Renarin and Rlain: A Latter-day Saint Perspective

Aligning myself with Odium (?), for fun (??) and profit (???)

It’s time to address the big, rainbow-emblazoned elephant in the room: Renarin's and Rlain’s romantic relationship in Wind and Truth.

Once again, major Wind and Truth spoilers ahead. And if you missed Part 1, read it here!

I wanted to write this post separately because there’s so much about the book that I love, and I don’t want my concerns about this one element to dilute my overall positive feelings—or vice versa. Because while I continue to love Brandon Sanderson’s work, this isn’t an issue that we can simply sweep under the rug.

This is the first time Brandon has brought a homosexual relationship to the forefront of one of his stories, and predictably, fan reactions were strong on all sides of the issue. Some readers celebrated their OTP finally getting together. Others were dissatisfied with the way he portrayed the relationship, saying it was unrealistic or cliche in some way. Others were outraged, shouting that Brandon has betrayed his principles and given in to the woke mob.

Brandon actually addressed this last accusation in a blog post soon after Wind and Truth was released, explaining that he had planned for Renarin’s story to unfold this way back in 2002, when he was considerably less liberal on LGBT issues. I believe he’s being sincere—I certainly have no reason to doubt him. But to me, that makes the betrayal—for betrayal it is—all the worse.

As I mentioned in the previous post, Brandon is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as am I (once again, I highly recommend checking it out). I’m going to address this from a Latter-day Saint perspective, because I don’t believe you can build a truly complete, coherent argument against homosexual behavior without the truths of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ—and as such, Latter-day Saint writers should be held to be held to a higher standard than any other writers on moral issues.

(This isn’t unique to homosexuality, by the way—I’ve criticized Stephenie Meyer for glorifying extra-marital sex before, when with a nonmember writer I probably would have just rolled my eyes and moved on.)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is well known for its heavy emphasis on the family. As my son Faramir puts it, “It’s one of our main things.” Our doctrine teaches that marriage is between a man and a woman, and there’s an important reason for that. A man and a woman who are sealed together in the new and everlasting covenant of marriage create a family unit that lasts forever, capable of producing offspring both in this life and in the eternities. This is our divinely-revealed conception of heaven—being part of a family that keeps growing and becoming perfected, forever and ever.

(See, Adolin? Covenants are amazing!)

The reason the Church teaches that same-sex marriage is wrong is that it cuts people off from receiving these wonderful blessings. Repentance is possible, of course, but there are countless consequences of engaging in these types of relationships (and others that violate the Law of Chastity) that may make the repentance process very difficult, while negatively impacting the lives of everyone involved. Church leaders warn against these relationships not because they hate these people, but in order to prevent them from suffering these consequences. We recognize (or ought to recognize) how challenging it is for our same-sex-attracted brothers and sisters to deny urges that may be outside of one’s control, but plead with them to have faith that the Savior will “wipe away their tears” and make everything right in the end, just as He rectifies all other wrongs and injustices that come with living in a fallen world.

Brandon used to be more aligned with Church leaders on these issues. Back in 2007 (about five years after he conceived Renarin’s sexuality), he stated that homosexual impulses should be resisted, just like impulses to act on attraction to someone other than your spouse. In 2023 (and at other times in the interim), Brandon walked this back, affirming his unconditional support for LGBT rights and expressing a hope that the Church will start recognizing gay marriages “both temporally and eternally.”

To his credit, he also says this:

That said, I do not represent the church, and I trust the leaders to lead it wisely. I am patient with them, and accept that if what I want never happens, then that is God’s will. I do not always know why the church does what it does, or why God does what He does. As Nephi said, “I know that [God] loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.” (1 Nephi 11:17).

It appears, as of 2023, that Brandon is still with us. His personal opinions differ from Church teachings, but he is willing to put them aside according to God’s will. However, an apocryphal Reddit post has Brandon supposedly claiming that his 2007 stance on gay marriage didn’t last even a year after he wrote it. Anything can happen in a year, and that’s why I’m concerned.

In an interview with Esquire, Brandon states, “It’s a bigger statement not to include queer characters than to include them.” I disagree. It’s not a “statement” if none of my characters are left-handed (I love left-handed people, including my husband), or if none of my characters like pineapple on their pizza. (Okay, this is a statement—I hate those people, and they and their squishy, slimy fruit boogers should be exiled.) Even for writers as prolific as Brandon, there are only so many stories that can be told, and so the ones you choose to elevate are the ones you believe are truly important.

Brandon has written homosexual characters in the past, and I haven’t had a problem with it. One of the bridgemen, Drehy, is married to a man. In Mistborn Era 2, there’s a scene where Marasi discourages Wayne from harassing a woman he’s attracted to, saying she has a girlfriend, and Wayne responds that it’s “just a phase!” Honestly, I thought it was hilarious. The fact is that gay people exist, and it’s not a sin to acknowledge that. The problem begins when you take an inappropriate relationship and glorify it as a major subplot.

I’ve always believed that fantasy is uniquely suited to deliver deep truth to those who might not otherwise receive it—as I’m fond of saying, we are living in a fantasy world, if you know what to look for. The best fantasy (Lord of the Rings, Narnia, etc.) endures because it touches on fundamental truths about reality—you might say they’re more real than some “realistic” fiction, in which “reality” begins and ends with middle-aged women sitting around in coffee shops ruminating on their problems.

A cardinal rule of fiction, including fantasy, is that you mustn’t write anything that “kicks” the reader out of the story. And that is exactly what Brandon Sanderson has done—at least for me—with Renarin and Rlain. I see in his books many of the truths of the Restored gospel, and therefore feel that, if you strip away all the magical powers and giant crab things, the Cosmere works the same way our universe does on a fundamental level.

So when you take two characters like Renarin and Rlain, pull them into the spotlight, and give their relationship a “happily ever after”—a relationship that cannot, according to Church doctrine, end happily in the long run—Brandon is signaling that the Cosmere, and therefore the reality that he personally accepts, is fundamentally incompatible with our reality.

And that “kicks me out” more soundly than dragons or spren or Radiant powers ever could.

Brandon is asking his readers to not only accept this relationship, but applaud and jump up and down like Shallan does when Renarin and Rlain have their first kiss. But I just can’t do that. There are people who will lose respect for me when they read this—a guy I went to high school with and consider a friend recently declared that people who dislike this part of the book are “aligned with Odium.” All I have to say is…that seems like a very passionate response.

I hope Brandon reconsiders the direction his writing—and his faith—is taking. I think, in his heart of hearts, he knows the Church is right on this—otherwise, he would have left already, as many others have. As of Wind and Truth, he hasn’t crossed the line where I feel compelled to stop reading his work, and I really hope that day never comes.

Otherwise, what am I supposed to read for the next 20 years of my life?

Pssst…if you’re enjoying my writing, you might like my book! Pick up a copy of Nightwalker on Amazon!