Chapter Titles and Hidden Messages

[kaellok he/him]

So, I never pay attention chapter titles at the time of reading, because all too often they give hints of what is to come, and I prefer to be absolutely surprised as much as possible. Recently, however, I read Part titles in the table of contents--and realized that the chapter titles in WoK and WoR both are the keteks that are featured in the book.

"Above silence. The illuminating storms. Dying. Storm's Illumination. The silence above." from WoK and "Alight. Winds' approach. Deadly. The approach. Winds alight." from WoR.

I thought this was neat, but not particularly special, but it got me looking at other titles in the book. For instance, the prologue/epilogue titles also seem to form a sentence or idea, and may be the beginning of a super-ketek (although doubtful). "To kill of most worth" is a concept that Kaladin struggles with in WoK. "To question art and expectation" could be seen as a large part of Shallan's arc in WoR.

I then started looking into chapter titles themselves, broken down by where they appear (either as an interlude, or where they fall into a Part. There seem to be messages already, but before I invest a significant amount of time deciphering something that may be coincidence or not, has work like this already been done by anyone?

Messages that I’ve seen are things like: A burning world treasures the one who deserves it. The one who hates burdens. To kill the glory of ignorance [is] a work of art. Death wears white recorded in blood.

I got those simply by taking chapter titles that correspond to the character symbols and smooshing them together. I imagine that if there is a larger pattern at work, it’s more complicated than that; likely has to do with the pictures of the faces (Heralds?), combined with the changing symbol of Shallan in WoR.

Edited April 7, 2014 by kaellok

[Fifth of Daybreak he/him]

There's a slight overlap between an epigraph in WoK and a chapter title in WoR. 
 

 

Chapter 69: Justice 

"All is withdrawn for me. I stand against the one who saved my life. I protect the one who killed my promises. I raise my hand. The storm responds." 

-Tanatanev 1173, 18 seconds pre-death. A darkeyed mother of four in her sixyt-second year. 

 

Then, Chapter 62 in WoR: The One Who Killed Promises

Edited April 7, 2014 by EMTrevor

[Tempus]

This is a cool thing - I haven't looked into it at all, but I think you've got an excellent analysis going, better than any other mentions I've seen. Pray, continue. I will be taking a look for myself later as well!

[RShara she/her]

There's a slight overlap I noticed between an epigraph in WoK and a chapter title in WoR. 

 

 

Then, Chapter 62 in WoR: The One Who Killed Promises

 

It's speculated that The One Who Killed Promises is Elhokar, and the epigraph refers to when Kaladin saves him from Moash.

 

There's also a chapter called True Glory, where Kaladin and Shallan make it out of the chasms, which fits with the "They come from the pit, two dead men..." epigraph.

[kaellok he/him]

It's speculated that The One Who Killed Promises is Elhokar, and the epigraph refers to when Kaladin saves him from Moash.

 

There's also a chapter called True Glory, where Kaladin and Shallan make it out of the chasms, which fits with the "They come from the pit, two dead men..." epigraph.

 

I've seen the single chapter names that almost definitely refer to something inside of it or something else, but I'm trying to see if there's a connection on a larger scale.  

 

The Excel spreadsheet is coming along nicely, but nothing is immediately obvious yet, half done with transcribing the pertinents from WoR. 

[GreyPilgrim he/him]

Just want to note Kaladin's first chapter in WoK: "Honor is Dead".

But cool, I will try to find some more. Brandon has said before that chapter titles in these books hint at things to come, so this is a good place to look for these.

[kaellok he/him]

I'm less and less certain there is anything big here, rather than Sanderson occasionally having fun.  "To kill the glory of ignorance [is] a work of art. Death wears white recorded in blood," is from Szeth's chapter titles in WoK.  Eshonai's chapter titles in WoR are "Narak last legion.  The rider of the storms [is] a form of power.  New rhythms [have] a part to play."  

 

If we look just at Kaladin, just the chapter titles from each part, we can sorta kinda maybe get some kind of a coherent thought; some more than others.  "Bridge Four Ideals, Walking the Grave Hero." "Swordmaster bruises lights in the storm, assassin monsters, the one who hates burdens."  "Scars [are] one form of justice.  Patriots into the sky.  The rules of the game: Whitespine uncaged, to kill the wind never again."  "Fleet the one who killed promises.  Stormblessings from a nightmare vigil striding the storm."  "The hidden blade to fight the rain for glory lit the one who saves."  Really, only the last one makes much sense (and it does, but in a 'oh, hey, that just happened' kind of way).  

 

So, I'm likely to keep playing around with these for the next few days, but I am having serious doubts as to whether there's anything real here.

[Ati]

May or may not turn into anything, but great initial finds.  Will try to take a look when I have time.  

[Terra of Roshar she/her]

Both times that Kaladin gives Shards to someone (or at least tries to), the chapter is called Stormblessings (Chapter 47 of TWoK, where he kills Helaran and gives the Shards to his men, and Chapter 66 of WoR, where Adolin offers him Shards and he gives them to Moash).