The Dog and The Dragon

[Bluth]

I have not quite finished the book, but just finished this chapter. I was so scared to come to this part of the forum, but I have to say.

 

Wow, just a beautifully written and chill bump- inducing story.  It might be my favorite chapter in the entire series so far, and that is saying a lot. I will not check back here until I finish, but had to post this now,. 

[Honorless he/him]

It was one my favourites in the Cosmere too! Up there with Hero of Ages ending.

Edited May 13, 2021 by Honorless

[Bejarden he/him]

Honestly I loved it 10/10 

It tears me up when I read it and I’m usually not emotional when I read

It was great

[RedBlue she/her]

4 hours ago, Bluth said:

Wow, just a beautifully written and chill bump- inducing story.

Agreed. In itself, it’s a wonderfully well-told story-within-a-story. And it’s a great moment for Kaladin. And telling it is such a Wit thing to do. Those elements blending together make the chapter really stand out. 

[Leuthie]

I love the nod to Kingkiller Chronicles at the beginning.

"If you find the place and wander inside, you’ll meet a young man behind the bar. He has no name. He cannot tell it to you, should he want to—it’s been taken from him. But he’ll know you, as he knows everyone who enters the inn. He’ll listen to everything you want to tell him—and you will want to talk to him. And if you ask him for a story, he’ll share one. Like he shared with me. I will now share it with you."

I realize this is probably Wit talking about himself in the third person, but there's definitely a nod to Kvothe as Kote here.

Edited May 14, 2021 by Leuthie

[ElMonoEstupendo]

I love it as a story in itself, as a story in its relation to Kaladin, and as a meta-narrative about the power of stories overall. Pretty much every Hoid story feels like that.

Brando has a lot of struggling with inner demons in his work and this chapter feels like not just a moral story at the level of the Dog and the Dragon, which Kaladin eventually gets, but also a reminder that to the reader that you can take strength and lessons from stories, that the logic and obvious solutions you apply to those characters can also apply to yourself.

Also that Hoid has a huge storytelling cheatsheet because of all the various visual magics and Brando wants to make a movie.

[Clovermite]

On 5/13/2021 at 2:12 PM, Bluth said:

I have not quite finished the book, but just finished this chapter. I was so scared to come to this part of the forum, but I have to say.

 

Wow, just a beautifully written and chill bump- inducing story.  It might be my favorite chapter in the entire series so far, and that is saying a lot. I will not check back here until I finish, but had to post this now,. 

I loved it so much that I tried to tell it to one of my non Stormlight reading friends. Unfortunately, it went over about as well as when Sigzil tries to retell Hoid's stories.

Seriously though, I thought it was a great story to drive home the moral about how easy it is to ignore one's victories if one is looking towards too high of an ideal. As someone recently learning about thought distortions in therapy (https://www.healthline.com/health/cognitive-distortions#mental-filtering it hit a really personal note for me.

[Andy92]

On 5/14/2021 at 2:29 PM, Leuthie said:

I love the nod to Kingkiller Chronicles at the beginning.

"If you find the place and wander inside, you’ll meet a young man behind the bar. He has no name. He cannot tell it to you, should he want to—it’s been taken from him. But he’ll know you, as he knows everyone who enters the inn. He’ll listen to everything you want to tell him—and you will want to talk to him. And if you ask him for a story, he’ll share one. Like he shared with me. I will now share it with you."

I realize this is probably Wit talking about himself in the third person, but there's definitely a nod to Kvothe as Kote here.

Wit is Kvothe. Mind blown. 

[danex he/him]

On 5/14/2021 at 11:29 AM, Leuthie said:

I love the nod to Kingkiller Chronicles at the beginning.

"If you find the place and wander inside, you’ll meet a young man behind the bar. He has no name. He cannot tell it to you, should he want to—it’s been taken from him. But he’ll know you, as he knows everyone who enters the inn. He’ll listen to everything you want to tell him—and you will want to talk to him. And if you ask him for a story, he’ll share one. Like he shared with me. I will now share it with you."

I realize this is probably Wit talking about himself in the third person, but there's definitely a nod to Kvothe as Kote here.

It’s actually a nod to something to do with the WoT fandom, not anything to do with kingkiller. 
 

Quote

wyntershine

Was...was that a Patrick rothfuss reference in Wit’s story? The man in an inn whose name was stolen from him who tells stories?

Peter Ahlstrom

It’s not. It is a reference to something in WoT fandom.

Jiolino

Hmm, which inn is this is WoT? I can't seem to relate to one.

Peter Ahlstrom

It’s not from the Wheel of Time itself. It’s a meta fandom reference.

Dusk_of_Oolacile

As in a Dusty Wheel reference or what?

Peter Ahlstrom

It's something more like that.

General Reddit 2020 (Nov. 18, 2020)

 

[Ander Stormwindrunner he/him]

On 5/13/2021 at 1:12 PM, Bluth said:

I have not quite finished the book, but just finished this chapter. I was so scared to come to this part of the forum, but I have to say.

 

Wow, just a beautifully written and chill bump- inducing story.  It might be my favorite chapter in the entire series so far, and that is saying a lot. I will not check back here until I finish, but had to post this now,. 

Oh yes, I loved that chapter, especially with Design. In fact, I loved it so much that I read the best parts to my mom and brother. My brother got close to injuring me as he was waiting for me to finish RoW so he could read it too, so my mom suggested that I find a forum to discuss the series with people who have read it. So you could say that this chapter is the reason why I have a 17th Shard account.

Also, that chapter has the best lines. 

"I get annoyed easily. It's endearing!"

"You can't understand any of this, because you live on a ball of rock covered in slime where it's wet and cold all the time."

That's all I got off the top of my head but still...

[+CallsignZen she/her]

and the way Wit told the ending, with Kaladin apprehensive about going back into the wind and Wit leaned in and said, “I doubt any dragon had it this good anyway.”

10/10 best wit story/performance 

[Bluth]

On 5/14/2021 at 2:29 PM, Leuthie said:

I love the nod to Kingkiller Chronicles at the beginning.

"If you find the place and wander inside, you’ll meet a young man behind the bar. He has no name. He cannot tell it to you, should he want to—it’s been taken from him. But he’ll know you, as he knows everyone who enters the inn. He’ll listen to everything you want to tell him—and you will want to talk to him. And if you ask him for a story, he’ll share one. Like he shared with me. I will now share it with you."

I realize this is probably Wit talking about himself in the third person, but there's definitely a nod to Kvothe as Kote here.

That passage rang a bell when I listened the first time ( I use Audible for these books) and I could not place what it reminded me of, but now that you mention it, it makes perfect sense. 

[Bluth]

I have now finished. So incredibly good. Thank you all so much for responding. I am planning to let my wife listen to this chapter tonight. I am sure the "allergies" and "onion cutting" will begin anew, LOL. 

[+En-priestess she/her]

Completely agree - it’s such an amazing story!!

P.s. I love your username! Bluth’s death hit me so surprisingly hard and I’ve never forgotten him :’(

[+CallsignZen she/her]

22 hours ago, Bluth said:

I love the nod to Kingkiller Chronicles at the beginning.

"If you find the place and wander inside, you’ll meet a young man behind the bar. He has no name. He cannot tell it to you, should he want to—it’s been taken from him. But he’ll know you, as he knows everyone who enters the inn. He’ll listen to everything you want to tell him—and you will want to talk to him. And if you ask him for a story, he’ll share one. Like he shared with me. I will now share it with you."

I realize this is probably Wit talking about himself in the third person, but there's definitely a nod to Kvothe as Kote here.

Who?

[Bluth]

On 5/21/2021 at 5:41 AM, Kahlani said:

Completely agree - it’s such an amazing story!!

P.s. I love your username! Bluth’s death hit me so surprisingly hard and I’ve never forgotten him :’(

Bluth's story touched me as well.  The former soldier who lost his way who found it again and sacrificed himself to save others.  Thank you for your kind words

[TheCruelSadist he/him]

On 5/19/2021 at 8:51 AM, Andy92 said:

Wit is Kvothe. Mind blown. 

In my headcanon, Kingkiller takes place on a tiny nowhere rock in the corner of the Cosmere, and Elodin is Hoid's retirement [reread the scenes of his 'teaching methods' and see it to be true].