Seana

I love this book. It nearly broke me. Oathbringer and Wind and Truth have that in common, but where I hated reading Oathbringer I loved reading Wind and Truth. I will be completely honest; I didn't see Gav being taken by Odium coming. I let myself be too relieved when Navani came back and he was (supposedly) sound asleep. I didn't want it to happen that way. I didn't want to see the clues, so I ignored them. And it came back to crush me. Some of the therapy-talk bugged me, because it was a bit blatant. But I do love the execution of the character growth. I loved Dalinar. It was not what I would have done, this ending. But I liked it. He did it! He beat Taravangian and got the rest of the Cosmere to be forced to deal with their problem. Adolin was so good. I just hope Shallan can somehow get to him rather than spending decades in Shadesmar. 10/10.

To see the Ghostbloods as “hidden good guys” after reading everything Mistborn seems ludicrous to me- Kelsier is consistently described more like the Joker or a mob boss (or at the very least a grey-scale hero rather than a light-scale hero). As for the greater discussion, I have been reading almost everything in publishing order since I have been forced to- I have been reading Sanderson’s books since 2012. I had a hunch that Kelsier was the leader of the Ghostbloods after I saw the Ghostblood symbol accurately drawn out and had scoured the letter from Harmony in Oathbringer’s chapter headings (at least, that’s where I remember it being, it has been years...). I was not surprised in the slightest when Kelsier was ‘confirmed’ as “the Lord of Scars” in RoW. My father-in-law however got his reveal from the last Wax and Wayne book. It works either way. I will say, if you don’t read in publishing order for Mistborn and Stormlight, Hoid/Wit’s presence probably will not stress you out as much while reading the last Wax and Wayne book. Knowing things are going down on Roshar but not knowing how it ends while reading about how Hoid is being a convenient coachman on Scadrial was quite the experience.

I would guess it’s a language-specific translation, but without a full language to study and use linguistic cross-examination I can’t prove that theory.

Personally; I think that Mraize and others like him are part of the reason Sazed doesn’t trust Kelsier. Kelsier will do everything in his power to make Scadrial the way he wants it. Kelsier, Mraize, and Autonomy are very similar in that regard. They’re ok with “lackeys” doing their thing in their own way- as long as that way ultimately gets the results that were a part of the bigger picture plan. Kelsier has also made an exception to his rules for himself- he always has. Kelsier will hold Scadrial in a DEATH grip. I think without Marsh there to balance him out, keep him relatively sane, and trying to convince him to move on, he will start to view Sazed as he did the Lord Ruler- and turn the Ghostbloods into his new God-killers. Perhaps Kelsier himself would then try to Ascend and become Discord himself.

OK, just hear me out; I swear Kelsier was confirmed as the Ghostblood leader in RoW. (For those of us who knew what the hint meant, at least.) I distinctly remember a scene with Hoid/Wit talking about the Ghostbloods and doing an eyeroll of sorts and off-handedly mentioning something about “the survivor”- But the only thing I can find is when Wit is telling Jasnah about the Ghostbloods after he finds out a Sleepless replaced his pen. My husband, and a friend remember it too.

I like to think that Marsh gladly accepted that job so he could make sure that idiots like his brother (and eventually himself) would move on. Marsh is a representation of Old “pure” Ruin and Kelsier of Old “pure” Preservation- Kelsier won’t rusting let go of anything and Marsh will do everything he can to make sure that things change.

I mean… she is MeLaan, who has a history of being the “teenage dirtbag” of Kandra. Also; all the “letters” from Sazed in the Stormlight books would need to have a messenger, and a Kandra worldhopper would make sense. Kelsier doesn’t seem like he’d let his agents be used willy-nilly just to send letters from Harmony, based on what we hear in this book. Personally I think that there’s multiple Kandra worldhoppers but not a ton yet. And one of them is an agent of Harmony who we will be able to notice.

Wax and Wayne’s names are a clue to this Ruin and Preservation duality too- when the moon is waxing it is getting larger (or stronger in this case) and brighter- and when it wanes it becomes smaller and darker. We could call Ruin “bright” because of its fire-y destructiveness, and Preservation “dark” because of the mists. Ultimately though the moon is always affecting and effecting the world no matter which “side” is presented.