63. Practice – Rhythm of War Chapter 70 Summary

Spoiler Notice

This page contains full spoilers for Rhythm of War Chapter 70. If you haven’t read it yet, proceed with caution to avoid major plot revelations.

Summary

Kaladin endures harrowing nightmares of his friends dying and wakes to find Dabbid has left gemstones and broth. Syl confesses she asked Dalinar to make her feel human sorrow, but instead he Connected her to memories of her previous knight, triggering both pain and a greater understanding of spren agency. Dabbid returns with a strange fabrial sent by Navani—a personal lift that uses heavy falling weights and conjoined rubies to pull the user. Navani, communicating through the Sibling’s crystal veins, instructs Kaladin to replace the fabrial’s rubies with Voidspren gems from stolen spanreeds. Kaladin practices in a hallway, crashing repeatedly and breaking his hand, healing slowly due to Stormlight rationing. He learns to control the device, noting its three-dimensional potential despite its limitations. Through the physical exertion, Kaladin glimpses the joy of flight again, and he resolves to master the lift quickly, knowing the tower’s defense will soon depend on him. He remains haunted by battle shock but clings to busyness to keep his inner cracks from widening.

Key Events

  • Kaladin’s sleep is shattered by vivid nightmares of his friends dying.
  • Dabbid provides fresh gemstones, then retrieves a fabrial from a location the Sibling revealed.
  • Syl describes her request to Dalinar and the resulting memory surge, leading her to reflect that spren can choose and change.
  • Navani guides Kaladin through swapping the fabrial’s dun rubies for Voidspren ones stolen from the Fused’s spanreeds.
  • Kaladin learns the device’s mechanics: a palm trigger controls speed, weights in a shaft pull him in the direction his arm points, and a thumb switch engages the conjoined rubies.
  • He practices lateral flight in a corridor, crashes into a wall, and breaks his hand; Stormlight healing is slow and painful.
  • After repeated practice, he masters basic control and begins to see combat applications beyond the intended elevator function.
  • Kaladin commits to intensive training, aware that the Fused are closing in on the remaining nodes.

Character Development

Kaladin

Kaladin’s battle shock is overt and worsening, and he no longer denies it. The nightmares, exhaustion, and urge to isolate himself are constant, yet he finds a fragile lifeline in purposeful action. His admission that “killing, loneliness, and stress” are cornering him shows self-awareness, but his instinct to stay busy is a form of coping—not a cure. The joy he rediscovers during flight practice signals that Windrunner instincts still live within him, even when he cannot Lash.

Syl

Syl’s dialogue marks a significant evolution. She deliberately sought change by asking Dalinar to Connect her to human emotion, and though the result was different, it unlocked painful memories and a new understanding: spren are not static. Her statement that “if we can choose, we can change” resonates as a thesis for the novel’s exploration of agency. She grows from playful companion to a being grappling with identity, and she asks Kaladin to support her as she would support him.

Dabbid

Dabbid moves with quiet competence, retrieving the lift fabrial and water without speaking. His salute and shrugs convey that he is actively helping in ways he once couldn’t, hinting at his ongoing recovery and the trust Kaladin places in him.

Navani

Though physically absent, Navani’s voice through the garnet vein reveals her resourcefulness and determination. She coaches Kaladin patiently, acknowledges the device’s flaws, but insists it is better than nothing. Her confidence in Kaladin’s ability to adapt, and her work to understand the tower’s corrupted Light, make her a vital behind-the-scenes force.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

The Weight of Mental Illness
Kaladin’s battle shock is depicted not as a singular event but as a chronic state that compounds isolation, responsibility, and combat. The exhaustionspren swirling despite sleep, and his moments of catatonic stillness, mirror how depression stalls both body and will.

Agency and Change
Syl directly confronts the spren tenet that they do not change. By asserting that choice implies change, she reframes identity as an act of will rather than preordained nature. This mirrors Kaladin’s own struggle to see himself as someone who can still change despite feeling frozen.

Fabrials as a Substitute for Power
With the tower’s Suppression blocking Stormlight-based Lashings, the lift fabrial becomes a metaphor for adaptation. It is clunky, dangerous, and requires mundane practice, yet it offers a fleeting taste of flight—symbolic of holding onto one’s identity when innate abilities are stripped away.

The Wind and Flight
Despite the mechanical nature of the device, the moment Kaladin soars down the hallway and feels “the wind in his hair” rekindles the core of his Windrunner soul. Flight, even artificial, represents hope and the defiance of gravity that has defined his journey.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter bridges Kaladin’s internal collapse and his functional obligations. It introduces the lift fabrial, a critical tool for the coming battles when he cannot fly by Stormlight, and it lays the groundwork for his eventual high-stakes navigation of the tower. Syl’s revelation about spren change deepens the lore and foreshadows the evolving nature of the spren bond. Furthermore, the chapter emphasizes that Kaladin’s fight is not only against the Fused but also against the debilitating symptoms of his trauma, making his perseverance both poignant and precarious.

Study Questions and Answers

  1. How does Kaladin’s training with the lift fabrial mirror his emotional state?
    Kaladin approaches the device with grim practicality, crashing repeatedly but persisting because he sees no other choice. The deliberate, repetitive practice echoes his struggle to keep moving through depression—each crash is painful and slow to heal, yet he gets back up. The absence of Stormlight healing forces him to endure the pain more consciously, just as his battle shock forces him to face his mental wounds without his usual distraction of endless fighting.

  2. What does Syl’s reflection on spren and change reveal about her character development?
    Syl’s admission that she sought to feel human sadness and her acceptance that spren can choose and change signals her maturation from a whimsical honorspren into a being with self-determined identity. She rejects the static nature often ascribed to spren, aligning herself with the human experience of growth. This development deepens her bond with Kaladin, as she too now grapples with memory, pain, and the weight of the past.

  3. Why is Kaladin’s observation that “killing, loneliness, and stress” form an “unholy triumvirate” significant within the chapter?
    The phrase frames Kaladin’s mental deterioration as a systematic assault—three forces working together to corner him. It demonstrates his awareness that his condition is not merely battle fatigue but a combination of his profession, his isolation from his men, and the relentless pressure of command. This insight underscores how the occupation traps him in a cycle where the very things that once gave him purpose are now destroying him, setting the stage for his eventual need to redefine himself beyond the battlefield.

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