Rhythm of War (9781429952040)
“Rhythm of War” is the fourth installment in Brandon Sanderson’s epic fantasy series, The Stormlight Archive. Set on the planet Roshar, the novel continues the conflict between Dalinar Kholin’s coalition of Knights Radiant and the forces of Odium, a malevolent god seeking dominion. The story delves deeper into the psychological and emotional struggles of key characters, including Kaladin, Shallan, and Navani, as they grapple with war, trauma, and the mysteries of ancient magics. Themes of resilience, identity, and the cost of power are explored amidst intricate world-building and high-stakes battles. The book expands the Cosmere universe, revealing new layers of lore and setting the stage for future confrontations.
65. Hypothesis
bySanderson, Brandon
Navani, confined and under surveillance, immerses herself in the study of light, a subject she finds endlessly fascinating. Surrounded by texts gathered from various sources, she deciphers ancient theories about light’s nature—whether it has weight or is defined by its force. Her curiosity leads her to conduct experiments, splitting light into its spectral components using prisms. She discovers that different types of light, such as Stormlight and Voidlight, produce distinct patterns, hinting at deeper complexities.
Her experiments take a pivotal turn when she examines Towerlight, a fusion of Stormlight and Lifelight. Unlike other lights, Towerlight splits into two separate rainbows, which she cannot recombine. This anomaly sparks her suspicion that Lifelight might have been present during Gavilar’s death, a event she revisits through her journals. The emotional weight of Gavilar’s betrayal lingers as she recalls his cryptic words and the mysterious spheres he displayed.
Navani’s reflections on Gavilar’s death reveal a painful duality: her public glorification of his legacy contrasts with her private grief and unresolved questions. She rereads her account of his final moments, where he accused her of being “a thing that destroys light.” This accusation haunts her, intertwining with her scientific inquiries. Her experiments and memories converge, suggesting a connection between the light she studies and the enigmatic events surrounding Gavilar’s demise.
The chapter culminates in Navani’s struggle to reconcile her scientific pursuits with her emotional turmoil. Her discoveries about light’s properties parallel her unresolved feelings about Gavilar’s betrayal. The juxtaposition of her intellectual curiosity and personal pain underscores the chapter’s central theme: the search for truth, both in the natural world and in the shadows of the past. Her work becomes a metaphor for her own journey—splitting apart complexities to uncover hidden truths, even when they cannot be neatly reassembled.
FAQs
1. What experiment does Navani conduct with light, and what are her key findings?
Answer:
Navani performs a prism experiment to split light into its component colors, using both ordinary candlelight and Invested Lights (Stormlight, Voidlight, and Towerlight). She discovers that Stormlight produces a rainbow with a larger blue band, while Voidlight creates an enormous violet band with minimal other colors. Most notably, Towerlight—a combination of Stormlight and Lifelight—splits into two distinct rainbows that cannot be recombined. This reveals that Towerlight is a unique fusion of two separate Invested Lights that maintain their individual properties even when combined. These findings challenge her previous understanding of light as a singular, homogeneous entity (pages 762-764).2. How does Navani’s personal history with Gavilar influence her current research?
Answer:
Navani’s memories of Gavilar’s death and his cryptic behavior with unusual spheres (possibly containing Invested Light) directly inform her investigation. She recalls his possession of spheres emitting “alien light” that seemed to negate illumination, which parallels her current experiments with different Invested Lights. Gavilar’s cruel dismissal of her scholarly pursuits—calling her “a thing that destroys light”—haunts her but also fuels her determination to prove her scientific worth. Her emotional struggle with his betrayal becomes a driving force behind her meticulous study of light’s properties (pages 763-764).3. Analyze the significance of Navani’s discovery that Towerlight cannot be fully recombined. What might this imply about Invested Light?
Answer:
The irreversible separation of Towerlight suggests that Invested Lights from different Shards (e.g., Stormlight from Honor and Lifelight from Cultivation) retain their fundamental identities even when mixed. This challenges the assumption that Investiture is universally interchangeable. The phenomenon implies that each Shard’s Light has a unique “signature” or spiritual wavelength, which may reflect the Intent of its originating deity. Navani’s observation that the split rainbows produce distinct beams (blue-white and green-white) further supports the idea that Investiture is not merely energy but carries metaphysical distinctions tied to its source (page 763).4. How does Navani balance her role as a covert resistance operative with her genuine scientific curiosity?
Answer:
Navani uses her research as both a cover for resistance activities and a legitimate intellectual pursuit. She sends nonsensical, ciphered messages to her scholars (“figgldygrak”) to confuse the Fused while maintaining communication with allies like Rushu. Simultaneously, she immerses herself in light experiments, recognizing that Raboniel permits this study for the enemy’s gain—but Navani turns it into an opportunity for independent discovery. Her dual focus demonstrates her ability to leverage apparent constraints (imprisonment, forced collaboration) into strategic and scholarly advantages (pages 762-763).5. Reflect on the chapter’s epigraph questioning God’s destructible substance. How does Navani’s work with Invested Light relate to this theme?
Answer:
The epigraph’s paradox—a God existing in all things yet being destructible—mirrors Navani’s empirical investigation of divine Light as a tangible, manipulable force. Her experiments treat Investiture (a manifestation of Shards’ power) as both a physical phenomenon with measurable properties and a metaphysical essence tied to deities. The fact that Light can be split, combined, or altered (e.g., Towerlight’s behavior) suggests that divine power operates within natural laws, blurring the line between the eternal and the mutable. This aligns with the broader cosmere theme that even godlike beings are subject to underlying principles (pages 762-764).
Quotes
1. “As we dig further into this project, I am left questioning the very nature of God. How can a God exist in all things, yet have a substance that can be destroyed?”
This epigraph sets the philosophical tone for the chapter, questioning divine omnipresence versus vulnerability—a theme echoed in Navani’s scientific exploration of light’s dual nature.
2. “Light was far more interesting than Navani had realized. It constantly surrounded them, flooding in through windows and beaming from gemstones. A second ocean, white and pure, so omnipresent it became invisible.”
This passage marks Navani’s awakening to light’s paradoxical ubiquity and hidden complexity, foreshadowing her groundbreaking experiments that reveal its divisible nature.
3. “The most interesting result happened when she tried the experiment on the Towerlight Raboniel had collected… When she tried the prism experiment with this light, two separate rainbows of colors—distinct from one another—split out of the prism.”
This pivotal discovery demonstrates the composite nature of Towerlight, representing the chapter’s scientific climax where Navani empirically proves light’s dualistic properties.
4. “You aren’t worthy. That’s why… You study light, but you are its opposite. A thing that destroys light.”
Gavilar’s cruel accusation becomes a haunting refrain, contrasting with Navani’s actual breakthroughs and highlighting the chapter’s emotional core about destructive vs. illuminating knowledge.
5. “She forced herself to linger on his words. You are its opposite. A thing that destroys light…”
Navani’s confrontation with this painful memory underscores the chapter’s thematic tension between creation/destruction and light/darkness, mirroring her prism experiments’ revelations.