Yumi And The Nightmare Painter SPOILER Review

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[@epee11c]

Painter just reminded her nightmare self who she was and drew her to him. She is the one who had the power to command investiture. So he just provided her with reminders of her sense of self (and a bond to tether her) so she could choose to live. While I do think the tragedy would be a better ending, the book was pretty heavily foreshadowing the ending we got. For example, the TV show had a secret happy episode.

[@7Seraphem7]

And I loved Hoid's comments about how no no the story is ended, it's a tragedy, it's a better story that way.... but Painter didn't care and had to just go and force the Cosmere to give them a happy ending.

[@davidliskey3553]

Yes, exactly this. Design even talked about her having Elantrian levels of investature, she has been basically a cognitive shadow for thousands of years that the machine held together. Painter kind of summoned her and said this is what you are remember that rather than forget and fade away

[@Lord_zeel]

Very much so. When she defeated the machine, she was still thinking of herself as only a servant, and Painter brought her back and reminded her that she deserves to have a life of her own, she doesn't have to just die in service, she doesn't have to be a sacrifice. She can choose, could have chosen on her own even, to stay and pull herself together. Painter just reminds her of this, and gives her a reason to do it.

[@Transformers217]

That is true!

[@salvosscullstreet267]

This

[@k-majik]

I like that Yumi came back to life. I would have been sad if the resolution of her character arc just confirmed her original view that yes, she's the yoki-hijo, it is her duty to sacrifice herself. I think what she learnt in the story was that it didn't have to be that way, and the happy ending validates that.

[@matthewdennis1739]

Same. Her character growth was her realizing she deserved to be happy. She spent 1700 years serving, putting everyone else first...she deserved to live.

[@CertifiedBullpupHater]

@@matthewdennis1739In b4 Vin gives and sacrifices more than pretty much anyone in the cosmere and Sanderson kills her off 😞

[@thefantasynerd93]

"The romance in this book, I don't think it's something to write home about. [...] wouldn't even make the list of a great romance" me over here feeling like this is the best romance I've read in the last 10 years 😂

[@EliezerRoqueCisneros]

Same

[@timogul]

Yeah, I was BAWLING during the finale.

[@aliciasorenson3807]

Me too!

[@Dethseye]

That's what I'm saying.❤

[@GaviLazan]

I've seen people saying this is the first time they felt Sanderson succeeded at writing romance, so at the very least it's "good" 😂

[@7Seraphem7]

Also, can we take a moment to just appreciate that Sanderson gave us a magic system based on stacking rocks... and managed to make doing so epic!

[@GoldenMechaTiger]

I don't think it's technically a new magic system. Stacking rocks isn't any more a magic system than drawing some art on roshar and drawing out some spren on roshar.

[@totesmagotes213]

The stacking of rocks wasn’t the magic. That was just a way to impress the spirits and a form of meditation for the yoki hijo to access their magic. Will was the magic.

[@jacobi2393]

The ending was foreshadowed, as people have pointed out, but I think the ending was also thematicly necessary: Yumi's arc is one of "enlightened self-interest". She has given her whole life to others, and slowly over the book learns to live for herself. Her final climax is one of knowing self-sacrifice, so when Painter urges her to choose to live, and she accepts, she is completing her character arc. If she hadn't, I think the book would be breaking its promises.

[@belleah5562]

This! This is why I was originally dissatisfied with the ending (before reading the epilogue). Like, she went through all of that character growth just to...regress... The epilogue saved it for me.

[@Dethseye]

I absolutely agree with this. That's how I felt about it.❤

[@edanmaor]

My quick review of Yumi - I can't *believe* that Brandon managed to put out a secret project that's even better than Tress! I was literally saying this over and over in my head as I was reading Yumi - Tress was so wonderful, but Yumi is even better, and that's saying something.

[@jhedges8301]

I thought the same thing. Tress had a whimsical fairytail feeling I hadn't really gotten from him before. I thought the romance was really sweet. But yumi and painter is a whole other level...

[@cyclonemouse]

Tress was better for me and I love Kimi no na wa.

[@MateusAntonioBittencourt]

Painter is not invested. Yumi is... SUPER invested btw. She was a cognitive shadow, just like Kelsier at the end of Secret History. What I think it happened is painter perception of Yumi was like a lighthouse, and because of their strong spiritual connection created by the spirits, she was able to pull herself into the physical world guided by the painting. What she did to herself was basically what Ishar is/was trying to do with the Spren. Pull a cognitive being into the Physical. When Ishar did this, they formed bodies but died soon after. Kelsier is interested in what Ishar is doing because if he's able to do the same, he would his body back. Yumi because she was invested, much more than Kelsier, and had the strong connection with painter, was able to use that to pull herself from the cognitive to the physical realm. ETA: BTW... I love a bitter sweet ending. But I was "Don't you dare do this to me Brandon." I don't think the end would be better without the epilogue. And it was foreshadowed with the secret final episode of the Tv Show Yumi liked.

[@benjaminhaymore3423]

Design stated that Yumi had an abnormally large connection to the Spiritual Realm, so it might be more along the lines of her being pulled from the Spiritual rather than the cognitive, which could explain how it was able to happen much easier that Ishar's attempts with spren.

[@7Seraphem7]

It didn't even need much pulling at all, since the Nightmares already were at least mostly in the Physical Realm, hence why they could interact with things so well, and the stronger, more Invested they got, the firmer they were,with Yumi being..possibly the single most Invested human we've seen. Painter just called her to him with the art and gave her the reminder of who she was so she could will herself to reform. Also Kelseir as far as we know doesn't know about Ishar's House of Horrors nor really seems to care about him (there was a WoB but it only said that theoretically, Ishar's experiments might indirectly help Kelsier.) Kelsier was focused on Kalak becuase he thought that guy knew some way that would allow Kelseir to leave Roshar rather then being tethered to it due to his nature as a being made of Investiture tied to that planet.

[@GoldenMechaTiger]

I'm not sure if the Ishar comparison is the most appropriate. It seems more like what the heralds themselves do in creating a body for themselves seemingly just out of investiture.

[@GoldenMechaTiger]

@@7Seraphem7 I don't think she's the most invested human we've ever seen. Heralds and certain people with a lot of breath like vasher and susebron likely are more invested for example

[@Lord_zeel]

@@7Seraphem7 I think the nature of nightmares is a really big part of why this works here for her, and isn't an easy path for Kelsier. The nightmares are already able to manifest physically thanks to what the machine did to them. The exact details of this are nebulous - it was an accident, after all. But the important part is that whatever it did allowed these cognitive shadows to remain in the physical realm, and take on physical forms. All Yumi needs to do is exert her impressive amount of investiture to become fully truly stable and stay that way. And because she is just that powerful, she can still do it without the machine helping.

[@69thshard69]

Another cool thing was Masaka being a Sleepless, she was just adorable!!

[@timogul]

"Here's a cute knife, it has a flower."

[@tquinnhunsaker4344]

"It is designed to crack shells and has this hook to scrape out the meat"

[@CatOnFire]

Masaka being an alien is _literally_ the first thing about any of this that has made sense to me.

[@alphaomegagiant]

Well, Hoid is incapable of harming people, so I imagine he's never even bothered to draw Design as a sword. Also, there's a chance that she, like Wyndle (Lift's spren), while capable of becoming a sword, find the idea of being used to chop people up distasteful, so it's less a statement of her capacity and more her personal preferences.

[@bair422]

Well except for that time that Hoid beat up Kelsier. But Kelsier was a cognitive shadow at the time so I'm not sure that counts as "harming people". Also, as Wit, Hoid was certainly capable of hurting peoples egos (but I'm not sure that counts either🙂).

[@Greentrees60]

Yeah she definitely wasn't part of the shattering, and is no more a "great" sword than any other spren. I expect that a spren who felt they could be a great sword couldn't bond with a person who has sworn off violence against animals

[@grenien4109]

@@bair422 yea a rare hoid L

[@kenzalhunter]

@@bair422 Once he realized he could hurt Kelsier, Hoid relished in it and took out who knows how much frustration.

[@wingracer1614]

Also keep in mind that Design is no longer on Roshar. She shouldn't even be able to exist on this planet. Whatever they did to allow her to get off world likely has consequences

[@brooklynkelsey703]

*Spoilers* The ending makes sense when you 1. know the book was intended as a gift to Emily, 2. understand how the ending actually happened because of the magic and Yumi, and 3. see hints throughout the book (like the surprise happy ending to the TV show). Also Yumi's character arc is becoming someone who values her own opinions and makes decisions for herself not because she thinks she has to. In the end her decisions to 1. sacrifice herself and 2. also come back to Painter were both results of that arc. Also Hoid's comments at the end were "Stories demand certain endings" which i take to mean, Brandon/Hoid had this planned from the beginning as a story about hope. He also says "The story should have been done. He just kept painting anyway." which is part of the theme of artistic passion-- it makes sense that Painter would have done the painting instead of just go home. Also the entire book ended by restating the theme of "our world, our rules" and "things are what we make them" which was a recurring message. So it makes sense to me. I know you're mad because of all the undulating in this book. :) And yes if you prefer a bittersweet ending over a happily ever after, it's okay, everyone has their preference. I think the happy ending was totally justified in this book.

[@jaredgilmore3102]

Also if he went with the bittersweet ending it would have essentially been a copy of Final Fantasy X's ending, instead he speedran to the sequels and avoided years of fan anger.

[@lspangful]

Totally agree

[@Aldric524]

@@jaredgilmore3102 I think people got too conditioned by Hollywood. I don't understand people liking happy endings so much. They're bland and boring 98 percent of the time. Oh well.

[@jaredgilmore3102]

@Aldric524 Well I have enough tragedy in my real life I don't need it in my fantasy, which is why I like Brandon Sanderson, even with sad stories there are thematic and moral victories, if this story ended sad it would have violated the premise of the entire story and its theme while providing no moral value.

[@cubic_regent]

@@Aldric524 If anything I've grown more accustomed to the gritty "realistic" endings that have become more frequent in recent media. In my own view throughout reading it, I in fact felt that the "realistic" ending would be the more expected ending. So I wholly welcome a happy ending once in a while.

[@alphaomegagiant]

Identity is a Spiritual attribute, and Yumi's Spiritual aspect is, as Design says, "storming strong", so I doubt anything Painter might have "changed" in his impression of Yumi could affect her spiritweb. She would just override it with her own spirit, same as she physically overrode his body with hers.

[@faultier1158]

Yeah, I think she only needed something to give her any shape at all.

[@ajbXYZcool]

Isn't that spiritual attribute exactly what made it difficult for the machine to control her?

[@Patrick-zj4qz]

Even when Painter changed the nightmares into people, he followed their lead since he didn't remember every detail. The spirits knew who they were. They just needed him to give them a reminder.

[@Patrick-zj4qz]

When Yumi was fading out, she lost her sense of self. Painter gave her a focus, and she did the rest with her excessive investiture.

[@GoldenMechaTiger]

I think it would've been too sad to have yumi finally be freed from this endless loop prison only to have her die when she finally was starting to really live for herself

[@Akatsuu]

Maybe the "happy" ending wasn't "needed"... but my heart needed it.

[@adellefletcher]

fr!

[@gondram]

It wasn't painter's power, it was Yumi's. Painter's impression was accurate enough that it called out/connected to Yumi herself, and then her investiture spent itself to bring her through.

[@uvadoc06]

The soap opera also had a fakeout sad ending, so the book's ending *was* foreshadowed. As others have said, we've never seen Design in her weapon form. Since Hoid can't harm people, perhaps she presents as a shard flute or something instead of a sword.

[@Mwezi828]

Ooooh I like the Shardflute idea. Or any sort of musical instrument really, hope he does this!

[@laxrulz7]

It strikes me that IF she ever did manifest as a sword it would be some sort of ornamental sword made just for show and not practical. Would be right up Hoid's alley.

[@jensdeclercq2233]

What helped me understand the ending, was someone mentioning that stormlight healing can create mass and has a cognitive aspect. Lopen regrew his arm using only stormlight by using his cognitive self as a template. So imagine a similar process, but supercharged with tons of Investiture available and Painter using his powers to provide the highly invested cognitive shadow Yumi with an anchor to the physical realm.

[@JohnOprey]

Design is not a good sword because she's bonded to Hoid. Hoid is unable to cause harm (or even do things like eat meat) due to previously being a dawnshard which changes your spirit.

[@7Seraphem7]

Huh...you know... I could see Hoid summoning her as a sword with blunted edges, hence making her a mediocre sword.

[@laxrulz7]

Do we know hoid held a dawnshard?

[@7Seraphem7]

@@laxrulz7 Per WoB yes, and due to that he is unable to cause harm to other living beings, at least those above a certain threshold since while he can't eat meat (unless it's soulcast or in some other way didn't ever come from a living creature) he can still eat plants.

[@Effaly_]

Fun Fact: There are 6 "undulating"s in the book. 2 of them even in the same chapter (40). 🤭

[@livineshkumar335]

About the ending, being a happily ever after, I think lots of Fantasy anime and K-Drama do this. When one of the sacrifices themselves then there will always be a small epilogue type of thing where we see the person who sacrificed themselves alive and meet with the other person. This is a common theme in both Anime and K-Drama and I think Brandon used the same theme here. As for how Yumi came back, it is because she already WAS a Cognitive Shadow as she was living for 1700 years. So what Nikaro did when the shroud was going to the beyond was simply try and capture her similar to how he captures Nightmares which helped her give a focus and Connection to come back to the Physical realm.

[@davidhumphries9323]

Okay, now I want a story about a hero named Design fighting a villain named Undulate. 😆

[@43ichigo]

The quantity of illustrations was a breath of fresh air.

[@Armistice_]

I see the "machine" as a clear message about the AI automation of things like art. A big, heartless robot that produces a semi-acceptable version of the real thing, but that left unchecked can cause great harm. I thought that was very cleaver.

[@Transformers217]

I love this book so much. It’s such a beautifully written book. I think Brandon Sanderson is a genius and I hope this book gets an adaptation as an anime or an animated film. I don’t think live action would do this book any justice! I love the different twists and reveals in the end, and I definitely loved the two epilogues!

[@ViperRT99]

It works because Painter shapes cognitive shadows based on his art. Yumi is just a more powerful cognitive shadow than the nightmares are. And in the end, he painted his masterpiece to shape her back into the way he wanted. He didn't change her thoughts. Just pulled her back together and told her she deserves to live. She is still a cognitive shadow.

[@lilymichelee8129]

I picked this one up on a whim (I was planning on reading it, just much later) and almost completely finished it in one sitting 😅. I would have been content with her just dying in the end, but I actually think her coming back completed Painter’s story; he couldn’t find anything to paint on his wall until he had something he truly wanted to honor and display. His faith in himself as a painter was fully restored by his ability to depict her. I also feel like it completed Yumi’s arc of yes, it’s a great thing to be selfless, but there are some things in life that it’s okay to fight for. You can fight for your happy ending and you won’t (necessarily) destroy everybody else’s world. But it did feel like a cop-out 😅

[@ChocolatierRob]

The ending was foreshadowed as soon as I found out that the book’s primary inspiration was Final Fantasy X when hearing the preview chapters. There are such strong parallels between the two.

[@LostInNumbers]

I didn't know the book was inspired by ffX until Sanderson mentioned it in the afterwards, and I went "wait... OFCOURSE!" and so much fell into place.

[@ChBrahm]

I think that because Yumi was so heavily Invested and had the ability to unknowingly fight the Machine and keep her sense of self. What happened was that her Cognitive aspect was attracted to Painter’s art just like a spirit but then as he said she Chose to become real. Design said that Energy, Matter and Investiture can change into one another. So she probably used her Investiture to give herself a body. So it isn’t an impression of her that Painter summoned but the real deal

[@kailawkamo1568]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who made the connection between the Father Machine and AI art! I also remembered Walter Benjamin when they discussed the essence of art in the story. This book was indeed a love letter to artists of any field ❤

[@benjaminhaymore3423]

Yumi was as invested as an Elantrian. Painter didn't summon Yumi, Painter called to her and she used her power to remain. Like how in the Secret History the Lord Ruler could have lingered MUCH longer but chose to move on. Yumi had originally chose to start moving on but changed her mind due to the actions of Painter.

[@falmer5639]

I've never gone from disliking, borderline hating, two characters, to loving them so damn quickly. They became two of my favorite characters in pretty much anything ever in the span of just a few chapters and yet it was still halfway through the book

[@heather9130]

I know you wrote this forever ago but yes!! At 40% I went and looked up reviews because I was so over Yumi and Painter's bickering. I couldn't stand Painter or his attitude. By 50% when we started to understand how he sees himself I was all in. By the end of the book he and Yumi were some of the best characters I've ever read and attached to.

[@crylorenzo]

Others have answered your ending question. As for the ending, I think Hoid’s commentary was Brandon’s nod to the bittersweet ending. He obviously knew it was a real possibility. But he has also stated that he is a big fan of hope - that he feels there’s enough not hopeful literature out there (I’m probably misquoting and would love it it someone could find the quote). So because of that I figured it would be as it was.

[@Purgatory73]

Another great video! Loved Yumi and the midnight painter! Book was super dark I think. That machine is nightmare fuel, like literally!

[@sunshine_reader]

Perfect timing! This video dropped just as I finished the book. I love watching Merphy’s reviews right when I put a book down.

[@todd-bomb9853]

To address the idea of Yumis "Resurrection", let's first put her existence in perspective. She is not a base, standard human. I believe it was the conditions of her birth that infused her with investiture, making her a "returned" as in warbreaker, or like a Elantrian. This is what made her (and the other 13 spirit summoner out of 16) unable to be consumed by the machine. When she possessed Painter, her cognitive identity of "self" twisted painters body to mirror her own. So when Painter "Resurrected" Yumi, he didn't really craft her a new body as much as he summoned her spirit and gave it an anchor. Yumi returned and made her own body based on her identity of "self".

[@IronsideEdits]

Man I bought the idea that Yumi lived on the star so hard... You're not alone 😅

[@summerb7636]

i love your videos!! thank you for what you do 😊❤

[@brutalusgaming8809]

The illustrations in this book were the most perfectly in tune with the story that I think I have ever seen.

[@DoctorTomm]

I assumed that Virtuosity splintered herself as a form of ultimate artistic expression or to achieve some kind of artistic effect only possible through releasing that much investiture

[@adamnaameeazim6365]

I've seen a lot of people justify the ending by talking about how it could work based on how we know Investiture works, but I think there's a much more important reason that Yumi had to survive in the end. I think it's thematic. She spent 17 whole centuries dedicating lifetime upon lifetime to keeping other people happy. She was the yoki-hijo, her responsibility was to serve, she was not allowed to be a person. A huge part of this book was Painter showing her that she can enjoy life, that she deserves to take a break sometimes and that she deserves to enjoy herself. After having saved everyone at the very end and having been able to free all of the Nightmares from the father machine, I think Yumi deserved to live. If she ultimately had to give up her own life in service of the greater good after already having given up lifetime after lifetime of joy, that would have felt really unsatisfying. It would have felt like Yumi's entire arc meant nothing. When I first read the ending I felt like it could have worked, but it left a real empty hole in my soul because we did not get a resolution to Yumi's entire life. Now that I know the true ending I don't think I can go back.

[@jericahenrichsen8159]

About your question of "how did Yumi come back to life". The impression I got was that Painter didn't make a shadow of her or anything; that was actually her, and she just happened to come through the painting. It said that, like Kelsier, Vin, etc, she had held so much investiture that her spirit could just of hang around as long as she wanted. So she was still there, about to leave, when Painter started painting, which caught her attention. One of the reasons she wanted to leave and just be done was that everyone from her village had just barely essentially died, so she didn't have anyone that she felt even knew her anymore. It's that thing about if you, and only you, live forever, what do you do when your friends die. So when he was painting her and saying "*I* know you, you *have* friends, you *do* have something to live for," he convinced her to stay. She then used the remnants of power from so many spirits flowing through her (and maybe some of Painter's Intent?) to create a body and come back. And I agree. It could have gone either way, and it would be *really good* no matter which way it went. However, I generally like happy endings, so I'm glad it turned out how it did.

[@ChBrahm]

At the beginning my theory was that -the same way Yumi turned a spirit into a light ball and a dark ball- their planets were following a similar logic. In which one was a scalding hot place and the other a shrouded eternal night. But instead of a spirit it was Virtuosity that had transformed into the planets. I even believed that the Hion were Virtuosity’s veins xD Anyways a while later I figured that wasn’t the case and that maybe they were on the same planet but couldn’t figure how that made sense. And the ending broke me. Brandon really put me on life support when Yumi started vanishing and I cried like a child when she came back. I knew that the tv drama was a clue that that wasn’t the ending and that there might be a “secret episode” being the first epilogue but my god it still worked

[@LeeNathanson]

In order to to truly embrace a bitter ending your story cannot be narrated by a coat rack. For the tone it set at the beginning this was the perfect end. Can you imagine hoid waking up with that ridiculous head gear at the end of a tragedy 😕

[@erinsutherland1914]

I loved this book. The whole experience felt like an anime set in the cosmere, which was probably intended. The tropes typical in anime didn't bother me because I knew that was a thing. And given his inspirations were all Japanese in origin then that makes sense. The romance was great I thought but I don't normally read romance so take that as you will. The ending was weird to me only because I thought we were getting the bittersweet ending and then immediately changed to the happy one. It was just a little jarring but I'm fine with the ending we got.

[@mecahhannah]

I always love your videos and get good recommendations out of them

[@grantharrispb]

16:30 my wife and I couldn’t stop laughing at the Yumi/Akane concubine scene 😂 granted I was reading aloud. Had literal tears 😂

[@screech0075]

So just as a hot take did you perhaps consider that when Hoid said(soft quote) that story’s do not always give us the endings we wanted or expected, that he could well be referring to your expectation? The HEAVY foreshadowing pointing towards this being a tragedy to me says this is the ending we were supposed to expect/want but are not getting…because that’s how thing go sometimes. All love, your channels are amazing !!!!

[@miguelyt8015]

This is one of my new favourite books of all time, and my bias as an artist absolutely plays into that. His poetic descriptions of art and of creation made me tear up. Thats also a large part of the reason I connected with Painter more, I feel like a lot of POV was a love letter to art and painting

[@43ichigo]

I want to know the conversion rate for Episodes of "Seasons of Regret" to emerald broams.

[@Lord_zeel]

I think the deal with the ending, which gets foreshadowed just a chapter or so earlier, is that fully "stable" nightmares can't JUST be impressioned into being docile. He can't just make them bamboo, he can't just draw a puppy. The painters couldn't deal with them until Painter started to do something different: He didn't draw what they "could be" based on an impression, he drew what he KNEW them to be. And by drawing their true selves, they took their own natural forms once again. Essentially, by reminding them of who they were, they were able to re-assert themselves. That's what Painter figured out that let him beat the army of nightmares, and it's what he used to bring Yumi back. But Painter couldn't have done it alone, and he couldn't have done it to anyone other than Yumi. His painting just drew what was left of her back, and put it into a shape - but she couldn't have remained that way if not for her incredible amount of investiture that she had all along. She was able to change his body into her form because of how invested she was, so once he pulled her back together she was able to stabilize herself. And I don't think she technically has a true physical body. She's still just a stable nightmare, she's just like the people in the towns while she was imprisoned by the machine. Her "body" is no more real than what Design was wearing. But it is "physical" so it's not like anyone would notice that doesn't already have a sense for this sort of thing. I disagree on the happy ending though. I was really annoyed when it seemed like it was going to be tragic. Tragedy has its place, but to be honest the real world is tragic enough, I like my fantasy to be fantastic - give them a happy ending, why not? What frustrated me with the ending, is that they kept it all a secret! Painter's big character flaw was being dishonest, and in the end they just made up yet another lie to tell his friends rather than just explain the truth. This is the sort of thing that makes sense when something crazy and totally unbelievable happened and nobody has any evidence, or you need to protect some secret underground whatever. But life on his world was fundamentally changed in numerous ways in this book, there's no big secret they need to keep, there's no "the world isn't ready to know about this yet" information. There's no reason to keep it a secret other than selfishness: Wanting to stay out of the public eye, not wanting to answer questions, etc. So they lie to his friends again, and that's just... okay?

[@CatOnFire]

Painter's problem was NOT that he was a liar. Him lying is not the thing that he needed to learn not to do. His arc was about accepting his failure and the pain that he had used lies and depression to run from. He had failed to become a Dreamwatcher and failed his friends. He couldn't bear the weight and he cracked. He didn't lie to his friends on purpose after that, it is stated in the book that they assumed he had passed the test and he just let them believe it because telling them the truth would be too painful. Because of that, he started to hate himself and what he was doing and he fell into a depression. His problem was never telling lies. His problem was hiding from the painful truth. He used lies to do that, sure, but the lies were a symptom... not the root cause. Just like his trumped-up self-importance, his fake lone wolf persona, and his obvious depressive tendencies. The lie at the end is not about Painter running from the pain. It is more about simplifying his life. As the ending says, he and Yumi just wanted to live a quiet life with each other. It might be kind of hard to do that if everyone knew that Yumi actually was/had been a Nightmare. Easier to tell one little lie and move on. He's no longer avoiding his pain, and his passion is back. He isn't pretending to be something he's not, he doesn't seem to be as depressed, and he is letting himself be happy with Yumi and hopefully his friends are able to at least understand him better now.

[@celestegosling6054]

The ending - I would have been completely fine if the book were to have finished with the bittersweet ending. I told myself - this isn't a "romance", it's fantasy. It doesn't need a happy ending for the couple. (Although I do like a happy ending) Then that next chapter happened. And it just... in my opinion... elevated the book. It made me cry (although, I am and empathetic crier and can get teary-eyed at books, movies and even TV adverts sometimes). But it gave me all the feels. It made me happy that Painter, pouring his heart and emotions into his painting of Yumi, was able to draw her spirit to him. And that the connection between them was so strong that she could reach out to him and when he took her hand Yumi (who was highly invested) was then able to pull herself into the "real" world to be with Painter. The 2nd epilogue though - I mean, I get why it was kind of necessary. To show Hoid becoming real again as well, and give some background and info about what he and Design were up to... but the bit about the kiss between Yumi and Painter? Sooooooo cheesy. I got real Princess Bride vibes from it, which, although I absolutely loved the movie, was kinda cheesy in itself (the greatest most passionate kiss in history), but a kinda flipped where it wasn't really the greatest kiss? That bit was so unnecessary, and kinda killed the vibe from the previous chapter/epilogue.

[@IdRatherBePiping]

I absolutely adored this book, slid right into my number 2 cosmere novel

[@SongstaForLife]

Easily my favorite secret project this far. Had minor issues with the soft magic and the bathing stuff, but the atmosphere and characters made up for that. I don’t love overplaying fakeout deaths, but this is a time it felt good to me. It pushed the right emotional buttons for me as a moderately heartless individual who is largely unaffected by character deaths. My understanding was that Yumi’s resurrection was more affected by her immense investiture rather than than Painter’s ability. Love your reviews. Thanks for helping me to unpack my thoughts.

[@abauerns]

What made the ending work for me was that a major theme in the book was about having choice and the right to choose happiness for yourself. Specifically that Yumi deserves to choose happiness for herself. Ultimately, Painter didn't save Yumi, but he gave her the opportunity to make a choice. We see that as their relationship develops, he makes it clear that whatever happens its always her choice, even if its not something he agrees with. Yumi was only able to make this choice because she was so heavily invested. If she was any of the other souls who were trapped she wouldn't have been able to maintain a physical form. I think it's fitting that she was only able to make this choice because of her hundreds and hundreds of years in service to others. If anyone deserves to choose a happy ending for themself, its Yumi. To deny her the choice in how her story ends would have been unfaithful to the core theme: you deserve happiness and you deserve to chose how your story ends.

[@antiformsora]

Edit: I realized I didn't say what I thought. I LOVED this book. Not everything individually worked for me, but as a whole and as a setting and atmosphere, it's my favorite Cosmere standalone so far. It took some of my favorite things and smooshed them together. I started with the thought that they were in different parts of the same planet, then thought maybe they're right about the star, then I went back to the same planet idea, right before the reveal. Design was a real treat. I kind of want to cosplay her now. Painter does do realistic art, but he stopped doing it when he wasn't accepted into the dream team, so I figured he'd done that again at the end. Since the Nightmares were like...halfway to cognitive shadow, I interpreted that as him pulling that Nightmare version of her that "lived" the same day over and over fully into a cognitive shadow-like body, but only because she'd only recently been in that Nightmare-Human form.

[@risinghellkite3209]

My take in virtuosity splitting her self is that it makes sense. What's more virtuous than sacrificing your self and power to give it to others. It's possible that her power could be one of the few magic systems not as tied to their home worlds as the others

[@Supaawesomeification]

I’m not sure about this. The word virtuosity is more like virtuoso (a highly skilled artist) rather than virtuous (expressing good morals). Either way I’m sure we’ll get an answer eventually. Shards are kinda too important to ignore why one died

[@risinghellkite3209]

@Supaawesomeification that's a good point. And yea I doubt Brandon will leave us hanging for too long

[@gondram]

Sanderson also foreshadowed the second ending with the in-universe ending. I never ever thought the first ending was there. There was a secret episode afterward, as mentioning in the noodle shop.

[@thewickedtyrant8306]

Yumi could come back for the same reason she manifested in painters world as herself, she was very highly invested, when painter painted her, this would have been the equivalent of drawing her 'spren' her cognitive shadow, allowing her consciousness to re solidify briefly, then once he convinced her she deserved to live she was able to make that happen creating a body for herself In a sense, i feel like this was foreshadowed as much as the tragedy, with her learning to respect herself and her wishes, and learning she isnt just a tool, and learning she was born for more then service, design mentioning their connection and her elantrian level investiture, was also a good hint of foreshadowing for what she could do

[@Anonymous-wu5el]

Yumi was holding almost the full ppwer of virtuosity. Having swayed the spirits from the machine. All painter did was call to her and convince her to seize her own life. The painting was just a call.

[@michaelavant2341]

My take on the ending was that Painter’s artwork was sufficient to draw the attention of both Yumi’s spirit and other spirits. The spirits then created a body for Yumi in a similar way to how they created anything else. It was just a dramatic representation of what the magic can do. Kind of like when Vin draws the mists or Dalinar opens a perpendicularity

[@Prymalfire]

Alright, here's my recipe for the epilogue resurrection in Cosmere mechanics: We start with a cognitive shadow with stupid amounts of inherent investiture and identity. No better target for a resurrection. We then have a massive amount of recently unbound investiture. This gives a brief window to bring a lot of power to bear. Finally, we have Painter. He is one of the masters of his craft, and a native of this world, so we can assume he is highly Connected to Virtousity. (This may make crafting a body from raw investiture easier for him than some other characters (Kelsier)). He also has the incredibly strong Connection to Yumi, to bind her to the body. This is the perfect storm to enable probably the closest thing we've seen to a True Resurrection, not just a cognitive shadow.

[@storyphile4518]

Your Name is one of my absolute favorite movies, and Yumi has quickly shot up to one of my favorite books ❤️ New to Sanderson this year with the Secret Projects and looking forward to reading more! Also you can read Your Name, but definitely watch it first! And then you can read Another Side: Earthbound, too.

[@ClayHales]

I figured it was one world that is tidally locked, with Yumi on the day side and Painter on the night side, but that might have just been because I overestimated the significance on the shroud.

[@hope_youhaveagoodday]

Agreed on the ending. The bittersweet end would have been perfect! The cover art might be my favorite of all Sanderson novels!

[@ZacChilds]

I was also really disappointed when that great bittersweet ending was taken from me, but the beautiful scene of him painting her along with the art at the back of the book made it work for me. The way I read that scene was that she's already a cognitive shadow and had decided it was her time to go, and his painting just convinced her to stay rather than bringing to life a new impression of her. I'm really looking forward to some cosmere experts explaining what actually happened there though.

[@jesszendrex2151]

My interpretation of the ending was painter just caught yumi's attention, and convinced her that she could and should stay with him. She was the source of the investiture to actually reform a body

[@ramblingdad7764]

There's a Virtuosity theory that I think is as well crafted and beautiful as the theory about Shallan's mom. The theory relies on the fact that we see highlighted in this book 3 main colors which are the cyan and magenta that you see in the hion as well as as the black from the shroud. These are 3 of the 4 necessary colors for a color printer and the only one missing is yellow. So the theory relies on this premise and that when Virtuosity splintered herself she separated herself into these 4 printer colors where 3 are seen in this book with spirits producing hion and people's souls producing the black shroud. So the 4th color yellow might actually be Virtuosity splintering herself to become the Iriali. The Iriali's religion is based around the idea that "The One" broke themselves up in order to experience new things and that eventually at the end of their journey they would all return to "The One." Many of us just assumed that maybe they were referring to Adonalsium and perhaps even the shattering. However it could be that this is actually a reference to Virtuosity splintering herself to have more experiences as the Iriali which definitely has the vibe of Virtuosity's intent which focuses on being artistic. What's more artistic then combining the experiences of many individuals into one cohesive masterpiece / art is all about depicting experiences of people whether it be actual events or just their emotions. So yeah that's the theory. We do get a hint that the Shroud might be connected to Virtuosity splintering herself but at the same time the Shroud was a result of the machine so perhaps the splintering set up a way for the Shroud to appear due to the machine.

[@007Rincewind]

Wow

[@brooklynkelsey703]

This is literally my new favorite cosmere theory.

[@miandagny]

It definitely has aspects of "your name". I rewatched it earlier this year and it's still so so good

[@hanzquejano7112]

I didn't question it at first, but the more I got into the book the more I believed they're on the same world. The thing about bamboos existing on both worlds, then the way they constantly point to the star as Yumi's place (which from experience of reading, something made too obvious usually isn't). I actually considered the time travelling thing, but when Yumi mentioned it, I again knew that wasn't the case and continued to read what's it's all about.

[@joehatlen7076]

Hi Merphy, wonderful review as always! I've been looking forward to this book since hearing Brandon name Your Name as an inspiration. Just finished the book and can't decide if I love it more than Tress or not. I'd love to hear your thoughts on Your Name, but I should let you know that it's a movie first, with the manga being a kind of supplemental sort of thing

[@TheBrainFart2000]

Just finished "Yumi and the Nightmare Painter" last weekend. Absolutely loved it.

[@dasmowenator]

Actually the happy ending was foreshadowed... If you recall, there was a surprise final episode of the soap opera they were watching on TV where the they lived happily ever after... which is exactly what happened in the overall story

[@destro6971]

A few of the premium hardcovers did go on sale at Dragonsteel for anyone who didn’t back the kickstarter

[@jajohnek]

I felt same about the ending. But I've learned that Sando isn't really a guy to end on a tragedy. Also it felt like he did it in secret project 2 basically the same way as here - oh no after all this (couple days of) relationship buildup, they can't stay together? Psych! They totally can and will! Oh well, I can always read some Abercrombie or something.

[@fab006]

I questioned the star idea at the beginning but stopped questioning it by the time the reveal came around 🙈

[@mikesionu]

This one was a gift to his wife so I think the happy ending was for her not us.

[@briancrook9055]

Concerning the ending, Sanderson wrote this, in part, as a girlfriend to his wife. I suspect he wrote the ending that way because that's the kind of ending he thought she would most enjoy. My impression of the how it worked is that Yumi and the other Yokihijo hadn't actually been killed by the transformation the machine the way everyone else was because they were so heavily invested. I think it's implied that she could have kept herself alive, if she'd been willing to ask for it. It wasn't painters powers bringing her back to life, it was his painting basically riding the coattails of her power to ask for what she hesitated to ask.

[@Justadude1997]

Also I just see as Painter is able to make shadows into anything but that why they evaporate when its not what they are meant to be. when u start drawing what Soul remembers it fills the gap, the art wants to be made, like with the army of shadows when they became who they were just scared people long dead

[@God-nw9qd]

we know the motivation of every shard, its in their names. virtuosity splintered herself for the sake of virtuosity, look how nice yumi and nikaro's planet is sometimes.

[@MedinaManor]

Design was not there for the splintering. She is a spren that Hoid recently got. Design was about to bond with King Elhokar when he was killed. After the battle Hoid rescued Design from where she was hiding from the singers

[@MrJethroha]

As far as how Painter painted Yumi back into existence, the Cosmere justification I can think of is that they had that a strong Connection due to being linked by the spirit. IMO it seems about as strong as a Spren/Radiant connection, allowing them to experience each others thoughts when touching. I don't think he changed anything about her any more than he actually changes the nightmares, he just gives them their old shape that they can hold onto better. I think it gives hope to Adolin's idea of restoring his Shardblade to a living spren as the nightmares seems similar to deadeyes in many ways.

[@43ichigo]

That they could instantly understand each other's emotions and thoughts points towards a stronger Connection than the typical Nahel bond. Syl specifically asked Dalinar to strengthen her bond so she could experience something similar to what's happening here.

[@TathagataMitraTom]

Actually I NEVER belived Yumi is from the Star. It screamed Red Herring to me. But I did assume it was time travel. That is one of the things I LOVE about this book. Is that he presents an obvious Red Herring to distract you from the fact that there is a second Red Herring. And then when the solution is neither and still pretty clever, it blows your mind.

[@LEOrgill]

I think it was foreshadowed that there would be a 2nd happy ending. When they were referencing the drama there was a first a sad ending and then later in the book it mentions that the ending of the drama had another episode with a happy ending just like the book.

[@crimsonraen]

Thanks for the video Merphy! I loooved SP3! Though I agree that the sad ending may have been a little stronger, I absolutely loved that it turned out happy! It was also foreshadowed that she would come back, just as it was that she would be gone. (They talk about the ronin coming back in another episode of the drama) I'm not yet Cosmere smart enough to really know how Yumi coming back worked, but I just took it as them not giving up.. Maybe all the spirits helped them out? Or maybe it's just because of the nature of the Yoki Hijo, being so solidly invested?

[@birtes1825]

I also thought first that Sanderson would actually go the tragic route, but I love that Yumi got to choose after centuries of service to her people. It would also make sense if she had dissolved but I do really like the way he went. The humour didn't work for me as well, but I really loved the development of the characters. Also, I would suggest also watching Your Name, it's a movie and I think the manga came afterwards, and the music is really incredible, although I don't know how much that does for you, for me it can really enhance so much of the story.

[@erikademaria4998]

Also, to the point about Painter being an Impressionist painter, so the painting of Yumi wouldn’t have been accurate at the end…I believe that his earlier art (that is kept in his portfolio) was not impressionist, and Yumi even mentions when he starts painting to meditate that she hopes he someday will return to his earlier, more detailed style of art, so I feel like it is appropriate that when he finally returns to his earlier style that is more realistic and detailed, it is to paint Yumi. She was his new meaning and muse, and he rediscovered his earlier passion for painting through her. Plus, there is a passage in the book where Hoid says that it’s not actually the painting the nightmares are influenced by, but the image in the painter’s head or their perception that alters the nightmare, so the image of Yumi in his head is what she would reform as, not the style of painting.

[@telchar]

I was fine without the bittersweet ending. I think it was handled fine. My main gripe is honestly that Hoid quote made it feel pretty final and then they turned it around really quickly last second. Had Hoid just kept his trap shut and let Nikaro do his thing that would have been more poignant and satisfying. This is one of those times where I kinda wish Sanderson would show, not tell.

[@mystyclegend]

Fun Fantasy Books has a great 10 favourite fantasy books video that really concisely encapsulates what makes each book stand out to her and the general premise. Would definitely recommend a watch

[@thebrbninja]

with the cognitive shadow thing, they spent months spiritually Connected(the capital C cosmere connected). My guess is that was just a vessel for her cognitive shadow because of how heavily invested she was. I would have preferred a sadder ending too though.

[@Bigandrewm]

Having just finished YatNP, I have to agree with the consensus that the artwork is amazing.

[@brianlinden3042]

Re: Sanderson's prose: Yeah, he can do better if he needs to, but why would he need to, when bamboo works?

[@filipab0oks]

'And then painter got out his paints' I feel the exact same about the ending !

[@c0barsm]

I agree with Merphy, the ending should have been sad. It was perfect at that time, and a final goodbye kiss would have been the cherry on top.

[@happyreadingwatching1597]

The whole time, I was think Dang this feels like Your Name. Then you said it was inspired by it, and it all makes sense now 😂

[@Aldric524]

Loved the video (content) Merphy! The autofocus was almost intolerable though, and I hope you have it fixed by now. I totally agree with you on the ending, but I think we'd be in the tiny tiny minority in wanting that. I think the vast majority of the fandom would have rioted, since this effectively was a paranormal romance book, and the expectation is that the two people getting together will get together in the end. Though, the fact that the fandom would have rioted would have been additional amusement for me, so *darn*. As far as Yumi getting a body... I don't think it's that Painter was very invested. It's more a combo that Yumi is extremely invested and that Painter did it at a time when the shroud was dissolving. I think that allowed Yumi to snag part of the dissolving shroud to help create her body. I'm not going to disagree with any impression you had that it was the opposite of romantic, though. I also don't think it was supposed to be Painter "creating" her from his impressions, the way he'd sort of get rid of normal nightmares. I think it was more to get her attention, and convince HER to use the investiture and stick around.

[@xraysandaliens]

I loved this book way more than I thought I was going to!

[@IdRatherBePiping]

I THINK painter just painted a body for her in the same way that [STORMLIGHT SPOILERS] Honor would create bodies for the Heralds each time they returned and her soul was drawn to it just like they were.

[@GaviLazan]

I was suspicious of Painter's theory that Yumi was on the other planet and that Painter was from the Daystar from the get go, something didn't jive for me. But I also didn't have a better theory.

[@ReadingDave]

Virtuosity seems to me to aim to grow, perfect and transcend. So, perhaps Virtuosity transcends herself.

[@Swift_Arrow_]

I agree with your opinion on the ending. I wasn’t a fan of him painting her into existence because I thought the tragic ending fit. It was foreshadowed, but now the foreshadowing feels somewhat pointless.

[@mordyth]

Yumi is probably my favourite, however I only finished the book about 5 minutes ago. I got that it was the same world when Yumi asked Design if their worlds could be the same one. My mind went straight to the rat/boyfriend twist from Tress