Words of Radiance: Chapter 79

Progression of the Chapter:
Dalinar muses on recent revelations; Rlain is interviewed by his commanding officer; mysteries of the Listeners are uncovered; Rlain’s fears for his people are honored; he agrees to help Dalinar for their sake.
Quote of the Chapter:
Rlain went in good faith to do a hard task, in service to the survival of his people, yet now it seems to have all been in vain. The people of his birth are no more; they have become what they had for centuries sacrificed their heritage to avoid. He feels a traitor to the people of his new loyalty, those who accepted him and gave him fellowship.
Fortunately, his new people refuse to abandon him, and his new commander vows to help save what may be left of his race. Still, it’s a hard place to be.
Development of the Chapter:
Dalinar felt as if he were trying to stop a dam from breaking, all the while not knowing where the leaks were actually coming from.
This chapter gives a deep sense of teetering on the brink of something, with Dalinar the one responsible for the next step that may save them all, or plunge them all into chaos. He’s received startling information about the Radiants actually re-forming, plus Jasnah’s belief of the Voidbringers returning, and he’s fitting both of those into the visions he’s been receiving. With the discovery of red-eyed Parshendi, his own observation confirms the return of terrible foes who had been thought to be mere legend and folk tale. The world is shifting around him, and he has to try to hold it all together as best he can.
Into this mess walks Rlain: thought to be a parshman, revealed to have been a spy, and now returned as a warrior whose former leaders have betrayed him. He brings further evidence that the legends are, in fact, all too real.
That’s not ominous or anything. Readers still don’t know for sure who/what their gods are, though it’s reasonable to assume the Unmade are part of it somehow. This seems to imply that perhaps the Unmade were once people (of whatever race) who chose to join Odium.
Nevertheless, it's clear now - to Dalinar as well as to the reader - that stormform is purpose-driven by the old gods ... and this does not bode well for Dalinar's army and his prior hopes for a peaceful solution. Rlain’s words here make it eminently clear that they are "The Enemy" in a new and dreadful way.
The tensions in this chapter are starting to run high; clearly, an avalanche is approaching. At the beginning, it’s noted that they’re all restless, partly due to discovering the red-eyed Parshendi, and partly due to the anticipation of an attack at any time. Rlain’s information obviously adds to that, but he also brings in a separate note of tension: the parshmen. While the slaveforms themselves may not care much, a dullform notices and remembers far more - and a warform, remembering, is very much not pleased at the Alethi treatment of his race.
Despite such displeasure, he has returned to Dalinar’s army with information about the stormforms, and it serves to emphasize the depth of his apprehension for his people. He’s willing to accept as necessary the destruction of all those who have taken stormform, but he’s clearly troubled by the thought of what they may have done to the elderly and the children, and any others who chose not to take the stormform.
Dalinar, honorable man that he (now) is, simply accepts another burden in his struggle to protect the innocent and save the world from the coming Desolation.
Bridge Four does the same thing, but in a different way: they very forthrightly insist that Rlain is Bridge Four, that his load is their load.
It's worth noting that General Khal, Renarin, Aladar, and Roion are the ones off in another tent going over tactics, while Dalinar focuses on Rlain. It seems an odd mix of planners. The question - not that it really matters - is whether Renarin is part of that meeting because he has something to contribute, or because Dalinar wants him listening and learning. Most readers will probably lean toward the latter, but perhaps people in-book may have overlooked Renarin’s tactical and strategic understanding due to his reluctance to speak out.
Stormwatch:
Ars Arcanum/Ars Mechanica:
Rlain doesn’t actually explain how his people change forms - merely that they do. There's this exchange from the JordanCon RAFOlympics:
Q: When a Parshendi changes forms, are they taking different spren into their gemhearts?
A: When a Parshendi changes forms, they are ... . [carefully] entering into a symbiotic relationship with a new spren. [laughter] That’s the answer you’re going to get. That’s a RAFO.
So Brandon didn’t deny the gemheart suggestion, but also refused to confirm it.
Heraldic Symbolism:
Chanarach stands alone over this chapter, and it’s a poignant statement. The Guard, brave and obedient, which totally describes Rlain in this scene. It also describes Adolin, standing on guard very nearby in case his father is in any danger; and, Teleb, of guarding his world from the coming Desolation - including the innocent members of the race that has turned back to serving the Desolation.
Shipping Wars:
Adolin was betrothed to a member of the Knights Radiant.
There are two interesting little notes in this section. One is that Dalinar has apparently stopped thinking of it as merely a causal betrothal, even though it hasn’t been seen that Shallan and Adolin go through any further formalities. It's just "betrothed." Two, it doesn’t appear to cross Dalinar's mind that Shallan's impending "Radiantness" might affect the situation. Given that he learned at the same time that said Radiantness was a large part of Jasnah's rationale in putting the betrothal forward, maybe that makes sense?
It might also be worth noting that Dalinar hasn't wondered how Adolin might react when he learns that his betrothed is a Lightweaver-in-training. Then again, there are a few other things going on just now, which some might say have a legitimate ability to draw his attention away from his son’s romantic entanglements.
Words of Diagram:
This would seem to imply that either Taravangian was not, at the time of this writing, aware of humanity on other worlds, or that his understanding of the conflict assumed Roshar as the last defense of the Cosmere. It seems possible that seven-or-so years ago (whenever he had that brilliant day) Taravangian may not yet have been aware of Worldhoppers. There is one hint that he may have become aware of something odd about either Hoid or Mraize, but it’s not solid.
In the for-what-it's-worth department, Taravangian noted in The Way of Kings that the Death Rattles first came to notice well before Gavilar’s assassination - in fact, at about the time he first made contact with the Parshendi. It is a commonly-held assumption that Taravangian went to the Nightwatcher after Gavilar’s death, but he uses the Death Rattles to update, interpret, or guide the use of the Diagram. It doesn’t prove Taravangian had already written the Diagram when the Death Rattles began, but there may, perhaps, be a correlation.
- Paraphrased from Alice Arneson