Hard-hitting moments

[Stark]

I was reading Brandon's live tweets from New Years Eve, when he was showing progress on the last scenes of Book 4.  His update four, below link, mentioned a scene that was painful to write.

Update four

This got me thinking of scenes that were painful to read - where they hit the feelings hard.  The obvious one is Elhokar's end.  But that's not the one that hit me hardest.  For me, it was a scene just after the fall of Kholinar, when the main team had escaped to Shadesmar.  I don't remember the exact location, so I can't give a full, proper quote, but it was when they were looking for a method of transport across the sea of beads, and Shallan was looking for the right cognitive representation to help them.  One of the ones she discarded she described as 'a piece of trash that still thought of itself as a child's toy.'

That imagery, of a discarded/lost toy in a sacked city, with no idea of what happened to the child who had loved it, that hit me really hard.

 

What small moments got to you?  And how many do you think are coming in November.

[Honorless]

Way of Kings: uhh, every Kaladin chapter is probably not a valid response but if I had to pick one then: Syl bringing the poison leaf to Kaladin

Every Bridgerun scene hit me hard

Words of Radiance: I know a lot of people didn't find Shallan's backstory as tragic but that one line with the undercurrent of "he(her father) never hit me, only them(her brothers)" mentality that Shallan used to rationalize herself as less deserving took me by surprise

Eshonai being taken over was also very painful

Ym's Interlude still makes me sad

Oathbringer: the contrast of the Heralds' torture and worship really came together in this book

The truth behind the Recreance made me feel really bad for the last generation of Radiants

Renarin's nod near the end

Edited January 9, 2020 by Honorless

[Kelsier'sGodComplex]

36 minutes ago, Honorless said:

Renarin's nod near the end

That hit me hard too. 

I didn't really love Kelsier, but his last words made my eyes a little watery. 

Tien's death was awful. 

I was very happy when Adolin killed Sadeas. 

When Dalinar heard that Kaladin was back, and went running, I was really happy. 

40 minutes ago, Honorless said:

Way of Kings: uhh, every Kaladin chapter is probably not a valid response but if I had to pick one then: Syl bringing the poison leaf to Kaladin

 

I agree with this wholeheartedly. 

[Stark]

Yeah, most of Kaladin's chapters in the middle of WoK are hard to read.  Makes me wince when I do a re-read knowing I have to go through his pain again.

[Quantus]

• For a character that I really didnt particularly like OR respect, Elokhar's death hit me in the feels a lot harder than I expected. 
• The Renarin/Jasnah confrontation is probably the closest that is in the same vein. 
• By contrast Tien's death didnt hit me near as hard simply because it was in a flashback and not near the surprise.
• Eve's Story was rough even though the broad strokes where heavily foreshadowed, but the moment that really hit me was when Dalinar asked for Forgiveness of the Nightwatcher rather than any of the typical Boons she was offering.
• Teft's 3rd Ideal.... All the feels
• In a quieter and more long-suffering way, Rlain's POV chapter 

 

 

 

[Tglassy]

For me, it's always moment when a character is purely genuine with themselves.

 

Kaladin at the edge of the abyss.

 

Kaladin with Elhokar, when he saves him and talks about Fleet, just before he swears the third ideal.  It is a truly character defining moment (by character I mean a person's character, not the fictional character).  It is that moment when he truly discovered who he was, and what he was and wasn't willing to accept. 

 

Rock with his family.  

 

Teft, when he swears the third ideal.  I balled the last time I listened to this scene.

 

Scar, when he accepted he would never use Stormlight, and instead decides to help others learn to use Stormlight.  And then he does.  

 

Shallan, when she finally accepted that she killed her mother and that Pattern was the sword that did it. All Pattern can say is "I know."  It hits me every time I hear it.

 

Dalinar at the Nightwatcher.  

 

And of course, Dalinar, at the end of OB.  I've relistened to all three books three times in one year simply to relive the build up to that one scene.

[Jaywalk]

I’d have to say all of Shallan’s scenes with Wit hit me pretty hard. They’re not that heavy, but they’re meaningful.

Dalinar’s flashbacks—especially the one where Renarin brings his father another bottle.

Teft’s struggles with addiction.

[garlick]

When young renerin bring Dalinar some wine....

[Duke of Lizards]

The epilogue of Oathbringer! Wit makes a doll and awakens it to coax a little girl out because she refuses to leave her mother that was crushed under a building. He leads the girl to the woman that rocks the empty cradle and tells her to look after the girl. It’s so horrifying and hopeful at the same time. I’m feeling all sorts of emotions just from writing this. 

[Elsecaller_17.5]

It's always going to be Elhokars death for me. I just bawl whenever I read it I'm getting teary eyed just thinking about it. By WoB his first truth was "I am not a good king." It just kills me. 

[SirWolfe]

Things that made Elhokar's death even sadder:

1 - Elhokar tries to save his son by speaking the Words, finding the courage to do so in order to protect him, but dies before he can do it, with his child in his arms. Also of note, Elhokar shields his son rather than himself as he speaks the words. Elhokar, a man so afraid of assassination and getting killed that he cut the straps of his own saddle to make others worry, shields his son with his own body in the middle of a battle. 

2 - Elhokar dies holding a sketch of the better king that he could become. Elhokar had understand that he was a bad king from the beginning, but dies shortly after making the decision to do better.

3- Elhokar calls Kaladin "the hero" multiple times, and believes that he himself can't do anything right. That's why Elhokar asks Kaladin to come to Kholinar with him, to save the city and his family when he inevitably screws up. But Elhokar doesn't screw up. Instead, he manages to save his son after realizing that his wife was too far gone. He is on the path to becoming one of the heroes that he respects so much, and just before he succeeds, he is brutally murdered.

Also, when Dalinar realized that he had begun to hate even his own children (during the chapter A Small Bottle), and that his sons had continued to love him despite that. 

[The Deity]

When Jasnah, earlier is WoR, is opening up to Shallan and relaxing. It wasn't a huge event, but it was meaningful and it actually made me think of Jasnah as more than a statue or figurehead.

When Ash sees and tries talking to Taln, it was such an emotional scene for me. It was even more impactful when Taln is actually happy to see Ash after four and half millennia of time apart. 

When Jasnah is going to strike Renarin, and he allows her to continue.

When Kaladin meets his parents again in OB and he just starts bawling because he can't keep it together. 

[Stark]

23 hours ago, The Deity said:

When Jasnah, earlier is WoR, is opening up to Shallan and relaxing. It wasn't a huge event, but it was meaningful and it actually made me think of Jasnah as more than a statue or figurehead.

When Ash sees and tries talking to Taln, it was such an emotional scene for me. It was even more impactful when Taln is actually happy to see Ash after four and half millennia of time apart. 

When Jasnah is going to strike Renarin, and he allows her to continue.

When Kaladin meets his parents again in OB and he just starts bawling because he can't keep it together. 

On 1/9/2020 at 4:03 PM, Jaywalk said:

Dalinar’s flashbacks—especially the one where Renarin brings his father another bottle.

On 1/10/2020 at 10:43 AM, Duke of Lizards said:

The epilogue of Oathbringer! Wit makes a doll and awakens it to coax a little girl out because she refuses to leave her mother that was crushed under a building. He leads the girl to the woman that rocks the empty cradle and tells her to look after the girl. It’s so horrifying and hopeful at the same time. I’m feeling all sorts of emotions just from writing this. 

 

Yes.  All of these.  Small moments that hit just as hard as the big moments.