Words of Radiance Reactions (SPOILERS)

[lummi he/him]

Team kallan !

[Cortez he/him]

I agree that Jasnah needed to be out of the story. To put it simply she knew too much. With her around there would be much less room for Shallan to grow as a character and she certainly wouldn't have made contact with the Ghostbloods and all the fun possibilities that brings to the story. However she is also far too important to kill off at this stage, having her on her own on the other side of the continent is much more useful for the story (to find other neo-radiants, bring in other secret societies etc.) than simply killing her. This way you get the best of both worlds. Shallan and the other get to grow without her leading them down whatever route she has chosen and she [Jasnah] gets to develop in the next book, possibly along with Hoid.

[Awesomeness Summoned he/him]

After hearing Jasnah tell Wit what she had been up to that whole time, i found her "death" to have been almost required for this book. It was already freaking huge so there was no way to include her travels in shadesmar. Having the characters come to terms with her dying added much more to the characterizations than if Brandon had shown her alive in shadesmar but then completely ignored her storyline with a "find out next book" attached to it.

[Azul he/him]

The whole thing was just one big emotional rollercoster and I loved every minute of it!. 

 

I'd go into favorite momments but i'd pretty much have to list 90% of the book here so I'll skip it

[Daishi5]

I loved the book, but I seem to have missed something.  How did Shallan get the shardblade to kill her mother?  In the WoK her blade was 10 hearbeats away, and it seems to me that she has revived pattern with her "truths" and the first ideal.  But, if that were true, how did she get her hands on a blade in the first place?

[Moogle]

I loved the book, but I seem to have missed something.  How did Shallan get the shardblade to kill her mother?  In the WoK her blade was 10 hearbeats away, and it seems to me that she has revived pattern with her "truths" and the first ideal.  But, if that were true, how did she get her hands on a blade in the first place?

 

The Blade was always Pattern. Her mother tried to kill her because she bonded Pattern. She used him to kill her mother.

[Swimmingly he/him]

Wait... but then, shouldn't the Blade be instant, not "ten heartbeats away"? Maybe she just assumes?

[junior]

I loved the book, but I seem to have missed something.  How did Shallan get the shardblade to kill her mother?  In the WoK her blade was 10 hearbeats away, and it seems to me that she has revived pattern with her "truths" and the first ideal.  But, if that were true, how did she get her hands on a blade in the first place?

 

Shallan assumed that she needed ten heartbeats to summon the blade because that's what everyone else needs.  Kaladin does this initially as well, until Syl informs him otherwise.

 

As for the rest, who knows?  We don't really know when she and Pattern first started interacting.  But it does appear that there may have been some signs of the spren-bond.  That seems to be the only logical explanation for why her mother tried to kill her.

[Moogle]

Wait... but then, shouldn't the Blade be instant, not "ten heartbeats away"? Maybe she just assumes?

 

She's blocked out her past. She doesn't want to remember. But she does. Look at her tussle with Tyn:

 

Calm, Shallan told herself. Be calm!

Ten heartbeats. But for her, it didn’t have to be ten, did it?

No. It must be. Time, I need time!

[Swimmingly he/him]

Oh yeah.

[Azul he/him]

Thanks you Moogle!  I had been looking for that quote for 10 minutes now!.

[Daishi5]

How did she bond with Pattern before killing her mother, and her father's descent into cruelty?  I thought a person needed to be broken somehow to form a bond?  Her mother and father's murder would both be great chances for her to "break" and thus be able to bind a spren. But, this makes it seem like cause came after the effect?  This probably needs its own topic.

[junior]

How did she bond with Pattern before killing her mother, and her father's descent into cruelty?  I thought a person needed to be broken somehow to form a bond?  Her mother and father's murder would both be great chances for her to "break" and thus be able to bind a spren. But, this makes it seem like cause came after the effect?  This probably needs its own topic.

 

We know absolutely nothing about her prior to her mother's death.  I don't think there's really anything to go with here.  Once again, don't forget that her mother appears to have decided to murder her, pretty much out of the blue (albeit based on the urging of her mother's friend).  Given what we know about Shallan, the only explanation that makes sense right now is that her mother's friend had somehow detected that Shallan had bonded with a spren.

[Green Hoodie Mistborn he/him]

Shallan could lightweave as a child, it's presumably what caused her mother and friend to try and kill Shallan. If she could lightweave, she and Pattern had already bonded... but that would have required Shallan to have spoken the first Oath wouldn't it? I wonder who told her the oath and prompted her to speak it?

 

To remember herself as a child, discovering Light in the gardens, Patterns in the stonework, and dreams that became real . . .

 

Sanderson, Brandon (2014-03-04). Words of Radiance (Stormlight Archive, The) (p. 737). Tom Doherty Associates. Kindle Edition.

[Azul he/him]

Shallan is obviously very good at lying to herself so who knows what the truth is about her past but some trama before killing her mother seems likely.   There's always another secret.

[Awesomeness Summoned he/him]

How did she bond with Pattern before killing her mother, and her father's descent into cruelty?  I thought a person needed to be broken somehow to form a bond?  Her mother and father's murder would both be great chances for her to "break" and thus be able to bind a spren. But, this makes it seem like cause came after the effect?  This probably needs its own topic.

 

Judging by what we saw of her family in the flashbacks and the fact that her mother agreed to kill her just cause she started surgebinding, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say its pretty likely she had experienced other traumas from pretty early in life that "broke" her enough for the bonding to work.

[FeatherWriter she/her]

Where are people getting the theory that you have to be broken to bond? Is that canon or just a theory? If the latter, what's the basis?

[Awesomeness Summoned he/him]

Where are people getting the theory that you have to be broken to bond? Is that canon or just a theory? If the latter, what's the basis?

It comes from some of the things brandon has said about investiture around the cosmere. Aonar linked some of the quotes at the start of THIS thread. I think there have been more but those are the only ones I can find.

 

Edit: I should also mentioned that the "cracks" which allow the investiture to fill in the soul can come from any strong emotion, bad emotions just happen to be more powerful and most often are the cause.

Edited March 6, 2014 by Awesomeness Summoned

[junior]

Where are people getting the theory that you have to be broken to bond? Is that canon or just a theory? If the latter, what's the basis?

 

iirc, it's actually mentioned (albeit only as a theory) in the book.  But I can't remember where off the top of my head.

 

And the theory might be wrong, in any event.

[Azul he/him]

Where are people getting the theory that you have to be broken to bond? Is that canon or just a theory? If the latter, what's the basis?

 

Also from the back cover

 

The Knights Radiant must stand again.

 

The ancient oaths have at last been spoken; the spren return. Men seek that which was lost. I fear the struggle will destroy them.

It is the nature of the magic. A broken soul has cracks into which something else can be fit.  Surgebindings, the powers of creation themselves.  They can brace a broken soul; but they can also widen its fissures.

Edited March 6, 2014 by Azul

[FeatherWriter she/her]

Ah... I didn't see that. Veeeery interesting. Thanks!

[Grayv he/him]

This might have been said, but I needed to get this down before I lose my train of thought. I think the whole Kaladin ordeal was amazing because it showed how easy it is to lose the Nahel bond, at least for windrunners. Journey before destination is very important, but the skybreakers also took that oath and it seems like a highspren would have allowed Kaladin to kill both Amaram and Elhokar.

[ssd6 he/him]

I'll start with how I enjoyed the book a ton, and I had a few gripes with it, but overall I'm sad to be finished (even though I enjoyed the end) and it sucks we have to wait at least a year for the next one. 

 

Was I the only one that found Shallan extremely annoying for parts of the book? It was just frustrating at times seeing everything go right for her and barely any hurdles. Yes, her past was dark, but otherwise in the "present" whatever she did or wanted to do pretty much happened. From when she got lowered into the water until the end of the book, everything worked out for Shallan. She got Adolin enamored with her (a guy notoriously bad at sticking to one woman), found what Jasnah was looking for, became a knight radiant, turned a bunch of broken and honor less men with one speech, joined a powerful secret society (tricked them first of course), out conned a practiced con woman, partnered with a prince and leveraged him all in one meeting, and the list goes on. When did she fail? Every other major character in the book had hurdles, plans that failed and hard (even brutal) lessons to learn.

 

The love triangle development was another annoying part in the book for me. I didn't expect Sanderson to go for the most obvious relationships. Kaladin of course has now basically become friends with Adolin (which was awesome to see) and he's fallen for Adolins fiance, so now he's stuck in a horrible position like always. I did have some hope when he said he'd be happy for them, but we'll see how that develops with him saying he'd "hate" that they were a good match for each other. I just pray it won't be Kaladin pining over Shallan now, he's done enough pining and hating, it's time to show another side of him for more than a few chapters at the end of each book. 

 

I do have to admit though, Shallan and Kaladin interacting was some of the best dialogue in the book and their interactions made them a really appealing pairing, even if I didn't like the idea of them getting together before this book. 

[Green Hoodie Mistborn he/him]

This might have been said, but I needed to get this down before I lose my train of thought. I think the whole Kaladin ordeal was amazing because it showed how easy it is to lose the Nahel bond, at least for windrunners. Journey before destination is very important, but the skybreakers also took that oath and it seems like a highspren would have allowed Kaladin to kill both Amaram and Elhokar.

 

Agreed. I posted a little about this in the Kaladin vs. Adolin thread. My only problem with the extreme nature of the "skybreakers" that we've seen, is that "Life before Death" is also part of the first Ideal, and Darkness seems all to ready to kill for punishment. 

 

The only skybreakers we have seen are probably the Herald Nan would doesn't need a Spren, and eventually Szeth. If Szeth were to bond with a Highspren he would get the highspren shardblade eventually and wouldn't need Nightblood. 

[Mr Horrible]

The love triangle development was another annoying part in the book for me. I didn't expect Sanderson to go for the most obvious relationships. Kaladin of course has now basically become friends with Adolin (which was awesome to see) and he's fallen for Adolins fiance, so now he's stuck in a horrible position like always. I did have some hope when he said he'd be happy for them, but we'll see how that develops with him saying he'd "hate" that they were a good match for each other. I just pray it won't be Kaladin pining over Shallan now, he's done enough pining and hating, it's time to show another side of him for more than a few chapters at the end of each book.

I do have to admit though, Shallan and Kaladin interacting was some of the best dialogue in the book and their interactions made them a really appealing pairing, even if I didn't like the idea of them getting together before this book.

I tend to agree, love triangles are often frustrating things in my experience. That being said I also really liked the Shallan and Kaladin interaction/development and they both show sides of themselves I really enjoy seeing when around each other. So at the moment I'm caught between not wanting a love triangle and wanting Shallan/Kaladin to get together (which will likely take a love triangle). Also I wasn't really a huge fan of Shallan/Adolin despite it seemingly making both those characters happy, it just sort of appeared out of nowhere for me.

Edit: also as someone fairly firmly in the side of Kaladin's morals, seeing Adolin murder Sadeas at the end coloured his character a bit, I wonder if Sanderson was contrasting Adolin and Kaladin there as Kal only just realized how horrific he finds such acts (killing for the greater good).

Edited March 6, 2014 by Mr Horrible