Stormlight Archive Recap: Other Notable Characters

Stormlight Recap Series: World and History | Main Characters | Outstanding Mysteries

Welcome back! If you missed the first two Stormlight Archive recap articles you can find them above. So far we have covered the world and history of Roshar, the three main characters of the Stormlight Archive, and Szeth, the upcoming flashback character. In this article we will discuss some other need-to-know characters. This article will have spoilers for the Stormlight Archive, but there will NOT be spoilers for other Cosmere books. Here we go!

ADOLIN

Adolin is Dalinar's firstborn son, with unparalleled skills in Shardblade dueling (thanks to instincts from his father, perhaps) and fashion (definitely not from Dalinar). Though Adolin never believed his father was perfect, he has always managed deep respect for the man. Their relationship grew immensely as they worked together fighting Parshendi on the Shattered Plains, and was strengthened after their betrayal together and the hands of Sadeas and their shared mission to unite the highprinces. Adolin's murder of Sadeas was an unexpected development for Dalinar, however, and the truth of Dalinar's role in the death of his mother wasn't easy for Adolin to swallow. Adolin left for Lasting Integrity on poor terms with his father. Will their relationship improve or be shattered beyond repair? Meanwhile, Adolin's Shardblade, Mayalaran, showed remarkable signs of recovery when she stood up for Adolin during his trial among the Honorspren. Will she continue to improve? And what will that mean for the rest of the deadeyes in Shadesmar, who came to witness Adolin's trial?

RENARIN

Renarin is Dalinar's youngest son, having a kindhearted nature and thoughtfulness that could only have been gained from his loving mother. With epilepsy keeping Renarin off the battlefield and a growing interest in scholarship, Renarin has had a more difficult time relating to his father than Adolin. While the two have made some progress, and his experiences as a member of Bridge Four have boosted his confidence, Renarin still struggles to find his place in the world. His strange bond to the corrupted Truthwatcher spren Glys, which grants cryptic visions of the future, left Renarin in a more unusual place than ever. Will his visions ultimately prove to be a blessing or curse?

NAVANI

Navani originally married Gavilar despite a quiet interest in Dalinar, making her queen of Alethkar for some time. Her husband proved to be an abusive man, however, and he ultimately left her with shaky self-confidence in her passion for fabrials. Now several years later, she has married Dalinar and helped him to forge the coalition of rulers standing against Odium. When the enemy captured Urithiru one year into the war, Navani worked with the Sibling--the spren of the city--to protect the tower from Raboniel's and her army of Fused. Under Raboniel's eye Navani also discovered the secrets to creating destructive "anti-Light". In one desperate moment the Sibling bonded Navani, creating a new Bondsmith and restoring the city to its former glory. As a new Bondsmith, what role will Navani have in the fight to come? The Sibling isn't pleased with the techniques used to create modern fabrials. Will they find a way to compromise? And perhaps most important of all, how will the creation of anti-Light, capable of permanently destroying both Fused and spren, change the war?

JASNAH

Jasnah's research into the past, acted upon by Shallan, was largely to thank for humanity's survival so far in the True Desolation. She is now a queen and one of the few Radiants to have reached the Fourth Ideal. What kind of queen will she be, and what role will she play among the Radiants?

BRIDGE FOUR

Let's talk about this group here rather than the "Groups" section in the next article, Bridge Four is less about a group with some overarching goal and more about a collection of amazing individuals that we know and love deeply! All of the original members of Bridge Four, and many who came later, are now full Windrunners. Many have also moved on: Rock departed for personal reasons, Teft was killed at the hands of Moash, and now Kaladin himself has stepped down from leadership. Will Bridge Four and the Windrunners be in good hands with Sigzil, Skar, Drehy, and Lopen running the crew?

RLAIN

One special member of Bridge Four never had an opportunity to bond a spren of his own... Until very recently. The Enlightened mistspren Tumi, sent by Sja-anat at a recommendation of Renarin, observed Rlain and decided to bond the singer. Renarin is now longer the only Enlightened Truthwatcher standing against Odium. What visions of the future will Rlain experience, and what role will he play as the "Bridger of Minds" as Tumi named him?

MOASH

Then we have Moash. Though he was skeptical of Kaladin early on, Moash grew to trust Kaladin deeply and the two quickly became friends. Moash's drive to seek vengeance against Elhokar placed him at odds with Kaladin's Ideals however. Disillusioned by both human and singer leaders, Moash turned to Odium for release from his burdens. After killing Elhokar during the Battle of Kholinar, Moash was given the task of assassinating the Herald Jezrien with a special dagger. After performing that deed without question, Moash was renamed "Vyre" by the Fused. During the occupation of Urithiru, Moash added Teft to his body count, and attempted to drive Kaladin to suicide. But in the end he fled from the tower, blinded by the light of the new Bondsmith. Will Moash's guilt finally crush him, will he seek redemption for his failures, or will he turn to Odium all the more?

VENLI

While her elder sister sought to make peace with the humans, Venli hungered for power and sought to return her peoples' ancient gods. When the Everstorm came, bringing with it the Fused, things did not go as planned. Venli was reduced to a puppet spreading Odium's propaganda about her people, but she was encouraged by a new bond with the lightspren Timbre to do better. Venli swore the oaths of the Knights Radiant to become a Willshaper, allowing Timbre to capture the Envoyform-granting Voidspren in her gemheart. She began furtive efforts to restore a listener nation independent of Odium's rule, while serving under the Fused Leswhi. During the occupation of Urithiru, she learned that a remnant of her people remained, east of the Shattered Plains. Her followers were granted an opportunity to return to the listeners, though first she returned to the tower and inspired Leswhi and some of her Shanay-im to rebel and aid the humans. After the battle, Leshwi joined Venli and the rest of the listeners, who have found allies in the chasmfiends. Several lightspren followed as well, granting a bond to Venli's mother and several others. What is next for Venli, the listeners, their chasmfiends, and the rebellious Shanay-im?

THE HERALDS

Taln, the sole Herald who was abandoned, is in particularly poor shape after his four and a half millennia alone on Braize. Ash attends to him, wracked with guilt for what the Heralds did and interested in little else. Ash's father, the Herald Jezrien, was murdered by Moash and is the first of their number to have ever been permanently killed. Though the Oathpact is not shredded completely, it is gravely weakened. Beyond these three, we only know about the activities of four other Heralds. Kalak has been hiding among the honorspren in Lasting Integrity. He became a target of the Ghostbloods, though he was spared by Shallan. Nale is actively leading the Skybreakers and working with Odium. Battar appears to have worked for Taravangian's Diagram under the name "Dova", though her activities now that the Diagram has been disbanded are a mystery. Lastly, the crazed Ishar has named himself god-priest of Tukar, and appears to have been performing grotesque experiments that involve bringing spren from Shadesmar into the Physical Realm. The purpose of these ghastly experiments is unclear, but in a moment of mental clarity the Herald urged Dalinar to seek him out in Shinovar. What has become of the three remaining Heralds--Chanarach, Pailiah, and Vedel--and what role will these broken immortals play in the future of Roshar?

TARAVANGIAN

Taravangian was one of the few whom Gavilar confided in regarding his visions, and after Gavilar's assassination Taravangian was driven to extreme measures to curb the threat of the coming Desolation. He visited the Nightwatcher and asked for the capacity to save the world; he came out with a strange effect from Cultivation herself, which left him dull-minded and deeply emotional on some days while genius and dispassionate on others. The most notable result of this magic was Taravangian's creation of the Diagram--the collected works of a single day of brilliance which left Taravangian with a plan for saving the world, as well as an organization of followers committed to seeing the Diagram fulfilled. They supplemented the Diagram with death rattles--the utterances of men and women who die when the Unmade Moelach is nearby, which sometimes contain hints about the future. The Diagram proved impossible to fulfill perfectly, however, as Taravangian's efforts to seize ultimate control on Roshar failed when Dalinar unexpectedly rejected Odium. In a desperate attempt to save a remnant--his home city of Khabranth--Taravangian betrayed the coalition to Odium. Dalinar had the man under house arrest in the weeks that followed, during which Taravangian realized Odium's futuresight was blinded by Renarin Kholin. He failed to communicate this important knowledge to Dalinar, but when Szeth came to kill Taravangian at the same time Odium paid a visit, Taravangian drew Nightblood and killed the vessel of Odium. Taravangian's deeply emotional state made him an enticing new vessel for the Shard, and Taravangian Ascended--becoming the new Odium.

That will be all for this time. In the next and final article we will be talking about important groups and some ongoing mysteries to be aware of! If you found this helpful, make sure to tag your friends or share it around. If you feel like something important was left out, or if you have a question, let us know in the comments. If you haven't visited our forums and Discord server, consider this your welcome! We'd love to hear your voice in the conversation. Until next time, Life before Death!

Check out our other articles in our Stormlight Recap Series: World and History | Main Characters | Outstanding Mysteries

Special thanks to the artists whose work was used in this article!

• Dalinar Wind and Truth Concept Art by Petar Penev
• Artifabrian, and Mastermind by Ari Ibarra on behalf of Brotherwise Games
• Willshaper by Nastya Lehn on behalf of Brotherwise Games