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

Chapter 106 (A Hundred Discordant Rhythms)
Icons: Offset triad of Taln, Jez, and doubled Nale.
Epigraph: I don’t get it. How are varied and intense being used as antonyms? Or at least exclusive?

Kaladin reflects on his argument with Lirin about killing to protect, and how that may be an inherent contradiction. But unbeknownst to him, Lirin is mere feet away being held hostage against Kaladin doing anything. So when he does finally look up, will he kill in order to protect his father? Or will he accept Lirin’s morals and let his father suffer the fate the enemy has planned?

***
Navani jumps into the pain field to grab the knife, and stabs Raboniel with it. Way to be awesome, Navani! Sometimes it’s easy to forget that she’s married to the Blackthorn. I doubt there’s enough light in there to actually kill Raboniel, though.

I really like that she takes time to have pride in the range of her pain field, while being bombarded with its effect. Definitely a scholar.

Oh. Raboniel is almost dead. She’s cut off from the rhythms and in excruciating pain. Navani succeeded, but Raboniel has enough time for some last words. And what words does she choose? Affirmation of Navani, and encouraging her to escape. 

Awesome. Raboniel esteems the Voice of Lights highly enough to think she is the best chance now of ending the war. Wonderful culmination of this relationship!

And Moash ruins the moment. At least he did it dramatically (by throwing a knife into Navani’s chest from across the room).

***
Timbre really has no fear, telling Venli to reveal herself in front of everyone. That’s far gutsier than I would expect.

Leshwi frees Lirin! Kaladin doesn’t have to face the decision I thought would come.

Oh, Leshwi is definitely going to capitalize on the Defeated One title. She’s going to get a lot of mileage out of that.

Well, that’s even more dramatic. The Pursuer teleports past Leshwi to kill Stormblessed, and now Venli will have to save him with her stone shaping. That’s a sweet setup right there.

Oh, that’s not what happened. It just broke Kal out of his funk and forced him to fight back. 

Ah, maybe that’s not a good thing? Kaladin with eyes that are starting to glow red is not an auspicious sign. 

Uh oh. Using the wrong color of light to lash the Pursuer’s head off of his body…that’s not the Windrunner ideals I’m used to. Has Brandon been running a long con? Is Moash right? What if Dalinar does get his contract signed, only to find out that Kaladin has taken up the role of Odium’s champion? I don’t actually think that’s what’s going to happen, but sequences like this are doing a seriously impressive job of convincing me it’s a possibility.

No, don’t run away with the hostage! That’s how you make him follow you! Seriously, folks. If you aren’t going to fight him, just give him what he wants.

So now Venli just has to reveal herself by fighting against the Pursuer’s personal guard and protecting the Radiants. I’m not sure that’s an improvement over the previous scene.

***
No! Syl is forgetting. This is not good. Kaladin, please don’t kill Syl or abandon her!

Um, is Syl forgetting the Words he said or the ones he was getting ready to say? Because that’s an important distinction.

When Lirin is thrown off, Kaladin jumps off the tower into the storm, while remembering honor chasm. This took an even darker turn than I thought it would. For the moment I think I still prefer my hypothetical hostage negotiation for the character arc, but I’ll wait and see where Brandon is going with this.