Wind and Truth

Two windrunners and their squires arrive to fly Adolin and Yanagawn to safety. They decide not to leave after Yanagawn reminds everyone that whoever physically holds the throne holds Azimir. They decide to make a play for the throne room, sneaking into the palace by following paths that Yanagawn knows from his past as a thief. They have two hours before the deadline. They gather a small crew, including Zabra, May, Notum, Adolin’s guards, Yanaganwn’s councilor Noura, and the windrunners.

Dalinar arrives back in the Physical Realm, in Urithiru.

Nale tells Kaladin and Szeth more about Ishar’s plans, admitting that Ishar tapped into Odium’s pool of power and that he created “human Fused […] their souls able to be recalled to new bodies so they can be reborn each time they are killed” (1171). The human Fused include Szeth’s father and sister plus the other Honorbearers. (This is why their bodies vanished into smoke when Szeth killed them.)

As Wit escorts Dalinar to the top of the tower to meet Odium, he and Dalinar discuss the inherent worth of all people.

Adolin and Yanagawn’s group sneaks through the occupied streets of Azimir to the palace. As he walks, Adolin meditates on the shift in his mindset that took place during his near-death experience on the battlefield. Adolin is now at peace within himself and at peace with his father for the first time in years.

Szeth and Kaladin have a theory that if one of them takes their next oath—which is termed as “saying” the next “ideal” for their Radiant Order—the resulting surge of power might be enough to defeat Ishar.

The wind tells Kaladin that the spren may need a champion in the coming day; the wind will ask Kaladin to make a great sacrifice to be that champion.

The grounds inside the palace in Azimir are silent. Adolin and his team run through the silent halls until he realizes that it is too peaceful. He sends Notum to scout and confirms that there are enemy troops both ahead and behind; their rush to the throne room has been anticipated by the enemy, and now they are trapped.

Adolin, Yanagawn, and their companions consider their options. The throne room is lined with aluminum, which prevents stormlight or stormlight-infused weapons from penetrating the walls. Adolin opens the door to the throne room to find Abidi the Monarch waiting for him there. Adolin asks his companions to hold off the enemy soldiers and then marches into the throne room to duel Abidi. The doors close behind Adolin, cutting him off from stormlight and preventing him from summoning Maya as his shardblade.

In the Spiritual Realm, Shallan, Rlain, and Renarin are reunited. Together, they find Mishram’s prison. Mraize arrives behind them.

Navani and Dalinar share a tender moment before Dalinar must face Odium. Navani reminds Dalinar that she trusts him and urges him to trust himself.

Szeth, Kaladin, and Nale arrive at the monastery, where Ishar is waiting. Ishar confirms that he was the voice in Szeth’s head. He tells them that he has foreseen a great cataclysm on Roshar, which is why he has decided to become the “true God” (1195) that Roshar needs.

Szeth vows to himself that he will not fight unless he deems that the cost is worth it. The “dead” Honorbearers—now reborn as Fused of Ishar—suddenly appear. Ishar commands them to attack Szeth all at once in order to defeat him and teach him his final lesson: humility.

Szeth does not want to fight the Honorbearers, so he allows them to beat him up without resisting. His father punches him while Szeth tries to get him to engage in conversation.

On the roof at Urithiru, Dalinar meets Odium, who unveils his champion. For a moment, Dalinar thinks that the champion must be Elhokar, but it is Elhokar’s son Gavinor, who has prematurely aged because Odium has kept him trapped in the Spiritual Realm, where time moves strangely.

Meanwhile, Adolin is in a desperate bind; he is fighting against Abidi without a shardblade and without his shardplate—and with the still-fresh injury of a missing leg. Abidi is clumsy in the shardplate he wears. It is Adolin’s plate that Odium’s forces won in battle; the Fused is not accustomed to wearing it. Adolin dodges blow after blow, but time is not on his side. He needs to defeat Abidi before the contest deadline, which is less than an hour away.

Shallan confronts Mraize. Formless appears as well. Shallan realizes at the last minute that Iyatil is disguising herself as Formless. Shallan stabs her with an anti-Stormlight dagger.

While Szeth is beaten up by the Honorbearers, Kaladin tries to distract Ishar with conversation by telling him stories, but Ishar brushes Kaladin off.

Dalinar realizes that Gavinor is Odium’s champion and refuses to fight his grandson. Gavinor is filled with rage, having aged 20 years in the Spiritual Realm while watching repeated visions of Dalinar’s violence against Elhokar and others. Odium has primed Gavinor to disbelieve anything that Dalinar says.

Adolin finds a candelabra made of aluminum, which allows him to parry Abidi’s blows.

Szeth is brutally beaten by the Honorbearers. Ishar does not allow Szeth to yield because he isn’t fighting; Ishar wants Szeth to fight and lose. Szeth realizes that these undead Honorbearers can be permanently killed with Nightblood.

Rlain and Renarin debate what to do with Mishram and her prison.

Adolin’s prowess as a duelist and his fierce dedication to his promise to protect Azimir fuel his fight against Abidi. He realizes that he can ask the shardplate for help because he has a long relationship with those spren. He speaks aloud his request for help, and the shardplate leaves Abidi and reforms around Adolin instead. The shardplate notices Adolin’s missing leg and adapts the armor so that it supports him and creates a foot for him to stand on.

The Honorbearers continue to beat Szeth. Szeth hears faint words from his father, asking for help. The Honorbearers are unwilling servants of Ishar, and their new existence as Fused is painful for them. Szeth finds the resolve to say his final ideal, the next level of his Skybreaker oath: “I am my own agent […] I make my own choices […] I am the law” (1223).

Shallan’s stab with the anti-Stormlight dagger kills Iyatil. Mraize stealthily draws another anti-Stormlight dagger from his fallen comrade’s belt, but Shallan sees the movement.

Yanagawn and the others are surrounded by Odium’s forces in the hallway outside the throne room. Suddenly, the doors burst open, and Adolin strides out in his shardplate, throwing the body of Abidi the Monarch in front of him.

Ishar is unfazed by Szeth’s final ideal; the surge of power does not bring him to his senses as Kaladin and Szeth hoped it would.

After Adolin defeats Abidi, there are 10 minutes remaining until the deadline; they must hold the throne room against the soldiers at least that long. Maya arrives just in time with a group of fellow deadeye spren whom she has recruited to their cause. These spren are willing to partner with humans—acting as shardblades and shardplate—without the bonds of the Knights Radiant. Yanagawn, May, Notum, and the others in their party don shardplate and arm themselves with shardblades. Noura, Yanagawn’s councilor, goes inside the throne room to sit on the throne.

Rlain and Renarin decide to set Ba-Ado-Mishram free in order to right the wrong that was done to her so long ago.

Szeth feels confident after speaking the ideal. He decides to renounce his bond with 12124 because he disagrees with the approach and teaching philosophies that have been espoused to him for so long. Szeth feels a ripping sensation as their bond breaks. Breaking this bond means that Szeth no longer has Radiant powers.

Ishar forges a temporary magical connection with Szeth, Kaladin, Nale, and Syl so that they can feel the immense pain that he carries inside him after millennia of suffering and torture.

Gavinor attacks Dalinar, who still doesn’t know what to do. For the time being, he deflects Gav’s blows while trying to speak with him. Gav doesn’t listen. Odium snaps his fingers, and Gav freezes in place; the god has utter control over him. Now, Odium betrays Gav; he has trained him for 20 years to fight Dalinar, only to deny him the chance to defeat Dalinar in the end. Dalinar’s choices are to kill Gav or forfeit the fight. If he kills Gav, he will win the contest, which would mean that Odium would leave Alethkar alone. If Dalinar forfeits the fight, he would be bound to service as a Fused under Odium.

Adolin and his friends fight on. As soon as the deadline hits, the enemy forces depart.

Shallan and Pattern use lightweaving to trick Mraize; he falls for a false attack, and Shallan steals the anti-Stormlight dagger from him. She stabs and kills him.

Venli and her companions reveal their deceit to El. They hold Narak Prime as the contest deadline strikes, so they now legally control Narak. They have a peace treaty with the humans—signed by Sigzil and Jasnah. El and his forces respect the rules of the contest and retreat.

Dalinar grapples with the same question that brought Jasnah low during her debate with Odium: Is it right to sacrifice a few people for the sake of the many? Torn between two terrible decisions, Dalinar reflects on the power of Honor, trying to understand the entity’s feelings and disappointments.

Shallan, having just killed Mraize, sees Rlain and Renarin preparing to shatter the gemstone that is Mishram’s prison.

Nale, Kaladin, Syl, and Szeth are incapacitated by the flow of pain coming from Ishar. Kaladin is the first to shake the pain long off enough to stand; he does so by remembering all the times that he has stood up to protect people who couldn’t protect themselves.

Ishar is shocked to see Kaladin stand up to the debilitating flow of pain. Kaladin steps between Szeth and Ishar, cutting off the flow of pain to his friend as well. Kaladin can now empathize with Ishar, and Ishar knows it. Ishar attacks Kaladin, and Kaladin realizes what the words of his final ideal are: “I will protect myself, so that I may continue to protect others” (1257).

The power of Honor circles around Dalinar. It knows that Dalinar knows its story, and that Dalinar empathizes with it. Dalinar says the words that will bind Honor’s power to him: “I understand you” (1258).

When Kaladin says the ideal, a huge wash of power floods over him. There is still a connection between Kaladin and Ishar, which the Herald had been using to force his pain onto Kaladin. The power surges down that connection and throws the Herald to the ground, forcing darkness and pain out of him like smoke. The Herald is knocked unconscious, and Kaladin uses Nightblood to cut the connections between Ishar and his friends.

When Kaladin sets Nightblood down, a connection remains between him and the sword. Nightblood draws stormlight from its wielder. With this connection, Kaladin realizes that Szeth can wield Nightblood, with the sword drawing power from Kaladin rather than from Szeth. This way, Szeth will be able to permanently kill the corrupt Honorbearers, giving them final peace.

Rlain and Renarin shatter Mishram’s prison.

The instant that Mishram is free, Dalinar feels something correct itself in the rhythm of Roshar: the long-standing ill that had been preventing the power of Honor from choosing a new vessel. Now, the power of Honor pours into Dalinar.

Szeth kills several of the Honorbearers, including Pozen, Moss, and his sister.

Mishram tries to attack Renarin as soon as she is free from her prison, because he is human and a Radiant. Rlain steps between them. Mishram flees in anger, but not before expelling Shallan, Rlain, and Renarin into Shadesmar.

Dalinar’s consciousness expands to god levels when Honor’s power enters him. He considers a third option that was not available to him as a mortal: He could kill Odium. For a moment, he is tempted. Then, he remembers that a fight between the two shards will decimate all of Roshar.

Dalinar has a vision in which he speaks with Nohadon, an ancient king and the author of The Way of Kings, a philosophical book that Dalinar admires greatly. They talk about Dalinar’s dilemma. In the vision, Dalinar sees the power of Honor as a child, confused and prone to simplistic thinking and longing to be understood. Dalinar decides that the power is learning and growing after so many years without a host, and that it can change for the better over time. He comes to a resolution; he will buy time for the power of Honor to learn lessons and will set the future generation up for success as much as possible. He decides to renounce his oaths, thus betraying the power of Honor.

Nightblood consumes vast amounts of stormlight from Kaladin. Kaladin runs out of stormlight, and the sword begins to drain his very life essence.

Szeth kills his father, who thanks him with his last breath. Finished with the fight, Szeth tosses Nightblood aside, but the sword is now consuming Szeth’s life essence, just as it is drinking Kaladin’s. Kaladin reminds Nightblood that it too has the power to choose. Nightblood decides to stop inhaling their power.

Odium destroys the Stormfather. Then the power of Honor joins with the power of Odium. Dalinar urges the power of Honor toward Odium, telling it to watch and learn. He hopes that the power of Honor will continue to learn nuance and will someday see that oaths are not inherently good in and of themselves.

The spren all across Roshar scream out in pain. In Shadesmar, the spren of the Oathgate crouch in pain. Rlain and Renarin manage to get through the Oathgate, but chaos erupts before Shallan can pass through. She is trapped in Shadesmar.

Dalinar is confident that the other shards across the cosmere will now attack Taravangian because he is the vessel of not one, but two shards. That will be too big a threat to ignore.

This new combined power of Honor and Odium is called Retribution.

The echoes of the Stormfather’s death and of Dalinar renouncing Honor are felt throughout Roshar. The Heralds and spren all brace for death, knowing that Retribution will want to destroy and then remake everything that stemmed from Honor.

The heralds realize that they could use their powerful circle of 10 to limit Retribution’s power in a small way (just as their Oathpact worked on Odium) and potentially defend the spren from Retribution’s destruction. They are terrified to consider an existence of perpetual torture, but the wind spren see a different solution: a revised Oathpact in which their minds could go to peaceful visions in the Spiritual Realm in between the cycles of their lives, even if their bodies are bound to the planet Braize.

Kaladin agrees to be the final Herald, to replace Jezrien (who has died). Kaladin wants to become a Herald in Szeth’s place because Szeth has chosen peace and Kaladin wants to honor that. Kaladin speaks the words that will bind him to this new pledge, saying, “I accept this journey” (1292). The Oathpact is reforged.

Navani and the Sibling feel Dalinar’s death and the loss of the Stormfather. They brace to defend Urithiru from Retribution.

There is no more stormlight in the world after the death of Honor and the Stormfather. Now, only Voidlight—the magic associated with Odium—is present on Roshar.

Retribution tries to destroy the spren but finds them defended by the new Oathpact. He realizes that the other shards from across the cosmere are watching him. He will not have centuries to plan careful attacks on them all because Dalinar, through his actions, put Retribution in immediate danger from the other gods.

Retribution turns to attack and kill Dalinar only to find that he has already been killed by the tempest of winds that the transfers of power have stirred up. Dalinar died sheltering Gavinor with his body, so Gavinor survives.

Retribution searches the Spiritual Realm for a trace of Dalinar and finds it in a vision. He speaks to that shadow of Dalinar and recruits him to serve Retribution as the Blackthorn.

Wit finds Sigzil in Urithiru and convinces the man to accept the Dawnshard that Wit carries. Wit sends Sigzil into Shadesmar just as Retribution arrives and destroys Wit.

Navani and the Sibling preserve Urithiru and its magic (called towerlight) for the others. To do so, Navani encases herself in a mysterious gemstone; she is alive but frozen.

Dalinar’s friends and family mourn him.

Szeth wakes after the Heralds—including Kaladin—have gone. He incorrectly deduces that Ishar killed Kaladin. He does not know what has happened with Honor or the spren, but he still has Nightblood as a companion.

Retribution permits Venli and her people to use voidlight. Venli checks on Odium’s pool of power to discover that the golden liquid has been replaced with a thick liquid of blackish blue. It emits a new rhythm.

Wit awakens on a different planet, Scadrial. (Wit is an immortal being and has fail-safes in place to protect himself from attacks.)

Adolin remains in Azimir, as travel by Oathgate is impossible. The Everstorm has been pummeling the land for an entire month since Dalinar died. The storm finally breaks, and the sun comes out.

Shallan remains in Shadesmar, unable to travel through the Oathgates. She travels through Shadesmar to the location of Cultivation’s perpendicularity, hoping to use that portal to return to the Physical Realm. However, when she arrives, she and countless other travelers see that the pool has dried up. Shallan finds some Ghostbloods and speaks with their leader, who is on another planet. She convinces the leader to give her the communication spren that they had used to spy on her. Her goal is to find a way to communicate with Adolin.

Sigzil is also traveling through Shadesmar. He catches up with the Iriali caravan that is planning to travel off-world; this is the caravan that includes Dyel, who was introduced in Interlude 11. With the caravan, Sigzil meets 12124, who is also planning to leave Roshar.

Retribution visits the Spiritual Realm—the place where, as Taravangian, he had secretly saved his family from the destruction of Kharbranth. He built a false version of the city in a vision for them and removed their memories of the attack. Now, he hugs his grandchildren and hates the fact that Dalinar and Jasnah were right after all; there are exceptions to be made to any oath or principle.

Wit is the name that a being named Hoid used while he was on Roshar. Now, as Hoid, he is applying for a job on the planet of Scadrial. He sees the brilliance of Dalinar’s plan and praises his dead friend for his forethought, hoping that they can all succeed in defeating Retribution, as Dalinar clearly hoped they could.

The Heralds, including Kaladin, awaken to a peaceful vision in the Spiritual Realm.