“No Kings” protests return as Trump continues his nationwide crime crackdown, a new investigation exposes dark money behind anti-Trump demonstrations, and Israel strikes Gaza after Hamas reportedly violates the ceasefire. It’s Monday, October 20, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here: If you would rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below: The Return Of ‘No Kings’ Topline: As President Donald Trump continues his anti-immigration crackdown, deploying more National Guardsmen nationwide, hundreds of thousands gathered for protests against him and his policies. On Saturday, potentially more than a million demonstrators took part in anti-Trump No Kings protests at more than 2000 locations around the country. While the demonstrations were largely peaceful, there were some pockets of violence. Join us now during our exclusive Deal of the Decade. Get everything for $7 a month. Not as fans. As fighters. Go to DailyWire.com/Subscribe to join now. In Portland, three protesters were arrested following an alleged assault. In the Chicago area, 15 people were arrested after clashing with law enforcement outside of an ICE facility. In Los Angeles, police deployed tear gas after declaring an unlawful assembly. Protesters expressed anger with nearly every action Trump has taken since taking office, but his illegal immigration crackdown and subsequent National Guard deployments were at the forefront. The protests were notable for another reason: the attendees appeared to be much older than a typical protest crowd.   The Billionaires Backing ‘No Kings’ Topline: All the focus on the No Kings protests over the last week has drawn attention to the organizations fueling them. Now, a new report from Peter Schweizer and his Government Accountability Institute (GAI) found nearly $300 million from billionaire-backed networks is being funneled to the protests’ organizers. Morning Wire spoke with Seamus Bruner, director of research at GAI and author of the book “Contrologarchs,” about the dollar trail. (The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.) Morning Wire: With all the noise surrounding these No Kings protests, your team dug into the organizations conducting them. What did you find? Bruner: What we found is that these are extremely well-funded, these organizations. We calculated over $200 million, really closer to $300 million in the last five years has gone into the partner organization. This is basically anything but grassroots. Morning Wire: Right – and this is part of a larger pattern when it comes to left-wing protests. You guys have tracked that, what you’ve been calling Riot Inc., which includes events like the No Kings protest. Unpack that for us. Who is behind this exactly? Bruner: Yeah, so the main person who keeps coming up is George Soros. And we thought, well, it’s not just George Soros and his Open Society institutes. He’s a main financier of all kinds of left-wing projects, including the protest industrial complex. But there’s also this Arabella network. … They are a major financier of these protest movements and groups. There’s also the Tides funding network, the Ford Foundation funding network – we’ve looked at probably a dozen or so funding networks with more than $10 billion flowing through these accounts. But the main ones we put into our report were the Soros, Arabella, Tides, and a few other funding networks. Morning Wire: We’ve had lots of leftwing protests over the years get very, very violent. Is there a sense that there is going to be some accountability for these institutions funding these protests? Bruner: That’s my sense. I was at the White House last week talking with President Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel. They all seem very locked in on this issue, wanting to get to the money, not just the boots on the ground and the people committing the violence, but who is financing this. I’ve spoken with some people at Homeland Security Investigations. They seem to be very interested in the follow-the-money aspect. I think that they are working their way up. Morning Wire: Related to that – we’ve just seen the Trump administration label “Antifa” a terrorist organization. How does that impact the sense that, again, there’s going to be some movement in terms of tracking down and holding accountable some of these groups funding things that turn violent? Bruner: At the end of the day, the people who they arrest, whether they’re domestic terrorists or not, are going to be charged with violent crimes. These are the people who are assaulting ICE officers, setting fire to cars and buildings. And so I don’t think that they’re going to be arresting anybody as a domestic terrorist who hasn’t actually committed some sort of crime. Morning Wire: The Democrats counter this by claiming that “Antifa” is actually a myth. It’s not actually an organization and thus a false label. What’s your response to that? Bruner: It’s preposterous to say that Antifa isn’t an organization just because it doesn’t have an LLC or EIN or some sort of corporate entity. There’s all kinds of groups that don’t have corporate entities that can be investigated as organizations. … But law enforcement has the tools to follow the money even in those ways that we don’t. Ceasefire In Jeopardy After Hamas Violence Topline: Vice President JD Vance is set to visit the Middle East this week as violent clashes in Gaza buffet President Trump’s historic Middle East peace deal. The first violation: The State Department said in a statement on Saturday that: “The United States has informed the guarantor nations of the Gaza peace agreement of credible reports indicating an imminent ceasefire violation by Hamas against the people of Gaza.” The warning from the State Department comes after videos have surfaced on social media over the past week of Hamas militants conducting public executions or essentially torturing Gazans for alleged crimes. President Donald Trump said in an interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that Hamas will be disarmed one way or another. “They promised they would [disarm]. They said they would. It’s [written] down that they would,” said Trump. “If we have to, we’ll disarm them.” He clarified that the United States would not send soldiers into Gaza and that a proxy could fight Hamas: “Could be Israel with our backing. We won’t have boots on the ground. There’s no reason to.” The second violation: Israel has accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire for attacks against the IDF. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with his security cabinet on Sunday to discuss the future of the ceasefire. The IDF is still holding behind the so-called “yellow line” that was agreed upon as part of the first phase of the truce. According to the IDF, Hamas militants came out of a tunnel in IDF territory and fired an anti-tank rocket at Israeli forces that killed two soldiers. Israel responded by launching around 20 airstrikes across Gaza. Hamas didn’t deny the attack; the terrorist group said that because it happened in an area under Israeli control, “contact has been severed with our groups that remained there.” Future of peace: Trump is still optimistic about his plan for peace in the Middle East. The U.S. military is in the region watching over the ceasefire. Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff will be in Israel this week to monitor the ceasefire closely. Despite the chaos, Trump has said he expects an expansion of the Abraham Accords soon.

President Donald Trump said Sunday night that the ceasefire was still in place after Israel launched strikes in Gaza after accusing Hamas of opening fire on its soldiers over the weekend.  Israel attacked parts of Gaza on Sunday after accusing Hamas terrorists of killing two Israel Defense Forces soldiers operating in Rafah. Despite the back-and-forth, Trump told reporters on Air Force One that the ceasefire was still in place.  “We’re going to have to see what’s happening. We want to make sure that it’s going to be very peaceful with Hamas and as you know, they’ve been quite rambunctious,” he said. “They’ve been doing some shooting and we think maybe the leadership isn’t involved in that. You know, some rebels within, but either way, it’s going to be handled properly. It’s going to be handled toughly but properly.” Later on, when asked by a reporter if he believed the Israeli strikes were justified, Trump said that he would “have to get back to you on that.”  The IDF said Sunday that terrorists launched anti-tank missiles and gunfire at its troops working to “dismantle terrorist infrastructure” in southern Gaza.  Join us now during our exclusive Deal of the Decade. Get everything for $7 a month. Not as fans. As fighters. Go to DailyWire.com/Subscribe to join now. “In response, the IDF has begun striking in the area to eliminate the threat and dismantle tunnel shafts and military structures used for terrorist activity,” the IDF said. “These terrorist actions constitute a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement, and the IDF will respond firmly.” The IDF later said that these strikes were directed toward weapons storage facilities, firing posts, terrorist cells, and terror infrastructure. It also took out about six kilometers of “underground terrorist infrastructure,” the IDF said.  Vice President JD Vance, who is expected to travel to Israel on Tuesday, said Sunday that there were still a lot of moving parts on the ground in Gaza that complicated the ceasefire.  “We don’t actually know even what the reality on the ground is there. When we talk about Hamas, you’re talking about 40 different cells. It’s disjointed. Some of those cells will probably honor the ceasefire. Many of those cells, as we saw some evidence of today, will not. Before we actually can ensure that Hamas is properly disarmed that’s going to require, as we know, some of these Gulf Arab states, to get forces in there to actually apply some law and order and some security keeping on the ground.” Vance also said that the ceasefire would likely include “fits and starts” because members of Hamas would fire on Israel, and Israel would have to respond. 

Vice President JD Vance is expected to visit the Middle East on Tuesday to push the second phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas as it teeters on renewed violence from the terror group. Israel accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire on Sunday after militants appeared out of a tunnel in Israeli-controlled territory in Gaza and killed two Israeli soldiers in an anti-tank rocket attack. In response, the Israeli military launched around 20 airstrikes across Gaza, according to Axios. Hamas did not deny the attack, though it said that it was carried out by a faction or militants that were not acting on orders from Hamas leadership. “We are not aware of any incidents or clashes taking place in the Rafah area, because these are zones under Israeli control, and contact has been severed with our groups that remained there,” Hamas said in a statement, according to Axios. Join us now during our exclusive Deal of the Decade. Get everything for $7 a month. Not as fans. As fighters. Go to DailyWire.com/Subscribe to join now. In addition to the attack, Hamas continues to be in violation of phase one of the ceasefire deal by failing to return all the bodies of the deceased hostages. About half of the deceased remain in Gaza, and the terror group has said it needs more time to locate them. The United States and Israel have made separate accusations against the terror group in recent days of violating the terms of the ceasefire agreement that saw Israel withdraw from roughly half of Gaza and release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The U.S. State Department on Saturday said in a statement that the “United States has informed the guarantor nations of the Gaza peace agreement of credible reports indicating an imminent ceasefire violation by Hamas against the people of Gaza.” The State Department’s statement is “likely related to Hamas’ crackdown on the Palestinian population since the ceasefire went into effect,” according to Foundation for Defense of Democracies senior research analyst Joe Truzman. Since the ceasefire officially began last week, videos have surfaced on social media of Hamas militants publicly executing or brutally beating Gazans. In one video, militants drop large rocks on a man’s legs before beating him with a pipe. Trump has repeatedly said that Hamas will disarm, or they will be disarmed. He repeated that promise in an interview with Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that aired on Sunday. “They promised they would [disarm]. They said they would. It’s [written] down that they would,” said Trump. “If we have to, we’ll disarm them.” He clarified that the United States would not send soldiers into Gaza and that a proxy could fight Hamas: “Could be Israel with our backing. We won’t have boots on the ground. There’s no reason to.” The actions of Hamas militants inside and outside its zone of control in the Gaza Strip have strained the already tenuous ceasefire in place between the terror group and Israel. Vance is expected to visit Israel with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff to provide more direct oversight of the terms of the peace agreement. One major point of tension in the peace process is the requirement that Hamas be disarmed. “There is no security infrastructure currently that would ensure Hamas is disarmed,” Vance said on Sunday evening.

Don Lemon’s recent comments encouraging Black and brown Americans to arm themselves against ICE operations have sparked fierce backlash, inciting concerns over the potential endangerment of federal officers. Lemon’s Controversial Remarks on ICE During an October 15, 2025 appearance on the “The Left Hook with Wajahat Ali” podcast, former CNN host Don Lemon suggested that Black and brown Americans should legally acquire firearms in response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations. Lemon framed his comments around Second Amendment rights, questioning whether ICE’s actions represented government overreach. While claiming he wasn’t promoting violence, the remarks were perceived by many as dangerously inciting potential violence against federal agents. The controversy unfolded as Lemon’s comments came amidst a period of heightened immigration enforcement under President Trump’s second term. Reports indicate that 53% of voters view the administration’s immigration tactics as overly aggressive and unfair. Lemon’s rhetoric has intensified the debate, especially as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported a more than 1,000% increase in assaults against ICE officers, further complicating the already tense environment. Public Safety and Political Speech The implications of Lemon’s statements extend beyond immediate public safety concerns, touching on broader issues of political speech boundaries. With ICE officers facing increased personal safety risks, the framing of armed resistance as a constitutional right raises questions about the responsibilities of media figures when discussing contentious political issues. Lemon’s statements have fueled a polarized narrative, with conservative media outlets criticizing his comments as an incitement to violence against law enforcement. Critics argue that Lemon’s remarks could normalize viewing ICE agents as targets for armed resistance, potentially leading to dangerous confrontations. The escalation of threats against ICE personnel, documented by DHS, underscores the delicate balance between civil liberties advocacy and public safety. This incident highlights the need for careful consideration of rhetoric’s impact on real-world scenarios, particularly when discussing law enforcement operations. Broader Implications for Civil Liberties and Media The controversy surrounding Lemon’s comments underscores the ongoing debate about the intersection of civil liberties and federal law enforcement. The framing of Second Amendment rights in the context of resisting ICE operations introduces a new dimension to the discussion on government overreach. This incident may influence future media guidelines and civil liberties debates, as it challenges the boundaries of acceptable commentary from influential media figures. The incident also raises questions about the role of media in shaping public discourse and the potential consequences of rhetoric that blurs the line between advocacy and incitement. As political polarization continues to influence public opinion, this case serves as a reminder of the power of media platforms in shaping narratives around critical issues like immigration enforcement and constitutional rights. Sources: Fox News Coverage KKOH Report on Lemon’s Comments

Only one in ten Somalis in the UK is employed

a pattern we must correct

Books Wind and Truth Reread Wind and Truth Reread: Chapters 117-120 Moash attacks! Mraize manipulates! And truths are revealed about the Truthless. By Paige Vest, Lyndsey Luther, Drew McCaffrey | Published on October 20, 2025 Comment 0 Share New Share Greetings, Sanderfans! We’ve got a lot to discuss this week, as always, starting with a Szeth flashback and Venli pretending to fight with chasmfiends, Shallan once again NOT fighting with Mraize, Sigzil facing Moash on the Shattered Plains (storm that man!), Kaladin making stew for a broken Nale, and Adolin playing towers with Yanagawn before things take a truly desperate turn and he’s called to fight. (I, for one, am dying to get to the bit where we find out the stratagem that Sig and Venli have cooked up, because I honestly don’t remember!) We’ll have to wait and see, so in the meantime, dive in and let’s discuss… The book has been out long enough that most of you will hopefully have finished, and as such, this series shall now function as a re-read rather than a read-along. That means there will be spoilers for the end of the book (as well as full Cosmere spoilers, so beware if you aren’t caught up on all Cosmere content). Paige’s Commentary: Plot Arcs Chapter 117, “Truthless,” is a Szeth flashback chapter. As you can guess by the title, this is the chapter where he is named Truthless and exiled for attempting to raise an army against the other Honorbearers. Szeth has also discovered that his father, Neturo, holds the Bondsmith Honorblade. As he sits and waits for the others to decide his fate, he struggles to grasp that his father is now someone who subtracts. His thoughts reveal something interesting, here… Yet the Bondsmith Blade was said to be the most destructive of them all. When the time came, the others would kill hundreds, and the Bondsmith tens of thousands… Of course, Ishar is the Bondsmith, and he did go a little wacky… so I suppose it’s possible that his Blade has killed tens of thousands. But back to Szeth as he listens to the Honorbearers as they discuss what the Voice almost allowed to happen. Neturo says he doesn’t understand why they never let him talk to Szeth about these plans and that he’d need “a better reason than God gave last week.” (…God?? Say what?) Then the Voice speaks to Szeth, who is angry, telling it to get out of his head. Apparently, the Voice thought Szeth would strike down his own father and start a revolution. Instead, he’ll have to see to it that Szeth is hardened and bids him farewell, saying he’ll see him in a decade. Then the Voice speaks to the Honorbearers, instructing them to name Szeth Truthless. Neturo tries to argue against such a harsh judgement but the others agree with the Voice and with Pozen. Then Sivi and Pozen work to convince Neturo, and Pozen says that there are no Voidbringers and no more surges, no Knights Radiant. That they must focus on war “with other worlds,” and Neturo falls in line. Szeth accepts his fate and surrenders the Windrunner Blade. They bind him and Neturo bids them take it easy on his son. But Szeth says they are correct that he’s Truthless, or else he was correct and should kill them all, even Neturo. They explain the rules of the Oathstone and Szeth accepts and makes the Oathstone promise. However, the Voice intercedes before they can take his sword, ordering them all to leave the Windrunner Blade with Szeth. And so they banish him. Neturo embraces his son, telling him he can’t go with him this time, and that he’s sorry he’s failed his little boy. Szeth replies that he lost his little boy years ago, on the night when Szeth first killed. He is torn away from Neturo and eventually sold to a stonewalker. From there, Szeth resolved not to look backAnd never to question. These flashbacks, along with Szeth’s whole journey since taking his oath to Dalinar, have dramatically changed the way I view Szeth. Instead of some heartless assassin, we’ve learned he was a sweet and loving boy who was forced to grow up too soon and to become something he never should have been. Or was it who he was destined to become? Either way, it’s been incredibly sad (and eye-opening) following along on his journey from innocent shepherd to Truthless. Chapter 118 is titled “Prophecy.” It opens with Venli and the others, atop chasmfiends, charging the humans positioned on the Shattered Plains. Of course, she’d worked out a plan with Sigzil so the chasmfiends make a big ruckus and cause a lot of destruction, but don’t hurt actually anyone. As the humans retreat to the Oathgate, one drops a package for her, and the chasmfiends dine on a row of human dead, left there reluctantly by Sigzil to satiate the beasts. POV Shift! Shallan is fleeing from Odium’s attention in the Spiritual Realm. She sends Lightweavings of herself to distract the shadow hunting her and it seems to work. She ponders the fact that she’s the daughter of a Herald and wonders if that’s why she has a strange attachment to the Spiritual Realm. Eventually, Odium’s shadow departs, and Shallan senses a feeling of annoyance as he leaves that brings her a certain amount of satisfaction. She doesn’t know how to find Renarin and Rlain and can’t enter a vision without their spren—but somehow, she unexpectedly finds herself emerging into a vision. She’s on a beach and sees a dead greatshell. As she approaches it, she sees Mraize sitting atop it. POV Shift! Sigzil plays his part in the retreat well, making it look like a rout. He tosses the pouch of papers toward Venli before arranging the retreat of the remaining soldiers and Radiants, and then the rearguard, which is made up of Windrunners. When Sig calls the final retreat, he bids his farewell to the Shattered Plains, turns toward the Oathgate—and promptly falls 30 feet to the plateau below, rendering his legs useless. Moash touches down beside him, a fabrial in his hand. Sig tells Vienta to get away and she says she can’t leave him. Moash seems utterly unhinged, talking about how his new god lets him bathe in his pain and teaches him to love it. Sig instructs Vienta to get help and then Moash lashes himself upward and slashes with a knife, cutting through Vienta’s arm. She falls to the ground near Sig. Moash readies himself to kill Vienta, saying that it will hurt him and that it’s the pain of building a new empire. Sigzil recalls Leyten’s death rattle, foretelling that Moash will kill Sigzil and Vienta but rather than let that happen, Sig shouts that he renounces his oaths. Vienta disappears and a Shardblade drops to the ground in her place. Sig grabs the Blade and barely misses Moash’s legs with a sweep of the sword. As Moash concentrates on Sigzil, Lopen hits him from behind and they both hit the ground. Lopen comes up with the fabrial and smashes it. When the rest of Bridge Four show up, Moash retreats. Lopen picks up Sigzil and takes him through the Oathgate where he’s healed. Physically, anyway… POV Shift! Venli retrieves the package Sigzil had left for her and tucks it away “for tomorrow.” El arrives on the plateau and a Voidspren shows up to report to El that the last of them has left. El moves on, and Vyre locks down the Oathgate, though he seems worried that the humans might reverse it. He was watching for the wrong kind of trap. Venli and the others gather together, not daring to hum the rhythms they’re feeling. But Timbre does. She vibrates with “optimistic joy” and Venli wonders to herself: “Had it… actually worked?” Chapter 119 is titled “Sunmaker’s Gambit” and as you might guess, it’s an Adolin chapter. He’s walking unaided but still slips despite the rubber on the end of his peg. Kushkam sends a runner, asking for advice, but Adolin has none to offer… All they can try to do is hold the line. Then Adolin goes to play towers with Yanagawn since he can do nothing to help the troops defend the city. They play and Yanagawn wins, and Adolin realizes how lucky the Azish were to have this man as their leader. May joins them and plays, and despite Yanagawn being the superior force, he loses the three-way game. May and Adolin explain how they joined forces against the larger force. May also tells Adolin that the Shattered Plains are lost. Yanagawn asks if reinforcements from that front can be sent to help defend Azimir; May replies that she’s asked the Windrunners to send who they can, but the low Stormlight is a problem. Then the horns sound, calling anyone who was left to come join the fight, including the crippled, the elderly, and any women willing to defend the city. Adolin reaches out to Maya to see if he could use his Blade. She says she’s getting close, some hours away. He asks her if she can actually win the war with the spren she’s bringing and she says, “Maybe.” Yanagawn insists that he himself should join the battle but Adolin discourages him. “If you die,” Adolin said softly, “this kingdom has nothing left to hope for.” Adolin commands Yanagawn’s guard of six to take Yanagawn to the saferoom and Adolin, with May’s support, heads out of the tent. POV Shift! Shallan uses a Lightweaving to disguise herself and sneaks up on Mraize. At the last minute, she reveals herself and they proceed to talk. Not to fight—simply to talk. Mraize mentions the many worlds out there, filled with wonders, and admits that Iyatil has never taken him with her—and now he’s been punished to stay on Roshar for ten more years. Shallan guesses that Mraize’s spren had invited her into the vision so that Mraize could distract her while Iyatil searched for Mishram’s prison. He tells her to be prepared to fight the next time they meet, and the vision is gone. Back in the chaos of the Spiritual Realm, Shallan decides to stop hiding and let Odium show her what he wishes to, in the hopes that she might find a clue to the location of the prison before Iyatil. POV Shift! Kaladin is making stew with Nale and Szeth nearby. Nale says he feels the man he used to be but that he is not him, he only remembers him… but that he wants to be that man again. Nale summons his Honorblade and bids Szeth to take it and hold it until Nale is sure he can carry it again. “I am not a man, or a Herald, of justice right now…” Syl asks what’s next and Szeth says they must go to the last monastery to deal with the Unmade. Nale says there is no Unmade. Syl guesses that it’s Ishar, and she’s right. Nale tells them of the gods’ wells of power and Kaladin guesses that Ishar took up the power of Odium. Nale states that it was only a fraction of the power, but that it allowed Ishar to Connect to the land and become a god to the people in Shinovar, let him show them the future… wars, though not the Return. Nale also tells Szeth that he is not Truthless. The Heralds denied the Return, let it happen, and at times, as Nale himself did, joined the enemy. He says they are Truthless. Ishar is Truthless. He confirms that Ishar is at the final monastery and they plan to retrieve a stash of Nale’s Stormlight and travel through the night. Kaladin takes Nale a bowl of stew and hears notes echoing through the hills. Notes too skilled to have been played by him. These, he thought, must have been brought by the Wind from the distant past. From a night on the Shattered Plains, when Kaladin had been the broken man.That man had been reforged now by love, light, and song. Proof that it could be done. Oh, my feels! To see Kaladin feeling that he’s been “reforged” is so incredible for someone like me who relates so strongly to the earlier, damaged and hopeless man that he was. Thank you for this, Brandon. Thank you so much! Chapter 120, “Sheltered From the Eyes of God,” is an Honor chapter which takes place four thousand five hundred fifty years ago. A bit of time has passed since Odium came to Roshar. Tanavast stands on a battlefield full of burning corpses but he does not weep. He reflects on Rayse’s Fused, and his own Heralds, Rayse’s Unmade, and his own Radiants. Rayse is trapped on Roshar, but if he were able to take control, he could send forces out into the cosmere. Either of them could. But now they’re in a stalemate, with so many dead over the centuries. He knows that Rayse is growing in power, as are his Unmade—a creation Rayse had hidden from Tanavast. The Heralds are also growing in power, able to draw on the power of Roshar itself. Tanavast doesn’t know why or how, though he won’t admit it so as not to appear weak. Rayse appears to Tanavast as he visits Natanatan, where the battle had been the most intense. He banters, but he’s clearly angry at being trapped. He baits Tanavast into attacking him and their powers meet. Anti-light is born and in the shock wave produced by their clash, Tanavast senses that beneath the city, there are pieces of something fallen. A… FOURTH MOON? IN SPLINTERS? IT REACTED TO US, AND I SAW PEOPLE THERE—NEW ONES, WATCHERS, WHO HAD BEEN HIDDEN FROM ME. Their clash vaporizes the capital city, killing tens of thousands instantly. As Rayse departs, a shadow is left in his wake. It approaches Tanavast and asks, What if we want peace? It is Ba-Ado-Mishram, asking if Tanavast would make peace if he could and if Rayse did not stop him. Tanavast said simply, “YES.” Mishram withdraws, but knowing he can not wait until she is ready, he decides to push the Heralds harder. He gives them more access to his power; as long as Tanavast is bound by oaths, they cannot destroy the land. SO IT WOULD BE WELL.I HAD DECLARED IT WOULD BE. Good thing Tanavast wasn’t arrogant, huh? Oh, my Honor, but it’s frustrating to read his POVs. He’s so sure of his own invincibility. I’m just shaking my head at that man. Lyndsey’s Commentary: Character Arcs Szeth His gentle father. A killer. This is a particularly hard hit for Szeth, because it’s his fault that his father headed down this path. (Or at least, Szeth himself thinks so.) “I don’t want to decide anymore,” Szeth whispered. “I’m done. Give me the stone.” And so he becomes what he always wanted to be… a tool of others, told what to do at every step. All responsibility for his actions taken from him… Or so he believes, until he meets Kaladin and that lack of responsibility is questioned. Now that we’ve seen how past!Szeth was exiled, let’s fast forward to present!Szeth… “All this time,” Szeth said, “it was one of the Heralds I heard?” On the surface, this must be quite a hard blow for him. The Voice wasn’t an evil Unmade, but one of his culture’s gods. But if you really think about it, how much does this change? Yes, it’s a Herald… but one who is insane, and actively using the powers of Odium for evil. “Even when you were wrong, you managed to see more clearly than the rest of us, Szeth. You are not Truthless. We denied the Return. We let it happen without fighting it, and at times actually joined the enemy. We are Truthless. Ishar, Herald of Wisdom, is Truthless.” You can almost see the burst of light and hear the Hallelujah chorus surrounding Szeth for this. What an incredible validation for him. He was right all along. He may have gotten some the details wrong, but the Voice was an enemy. Neturo “I’m Truthless,” Szeth said. “I do not deserve that name any longer.”“Son,” Neturo said, turning back, weeping openly. “You’ll always deserve it.” Boy oh boy. What an awful position for Neturo to be in. So far as he knows, his son has made a terrible, terrible mistake and gone against the will of God himself. And so he does all he can to save him, even now. Moash “I have a new god, Sig. He won’t take my pain—instead he lets me bathe in it, teaches me to love it. Oh yeah. That sounds real healthy. You just keep on being… well, you, Moash. Oh, also, f*** you. Sigzil “I renounce my oaths!” he shouted.And he meant it. I still find this hard to believe. I believe that he means to save Vienta, for sure. That he’s willing to sacrifice just about anything for her. But I don’t believe that Sigzil is fully renouncing what those oaths mean. I don’t believe that he wants to stop protecting those who cannot protect themselves, for instance. And yet… it’s enough. Adolin As chapter 119 starts, we find Adolin still acclimating himself to his new disability. He’s handling it quite well, all things considered—but that’s likely because he has so many other things to worry about. The defense of the dome is failing. His men are dying. And… Adolin found himself questioning things he never had previously. Like what it meant to be the Blackthorn’s son. He’d always assumed that the Almighty had put him in that role deliberately. But if the Almighty was dead… I’m not quite sure where he’s going with this one, but I’m glad to see that his character arc in reference to his father is still an active part of his story, still arc-ing along… Adolin spends the majority of this chapter teaching Yanagawn one final lesson on tactics, and it very well may be the final lesson. Shallan Was that what she wanted? She remembered frightened days, first at the Shattered Plains, where she’d felt so alone. And she remembered the purpose he’d given her, like a warm, soothing bath. Interesting. I can see some parallels here to victims (Shallan) sympathizing with their abusers (Mraize); but I also can’t deny that I wish that Shallan could find a better way than murder. She’s seeing the good in Mraize; she’s humanizing him, which can’t be a bad thing. […] but for all his claims about the Ghostbloods being open, she didn’t know him.She was beginning to feel like she never would. His manipulation of her has been so effective that even Shallan, so adept at reading others, just can’t figure him out. I do suspect that a large part of that ability is a self-defensive mechanism, one that has also proven effective for Shallan in her efforts to mimic others. Often, those of us who have to deal with PTSD and other traumas learn to intensely observe and analyze others. We subconsciously watch the tiny shifts in body language; the adjustments to tone of voice; the specific words that are chosen… all in an effort to try to predict when those actions will turn harmful. So we can protect ourselves, should that turn manifest. But in this case, Mraize has so carefully crafted his mask that despite all her efforts to see beyond it, Shallan has failed. “Mraize,” she said softly, “can we not find another way?” But she keeps trying to empathize. She’s doing what she does best; getting into another person’s head as best she can. As Ender Wiggin taught us, “In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him.” We see this in this chapter so clearly. She felt powerless, frustrated. And ashamed at those emotions, when she should have tried right then to end him. Part of me wishes that I could shake Shallan and shout, “don’t be ashamed for not killing someone!” But another part knows that these are the lessons the hardest and most desperate moments of her life have taught her. She’s had to kill to protect herself. Nale “I want to be better,” Nale said. “I want to be that man, the one who stood against the law to defend those who deserved mercy. That is the only path to true justice.” Aww, Nale’s trying to switch from Lawful Good to Neutral Good! Good for him. While Kaladin still wasn’t certain he could help Heralds, he could try. It seemed to him nobody ever had. If you think about it, these people were viewed as gods or demigods to most of the people of Roshar. Of course they wouldn’t try to help them! What mortal would think so highly of themselves, to assume that they know better than a god? I, TANAVAST, GOD Forgive me for my affectation on the header here. I found it fitting. I BARELY ATTACK THE CHILDREN DURING DESOLATIONS. I COULD ORDER THEM TO SLAUGHTER, INSTEAD OF TO WAR. Right. So Odium has completely and utterly lost touch with any semblance of humanity. And this, fittingly, is what causes Tanavast to lose it. I suppose that for an immortal being with the powers of a god, if you’re going to lose your cool, then it had better be something major that causes it. The wholesale slaughter of children is pretty major. I PULLED BACK, HORRIFIED, KNOWING I’D JUST CAUSED TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DEATHS. ONE OF THE GRANDEST CITIES… GONE.RAYSE LAUGHED. “SHALL WE FIGHT AGAIN?” Jeez. Talk about complete evil. Strategy “Two weaker forces,” May said, “will always align against the strongest one.” I’m not certain about the veracity of this one, because of one key aspect that Adolin and May seem to be forgetting; it’s also quite likely that one of the two weaker forces will ally with the strongest one, believing that they stand a best chance of winning by joining the winning side. A weaker force may hold back, waiting to see which of the other two looks like it’s going to win, before joining in the battle on the winning side. This is a gambit which has been played out in history time and again. (Most of my studies in history focus on Ireland and the UK thanks to my work at Renaissance faires, so I’m specifically thinking of the siege of Kinsale in 1601 when Grace O’Malley and her son Tibbot turned against the Irish, and the Battle of Bosworth Field when Henry Tudor won his crown.) Drew’s Commentary: Invested Arts & Theories One of the things I’ve had to do while rereading for these articles is learn to at least stop and engage with every random thought and question that pops into my head. Most of them get turned over once or twice and then discarded, but occasionally something really latches on. “You know there are no Voidbringers,” Pozen said. “The spirits of the stones themselves showed it to you. The former powers are no more. The Knights Radiant are fallen. We are all that remains, and we must focus on the true threat.” This is one such example. I think it’s really easy to dismiss this statement as simple Ishar-ganda, manipulating the stone shamans to retain his grasp on everyone. But after a bit of thought, I realized… why? What would Ishar gain from this? He knows that the Knights Radiant aren’t completely gone. He knows that the Voidbringers are real. He knows that the possibility exists that the Shardbearers will end up fighting them alongside the Radiants. So, why say this? Why lay the groundwork for exactly what becomes his undoing? This is such a convoluted plan. But maybe we get a clue here: “War,” Neturo whispered. “With other worlds.” How much did Ishar know about the Sons of Honor, and Kelek’s work to learn how to leave Roshar? Was Ishar really behind that as well, and in his megalomania he was trying to do the exact same thing as Odium? We know at this point that there is conflict between Scadrial and Roshar in the late-game Cosmere, of course. But what if, like on Scadrial, there are different factions on Roshar as well? How much will Kaladin affect Ishar during their time in the mind-bubble-therapy-retreat? It could very well be that Ishar comes back with that idea still bouncing around in the back of his mind, and he goes all loose cannon. That would be quite a scary thing, in fact: an unbound Bondsmith loose in the Cosmere, wreaking havoc and thinking he’s a god. “Did you know,” he whispered, “there is a world out there with an ocean in the sky? Another where people fly upon kites, as if every man were a Windrunner. Yet another where the gods can make any object stand up and walk? I will see them each someday, little knife. And claim a trophy to remember them by.” Three worlds here, at least two of which are as-yet-unknown to us. The kite world is actually something we’ve gotten a Word of Brandon about, and interestingly enough that story idea mentioned will almost certainly be about Sigzil (unless Brandon decides to start writing about another Hoid apprentice figuring out local magic systems, à la The Sunlit Man). And wouldn’t you know it, Sigzil ceases to be a Windrunner in this week’s selection of chapters! The other unknown world is particularly fascinating, though. An ocean in the sky? How in the heck is that gonna work? (And I bet the Shadesmar subastral for that world is WILD.) The third world mentioned here, however, is likely one we already know fairly well. The brief description tells me it’s Nalthis, where Awakening is a thing and the Returned are worshipped as gods. I bet Mraize would’ve simply loved to get his hands on an Awakened sword like Nightblood or Vivenna’s Blade. Cultivation’s power at the Peaks is carefully monitored by her spren, and cannot be accessed by mortals. Okay, so this is a strange statement. We know that Cultivation’s perpendicularity in the Horneater Peaks has been used regularly by worldhoppers, and that it’s the primary method of inter-Realm travel onto and off Roshar. Is there some way that “Cultivation’s spren” (and what are those?) can prevent someone from utilizing the Investiture there, but simultaneously allow travel between the Physical and Cognitive Realms? Some kind of gatekeeping, like the Oathgate spren? “He wanted to make a true soldier of you. He did not like me or my Skybreakers much at the time, as this was right after Billid and his dissenters broke off from me with their traitorous spren.” Shoutout to Billy Todd, one of our resident lawyer beta readers, and now canonically the leader of a group of Skybreakers who refused to follow Nale’s warped leadership. THE UNMADE, IN PARTICULAR, WERE GROWING IN STRENGTH.* How about that? Every time the Unmade get mentioned now, my annoyance grows in strength. I still can’t believe that we made it through the entire first five books and know almost nothing more about the Unmade than we did at the end of Oathbringer. Oh, Odium is giving them “extra strength”? Cool, cool cool cool. How? How did he make them in the first place? What was unmade? For all that one of the main characters in this book had a plotline focused on Ba-Ado-Mishram, we received an absolute paucity of new information about them. Chapter 120 teases us in more ways than that, though. On the one hand, we find out how the Shattered Plains were created. Odium taunted Honor, who lashed out in anger. They liquified the landscape and wrecked the city of Narak. But there’s more in that scene, about the fourth moon and its essence, “something greater” than aluminum, hiding “watchers, hidden from [Honor].” I feel like these watchers have to be the Sleepless. They have been hiding in the background the whole time, watching. And when Rysn encountered Hoid, the first thing her Sleepless handlers do is say they need to head to Odium’s perpendicularity, hidden under the Shattered Plains, and flee Roshar… THE SHADOW WITHDREW, TIMID, LIKE A FAIN ANIMAL SEEING THE COLORFUL WORLD FOR THE FIRST TIME. I’ll leave us with this, a fun teaser for those who wonder about Yolen and fainlife… and a nice nod for those who have read Dragonsteel Prime and know why this is such a solid simile. We’ll be keeping an eye on the comment sections of posts about this article on various social media platforms and may include some of your comments/speculation (with attribution) on future weeks’ articles! Keep the conversation going, and PLEASE remember to spoiler-tag your comments on social media to help preserve the surprise for those who haven’t read the book yet. See you next Monday with our discussion of chapters 121, 122, and 123.[end-mark] The post <i>Wind and Truth</i> Reread: Chapters 117-120 appeared first on Reactor.