Books Wind and Truth Reread Wind and Truth Reread: Chapters 95-98 Shallan revisits her wedding day, Adolin fumes, and Szeth tries to do right. By Paige Vest, Lyndsey Luther, Drew McCaffrey | Published on August 25, 2025 Comment 0 Share New Share Happy Reread Monday, Cosmere Chickens! Who’s ready for a WEDDING?! That’s right, at long last we get to see Shallan and Adolin’s wedding—and, more importantly, we get to see why that wedding was withheld from us the first time around. From unexpected guests to new and unexpected confidence and unexpected personal revelations, this week’s reread is full of surprises. Buff those formal shoes, dust off your fanciest Alethi party gowns and snazziest suits, and join us as we dance into the not-so-distant past… 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 We open this week’s reread with chapter 95, titled “Because It Is Flawed.” We start with Adolin, trying to cope with the reality that half his leg is missing. He thinks about the soldiers who internalize their wounds, so that Regrowth won’t work for them, and wonders how to avoid that: Is it possible to not accept the injury, mentally speaking, in the hopes that he can receive Regrowth once everything is over? *sigh* Well, we know how that’s going to go, don’t we? He’s also told by the surgeon that soldiers with an injury such as his do not rejoin the ranks, as they would be a weak spot in the line. To deal with this depressing thought, Adolin rejoins Yanagawn in his tent. The surgeon had interrupted a game of towers and once they resume, the young emperor makes a move that wins the game. He and Adolin talk of strategies and how much he’s learned… and then Adolin notices that Gezamal isn’t there. Yanagawn tells Adolin that the guard had been reassigned because he’d taken orders from Yanagawn and agreed to join him in leading the guards into battle. Adolin is rather disgusted with this, but Yanagawn tries explaining why it must be this way, according to Azish laws and beliefs. Upon taking his leave, Adolin encounters Colot, who has found Gezamal and takes Adoliin to visit him. POV Shift! Szeth’s spren visits him, appearing in human form for the first time. Szeth is honored, but seems taken aback at the spren’s new, more uncertain demeanor. They speak of the Heralds and Szeth admits that he doesn’t really want to be a Herald. He grows anxious but is then soothed by the sound of Kaladin’s music from nearby. Finally, Szeth agrees to take on the responsibility of becoming a Herald. But he’s really not happy about it. We know this isn’t his fate, but he accepts the burden despite his reticence. It would be a fitting end to his story arc, but alas, it isn’t meant to be. (I admit that I laughed at the description of the kind of person who would make a good Herald and the fact that Szeth didn’t immediately think of Kaladin.) POV Shift! Adolin and Colot find Gezamal cleaning latrines, which he must do in addition to his shifts fighting on the front lines. Adolin expresses his anger and frustration that he’s been demoted for reasons that Adolin sees as ridiculous, but Gezamal tries to explain that it’s right that he should have to deal with the consequences of his actions, as he knew that it would it cost when he’d made his choice in regards to Yanagawn joining the fray. He is at peace with his lot. Adolin offers him a spot in his own guard, but Gezamal declines. Adolin leaves him to his duties, and he and Colot talk about Colot’s short stint as a Windrunner squire. He still feels badly that he was rejected by the spren, but he continues to do what needs to be done in spite of that hurt. Then he’s called away to oversee the fighting and Adolin is left alone. He knows they won’t last another day and a half. Chapter 96 is a Szeth flashback titled “All They Had.” Szeth has just fled from the Voice after it finally revealed itself to him. He goes to his father, more than a little freaked out by what he’s seen. Neturo tries to calm him, asking Szeth what happened. Szeth doesn’t want to tell him and fears that he’s wrong. Neturo reassures his son, telling him that he trusts him, and Szeth asks how he can trust him when Szeth is so often wrong, and doesn’t know what to do. “I’ve never met anyone who wants to do the right thing more than you, Szeth.” But to Szeth, just wanting to do the right thing isn’t enough. He realizes that the answers to his questions might not even exist. Szeth decides that he has to do something about what he’s seen, and he tells Neturo to stay there and hide. Then he takes to the air. Chapter 97 is titled “Characters From a Play.” We open on Shallan being overcome by a shadow that’s trying to take her to the moment she saw her mother again—at her wedding. She asserts her will and somehow manages to force the vision to begin a bit earlier than that, giving herself a bit more time to brace for that moment. She finds herself in her own body, being made up by Alethi makeup artists. After opening gifts—and getting her pair of boots from Kaladin—she spends some time in solitude, where she’s supposed to meditate and pray. Instead, she talks to Pattern, who is there as present-day Pattern with present-day Testament. Testament tells Shallan to enjoy life; Shallan takes a moment to do so. She affirms that she deserves this and is determined to appreciate her chance to relive the wedding. I won’t recount all the details, here, but I was very happy to read this section again and remember how lovely it was to finally get to see the wedding. That had been such a disappointment to me previously, that we hadn’t gotten to see the actual ceremony. But Brandon made it up to us! It was also nice that Testament got to see it, as she hadn’t attended when it actually happened. Shallan thought that some of the parts of her pattern straightened. Then she saw her mother and acknowledged that after she had killed her… Chana, the Herald… She’d gone back to Braize and broken, starting the Return and the Desolation, and everything that came with it. Chapter 98, “The Day of Truth,” is another Szeth flashback, picking up after he left his father, imploring Neturo to stay hidden. He lands at the Windrunner monastery the next morning and feels truly confident, like he’s the last hope of the Shin. The ten shaman gather. They are defiant because Szeth killed Tuko and took his place, but he tells them of the Unmade. He tells them that the Voidbringers have returned and that the day of Truth is here. He bids them to gather people to fight, and they prepare to confront the other Honorbearers. Lyndsey’s Commentary: Character Arcs and Maps Chapter 95’s arch Heralds are Vedel, Taln, Nale, and Battah. Vedel and Taln are here for Adolin; the patron of the Edgedancers almost always corresponds to his chapters, and he is (as usual) the perfect soldier here, which accounts for Taln. Nale is discussed, as well as the bond between Skybreakers and their spren, and I think that Adolin is displaying Battah’s attribute of the wise counselor. (Either that, or Kushkam is.) For such a short chapter, 96 sure does have a lot of Heralds in its arch! We’ve got Chana, Vedel, Taln, and Jezrien. My best guesses are that Chana’s here for her bravery (in relation to Szeth), Vedel for her attribute of “loving” (Neturo), Taln as the soldier (Szeth again) and Jezrien as the protector (Neturo). I like that they alternate in who they symbolize. I find it incredibly odd that of the three Heralds in chapter 97’s arch (Ash, Jezrien, Vedel, and Ash again) none of them are Chana. For as big of an impact as her entrance has at the very end of the chapter, she does not appear in the arch. Ash is here twice, which makes sense as her Lightweaver is so prominent here. Jezrien is… more of a mystery. It’s possible that he’s here to stand in for Kaladin, who plays a bit of a part on the periphery. That would also make Vedel make sense, as she’d be representative of Adolin. Chapter 98’s another short flashback chapter, but one with a lot of meaning behind it. Szeth finally discovers what he believes to be the truth, and the Heralds on the chapter arch reflect that. Jezrien, the leader. Battah, the counselor. Palah, the scholar. And Taln, the soldier. All of them represent aspects of Szeth as he takes this important but doomed step in a failed attempt to save his people. Adolin Storms, he hated the idea that if he couldn’t get healed properly, it was his fault somehow. Wasn’t the loss of a limb bad enough? It does feel oddly like victim-blaming (of himself), doesn’t it? If he comes to terms with his loss, then the loss becomes permanent. Adding insult to literal injury. Although… perhaps “coming to terms with the loss” isn’t exactly right. Lopen certainly never let his disability get to him. He accepted the loss; but he also viewed himself as “whole” in whatever state he was, or wanted to be. Maybe trying to use Lopen as an example is a bad idea—he’s so unique in this regard! A sudden spike of anger rose inside him. Anger at what had happened to him. Anger that he couldn’t help while others were dying. I love this about Adolin, that his anger about losing his limb is focused almost entirely on the fact that he can’t help others because of it. He’d assumed that Adolin would want the plushness in which to recuperate. Silently, Adolin hated it, but he also hadn’t wanted to be alone in his own tent. And of course Adolin doesn’t say anything about it. He wouldn’t want to insult Yanagawn, who has good intentions. The fact that he’s empathic enough to recognize and appreciate those good intentions despite how it makes him feel is another point in Adolin’s favor. “Yanagawn,” Adolin said, irate, “you can’t punish a good officer for making a good decision—particularly one you wanted him to make. You can’t let your soldiers question the difference between the moral decision and the right one. Make them the same thing!” If only it were always so easy. Perhaps Adolin is thinking back to when he had to choose between the moral decision (killing Sadeas in cold blood) and the right one (going after him legally or in a duel instead) once. He lacked the power to make it the “right” decision at the time. “But there are things we must do to be a civilized society. One of those is to accept that actions have consequences. Embracing those consequences is sometimes both moral and right.”Adolin shook his head, finding that attitude utterly contemptible. Interesting that he finds this contemptible. Adolin appears to believe that the world itself should reshape itself around what it is right; and in a way, he does manage to achieve that with the Unoathed. But everything you love is going to hurt you now and then, because it is flawed.” […]Thoughtful, Adolin nodded to Gezamal himself, then let him return to what he’d been doing. Damn. That’s pretty deep. And it’s showing us that Adolin himself is also still flawed; even he can learn from other cultures and other perspectives, and from those who are older and wiser than he. Kaladin Szeth wasn’t certain he wanted to keep living. Yet Nin said they wanted to make Szeth immortal? All the more touching that Kaladin eventually takes the place that Szeth should have had. It’s been so long since I read the end of this (in addition to the fact that the version I read is not this finalized version) that I don’t fully recall what Kaladin’s motives were, entirely, but at least part of the reason was sparing this poor traumatized man the pain of an immortal life. I’m sure that Kaladin has at least a cursory understanding of what immortality entails, especially given his recent discussions with Nale. So, to willingly accept that fate (even partially) on behalf of another is… well, a very Kaladin Stormblessed move, let’s be honest. “Nale and my superiors tell me that only one who does not want the burden should be offered it. They’ve been waiting for you for many years. A man with no attachments, trained in the best arts of war—a man who will fight on command, and who knows how to follow the dictates of such an important bond. Interesting that the spren goes on to say that the perfect candidate follows orders unquestioningly. And this is why they never even considered Kaladin; their goal was to create a puppet-Herald, not a thinking person with an agenda of their own. Is this because Nale simply can’t trust anyone, after all these years of life? Szeth Now those teachings were crushing him to the point that he could barely breathe. He felt it coming on again, a tightening that was somehow worse than the numbness. A paralyzing tension, as if he were steam needing to escape, but there was no release. Just more. And more. Pressure. Sounds exactly like every panic attack I’ve ever had. Also, I feel compelled to link this. “I can’t. I … Father, what if I’m wrong?”“I can’t help you if you don’t tell me. But Szeth… I trust you.”“How?” Szeth said, collapsing to his knees. “I’m so wrong so very often, Father. Then when I choose, I hate my choices. How can you trust me?” I still maintain that Neturo is diametrically opposed to Lirin on the “toxic fatherhood” scale. His voice didn’t even tremble. Did he sound confident? He felt it, for once. Szeth is the picture of confidence in this flashback chapter. It’s so interesting to see that this is how he could have been, if things had gone differently for him. He truly believes that what he’s doing is right, and who can blame him? The evidence appears, to all outward appearances, undeniable. On to the Skybreaker monastery! And only one more remaining after that… Shallan Words from the dead to the living. Enjoy it. What a powerful statement, and an important lesson to learn. We only have so many days in which to live; choosing to focus on the positive rather than the negative seems like it should be common sense, but in the moment it’s surprisingly difficult to put into action. She tried not to think of choosing Adolin as a rejection of Kaladin—more an acknowledgment that for all the powerful moments they’d experienced together, their relationship was not one of romance but shared pain. I’ve always said that Shallan and Kaladin never would have worked out. The two of them had too much baggage with the same luggage tags, if that makes sense. If you weren’t lucky enough to make it to Dragonsteel Nexus last year (or even if you did and missed out on the ball, like me) you should check out this video that Darci Cole caught of Chana’s entrance to Shallan’s wedding. It’s incredible to realize that no one there (with the exception of staff and some beta readers) had any idea who Chana was or why she was there! Drew’s Commentary: Invested Arts & Theories Okay, so real talk. This week is a placeholder, when it comes to my part of the discussion. It’s the preamble. It’s the lead-up. I don’t have much to say of worth, here… but next time? Next time, oh buddy—we’re gonna get into it. Get ready for Chana. Get ready for Hoid. Get ready for Dawnshards, and future era Shadesmar, and Shardic theory, and this book setting the stage for potential endgame Cosmere madness. It’s on its way, people. Come back in two weeks, and we’ll discuss! We’ll be keeping an eye on the comment sections and 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. We’re off for Labor Day next week, so we’ll see you the following Monday (September 8th) with our discussion of chapter 99—marking the end of Day Eight—and the next two interludes![end-mark] The post <i>Wind and Truth</i> Reread: Chapters 95-98 appeared first on Reactor.