his perspective before.

Quote

“Kaladin has told me many times that he’s not my son any longer.” 

I’m pretty sure that’s not what he said. Which thing did you interpret as cutting ties, Lirin? I agree with Hesina. Stop pretending Kal isn’t your son.

This argument feels like it should for a couple who’ve been together a long time.

It’s a bit of a pilgrimage to come take care of the Radiants. There are a lot of people here that cycle through for a chance to be close to them and feel a touchstone of reverence/resistance. 

Quote

Hesina and Lirin used a more carefully cultivated group–mostly ardents–to handle delicate matters like bathing the patients.

Is the word choice significant here? Probably subconscious for the characters, but Hesina does use that word and it’s only come up a few times in a non-realmatic context. In fact, I should go back and search through the other books so far and see if there is any hidden suggestion at Cultivation’s influence.

Noril (I’d forgotten his name–sorry guy) is definitely going to give a different perspective on Kal. I wonder if Hesina knows how much worse Kaladin’s depression has gotten since he left home. I’m sure Lirin hasn’t considered it.

Asking everyone for their stories of the shash glyph is a good approach to helping him think about this from another side, but it’s not going to be fun for Lirin to confront.