“Why don’t you use my bridges?” Says Sadius. “Why don’t you strand yourself on a plateau with my men serving as the only means of escape?” Says Sadius. “Why don’t you hand me the knife while removing the armor from your back?” Says Sadius
This upcoming betrayal weighs on me. But it does highlight something interesting. Brandon Sanderson does an excellent job of introducing concepts, then having them pay off in the other narratives. (See: Shallan’s “lesson” on human morality followed immediately by the Kaladin flashback where he realizes bravery does not always mean fighting) This chunk of narrative - the betrayal of Dalinar - brings to mind the words of Kaladin earlier in the book when someone mentions how a betrayer amongst the Bridgemen could utterly ruin them all. He says they simply cannot worry about it, for if they did, nothing would get done… and he’s right. Dalinar’s trust is his downfall, but it causes change. Dalinar, in making the choice to trust Sadius, has allowed the world and the war to shift in a way that would not be possible otherwise.
It’s a bit fascinating
Shallan “Let Go Of All Your Parshman” Davar very much does not have any slaves :P She owns those people’s writ of slavery, but allows them to do literally whatever they want. Slavery in Alethkar is a legal punishment, so if she just… let them go they’d be captured again.
Don’t worry, you can root for her <3 She’s very definitely helping those people in the best way she can, and they are completely free - legally - by the end of the book.
Me reading Oathbringer, waiting/hoping Mr. Sanderson takes the time to talk about Shallan no longer having any slaves so I can root for her again. I miss when I rooted for her before...
The Fuck???
Hey so I’m scared now
I’m on early Rhythm of War, no one spoil future stuff!!!
I’m genuinely baffled what the hell Shallan is suppressing that could possibly be worse than what she already remembers. Like. What. What the fuck. How.
Character art I did for @shoccoe for her Cradle oc!
REAL
Sentry posting time!! I’ve read almost all of his appearances and will be giving my thoughts on most of it!
SO! Something I’ve come to enjoy is reading as many books as I can around a specific Marvel character or series (I’ve literally read every single Runaways appearance), and recently became a bit infatuated with the Sentry.
And he’s so neat, but ultimately gets… floundered. Like. His original run is one of the best character studies of a Silver Age-style character with some of the best stylistic expression I’ve seen. It’s a genuinely fantastic roughly 10-issue run of a self-contained story on the meaning of heroism, the importance of legacy, and the actual definition of sacrifice…
And then he gets brought back in New Avengers and it’s like… okay, fine. Sure we can see more of him. And the beginning of it is pretty good!! There’s some confusing retcons, but it works well and I liked it enough. Then you get to his second solo run and it’s peak again! The visual style is worse, but they keep the discordant retro aesthetics for poignant scenes and it works. While the central conflict remains the same Sentry vs Void, the story shifts from analyzing his archetype to analyzing him. It’s about “responsibility”.And-!!! YES!!! It’s powerful to see someone so strong struggle with, then accept that they aren’t the best person to have their gifts, or even a good person to have their gifts, but resolve to do the best they can with them despite that.
But then. But then you finish it. And you hit side-character. And Sentry… he- doesn’t… work. He just doesn’t work as a normal character here. He’s too far outside the power scale so all his interactions in fights just. Ugh. They’re so lifeless?? There’s a fun one in Thunderbolts, but I found New Avengers dreadfully boring and I could NOT care less about Civil War. But… Sentry works way better as a plot point than a character. His appearance in Doctor Strange is my favorite, I’d say, as it treats him as a plot point. He’s the plot device that allows Doctor Strange to go all God of Magic-y!! It’s fun!
but… it gets worse after that point, as Sentry Volume 3 is like- bafflingly bad. He’s mischaracterized to hell, ignores all his previous character growth, and ends with a truly baffling conclusion that gets immediately done away with because it was so stupid. I get wanting to change the status quo for a character, but please don’t make it bad. It seriously felt like they just went with the first idea that came to mind.
Annihilation - Scourge is awesome, go read it. It’s great. Doesn’t do much for Sentry other than revert him to his post Sentry Vol. 2 status quo, but also that status quo was fun and good, so whatever. It’s generally just a good event series I highly recommend it.
And then you hit King in Black. Spoilers, but he gets Piccoloed. It happens a lot with his side-character appearances, but he shows up to lose in order to make the big bad look super strong. It’s… annoying, but I guess effective? It just felt really self-aggrandizing. I am not the biggest fan of Knull. He feels like the edgy OC of a child no one in the friend group likes. “He’s actually the God of the Symbiotes and kills Celestials and made the All Black Necrosword and also could kill all the Beyonders and super easily beats Sentry because he’s so awesome and strong 😎” It retroactively degrades the excellent stories before it and the value of his sacrifices. Sentry doesn’t solve every problem not because he can’t, but because the Void would create that many more. So, because he doesn’t have the right to decide who lives or dies, Sentry chooses to abandon his legacy, his name, his power. He chooses to be one third of a man because it is right. He chooses to let people he could save die, because it would cause other, different innocents to die. Even though it tears him apart physically and mentally, he bears it.
Sentry is the best written "Superman clone" I've seen… in his own books, because in things like King in Black, it feels as if the writers didn't even read the original story. Luckily his appearance in King in Black: Return of the Valkyries I get to see Robert wax philosophical again. I’m not mad he died, I’m mostly just mad he didn’t get the respect or pomp in death he deserved.
And I think I refuse to read the current Sentry run. I am Not Enthused™️ about the concept. Robert was the interesting part of Sentry, not his powers. Oh! And don’t spoil The Thunderbolts* as I haven’t seen it! I’m excited as I’ve heard nothing but good things, however.
So anyways, I think Sentry’s wife was totally based for wanting to fuck that golden man, even if he’s kind of a wreck, I can look past a few (well, a lot of) mental illnesses. But Linda or I could never fucked the Sentry as hard as Marvel Comics.
Reblogging so I can find it later
Senpai says you’re welcome
I adore the way Stormlight handles war. Everyone believes earnestly that what they do is right. Fervently correct. They would and do die for their beliefs. The Listeners were correct to kill Gavilar, but the Alethi were correct to seek retaliation as well. It captures the experience of conflict better than most media I’ve ever seen.
TRUE!! I’m like. I’m like “oh my God no way I actually know what’s happening this time.”
Average Cosmere aware rereading of The Stormlight Archive
YEAH FUCK YOU AMARAM YOU FILTHY CUCK
*horrified surgeon noises*
*horny guy voice* someone pls cut me open and dig around in my guts