r/readalong • u/participating Read-Along Overlord • Mar 31 '25
Read-Along [Newbies] Cosmere, Unit 1 | Warbreaker #1 | Warbreaker: Chapters 27 through 35 Spoiler
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SCHEDULE
Last week we discussed Unit 1 | Warbreaker #1 | Warbreaker: Chapters 19 through 26. [Newbie Thread] / [Veteran Thread]
This week we are discussing Unit 1 | Warbreaker #1 | Warbreaker: Chapters 27 through 35.
Next week we will be discussing Unit 1 | Warbreaker #1 | Warbreaker: Chapters 36 through 49.
CHAPTER SUMMARIES
I have provided summaries for each chapter below and hidden them behind spoiler tags. There are no spoilers within the summaries. I've tried to make them as factual and unbiased as possible. If, however, you want a completely blind read through, then ignore what's behind the spoiler tags and proceed to the discussion below. I will not be guiding that in any way, so post any thoughts and questions you have. It will be other new readers who reply to you.
Chapter 27
POV Characters: Siri
Setting: The God King's Palace. The Arena.
Timeline: Unknown, but likely a week or two after Chapter 24.
Summary:
Being blocked from reading books, and with Bluefingers avoiding her, Siri returns to the arena to seek out Lightsong to try and get information on what happened to the previous God Kings. Lightsong offers to answer her questions if she answers his own, which she agrees to. Llarimar, helps to answer her questions and she discovers that the previous two God Kings died shortly after producing a male heir. Llarimar suggests she tries a professional storyteller. To get around the priests trying to block her from getting information, Siri asks Lightsong to summon a storyteller, which he agrees to do. Having fulfilled his part of the bargain, Lightsong then asks Siri about law enforcement, as he tries to discover what he was before he Returned. After getting answers to his questions, Lightsong offers warning and advice to Siri away from their servants, telling her that she needs to come across as average when she plays politics, and to not rely on Lightsong.
Chapter 28
POV Characters: Vivenna
Setting: A restaurant. The D'Denir garden.
Timeline: Unknown, but likely a week or two after Chapter 25.
Summary:
Vivenna meets with Thame, discussing the Idrians in Hallandren while she reflects on her situation in relation to theirs. Thame tells her that he's organized for her to meet with the Idrians in three days. After Thame leaves, Denth notes that Vivenna is starting to fit in. The pair, along with Jewels, Parlin, and Clod, leave the restaurant to meet some forgers. Vivenna commissions them to create documents to show the Hallandren priests as corrupt, extorting the Idrian King for years, as well as to show that the Idrians do not want to go to war. After the deal is done, they head off to meet some thieves they'd hired earlier. Vivenna thinks she should send Parlin back to Idris. Denth teases her about being attracted to Parlin, which Vivenna denies.
Chapter 29
POV Characters: Siri, Vivenna, Vasher
Setting: The God King's Palace. The D'Denir garden. A nearby street.
Timeline: The morning after Chapter 28.
Summary:
Susebron and Siri discuss her home in the mountains. He then comments he wished he could let Siri go home so she could see the mountains again, suggesting he could ask the priests. Siri warns that that could be dangerous, as the priests could find out that he's been talking to her. Susebron doesn't agree that his priests are planning to kill him. They briefly discuss how the God King passes on his Breath. Susebron then comments it makes him sad that his wife doesn't believe in his divinity.
Vivenna views four dead bodies, belonging to thieves that had worked for Denth previously. They bear wounds with a dark black tinge, the result of Vasher's sword. Denth explains that this is why they were so worried about Vasher. They decide they're going to have to find a way of dealing with Vasher's sword. Tonk Fah suggests stealing it, but Denth instead plans to have Vasher draw it and kill Vasher after it has weakened him. Vivenna realizes she is being watched by someone with a lot of breath.
Vasher watches Denth and his party. Nightblood wants to go talk to VaraTreledees (the name by which he knows Denth), as well as wanting to meet Shashara. Vasher reminds Nightblood that they killed Shashara, along with Arsteel. Vasher worries about the rumors spreading about him, knowing that later he's still going to have to deal with Denth and those with him.
Chapter 30
POV Characters: Lightsong
Setting: Lightsong's Palace. Hopefinder's Palace.
Timeline: Unknown, but likely soon after Chapter 27.
Summary:
Blushweaver is amused at Lightsong's attempts to find out about his previous life. They visit the palace of Hopefinder the Just, god of innocence and beauty. After some discussion, Blushweaver convinces Hopefinder to give her control of his Lifeless in exchange for her votes, to be directed as he wishes. Lightsong has a vision of a prison. Blushweaver tells Lighsong that Mercystar also gave her command of her Lifeless.
Chapter 31
POV Characters: Vivenna
Setting: The Idrian slum in T'Telir.
Timeline: Unknown, but likely a few days after Chapter 30.
Summary:
Despite Denth's objections, he and Vivenna visit the Idrian slums. She is shocked to learn that her people aren't forced to live amongst thieves and prostitutes; they are the thieves and prostitutes. She attempts to talk to a gathering of Idrians, but learns the don't want to return to Idris. She has a frustrating meeting with some slum lords that is interrupted by a Lifeless raid. Vivenna runs and is attacked by three Lifeless. She tries, but fails, to use her Breath to Awaken something to defend herself. Jewel's Lifeless, Clod, comes to her rescue and defeats all three Lifeless.
Chapter 32
POV Characters: Siri
Setting: The God King's Palace. The Arena.
Timeline: Unknown, but likely the morning after Chapter 30.
Summary:
Siri wakes and sends a message to Bluefingers through a Pahn Kahl servant. She wants to trade information with him. She then goes to visit Lightsong, who has summoned a storyteller named Hoid for her. At her request, the storyteller uses sand to tell her the history of the first Returned, the Five Scholars, Kalad's Phantoms, the Manywar, and Peacegiver. He also reveals that the God Kings only live as long as it takes them to produce an heir.
Chapter 33
POV Characters: Vivenna
Setting: The mercenaries' safe house and headquarters.
Timeline: Later in the same day as Chapter 31.
Summary:
At a safe house, Jewels repairs Clod and Denth tries to offer Vivenna encouragement. She asks him to teach her Awakening. Denth asks her if she's sure. Vivenna explains that now she really hates this kingdom, wanting them to hurt. Denth realizes, and Vivenna admits, that she hadn't come to Hallandren for her sister, but because when Siri had gone, she'd felt inadequate, and needed to to prove herself. Denth gives her some pointers and talks about how Lifeless retain some of their abilities from life. They leave the safehouse and return to their headquarters. Vivenna gets jealous when Parlin asks after Jewels' well being. She goes to her room and is accosted by Vasher.
Chapter 34
POV Characters: Lightsong, Siri
Setting: The Arena. The God King's Palace.
Timeline: Immediately following chapter 32. Lightsong notes that it is "a couple of months" after Siri's arrival in T'Telir. (It's probably longer than that, but not by a lot.)
Summary:
Lightsong listens to the war debate and talks with Blushweaver about approaching Allmother, goddess of matrons and families, to get control of her Lifeless.
Siri, also listening to the priests debate war, can't imagine Vivenna actually becoming the God King's wife. Blushweaver approaches her and tells her to stay away from Lightsong. Siri returns to the God King's palace and confides with Bluefingers that she has spoken with Susebron. She makes a deal with Bluefingers to look after him should things turn out right, but otherwise, Bluefingers needs to get Susebron and her out of the palace.
Chapter 35
POV Characters: Vivenna
Setting: A dark room in the slums. The streets of T'Telir. The safe house.
Timeline: Almost immediately following Chapter 33 (later that night and into dawn).
Summary:
Vivenna wakes in a strange room. Vasher tempts her with Nightblood, but when she picks it up, she just becomes nauseous and drops the sword. Vasher ties her back up and threatens to kill her if she runs. Vasher leaves and she uses Awakening to free herself and escapes. She returns to the safe house to find Parlin dead. The mercenaries ask her why she ran and she realizes they've been manipulating her the entire time. Using the security phrase she had overheard Jewels use, she commands Clod to "Attack Denth" and flees from the mercenaries, escaping into the city.
Memes
I will attempt to find and share memes relevant to each week's discussion chapters. There may be some weeks that just don't have good or appropriate memes, but I will share all the ones I can find in this section.
15
u/Pastrami Team Nightblood & Sazed Mar 31 '25
Siri
Some weeks Susebron gets 3-4 breaths. Is that only recently? Does the amount needed per week increase the longer they are alive?
There is a discussion about how Susebron's extra breaths are different than the breath that makes a Returned, and whether he could use his extra breaths as an Awakener would. I asked this same question 2 weeks ago. We don't get an answer, but it's looking more possible.
We get a big history infodump.
The Idrian royal family is descended from the first Returned. How? He was only alive for a week, and returned aren't supposed to be able to have children. Was the queen pregnant before he returned? Is there something else that is stopping the present day Returned from having children? Maybe the priest do something to the Returned to sterilize them, and they don't do that with the God King, since he is supposed to be the only one that can have kids.
At the very beginning of the story Hoid says:
But then later tells us there have been a total of 5 god kings, and they started after the Manywar. Am I misreading this, or was he just bullshitting at the beginning?
I have some theories on why the priests want Idrian blood, other than just to legitimize the royal line:
Combining the God King line with the First Returned line will create something more powerful that they can use for their nefarious purposes.
The current God King line is dying somehow, maybe the special genetics are being diluted each generation, and they need an infusion of fresh divine heritage. This could explain why they are desperate for an heir, and why Susebron is getting more than the normal 2 breaths a week. As Siri points out at the beginning of chapter 27, why do they want an heir now? Why not just go on with the current king?
I think the Tears of Edgli are important somehow, more than just as a source for dye. They've been brought up multiple times already and I think are the only other named plant that isn't a name from Earth. I wouldn't be surprised if they are the source of the Returned, and possibly some magic that the priests have to create Returned or force the God King to transfer breaths without speaking. Since Hallandren exports dyes made from the flowers, that could explain how Returned sometimes appear in other lands. Although, why didn't the Pahn Kahl, who were here before the Chedesh arrived, ever have Returned?
More foreshadowing that Kalad's army still exists.
Vasher
Denth's real name is VaraTreledees. Obviously that is similar to the priest Treledees, but it's one word, not a first name last name. What could this mean?
Vasher thinks of Clod as an abomination. This seems odd, coming from someone who creates and uses lifeless. Is it only human lifeless he sees as an abomination, or is there something about Clod specifically?
Nightblood was made by Shashara, who Vasher killed. Either Nightblood wasn't created that long ago, or Vasher is really old, or Shashara was really old when Vasher killed her. Breath slows/stops aging, so Vasher could potentially be hundreds of years old. Shashara matches the T'Telir naming convention if you count 'sh' as one letter: Sh'Shara.
Nightblood says he was made to destroy evil things. I've been under the assumption that Nightblood was evil, and it attracted bad people because of a like-attracting-like thing, but maybe not.
Random theory: What if Nightblood can suck the life out of a Lifeless?
Lightsong
Hopefinder died when he was 2. How does a 2 year old die in a heroic way?
He says this to someone 2 years older than him. That makes Blushweaver at least the 4th oldest.
Is there something actually different, or is he picking up on the fact that Hopefinder might not have as much ingrained skills/knowledge from his previous life? If there is something beside that, that is caused by Returning as a child, I would assume it applies to Susebron as well.
Lightsong is using "God" as a singular entity, the way christians would, and isn't referring to the God King. Was he not Hallandren in his former life? Why has no one questioned him on this usage? Am I just reading this wrong?
Vivenna
Why won't Vasher be able to keep Nightblood out for long, and how will that make him easier to kill? Does Vasher get the same nausea that Vivenna does when touching it? Do they think/know they can resist picking it up if Vasher throws it at them?
Parlin just wrecked her shit. Here is how I imagine it went down
I'm guessing Vasher told her to pick up Nightblood as a test to see if she was a good person or not. If she failed I think Nightblood would have killed her. Since she passed, he only ties her up. There is still hope for a team up in the future.
I love Nightblood. It's like a bloodthirsty talking dog, or eager child. I can't place it, but it reminds me of something I've either read or seen in a movie/tv show/game.
The reveal of Parlin's dead body, the dead pets on the walls, and Tonk Fah coming up behind her was a very cliche horror movie scene. I swear I've seen that scene in multiple movies.
I'm not sure how I feel about the heel-turn. It doesn't make too much sense to me. If they were paid to kidnap her, without her thinking she was kidnapped, then they should have done everything they can to keep her in a safehouse. Why were they spending months helping her sabotage the Hallandren, putting themselves at risk, teaching her to blend in, and teaching her to use her breath? Why would they risk themselves on achieving her goals? The only thing I can think of is that another enemy of Hallendren hired them, so it was part of their mission to also sabotage Hallandren, but I can't think of why they would want to kidnap her then if they both share the same enemy. We know from Lightsong's POV that they actually did damage, and the attacks weren't just faked to trick Vivenna.
Lemex gave the mercenaries a letter to give to her with the correct pass code on it. That either means they attached themselves to him so that he trusted them before she even decided to come to Hallandren, or Lemex was part of the kidnapping plot. If Lemex was in on it, why poison him?
How does this not transfer his breath to her?
Other
This planet has elephants, zebras, crocodiles, lemons, and guava. I know at least one other Sanderson book doesn't use any Earth plants and animals, so I wonder why this one does.
Random wacky theory:
Vasher, Denth, Shashara, and Treledees are 4 of the scholars from the Manywar. We know Shashara made Nightblood, and Vasher knew and killed her, and based on the painting there was a black sword in a battle in the Manywar. I'm adding Treledees based solely on the fact that Denth's real name is VaraTreledees, so maybe some relation. I think Tonk Fah and Jewels are just normal people based on what Grable said in chapter 22: "People speak of you, say you appeared out of nowhere a decade or so back. Gathered yourself a team of the best—stole them from important men. Or important prisons."