Wind and Truth Reread: Chapter 77, Interludes 11 and 12
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Wind and Truth Reread: Chapter 77, Interludes 11 and 12

Books Wind and Truth Reread Wind and Truth Reread: Chapter 77, Interludes 11 and 12 Godlike entities can be real jerks sometimes. By Paige Vest, Lyndsey Luther, Drew McCaffrey | Published on July 7, 2025 Comment 0 Share New Share Good morning (or afternoon, or evening, depending on when you’re tuning in), Cosmere Chickens! Welcome to the End of Day Six! ::dramatic and suspenseful music sting:: Today we’ll be joining Dalinar in the Spiritual Realm as he finally reaches the moment he’s been searching for. We’ll also be checking in on two interludes, focusing first on Dyel (who?) and then… ::even more dramatic music sting:: Odium. 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 And so we come to the last chapter in Day 6: chapter 77, titled “Aharietiam.” Dun-dun-dunnn… It’s getting real, Sanderfans! Dalinar is, of course, searching for the Shard of Honor, and to aid him in that quest, he’s jumping from Desolation to Desolation, looking for insights which might allow him to become a Vessel for Honor. He thinks that doing so will help him to defeat Odium and regain control of most of Roshar… which we know won’t happen, but it’s jolly good of him to try! But that’s where we are in this particular plot arc, and so let’s see what’s going on! Dalinar, Navani, and Gavinor were in a vision of a Desolation when a shadow fell over the vision and they were all pulled out and thrust back into the chaos of the Spiritual Realm. This shadow was Odium, taking notice after Mishram, imprisoned though she still is, speaks directly to Shallan. As they’re tossed back into the Spiritual Realm, Dalinar loses touch with Navani and Gav and is assaulted by visions of thousands of versions of himself from his past. He’s so overwhelmed that he asks the Stormfather for help, and is told that he’ll receive help if he leaves the Spiritual Realm and never returns. The Stormfather insists he had a plan and Dalinar needs to trust him, though he won’t tell Dalinar the plan. The Stormfather had a plan? One would think it would be wise to inform his freaking Radiant, right? Sneaky Stormfather… Dalinar begs the Honorblade to take him to his destination, much farther than he’s been, and he bursts into a vision, promptly losing the Blade. He realizes that he’s in the vision where he saw the Honorblades in a circle, nine of them—all but Taln’s. He appears in the form of Chana and induces Jezrien to explain exactly how the Heralds hold the Fused on Braize. They approach Ishar as he’s speaking to Honor, who tells them that one individual might hold the lock that is their Oath in place, though it would crack the Oathpact. Then Honor unceremoniously nopes out, telling them that he needs distance from them. Just poof, gone. Byyyyeee… Dalinar speaks up, questioning the decision to leave Taln alone, though Jezrien says they can still support him from this world, though he wishes others could replace the Heralds. Ishar says he’ll find a way, but that it will take time. Jezrien sets the tone for leaving their Honorblades by saying he can no longer wield his in good conscience after abandoning his friend. Also that he can feel himself putting his burden upon Taln. Ugh… if they felt it when they laid their burdens upon him and… and did it anyway? I’m giving a lot of side eye to the Heralds here. Serious side eye. Ishar states that he’ll let them give him some of their pain, a phrase which makes me cringe, I don’t know about you, Sanderfans. He also says he’ll explore the possibility of stepping into Honor’s place. Hmmm… definitely don’t think Ishy is suited for that! Dalinar is able to pull Navani and Gavinor into the vision, though they’re not masquerading as anyone. Navani can listen to the Heralds talking but can’t ask questions or interact. Gav shows some maturity for his age, talking of learning from the visions to become a king… and so he can kill those who killed his father. Which should be a glaring red flag for Dalinar. He asks the Stormfather to take Gav home, to which the Stormfather replies that Dalinar himself should bring the boy home. He also admits to having been there at Aharietiem because he had to witness the event, which doesn’t jibe with him previously telling Dalinar that he didn’t exist before Honor died. Dalinar then tries to use the Stormfather as an anchor to take him to Honor’s death, I believe, but the Stormfather gives him hell, asserting that he never should have chosen Dalinar. Then he says that Dalinar will die in this realm and poof, he’s gone, too. These godlike entities are just jerks, aren’t they? “I don’t care what happens to you mewling humans, peace out!” The vision fades and Dalinar is cast back into the maelstrom of the Spiritual Realm. He grasps his Connection to the Stormfather with one hand, and his Connection to Navani with the other, and painstakingly brings them together like when he united the Realms at Thaylen City. They arrive in a vision, in Urithiru, with a Windrunner Dalinar recognizes as the first Radiant to give up his Blade and break his Oaths. They’ve lost a day, but they’re in a vision just days before Honor dies. Interlude 11 follows Dyel, a young Iriali girl who encounters some unusual visitors. Not unusual like the Owners (which are the singers), but definitely odd. We learn that Dyel’s grandfather was Ym, the cobbler murdered by Nale as he was becoming acquainted with a spren. Her mother has set up business in Ym’s old shop, and the strangers are having tea. She cleans and casually listens to them talking with one another, and we can recognize them as some familiar Worldhoppers (see Lyndsey’s section for more on that). The strangers ask if she’s seen a prism of light that can climb walls and Dyel freaks out. She thinks that Nale has returned to kill her mother, since she is now Radiant because of a Truthwatcher spren, Uma. As the men begin to approach, Dyel’s mother arrives and everyone calms down. Hoid has left a letter for them, which Dyel fetches. It apparently contains nothing but his signature, alongside a crudely-drawn image of male genitalia. Gotta love our Hoid, don’t we, Sanderfans? The strangers take their leave and then people begin shouting—the spren that lives in the harbor, a massive thing called Cusicesh, rises and tells the Iriali that it will be their guide for the Fifth Journey. Dyel’s mom has her fetch the go-bags… because, yes, Iriali have go-bags. Because, why wouldn’t they? When you’ve gotta go, who has time to pack? And so they head into Shadesmar, along with any Iriali who happened to be in a major city, so long to all you country folk! Farewell, Roshar! Oh, and the three strangers go along for the ride, too! Interlude 12 is an Odium interlude, of course, and is titled “What Must Be Done.” I’ve gotta tell you, Sanderfans, these interludes are painful when one hated/hates Taravangian. It’s almost as bad as if we got a Moash interlude at the end of every day. (Ugh, I just shuddered in revulsion.) But, onward! This interlude begins with Odium messing with Dalinar, only to be distracted by Cultivation’s forces assaulting Kharbranth! She says she won’t hurt the city’s inhabitants if Odium backs down and hilariously, he calls her a monster. Odium calling Cultivation a monster… *gales of laughter* Cultivation had plants in his palace staff; they imprison his daughter and grandchildren, and in short order, she holds a proverbial knife to Taravangian’s throat. She tells him to back down, to agree to an armistice. They go back and forth, analyzing one another… and then Cultivation realizes with horror that Taravangian is creating a great tidal wave, sending it directly toward Kharbranth: “A lesson.” Cultivation gasped, horror vibrating from her. “Taravangian. No. You can’t.”“I will weep,” he whispered. “Know that I will weep.” Cultivation breaks, promising she will back down. Begs him to stop. But he states that the lesson isn’t just for her but for anyone who thinks they can find a chink in his armor. And I feel that this shows how much better a Vessel Koravellium is than Taravangian. She cares about more than her own damn designs and emotions and power. In my humble opinion, of course. And so Odium destroys Kharbranth. (Ha! Just kidding! As we know, he just lets Cultivation think that he’s murdered the entire population of his beloved city. Who’s the monster again?) Lyndsey’s Commentary: Character Arcs & Maps Chapter 77’s Herald arch has Vedeledev (Vedel) in all four spots. Honestly, I would have expected Battar to make an appearance here (since Gavinor mentions remembering her as “Aunt Dova,” or even Chana (whose body Dalinar is inhabiting), Jezrien, Ishar… so many Heralds make an appearance in his scene. But none of them are used. Vedel takes up all four spaces, which seems… odd. Dalinar does seem to be displaying some of her attributes (Loving/Healing) in his attempt to shield Gavinor from more trauma, but the chapter is more about his struggle with his own personality traits, so the “Loving/Healing” connection seems like a bit of a stretch. I’m really starting to believe that the symbolism of the Heralds and how they connect with the events of the chapters is breaking down just as much as the arches themselves. Dyel’s mother has a mistspren, which means that she’s a true, uncorrupted Truthwatcher. That accounts for Palah showing up twice, given that the Truthwatchers are her order. The wild cards can stand for both Hoid (who left a letter here for our Worldhoppers) and the Worldhoppers themselves. The Heralds that adorn Odium’s interlude point to how Odium views himself. Ishar embodies piety, and Odium’s “sacrifice” that he makes here is, to him, pious and self-sacrificing. Palah’s attributes are Learned/giving, and Vedel’s are Loving/Healing; we often see these two Heralds appearing in opposition to one another in Odium/Taravangian’s chapter headings, symbolizing the duality of his logical/emotional nature. Vedel is actually shown twice, as Odium is leaning more towards his emotional side in his reaction to having to “kill” his beloved city. Dalinar Armored versions of him stomped through landscapes, fracturing them like a shattered mirror, only for another version of him to rip that reality apart, drunkenly weeping over his faults. It’s telling that there are no positive incarnations of himself. Is that due to Odium’s influence on the Spiritual Realm, or Dalinar’s own poor self-image? Probably a bit of both. The outfit was marred with blood and ash, but that was something Dalinar associated with kingship. Says something about Dalinar’s past that he associates this with kingship specifically and not war, doesn’t it? His whole life has been one of kings leading men into battle. I don’t think Dalinar would understand peace if he saw it—especially given that the last time he experienced it he was so drunk all the time that he barely knew what was happening around him. That hard-won peace gave Dalinar nothing but PTSD and a haze of alcoholism. “Of course I care!” Dalinar snapped. “But I’m a king. I can’t think of the one; it’s my duty to think of the people as a whole. I’m close to the power of Honor. I can feel it. With it, I can defeat Odium. But if I leave now—for Gav or Navani, or even myself—I fail everyone else as a result!”* This is some heavy foreshadowing for later, when Dalinar is forced into just this decision. “I hear Daddy sometimes. Telling me I’m a good boy.”“Listen to voices like that, Gav,” Dalinar whispered. …I’ll take “things that will come back to bite Dalinar square in the tight patootie” for 500, Alex. “Would you let the world fall under Odium’s control because of your pride, Stormfather?”Better than potentially letting it burn, Dalinar, under your control. Fascinating battle of the wills between the two here. Each thinks they know better than the other what the world needs, and neither is willing to acquiesce. If you are told no, you just punch harder—because life has taught you that’s how to get what you want. But sometimes, deny it though you may, the world doesn’t need what you want. Dalinar admits the truth of this, which I suppose is growth, in a way, for him. Admitting your own faults is the first step towards learning how to overcome or work with them. Taln “[…] We hide from battle. Everyone except…”“Except Taln,” Dalinar said. Taln is a certifiable badass and one of the MVPs of this book—which is incredible considering that all of his action (and his death) takes place off the page, and we still know next to nothing about his deeper backstory and motivations. Jezrien Cowardice. Except he saw the way Jezrien gazed down at the ground as he spoke. Saw the way his hands trembled, and how he had to make fists to hide it. Suddenly, instead of regal, he appeared haggard. Overwhelmed. Who was Dalinar to judge what thousands of years of torture could do to a man? What an awful dilemma. Relegate yourself to literally thousands of years of torture, to protect others… this is a similar through-line to Kaladin’s character arc in this book and his search for the next ideal. As a reminder, the final ideal for the Windrunners (or at least, for Kaladin—we don’t know if they differ slightly as the third ideal did) is this: “I will protect myself, so that I may continue to protect others.” Is the decision that the Heralds made here the right one? Are they perhaps justified in prioritizing their own well-being rather than continuing to make martyrs of themselves? However… this does gloss over the fact that they left Taln to suffer the torture alone. “But neither can I carry this in good conscience after abandoning a friend. […]” Well, I give him this at least: Unlike some characters (cough Moash cough), Jezrien regrets his actions and feels remorse. He does… until Ishar steps in, saying, “I can bear some of your pain.” He looked to Dalinar. “I can bear part of it for each of you.” Ishar taking some of that guilt and pain away allows the Heralds to remain sane for a while longer. But by the modern era, most have still degenerated into insanity, Ishar most of all. Honor “I cannot afford to care any longer,” Honor said. “I can’t afford to care about any of you. I need… distance. Yes.” Good lord. This man can be such a chullhead. (Which is a much nicer word than the one I wish I could use; a much shorter one, which also starts with a c.) Gavinor “Was it bad, being in the strange place?”“A little,” the boy said. “But… I knew you’d come for me.”“I will,” Dalinar said, then took the boy in an embrace. “I always will, Gav.” OOF. This one is physically painful, considering… “God trained you. He’ll train me too. To be a king. To kill those who killed Daddy.” This poor, poor, child. I truly hope that he finds some healing in the back five. Paging Therapist Kaladin Stormblessed! Dyel The three sat at a table in her shop near the cubbies on the wall where her grandfather—before his murder—had put shoes. I find it fascinating that that was all it took for me to realize who this was. We only got one single interlude about Ym the cobbler, but he was so sweet and his death at the hands of Nale SO TRAGIC that I’ve always remembered him. Dyel’s life had been turned upside down ever since Uma had arrived and her mother had started glowing sometimes. Unique experiences.She cherished thinking of it that way. So many didn’t believe these days, but she did. For Grandfather. The Iriali religion is really interesting. I love how they cherish experiences and feel that they all add to one great shared experience; it’s a unique concept. […] terrified that this great day should have come during her life. She wished there were a way to explain that she was filled up with new experiences. So do all who see such times, Frodo… Sorry. I had to. I don’t know if we’ll ever see this character again; she does seem to be a bit of a throwaway one. But you never know; perhaps we’ll see Dyel in another series down the line, in this fabled “fifth land.” Hoid “It has only his signature. And a crude depiction of male genitalia.” ::facepalm:: Really, Hoid? Though I suppose I shouldn’t really be surprised. Odium Odium trembled, feeling—for the first time since his Ascension—panic. He’s still “human” enough to feel for his family and his homeland. Or… does he? “A… lesson,” he whispered, a profound sadness welling within him as the wave grew. […] On first read, this is incredibly shocking to us. Everything that we’ve seen of Taravangian up until this point has led us to believe that everything he’s done, he’s done in order to protect his home and his family and people. To turn around and destroy them now seems like character assassination at its deepest level: Has he allowed the power to corrupt him so fully that he’s willing to turn his back on everything and everyone he loves? “[…] the lesson is not just for you; it is for any who would think to intimidate me. A god must have no holes in his armor, Cultivation.” A very hard lesson indeed. Cold, ruthless, heartless. To sacrifice your own children and grandchildren, all you ever loved, on the altar of progress. But… it’s all a ruse. The following quote is from the final chapter of this book, so if you’re reading along for the first time, best to skip this: Kharbranth was dead, but in the moment that Cultivation had looked away, Taravangian had summoned his power and taken the people. The city had indeed been destroyed, but he’d saved the occupants. In utter secret. Even Odium couldn’t bear to part with his beloved family. Maybe… just maybe… there’s still something there worth saving. Cultivation “I don’t think it, Taravangian,” she said. “I know there is only one thing in all this world you’ve ever legitimately cared for.” This is brilliantly ruthless planning on Cultivation’s part. She set up the move three steps back… but unfortunately, Taravangian’s still ahead of her. Her power loved anything that encouraged people to learn, better themselves, and achieve. That was often accelerated by conflict. Yikes. This is such a cold-hearted—yet logical—view of things. Cultivation can’t fight the immense power that she holds any more than Odium himself can. Worldhopper Identities I won’t get too much into the Worldhoppers’ specific Cosmere connections (that’s Drew’s territory), but I will take a moment to identify each of them for those who might not have figured out who they are: […] the tall man in the coat. He had skin like he was from Azir, with short black hair and muscles like a soldier. This is Baon, from White Sand. […] the tubby one, who was constantly scowling. […]This one had darker skin too, and was completely bald. […He wore a cloak and colorful robes. This is Galladon, who you may remember as Raoden’s grouchy friend from Elantris. A Shin man of middling height, also balding—with a scar on his head—light skin, and more normal clothing, for an outlander. Shirt and trousers. He didn’t talk as much. This is Demoux, one of Kelsier’s original band of rebels from the first Mistborn trilogy. Drew’s Commentary: Invested Arts & Theories “Braize,” he said. “The planet. It draws souls to it naturally. Honor fashioned it into a prison, but a prison needs a lock.” I’m basically just putting a pin in this, here. Recent Cosmere books have introduced the idea of whole planets having strange Investiture-related attributes, whether it’s Braize here, or the fourth moon that crashed into Roshar, or Canticle’s batterylike qualities in The Sunlit Man. It seems Sanderson is setting up some future mysteries to dig into, even as we are largely nailing down the mechanics of individual Invested Arts. We know via Word of Brandon that Adonalsium specifically created the Rosharan system, and had some purpose in mind for it. The ten gas giants remain an unexplained teaser; the fourth moon and Braize are getting their hype now. Whether this will be explained in the back five books or if this will be reserved for the space-age Cosmere works in the final Mistborn trilogy is the big question. “Five?” Honor said. “No, impossible. Five is a number of weakness. No symmetry, no power. Perhaps four would work. The number of Adonalsium’s four aspects. Or ten, sixteen… one.” Boy, is there a lot to dig into in just this one passage. Let’s start with the number five. Honor says that it’s a weak number due to lack of symmetry—something that makes sense in the context of The Stormlight Archive and Rosharan sensibilities. But it’s impossible to not read Shardic politics into this. Five is the number most commonly associated with Endowment and Nalthis. Five Scholars. Fifth Heightening for Returned. Five Visions. Five times five gods in the Hallandren Court of the Gods. Endowment’s letter to Hoid is told through the epigraphs in Day Five. There’s a lot of circumstantial evidence to point toward that connection. And here we have Honor being openly dismissive of that number. In her letter to Hoid, Endowment makes it clear that she’s sticking to the promise of isolation—perhaps something that would have driven a rift between her and Honor, who had no problem shacking up with his lover soon after the Shattering. Honor also muses about the possibility of using four as a number. Again, he cites symmetry and equates it to power, but he also says it’s “Adonalsium’s four aspects.” This is wildly fascinating to me. The implication, I think, is that this is referring to the Dawnshards and their four Commands… but I’m hesitant to take that at face value. After all, the Dawnshards were used against Adonalsium and seemed to be separate from Adonalsium long before the Shattering. Additionally, the idea of Commands being “aspects” doesn’t sit totally right with me. Something about the connotations of those words doesn’t totally jibe. Now, there’s still plenty of reason to just say “yeah, that’s obviously what he means, Drew.” In Dawnshard, Rysn sees a mural depicting a representation of Adonalsium, in which Adonalsium is separated into four pieces (representing the Dawnshards), and those four each separated into four (representing the Shards). I wouldn’t blame anyone who takes that as sufficient evidence. But if it’s not sufficient evidence, if these “aspects of Adonalsium” are something different, then we have another entire can of worms to be opened as the Cosmere continues on. Lots of potential there. Dyel had the most unusual of visitors. It’s our friends from the Seventeenth Shard, finally showing up again! Let’s all say hi to Demoux, Baon, and Galladon. Lyn pointed out their origins earlier, but this interlude shows a little more about them than even White Sand, Mistborn, and Elantris. The grumpy one smashed a sphere into the ground, somehow cracking it. Stormlight owed up around him, and strange symbols formed in the air. So this is probably the most noteworthy instance, at least to me. We saw in The Lost Metal that purified Dor could be used to power Selish magics even on other worlds. This is A Thing, because of Sel’s unique situation after Odium’s antics there—magic is regionally locked and the land itself is gaining some level of awareness, thanks to Odium shoving the splintered remains of Devotion and Dominion into the Cognitive Realm there. But Galladon, as an Elantrian, has no problem using Stormlight to power AonDor. Purified Dor may have been one thing, since a) it’s already Selish in origin and b) it’s been wiped of any characteristics that would have tied it to the location. But Stormlight is Stormlight—Rosharan flavored… and Galladon cracks a sphere and uses it, no problemo. We can assume that the Aons he’s crafting here utilize Rosharan geography, rather than Selish (just as Shai used Scadrian geography for hers in The Lost Metal), but I’m still trying to wrap my head around what kind of of doohickery Galladon used to make Stormlight accessible. A ding came from Galladon’s pocket. This interlude is wonderful, and harkens back to the early days of The Stormlight Archive, when we had basically no clue what was going on with anything and the interludes felt like totally off-the-wall randomness. Galladon has some kind of Invested device (call it a fabrial if you like) that told them when a perpendicularity was going to open. It’s this kind of teaser, this glimpse at the technology of more advanced, more hidden parts of the Cosmere, that keeps me excited for the future. Taldain had gunpowder a thousand years before Scadrial—what is their tech like now? What’s going on in Silverlight, where the most renowned scholar in the Cosmere founded a university? “The gateway to the land of shadows,” Mother whispered. “Honor’s gateway… Oh Father, Mother, ancestors who have become One… Dyel, fetch the travel packs! It’s time!” Other portals, she heard, had opened all across Iri—one in every major city. And so the Iriali continue their Long Trail, seeking a new Land and ultimately a reunification with the One. But hey, what’s this about Honor’s gateway? And what in the world is the mechanism for so many perpendicularities opening? What a bomb to drop and then just not explain. Again, this is why I like this interlude so much, bringing me back to the sensation of youthful ignorance that I had reading The Way of Kings fifteen years ago. It’s a good sign that Sanderson can still find moments to spark that excitement, even so many books deep into the Cosmere. 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 as we kick off Day Seven with our discussion of chapters 78, 79, and 80![end-mark] The post <i>Wind and Truth</i> Reread: Chapter 77, Interludes 11 and 12 appeared first on Reactor.