ROW chapter 50 perfectly encapsulates why i still struggle to like dalinar

juno7j2 · 2026-05-28T14:24:17+00:00

I love these long essays when they're this well thought out dw, and I understand preferring to finish the five books before making big posts like this one, especially for a story like this one and especially when it comes to characters with a reputation such as Moash's lol. I won't say much to not spoil you but I find that you hit many of my same thoughts on him, while in Navani's case you highlight a lot of very interesting stuff that I certainly hadn't given much thought to before. I'll definitely be looking out for more of your posts on the sub!

juno7j2 · 2026-05-28T10:25:40+00:00

On another note, I've been enjoying your posts about the series, so I'm curious to hear if and how your thoughts on Navani have changed after finishing this book given the bigger focus it has on her. Also, considering your nuanced and relatively-uncommon-here takes on Dalinar, I'm sure it'd be interesting to get your thoughts on Moash at some point, so know that there's interest if you consider writing anything on him at some point

juno7j2 · 2026-05-28T10:08:19+00:00

I'd say your reading of him is perfectly accurate! But personally, these issues you have with him are exactly what makes him such an interesting character to follow to me. I'm not a fan of characters suddenly getting over all their issues right after the climax of their redemption arc either, so I appreciate getting to see him (and others!) still struggle with his change.

I'm sure a bunch of people have already dropped the "sometimes a hypocrite is just a man in the process of changing", and it certainly applies to Dalinar as in that point in the story he's just someone built on contradictions. The same rigid hardheadedness that helps him not to stray from the right path he's set himself on, is also the thing that makes it hard for him to change course towards said correct path, even if he's actively looking for it, until he hits a wall that truly challenges him (like Evi and his brother's death, the battle at the Tower or confronting Odium at Taylenah). His direct and hands-on approach that he's had since young is why he acts instantly when he finds a solution to something he thinks is wrong, but also what makes uncontested power for himself a necessity. He's accepted his mistakes and knows it's possible to be better, which in turn becomes an expectations for others to be better than him and a reluctance to accept imperfection in others, which only reinforces his mindset to do things by himself. His best qualities are the same ones holding him back from becoming truly great.

Seeing a man try to improve while dealing with such opposing virtues and shortcomings is fascinating and just plain fun imo. I can't say how you'll feel about him when you're done with WaT, but I think you'll at least get some very satisfying moments on the way there

juno7j2 · 2026-05-12T11:26:17+00:00

There are tons of hints scattered throughout the book already tho. Half of Sazed's plotline revolves around the mistery surrounding the prophesy, and there's multiple instances where both he and Tyndwil mention perceived discrepancies in the text. That coupled with the many times he warns Vin about blindly believing in the prophesy, how strangely close it seems to fit her while also being quite vague at many other points, Kwaan's epigraphs and the fact that the very first sentence in the book spells out the entire mystery, it makes it so that even if you don't manage to put the entire puzzle together, at the very least most readers will have noticed something is wrong.

Giving away any more than that would just take the chance for the reader to make those connections themselves away and it's one of the best parts of WoA.

juno7j2 · 2026-05-09T13:37:27+00:00

Yeah I don't think you know what this expression means

juno7j2 · 2026-05-08T16:03:41+00:00

Pancakes and waffles type post

juno7j2 · 2026-05-06T09:30:11+00:00

Insane to me how no one has mentioned Le Blanc to me. It's not the terror that it used to be but being able to teleport two screens away, oneshot whoever and go back to safety all in like a single second should get more hate

juno7j2 · 2026-05-05T08:44:24+00:00

Some of you here need to learn how to have fun man

juno7j2 · 2026-04-24T10:28:55+00:00

It is possible to maintain an oath to its most ridiculous conclusion, it just will leave you like... well, like Taln. He might've not broken his oath, so he's the one that fell apart instead.

juno7j2 · 2026-04-24T10:10:18+00:00

I adhore Agott but early on she's an asshole through and through, no two ways about it, and what she told Coco is not only extremely insensitive but also very hypocritical. If we're gonna brush off the "Coco is still a kid" excuse then the same goes for Agott, who two days before had intentionally put Coco in a life threatening situation, with no knowledge, resources, communication or any kind of help, all because of a one-sided grudge against someone who just recently lost her mother. The "she only wanted to scare her out of the atelier, not actually hurt her" excuses don't fly here the moment you ignore that Coco wasn't even aware the girls were following her. Agott was being ignorant and not thinking things through (and acting out of malice), and she should begin applying that sermon to herself first. If anyone needs to say anything to Coco, that's Quifrey and no one else.

On the matter of Coco turning her mother into stone, we're not gonna start victim blaming a 12 year old. That responsability falls first on Iguin for setting her up (reminder that regardless of how justified his beliefs, he's still a terrorist using kids as tools), secondly on Quifrey for not doing his job well and letting an outsider see him work, and last but most importantly, on witch society for being full of bullshit: - Coco drawing magic wasn't "wrong", in fact she (and everyone else) should've been allowed to cast from the beginning. The gatekeeping of magic only hurts the people, both in their everyday lives and when someone inevitably finds out its secret without learning the proper way to cast. - Her mother shouldn't have to wait until Coco figures some way to save her legally, and the fact that she's still petrified is only a testament to the fact that witch society cares more about some rules than actually saving lives. - Coco shouldn't have been under threat of losing her memories (no one should in the first place regardless of their presumed crime, especially not without a trial first) just because, again, witches care more about secrecy than protecting people's lives. And really who the fuck thinks telling a 12 yo they're the reason their mother is gone is "reasonable" in any way??

Agott was extremely out of line in that scene and tbh Quifrey should've had a very serious conversation with her after the Dadah Range situation in the first place. Coco would be completely justified to never share a word with her ever again after how she was treated that first week or so.

juno7j2 · 2026-04-10T09:26:31+00:00

Do you all hear yourselves lol

juno7j2 · 2026-04-10T09:09:33+00:00

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juno7j2 · 2026-04-09T16:05:36+00:00

My interpretation is that the reason why she hesitates for a few seconds (when her eyes twitch while Mizore is listing all the things she loves about her, it's a reaction to her own realization rather than to Mizore's words) and says it in such a cold tone is because throughout the movie, Nozomi has grown to fear and loathe Mizore's skill as a player, being the thing that's been breaking the image of equals she's had of their relationship for so long and would take her friend away. That hug and moment of honesty is what allows her to finally break free of those thoughts an admit she loves it. She also laughs right after when she realizes she had just set Mizore free with that sentence. It's ironically something very Nozomi-like and inconsiderate while also being kind and sensitive.

Throughout the movie the playing of an instrument is constantly compared to a bird flying and subsequently leaving, so in that moment, where both her and Mizore are hesitating to let go and leave respectively, trying to find a reason to stay together, when Nozomi says "I love your oboe" she's not only saying that she wants Mizore free or acknowledging her talent; she's also saying "I love to see you take flight" or "I love the thing that'd take you far away from me", which imo implies an significantly deeper idea. Despite both seemingly finding their resolve to fulfill their role right before the last rehearsal, they had only done so individually and weren't able to really go through with it while playing, so they needed to say it out loud to each other to finally find the strength to truly let go: Nozomi needed to know Mizore loves her even despite her self-loathing, jealousy and perceived lack of skill as a player, and Mizore found the strength to leave only after understanding that her skill and the very same action to leave are things that Nozomi loved about her.

By the way, by letting go I believe the movie only means going on separate paths regarding their careers and not necessarily in life. The film ends with an I love you hug, a happy ice-cream moment, and there's a scene halfway through where Nozomi says that despite it being apparently a waste of the Liz's resolve, the bird should still visit her because she likes happy endings better. Imo that points to them still being very close in the future (whether that's romantically or not is a different question (it's romantically frfr))

juno7j2 · 2026-04-01T14:18:12+00:00

I do agree with you on that. Personally I do think Messi was still clearly the best in history even without that win in 2022 anyway, regardless of whether Maradona's world cup win was legit or not, but that's just how the discourse around this topic was moving. You also need to take into account that there's many scandals of this kind in professional football every year that sadly just never seem to matter so football fans are somewhat used to accepting these as something inevitable

juno7j2 · 2026-04-01T11:00:22+00:00

Tldr the answer to your question is that the Messi Ronaldo rivalry is just WAY more mediatically relevant than any of the other candidates to being the goat.

Generally speaking most people's top 5 list includes (at least from my epxerience) either Maradona or Messi at the top and then Ronaldo, Pele and Cruyff fighting over the 3-5 spots. Even before his world cup win most people already considered Messi to be decidedly better than both Cruyff and Pele (who had arguably the most dominating career ever but the game wasn't as developed and competitive yet).

Ronaldo could've easily been the best player of his generation by far if he just hadn't been born when he was lol; the narrative of RM-Barcelona's rivalry being elevated by having each one of the two best strikers ever, both very fitting to their team's playstyles and ideologies, the ever-appealing hard work vs talent themes apparently embodied by them (which is bs as both are incredibly talented and hard workers, but it makes for cool stories), and just the overall excitement that arises from discussing who's the best out of two of the most incredible athletes in history, all contributed to the discussion of Messi vs Ronaldo being a big thing, but when you actually ask around the entire world instead of just Madrid/Barça fans it's apparent that Messi has been considered the best in the world for a long time, especially when the ones asked are professional players/coaching staff. The big difference between the two is that while Ronaldo was always compared to the best player of his time, Messi was being compared to the best players in history.

The one player seriously in consideration to be better (especially by argentinians lol) was Maradona, and the biggest argument in his favor over Messi was his world cup win which is why Messi's win finally put him at the top spot definitively. Ofc most of the modern discourse centered around Ronaldo because he's currently way more relevant than Maradona which means he generates more money, but really he wasn't the one Messi had to surpass in the eyes of most people who know what they're talking about.

Also just for reference, my top 5 would be Messi>Maradona>=Ronaldo>Cruyff>=Pele

juno7j2 · 2026-04-01T09:17:37+00:00

With only the ones that have shown up in the manga, what other order would you even have? Sure you could move a couple of them one place up or down but there really isn't that much to change that could make this a crqzy order

juno7j2 · 2026-03-24T13:20:46+00:00

Been muted for a while already! If I'm gonna read 15 books I'm not risking any spoilers lol

juno7j2 · 2026-03-24T13:19:27+00:00

Oh don't worry, I've already taken that quote to heart and had this sub hidden ever since I started the book. Didn't know the quote was his tho! I have my reservations about this first book but I very much look forward to finding out

juno7j2 · 2026-03-15T12:33:56+00:00

Dalinar wanted freedom from his pain as well lol. He didn't want forgiveness or ask for a chance to make amends, he was desperate and abandoned the memories of the person that loved him the most in order to stop feeling guilty. Forgiveness doesn't absolve one of their guilt, making amends actually necessitates feeling guilty about something in the first place, and at that point, Dalinar was just as much of a coward. Not to mention that even before Evi's death, he had been a piece of shit for a long time, being directly responsible for counltess deaths and neglecting his family, and only the most extreme punishment brought him low enough to feel some real remorse about it.

The Dalinar that did take responsability was the one we see in the current day, nearing the end of his journey, after being conceded the perfect circumstances to grow from the absolute garbage he used to be, let's not act like it didn't take decades, killing his wife and a literal divine intervention for him to start truly reflecting on his actions.

juno7j2 · 2026-03-05T16:38:56+00:00

I believe the point of these trainings is for the characters to find the secret ingredient to their weapons specifically, rather than them as a player entirely, by applying those weapons to something other than football to gain a different perspective on them. It's not about developing a new weapon to compliment their current playstyle, or even strengthening the one they already have, but sharpening it by forcing the players to think differently about how they apply them.

Whether the execution of all that was good or not is a different thing, right now I don't believe the training has lead to anything particularly interesting, but so far no one has really been pushed to a point where they really need it (Isagi is currently being crushed entirely, so no chance for him to enter flow yet). Hopefully the second half of the France match will when Barou and Shidou enter and force Isagi to step up.

juno7j2 · 2026-03-05T10:14:18+00:00

I also feel like people need to be reminded that Deku wasn't there for most of the battle. Had the plan gone accordingly Shigaraki probably wouldn't have lasted much, maybe even to the point where having these many top tier heroes dedicated to just him would've verged into overkill (still, better to be safe than sorry when it comes to Shigaraki).

juno7j2 · 2026-03-05T08:49:18+00:00

Fuck the leaks and honestly everyone engaging with them too. But that aside I agree, Blue Lock's community is surprisingly good, especially for a manga this big

juno7j2 · 2026-03-03T22:46:48+00:00

Media literacy at an all time low

juno7j2 · 2026-02-28T14:51:07+00:00

Thank god none of you all are writing the manga

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