Words of Radiance: Chapter 85

Progression of the Chapter:
Dalinar receives Shallan's message in the increasing storms; Aladar won his plateau; Dalinar orders everyone to Shallan's plateau; a tent collapses as Adolin crashes through on his back, severely damaged Plate leaking Stormlight; the Assassin follows.
... Shallan searches frantically for clues to the Oathgate mechanism; Renarin writes zeroes; "It's come. We're dead."
... Dalinar holds his bleeding son, speaking farewell words of love and guidance; he stands to confront the Assassin, seeking answers; the Assassin is more mad than calm; Dalinar's Blade forms just in time to block Szeth's.
... Adolin attempts to rise; with the help of Skar and Drehy, he begins to remove his battered Plate so that he can help Dalinar; he freezes, watching his father fight.
... Dalinar fights for Gavilar, as he wished he had seven years ago; his instincts lead him well, but it's not enough; he finally realizes that Gavilar's death was not his fault; Roion attacks the Assassin.
... Adolin, unarmored, runs toward his father; Roion is hurled into the sky; Adolin vainly fights the Assassin, as Roion descends and dies; Adolin and Dalinar, with accompanying bridgemen, charge and hope for luck; hope is unfulfilled, and the Assassin touches Dalinar; he, too, hurtles into the sky, and Adolin attacks again; as the Assassin turns to finish him, Dalinar descends slowly from the sky, streaming white Light; Kaladin crashes in like a comet to claim the sky, the winds, and Szeth's life.
Quote of the Chapter:
Development of the Chapter:
All the action in this chapter builds and builds and builds to a moment of hopeless anguish, transformed to breathless bewilderment, shattered by Kaladin's meteoric arrival.
Shallan is getting frustrated by the lack of information: all available writing is in the Dawnchant, and they failed to bring an expert along. (Well, they did, but Navani is still on the other plateau with Dalinar.) Pattern urges her to look for a pattern, but until she finds that, all she's got is that the Knights Radiant are the key. So she's left standing puzzled in the center of the Oathgate. She's almost there ...
Along with the aforementioned frenetic pacing, the poetry of this chapter is stunning. Brandon writes Climax superbly.
It's a magnificent echo of the stirring speech Dalinar gave Aladar a couple of chapters ago: "If you survive this day, you'll be known as one of the greatest men of our generation. Go to your men, Aladar. Lead them. Be a champion." Aladar gaped at Dalinar for a moment, then saluted like he meant it ... and he did.
Dalinar sends word that they are all to make for Shallan's plateau, but in the middle of it, Cael points behind Dalinar:
Amid flying tents and battle reports, the Everstorm builds. The rain gets heavier, then lighter, then heavier; the wind gusts; more tents shake. Dalinar sends Navani to help Shallan, and orders Roion to lead his men to that same plateau, and then ...
Not so much poetic as fearfully descriptive. Last time Adolin was seen, he was missing his helm as well as his left vambrace and gauntlet, and his breastplate was heavily damaged from his battle with Eshonai, but he'd won that when he sent her tumbling into the chasm - but then he met up with Szeth. Now it's worse.
The scene cuts to Shallan, then back to this:
This is nearly perfect in the way it shows the relationship between Dalinar and Adolin from Dalinar's perspective. There's the deep, abiding love of a father for his son, and a certain amount of instinctive protectiveness when his son is injured. But there's also the strong, confident respect and trust of one man for another: this son of his is a grown man, and a good one. For years now, he's been entrusted with military leadership, and has been actively involved in planning sessions. He's proven himself. At the core, Dalinar has no fear of trusting Adolin with the princedom and all it entails. He stands up to face what amounts to certain death, rock-solid in the knowledge that his son is fully capable of taking his place as highprince.
(Whether he's correct or not ... remains to be seen.)
The first thing Dalinar does when he faces the small, overly calm Assassin is to ask questions. He wants to know ... why did they kill Gavilar? Why?
Well, clearly Dalinar's not going down without a fight, and he's been in the process of summoning his Blade, so when Szeth strikes, the blow is deflected.
Shifting to Adolin's point of view:
A moment of humor! In the midst of all the love of a son for his father, there's another flash of friendship and respect: apparently Adolin had to do some vigorous persuading to get Dalinar to bond that Blade before hiding it for Amaram to find. But Dalinar is fighting the Assassin, and Adolin does not want to rule the princedom just yet. He just needs to get out of the remaining bits of Shardplate so he can go help, and those bridgemen are always there when he needs them. "You two," Adolin said, "are getting a storming raise."
And then it gets serious again:
Not only does Dalinar move beautifully, he moves by instinct, holding his own against a Surgebinder despite his earlier injuries. In the end, though, it's just not enough, and that's a good thing. There's a certain amount of blameworthiness in lying drunk on a table while your brother is assassinated, but there's also a certain amount of honest and commendable humility in realizing that some things are beyond your ability to control.
Then, an unexpected figure distracts the Assassin from Dalinar for a moment:
The careful one, the cautious one, the one who felt a bit defensive about being called a coward ... He rushed the Assassin with nothing but a side sword and a handful of soldiers. Against a Surgebinder with an Honorblade. Roion was a hero. He gave it all.
The scene goes crazy. Roion hurtles up, screaming; Szeth kills a dozen soldiers; Roion still screams from above; Adolin jumps in with dueling moves; Szeth bats his attack away like a child's; Roion screams until he hits the ground; Szeth starts Lashing objects around; Adolin fights by instinct; he can't beat this thing; he's surrounded by bridgemen; Dalinar is, too; they're going to try to mob the Assassin; Lead them, Adolin. Unite them; Szeth Lashes himself up, then down, knocking Adolin over like a toy, killing a pair of bridgemen, healing his few wounds in moments; they've never had a chance against this thing; they're going to go down fighting ...
At this point the reader knows it's over, it's hopeless. Adolin and Dalinar are both going to die right here, and ...
Into this silent, frozen moment:
Stormwatch:
Still Day Zero.
Ars Arcanum:
This is the moment readers realize that Dalinar hadn't written the countdown – Renarin had. So he's been bonding Glys ever since ... well, since sometime before Chapter 4.
All his life, Renarin has been the odd one, the one everyone thinks is just a little creepy, because his social interactions aren't "normal" for an Alethi. He probably thinks of himself as slightly weird, because he can't be like everyone else. He finally has a set of Shards, though the Blade screams every time he summons it - but since he's always been the weird one, he assumes that's just his own personal problem, too. On top of that, he's seeing the future - which is supposed to be a thing of evil, so he really doesn't dare tell anyone: his family has enough stress, the rest of Alethkar already thinks he's "icky" and he doesn't need to add "anathema." So, as usual, he bore it alone and tried not to be a burden ... but now it's all getting to be too much.
Ars Mechanica:
This is the third chapter with Navani's fabrial floodlights, but is this is a fabrial which uses spren trapped in gemstones, powered by Stormlight? Does it somehow give more light than mere Stormlight-infused gemstone lanterns? How does that work?
Also, the mysterious Oathgate is just that: mysterious.
Heraldic Symbolism:
Paliah could be foreshadowing the revelation of Renarin as a Truthwatcher, since this is the first time readers find out that he's seeing the future, and has been the one writing the countdown on the walls. So, is Nale here to foreshadow his appointment of Szeth as a Skybreaker?
Words of Diagram:
The logical first reaction is that this passage refers to Hoid, which probably means it doesn't. There are other possibilities: Taln (or the person who calls himself Taln), Iyatil, Zahel ... and, of course, Mraize. There's just not enough information to be confident; the only real question is whether Brandon is dangling a truth in front of his readers' noses, or whether this is another misdirection.
- Paraphrased from Alice Arneson