Wind and Truth

“‘Shallan,’ he said, and she looked up, meeting his eyes. ‘If it weren’t for that capacity, then what good would choices be? If we never had the power to do terrible things, then what heroism would it be to resist?”

These lines, spoken by Wit, reinforce one of the novel’s central themes: The Importance of Personal Accountability and Choice. Here, Wit reminds Shallan that people are defined by their choices, which imbue their actions with meaning. He delivers this reminder to Shallan because she is doubting whether she is ready to tackle the hard things that are coming her way. This exchange suggests that finding self-confidence and self-acceptance are a crucial thread in her character arc.

“‘Roshar has seen so many versions of this war, Kaladin,’ Dalinar said softly. ‘We’ve been fighting the singers since our first generations on this planet, a time that stretches back far beyond our written histories. Through multiple calamities, and the almost utter loss of civilization. I want to see that cycle ended.’”

This passage summarizes the epic scale of the conflict that is depicted throughout the Stormlight Archive series. Dalinar is speaking here, and this passage also highlights the lofty—and seemingly impossible—responsibility that Dalinar places on himself: to end a conflict that has been raging for millennia. At the resolution of the novel, Dalinar will do his part and will finally show his growth by realizing that he can trust some of this responsibility to others.

“‘Honor’s power needs a host,’ she said. ‘Whether or not that is you, and whether or not that solves your problems, remain to be seen. However, I’m here to tell you that years ago, you started on the path—and touched the power of Honor each Highstorm when you saw a vision. The path to defeating Odium is the same one you’re walking. You simply need to see better, father, and deeper into the past.’”

These lines, spoken by Cultivation to Dalinar, set off important plot events by inspiring Dalinar to venture into the Spiritual Realm to learn more about the past. With this focus on the impact of the past on the present and the future, The Lasting Effects of Trauma become central to the development of the various subplots and the primary conflicts throughout the series.

“Did he do these things because he wanted to, or because they were now tradition? Life could be so full of distracting, meaningless small decisions while the large ones—such as determining his duty to his people—were so hard.”

Szeth is motivated most strongly by his desire to do the right thing and to fulfill his duty to his people. However, as he ages, it becomes less and less clear to him what the “right thing” might be. This passage demonstrates how pervasive this doubt is for him; it is constantly present in his mind. This question will become the subject of many debates between Szeth and Kaladin, and ultimately, Szeth will embrace The Importance of Personal Accountability and Choice, realizing that he must assess for himself the best course of action in each moment.

“Maybe they saw something he didn’t—maybe he was broken. But if so, they should have simply told him what they intended to do, and then done it. That would have been fine. Why give him the choice? Didn’t they see that made this his fault?”

Szeth’s earliest trauma occurs when he finds a rock—a sacred object that he is not supposed to touch. In this moment, his parents fail to offer him the guidance and support he needs and instead put the decision back on him. This incident sets off a course of events that will dictate the trajectory of Szeth’s life. Even as a young boy, his innermost conflict is to agonize over how to discern what is right and what is wrong. He will eventually realize The Illusion of Absolute Right and Wrong.

“‘Rock from Ashyn,’ Wit said lightly. ‘Like those carried by your ancestors to this world during their migration. They were fragments of a holy site on your homeworld, but stones themselves took on a kind of mystical lore by association. That sort of thing happens when the world undergoes repeated cataclysms, and society gets knocked back to the stone age a few dozen times. Some seven thousand years later, everyone in Shinovar worships rocks, and has no idea why.’”

This passage, spoken by Wit, demonstrates the dense lore and world-building that Sanderson employs in the novel. Wit is an ancient being and was present on the day that humanity left the home planet of Ashyn and traveled to Roshar as refugees. They carried stones with them: the early precursors to the modern-day religion in Shinovar which worships rocks.

“There was a part of Taravangian that loved his daughter and grandchildren. The part of him that had grieved when forced to manipulate Dalinar while trying to break up the coalition. It was the part of Taravangian that remembered being young, uncertain, dull—yearning to do more to help his people.”

The Illusion of Absolute Right and Wrong is explored throughout the novel. Here, Taravangian—the vessel of the antagonistic god Odium—remembers his humanity and displays emotions like love, regret, and a longing to protect his people. Because these emotions are not inherently evil, this passage complicates the concept of Odium as a villain.

“It was something she’d whispered to him, even as he trained, even as Dalinar insisted Adolin become a soldier. Don’t just fight. Fight for something—something worthy of your heart. Adolin nodded to himself. He couldn’t save the men he’d left behind. But storms, he could do better this time. He would protect Azimir, whatever it took.”

Here, Adolin recalls advice that his mother gave him before he died. Adolin is characterized by a complicated relationship with oaths and promises; he has refused to become a Knight Radiant because he does not want to swear what seem to him to be impersonal oaths. Even so, he is dedicated to his word and to his personal sense of purpose, which are defined in part by this advice from his mother. He will, in the end, defend Azimir to the last, even losing his leg in the process.

“You should not carry this pain, Szeth. Emotion is of Odium, while Honor is the path of calm understanding and of logical decisions. Promises kept and words followed with exactness.”

This quote is spoken by Szeth’s spren, 12124. This spren, like other spren of his order, teaches emotional distance and utter dedication to the word of the law. Szeth tries to follow this philosophy throughout his life, suffering great cognitive dissonance when he sees the harm that this philosophy causes. Eventually, he will break his bond with 12124 and renounce his oaths in favor of an approach that recognizes The Importance of Personal Accountability and Choice.

“‘I might not be here,’ Adolin said, ‘if someone hadn’t stood up for me when it wasn’t their fight. I’m here for you and this city. I promise it.’”

In Part 10, Adolin will solidify his belief that personal promises differ from oaths; he will decide that the latter are cold, impersonal, and hypothetical, while the former are personal, intimate, and sacred. Adolin is characterized by his personal connection and dedication to the people around him.

“Best we can figure out, Roshar is the work of the ancient god who became Cultivation and Honor. Odium too, though that’s embarrassing to admit. It means we’re relatives, you see.”

In this scene, Syl is speaking to Kaladin about the beginnings of their planet. This passage exemplifies the epic scope of Sanderson’s world-building; he has created a deep, rich history that encompasses each of his novels, and it is clear that the concept of the cosmere in its entirety is so complex that the characters within each novel do not understand it all. This passage also emphasizes the shared history of all the shards, which were once part of the same god.

“Like paint mixing all around her, sometimes becoming images, shapes, glimpses of other times. She could have lingered here for an eternity, watching the colors bleed, watching visions of people she’d been come and go.”

Both Dalinar and Shallan experience the magnetic pull of the swirling visions of the past that bombard them as they enter the Spiritual Realm at the beginning of Part 4. The Spiritual Realm is an important setting in the novel; the subplots following Dalinar and Navani, as well as Rlain, Renarin, and Shallan take place almost entirely in the Spiritual Realm. This realm is one of three planes of existence and is accompanied by the Physical Realm and the Cognitive Realm (Shadesmar).

“When the wrong thoughts come in, you need to be ready. Not only to rebuff them, but to present the right thoughts instead. Warrior thoughts, to resist the bad ones.”

Kaladin gives this advice to Szeth, acting as a therapist or counselor to help Szeth manage his debilitating self-criticism and harsh inner voice. Kaladin is speaking to Szeth, but Szeth’s spren and the sword Nightblood also listen and take Kaladin’s lessons to heart. Kaladin’s willingness to act as an ad-hoc therapist is one of his defining roles in the novel, underscoring the author’s broad interest in mental health.

“‘The old songs,’ Thude said, ‘mention that we, in abandoning Odium and Ba-Ado-Mishram, broke their power over us. Our rejection meant they couldn’t touch us—and it meant Odium could not destroy us.’”

Thude is a Parshendi and a member of the dissenting group of Parshendi who call themselves “listeners.” Venli is also a member of this group. The story of the listeners emphasizes The Importance of Personal Accountability and Choice; this group breaks the god’s hold on them by actively deciding for themselves how to live their lives.

“Szeth-son-Neturo no longer danced with the wind. Had there been magic in his steps, in the breeze, in the music of the landscape? Or had he been a silly boy determined to make profound what was actually awkward and simple? The boys of the practice yards outside the Stoneward monastery left him with no such confusion. They lined up to prove themselves against him, and Szeth laid each one in the dust.”

Szeth is characterized by his exceptional skill with a sword, which likely stems from his love for dancing with the wind when he was a young boy. The motif of the wind appears throughout the novel to represent natural wisdom and the wisdom of the past. Here, partway through the novel, Szeth doubts that there is anything sacred in interacting with the wind, but he will later discover that the wind does indeed carry magic and wisdom. In this passage, that wisdom correlates with the act of reconnecting with his youthful, innocent self rather than rejecting it.

“‘It’s all wrapped up in one knot,’ Rlain said, nodding. ‘The fall of your god. The imprisonment of one our ours. The Radiants walking away from their vows, and the singers ending up in slaveform. Renarin… there are so many secrets here.’”

In a simplistic way, the plot of Wind and Truth can be partially summarized as a mystery in which the characters revisit events from the past in order to uncover connections that have long been forgotten. Rlain and Renarin are two of the characters who explore visions of the past in the Spiritual Realm. Here, Rlain is starting to realize that many pivotal events in history all connect to one core event: Honor’s betrayal and imprisonment of Ba-Ado-Mishram.

“Your life has purpose, Szeth, everything that has happened to you, I orchestrated. You have meaning because your meaning is part of my meaning. Those words. Those words were what he needed: a reminder that his life was not an accident.”

In this scene, Ishar speaks to Szeth, telling Szeth what he craves to hear: the idea that his life has meaning. After discovering all of Ishar’s deceptions, as well as the cruel tactics that the corrupted Herald has used to achieve his ends, Szeth decides to distance himself from this voice and its message. He finally comes to accept that his life has inherent meaning that does not depend upon the oaths he swears or the commands he follows. This is the central journey of Szeth’s character arc.

“As long as the emperor is on his throne, Azir stands.”

Emperor Yanagawn repeats this traditional phrase in the dark hours after the city of Azimir falls to the enemy. Adolin and the others will devise a plan around this loophole, saving Azimir by seizing the throne room just in time. This statement marks a twist in the Azimir subplot, revealing an unforeseen solution by which the characters can achieve their goals. This idea becomes significant in Adolin’s arc as well, allowing him to make good on his promise to defend the city.

“A crash broke the silence, windows cracking, air rushing to fill the hole Taln left when he moved. And for the first time in over four thousand years, the Bearer of Agonies fought back.”

The Herald Taln is known as the Bearer of Agonies because he is the one Herald whom all the others abandoned to torture on the planet Braize in their stead. This story of betrayal is a testament to The Lasting Effects of Trauma, under which the Heralds have suffered for centuries. In this scene, Taln happens to be on Roshar and in Azimir when the city falls; he dies defending the city against Odium’s forces.

“We gave our word, Melishi! That we were negotiating in good faith! We swore an oath!”

This line is significant because it confirms the Radiants’ betrayal of Ba-Ado-Mishram at the urging of Tanavast (who was then the vessel of Honor). This action leads the power of Honor to reject Tanavast for breaking his word. The layers of betrayal in this subplot—all committed with good intentions at heart—emphasize The Illusion of Absolute Right and Wrong. Both sides of the conflict commit ethically ambiguous and complex deeds.

“What you did was terrible. You will need to be watched, helped, and prevented from hurting others. But I am safe now, so I can forgive you.”

The theme of Self-Acceptance and Forgiveness as Cornerstones of Mental Health becomes central to Wind and Truth and is especially evident in the character arc of Shallan, who is speaking here to her mother. Shallan makes progress in her own mental health by forgiving her mother for her hurtful actions and by acknowledging from a place of safety that Shallan herself had done what she needed to protect herself.

“Listen. Remember. The question is not whether you will love, hurt, dream, and die. It is what you will love, why you will hurt, when you will dream, and how you will die. This is your choice. You cannot pick the destination, only the path.”

This is another way of saying “journey before destination,” one of the Bondsmith ideals. The passage is also a calling card for the Stormlight Archive series because of the importance of this philosophy in the characters’ journeys (especially Dalinar’s). This passage and the phrase “journey before destination” emphasize The Importance of Personal Accountability and Choice by asserting that how people arrive at their goals matters as much as the goals they achieve.

“How much sorrow had been perpetuated here, to protect people and worlds Dalinar had never seen?”

Dalinar and Jasnah are two prominent leaders who both grapple with the true meaning and consequences of utilitarian philosophy. Here, Dalinar asks himself whether certain harms are worth inflicting if they create the best outcome for the greatest number of people. Through their actions and choices, both Dalinar and Jasnah will reject this philosophy in the end, realizing The Illusion of Absolute Right and Wrong and realizing that situational context is vital.