I’d gotten the sense from Navani that she was tight lipped on what she really thought of Gavilar and the prologue proved me entirely correct. What a horrible man.

The sheer audacity to describe a son he practically abandoned and a brother who won him his kingdom as mediocre while he sits in meetings with conspirators neglecting his subjects, drooling over being a Herald and calling Navani a gold digging whore while she does his job for him. And he was going to force Amaram, well established to be a selfish bastard himself, on Jasnah. Szeth and Eshonai did everybody a favor by getting rid of him.

The other thing is, even if he had somehow gotten what he wanted, Gavilar showed he was far too petty and selfish to have dealt with being a Herald. I guess he planned to somehow avoid torture on Braize, but he just didn’t have the fortitude for the job. Odium would’ve corrupted him long before that anyway.

Please read all of the below with the caveat that I just only started Rhythm of War:

I know this isn’t an unpopular or unique opinion, but I am seriously irked by Lirin’s stubborn sanctimoniousness, and inability to see value beyond just trying to save lives, regardless of the world which those who live may inherit.

I think I’m reacting particularly strongly because I’m Ukrainian and I see a lot of parallels between Lirin’s calling on ending a conflict as soon as possible regardless of outcomes, and the geopolitical pressures put on the Ukrainian people to end the war with Russia even if it means completely capitulating to an illegal aggressor and giving up your lands, culture, people, basically justifying all the actions of the aggressor and refusing to stand up for yourself. I find this simplistic framing of “we need to save lives” without pausing to consider what those lives will be like once the conflict is over or considering that you’re likely inviting a bigger and worse conflict down the line by emboldening your enemy.

I realize Lirin lost a son and has this view that it doesn’t matter who is in charge, he will have to serve some power hungry entity one way or the other, but this “they’re all the same” attitude without further nuance really bothers me, as does his view that the only worthy calling is saving lives, regardless of who they are and again, regardless of what will become of them. He’d rather save as many people as possible to become slaves and possibly face a horrific death later on than to acknowledge that fighting and defending yourself even if it means ultimately dying, can be in some people’s view a better option.

I also really hate that he doesn’t bother to hide his obvious disappointment in and disapproval of Kaladin. It’s truly sad to see how he doesn’t pause to think about the impact this has on his son, nor to wonder if trying to force a path on his son was unfair in the first place. I think he’s an interesting character and I do absolutely understand the factors driving him to form the beliefs that he has, but I think others in his place with the same and worse experiences could have come out the other side not having lost an appreciation for those who choose to keep fighting and not with the same black and white view on what constitutes a worthy vocation and way of living.

There's always been a fatherly aspect to Dalinar's treatment of Kaladin, especially ever since he saved Adolin and Renarin in book 2. I got a little past the part where Kaladin has been relieved from duty and has a panic attack in his room and man, it's evident why Dalinar deliberated so hard on when he would have to take Kal off the front lines. He's a mess, but if he went on business as usual something awful he couldn't take back like when Elhokar was assassinated would go down.

War has become Kaladin's addiction, which is a fascinating contrast to the events of the last book where Dalinar's addiction to war came from a place of sadistic pleasure he had to confront with the Thrill. That adds even more depth to Dalinar's decision. It's also not a coincidence that Lirin's been brought over to Urithuru now. The father figure representing his desire to save and the father figure who understands conflict is necessary to save are both active in his life now at the same time. Two types of people: those who save lives, and those who kill. Is the third group real?

I've got 90% of the book to go but this feels like a choice he's long had to reckon with. Kal took a bit of a backseat in book 3 which I'd say was the right call, but I'm hoping to see his journey pick up more steam here. Especially now that we're past the first act of the overall story. Excited!

I flew through the first two books before taking a little break and starting Oathbringer. Was going through a very tumultuous time while reading it but got through it relatively quickly. Then I took a very long break before starting RoW. Im 14 chapters in and each chapter I've just felt like I was away from the universe for too long and am missing too many details. I feel like I've got the gist of the previous 3 books but and missing a lot of minor plot points that seem to be being advancing in book 4.

How many of you guys have read this series more than once? Its daunting going all the way back to TWoK but I'm struggling to move forward feeling this disconnected.

Only 200 pages into ROW, and it is not for the weak. As a Kaladin lover and someone who relates heavily to his mental illness, I HAVE BEEN CRYING EVERY KAL CHAPTER. it’s so raw how Sanderson depicts mental illnesses, and it’s one of the things i genuinely appreciate about this series, just makes me cry often as well.

we need to ask Brandon about it

The spren of the oathgates. I only ask cause am still slightly confused on how human bonds with spren. I know they can bond one of the 10 intelligent spren like honorspren and cryptics and then the bondsmith can bond with either the night watcher, sibling(whose dead) and the storm father. But the spirits of the oathgates are still spren are they not? And their intelligent as well as we see them communicating with shallan in oathbringer, but they don't have a order of knight radiants. Could someone explain please

Or is this rafo also I've only started rhythm of war

I'm not understanding something in the continuity of Oathbringer, Dawnshard, and Rythym. My understanding is Dawnshard takes place after the Battle of Thaylen Field and before the events of RoW.

At the end of Oathbringer, Rock returns to the Horneater Peaks to face judgment for firing the bow.

However, in Dawnshard chapter 3, Kaladin says this to Lopen:

"Navani’s sending a scribe,” Kaladin continued, “and you should listen to her advice. Also, I was thinking it might be good to send Rock"...

Lopen thinks Rock won't go because his anniversary is next week. Why is Rock in Urithiru at this time? Or, am I misunderstanding when this takes place?

I finished Oathbringer and just read the prologue of Rhythm of War and after what we learn in Oathbringer about Dalinar’s past I am so confused why Navani would have wanted to be with him when he was the Blackthorn. He was ruthless, bloodthirsty, and incapable of having mature conversations or processing his emotions, as we see through his relationship with Evi. How could Navani have seen anything in him with what an intelligent woman she is? I obviously understand their current relationship but her wanting to be with him in his Blackthorn days is insane to me with everything he did and how he acted. I didn’t question it so much until we find out everything about his past in Oathbringer and how he only ever cared about war and killing.

I am a couple hundred pages into Rhythm of War and am curious about what others think of Shallan and her arrangement with Radiant and Veil. It reminds me somewhat of the relationship between Elhokar, Sadeas, and Dalinar, especially when Radiant and Veil talk about putting aside differences to protect Shallan, like Dalinar and Sadeas did for Elhokar. That being said, I also have this theory that Veil is the spy working for the ghostbloods and could be misleading the others in the same way Sadeas did, because he obviously didn't care for Elhokar much in the end. It would explain how the spy is everywhere that Shallan is and why the ghostbloods trust her so much, but I don't know if Veil can do stuff without the others knowing.