Wind and Truth

The Lightweaver Honorbearer, a former friend of Szeth’s named Moss, presents Szeth with a puzzle to solve rather than dueling him. Moss weaves 30 illusions of the Herald Shalash. They seem nearly identical. Moss tells Szeth that all of the representations of Shalash are imperfect, save one; Moss hides behind the perfect one. Szeth must kill Moss by selecting the right illusion to attack. Then, he must escape the monastery with the Honorblade.

Venli leads a group of Parshendi and chasmfiends toward the center of the Shattered Plains, where she senses the presence of a source of power; she hears this source as a song. They travel in the chasms to avoid the battle that is taking place on the surface.

Szeth studies the illusions, and Syl helps him solve the riddle. They fly up to the ceiling to look down on the illusions from above. From there, they see a mural of Shalash carved into the stone floor and realize that the Honorbearer is hiding there instead of behind one of the illusions. Szeth stabs through the floor, and the Honorbearer disappears into black smoke, just as the others have upon dying. The illusions fade, revealing the acolytes of the monastery.

Jasnah comes up with a theory—Odium’s attack is a ploy, and the ships headed their way aren’t even full of soldiers.

As they prepare to leave the monastery, Syl cannot stop wondering why Moss used acolytes behind his illusions instead of creating free-standing lightweavings. She realizes the danger just in time as one of the acolytes moves to stab Szeth in the back. Kaladin throws Syl in the form of a spear and kills the would-be assassin; she was another Honorbearer in disguise.

Kaladin continues to be frustrated with Nale, who professes a strong dedication to clear laws of right and wrong but is full of inconsistencies and contradictions.

In the Spiritual Realm, Shallan, Rlain, and Renarin devise a plan to watch the visions from the outside rather than entering them fully.

This chapter continues the flashback to Szeth’s past.

Szeth continues to outshine all the others now that he is training to become an Honorbearer. Pozen is his primary mentor and sets “hunts” for Szeth, in which he must follow a series of clues to obtain his objectives. The Honorbearer Sivi finds him on one of these treasure hunts and convinces him to sit and talk with her. She tells him that she, Pozen, and the other Honorbearers want Szeth to challenge the Windrunner for his blade. To prepare, he must go on a pilgrimage to train with all the blades.

One of Sigzil’s squires dies in battle.

In the Spiritual Realm, Rlain and Renarin’s spren build a scaffolding for the humans to stand on and peer into the visions. Dalinar and Navani move rapidly through hundreds of years of visions. In one vision, they spot a past version of Ba-Ado-Mishram. Shallan enters this vision so that she can talk with the Unmade.

This chapter continues the flashbacks to Szeth’s past.

Szeth prepares to depart for the first stop on his pilgrimage: Sivi’s monastery. His sister Elid confronts him before he goes, demanding that he tell their father to stay behind rather than continuing to uproot his life in order to accompany Szeth. Elid does not plan to follow them and is angry with Szeth, blaming him for tearing their family apart. Szeth accepts his father’s offer of company.

In the vision, Shallan is lying on a battlefield with many slain Parshendi. Ba-Ado-Mishram heals Shallan and another wounded Parshendi. Then, the present-day Ba-Ado-Mishram (also called simply “Mishram”) intrudes into the vision, momentarily taking over the body of her past self and speaking to Shallan with anger and violence.

Rlain and Renarin step into the vision, defending Shallan from Mishram and asking the Unmade to help them find her prison. Then, they all step out of the vision. Shallan sees Mraize sneaking up on her. The vision drops away.

Adolin and Yanagawn play Towers, and Adolin continues to instruct the emperor in game strategy (which translates directly to battlefield strategy). While they are playing, Yanagawn translates for Hmask, a loyal soldier who has been at Adolin’s side for years even though the language barrier has prevented Adolin from knowing what he did to earn Hmask’s fierce loyalty. With Yanagawn’s help, Adolin learns that he once saved Hmask’s young son; Adolin had been fighting a Thunderclast and pulled the boy from harm’s way.

A messenger comes, and Adolin learns for certain that their reinforcements have betrayed the human coalition to join sides with Odium.

Dalinar, Navani, and Gavinor are cast into the chaos of the Spiritual Realm outside the visions. They are separated.

Dalinar arrives in a vision of the day that the Heralds abandoned their oaths and their blades. In the vision, the Heralds beg Honor to change their Oathpact so that other people can take their places. Honor refuses this request but tells them that the pact can be modified so that only one of them, Taln, must return to the eternal torture of the planet Braize. They agree to this, and Honor modifies the pact, but he also decides that he will no longer intervene as directly into the matters on Roshar. The Heralds (minus Taln) abandon their Honorblades out of shame, pain, and disappointment.

Lacking an anchor to take them to the next vision, Dalinar uses his connection to the Stormfather to pull himself, Navani, and Gav to the next scene that they need to see: Honor’s death.

Interlude 11 depicts a young girl named Dyel. Dyel is Iriali (belonging to a nomadic nation of humans). Dyel’s mother is a Radiant, as was her grandfather. Dyel’s grandfather was killed by Nale, who spent many years hunting and killing budding Radiants under Ishar’s orders in a misguided attempt to prevent another Desolation (cataclysmic war). In the interlude, Dyel’s family shop is visited by three characters who are introduced in other Sanderson novels; these three figures are powerful beings who can travel the universe. They are looking for Wit. Dyel’s mother gives them a letter that Wit had left for them to pick up. They then depart. After their departure, the city receives word that the Iriali will again be moving to a new world. Dyel and her mother follow their neighbors into a portal to Shadesmar.

Cultivation is desperate to convince Tarvangian to cease following his destructive war path. Hoping to sway him, Cultivation reveals that she has planted secret operatives in Taravangian’s beloved city of Kharbranth; she unleashes a military strike and seizes control of the city and all of Taravangian’s family members. Instead of convincing him to take her side, this move enrages Taravangian and makes him realize that a god cannot have weaknesses. He summons a giant tsunami and destroys the whole city, including his family.