Wind and Truth

Kaladin and Nale debate the merit of law; Kaladin argues that just because something is a law or tradition, it is not necessarily right. However, Kaladin realizes that he will never help Nale through debate, so he changes his approach and instead asks Nale about his experiences as a Herald.

Venli’s group reaches the chasms below Narak Prime. The rhythm that Venli feels is in the ground under her feet. She uses stormlight to carve a tunnel toward it. The Fused in their group hang back.

Jasnah cannot send troops to help Adolin because the enemy controls the Oathgate in Azimir. Odium visits Jasnah and tells her that he will control Thaylen City by the following night, although he will not take it through military force.

Upon arriving at the Dustbringer monastery, the Honorbearer attacks Szeth; he doesn’t fight back. The Honorbearer becomes frustrated and yells at him, and Szeth recognizes the voice. It is his sister, Elid. Elid softens a bit, telling him that she and her father are “taken by the Voice” (903). She tells him that the Heralds have arranged Szeth’s entire pilgrimage as an audition to see if Szeth can take the place of the fallen Herald, Jezrien, and re-form the Oathpact. While she is speaking, Elid begins to disappear into smoke, just as like the other Honorbearers did after Szeth killed them.

After Elid is gone, Nale appears and confirms that she spoke the truth. He also tells Szeth that the Honorbearers that he has been fighting are already dead. (Nale does not yet reveal any more details, but soon Szeth and Kaladin will discover that Ishar has bound the Honorbearers to him in an imitation of the Fused; they are immortal, but their spirits are bound to his will.)

Sigzil meets with his generals. Their situation is desperate; they struggle to see a way to hold Narak Prime for two more days. Sigzil has a last-ditch idea to get the enemy to follow them away so that the enemy will not technically hold the land when the contest deadline arrives.

At the end of the tunnel, Venli and her companions find a pool of golden light. The pool is the source of the sounds that Venli has been hearing; it is a pool of Odium’s power. This explains why Odium’s forces have been fighting so fiercely for control of the Shattered Plains. Soon after finding the pool, Venli receives word that Odium’s soldiers have discovered her companions on the surface.

In another vision, Dalinar occupies his nephew Elhokar’s body and witnesses as the past Dalinar beats his nephew up. At that time, Elhokar, Gavinor’s father, was the king of Kholinar. Dalinar’s intention at the time was to show Elhokar that he was not a threat to his throne; he meant to reach a position from which he could easily kill Elhokar and then walk away. Now, as Dalinar looks back on this memory, he realizes how much hurt and damage his brute-force approach caused.

Odium places Gavinor into this vision so that the child witnesses Dalinar beating up his father.

Taravangian challenges Jasnah to a debate for the fate of Thaylen City. He will try to convince Queen Fen to join his side, and Jasnah will present the counterargument. The debate will take place the following day.

Venli and her companions seal the tunnel without Odium’s soldiers seeing their actions. One of the soldiers is a Fused named El, who appeared in Interlude 3. El makes Venli an offer: Venli can become an immortal Fused, and her community will be left untouched if she and her companions contribute their chasmfiends to the fight. Venli asks for some time to consider.

This chapter continues the flashback to Szeth’s past.

Szeth heads toward the designated meeting place to finally meet the source of the voice in his head.

Separated from her companions by Odium, Shallan finds a vision of herself in her family home when she was 11. In the vision, young Shallan eavesdrops on her mother, the Herald Chana, who is speaking with the Herald Nale. This is the first time that the adult Shallan fully realizes that her mother was a Herald. Nale commands Chana to kill Shallan because Shallan is a budding Radiant. Chana argues that the Radiants are gone and that she has managed to create an heir. After centuries of immortality and cycles of war and torture, Chana longs for someone else to take her place and believes that her powerful daughter will fill that role.

Young Shallan is with her father when Chana seeks her out, planning to kill her in order to prove that Shallan is now the immortal. Shallan’s father tries to defend Shallan. Chana pulls a knife on her daughter but hesitates, and in this moment of hesitation, the young Shallan summons her shardblade for the first time and kills her mother.

This chapter continues the flashback to Szeth’s past.

Szeth arrives at the Bondsmith monastery, where he is supposed to meet the voice. As Szeth approaches, he senses something very dark and wrong about the place. He enters a room and sees spren nailed to the walls, screaming.

The voice tells Szeth that it is “transforming” the spren into better versions of themselves. From this traumatic scene, Szeth concludes that the voice belongs to an Unmade. Szeth flees.

A doctor fits Adolin with a prosthetic leg that ends in a peg instead of a foot. Adolin realizes how unstable he will be on this leg and is angry that he won’t be able to help in battle.

Szeth grapples with the revelation that he is supposed to become a Herald and feels a crushing sense of pressure. 12124 apologizes to Szeth for not telling him sooner and explains that Nale had sworn him to secrecy. Szeth asks how his pilgrimage of slaying the corrupted Honorbearers relates to his fate to become a Herald; he wonders why the Heralds haven’t cleansed Shinovar already. His spren cannot answer. (The narrative will later explain the answer: that Ishar’s presence corrupts the land and the Honorbearers.)

Adolin dreads the coming day; he fears that the army defending Azimir will finally be brought low.

This chapter continues the flashback to Szeth’s past.

After fleeing the voice, Szeth rushes to see his father. He longs to tell his father everything but does not do so yet because he does not trust himself and his instincts. Instead, he asks his father to stay hidden and departs.

Shallan directs herself to her next vision: her wedding day. She enjoys revisiting the happy moments leading up to the wedding ceremony, savoring her hope for the future and her love for Adolin. While reviewing the memory, she realizes that she had seen her mother’s face in the back of the room during the wedding.

Chana’s presence at the wedding means that after Shallan killed her, Chana’s immortal soul went to the planet Braize, where she then broke under Odium’s torture and returned to Roshar. Her return enabled the return of the Fused and the outbreak of the latest Desolation.

This chapter continues the flashback to Szeth’s past.

Szeth returns to the Windrunner monastery, where he is now Honorbearer and leader. He confronts the loyal followers of the previous Honorbearer and realizes that his predecessor had been priming them for rebellion. Pozen and the others wanted Szeth to replace the old Honorbearer because he was unwilling to go along with the will of the voice. Szeth takes up this rebellion.

Still in the vision of her wedding day, Shallan follows her mother and comforts her, telling Chana that she cannot take responsibility for other people’s actions. Shallan extends forgiveness to her mother.

As she is speaking with her mother, Shallan realizes that she is speaking to the present-day version of Chana. Suddenly, Odium appears, dissolving Shallan’s vision and sending her back into chaos.

Dalinar sees a vision of the night that his first wife, Evi, died. She died because he attacked a city that she had infiltrated in an attempt to broker peace. Gavinor is also in the vision. Now, Dalinar deviates from his past actions and commands his soldiers to try to save the city rather than letting it burn.

Odium appears and tells Dalinar that the power of Honor is watching his “performance” in the vision; Honor sees Dalinar’s revisionist behavior as a betrayal because Dalinar had been ordered—and had sworn an oath to obey orders—to destroy the city.

Dalinar embraces the pain of his visions because the pain has been part of his journey and has taught him important lessons. The thread of Dalinar’s pain becomes a visible light in the Spiritual Realm. He follows it to a place where the Stormfather is hiding. Dalinar convinces the Stormfather to show him visions from Honor’s life.

Rysn is a merchant from Theylenah who appears in other Sanderson books, including Dawnshard and The Way of Kings. She holds the power of a Dawnshard (one of the four original commands that the deity Adonalsium used to create the universe). The great powers of the universe include these four commands (the Dawnshards) plus the 16 intentions (the Shards, like Odium and Honor) that are the remnants of the shattered Adonalsium.

In Interlude 15, Rysn visits Urithiru to negotiate a trade deal. While she is there, she has a chance encounter with Wit, who is also in possession of a Dawnshard. These great powers can be destructive if they are together, reacting with a violent magnetism. Wit and Rysn realize that they must do everything they can to make sure that their Dawnshards never meet again.

Once Dalinar joins up with the Stormfather in the Spiritual Realm, Odium can longer sense or find Dalinar. Odium worries that the power of Honor, too long without a host, is becoming sentient.