Words of Radiance

Shallan stays up late into the night, studying an old map of the city of Stormseat, the ancient capital city of the Heralds. She compares it to maps from Amaram’s room and discovers that it was likely located in the Shattered Plains. She knows from his notes that Amaram expects to find an Oathgate to Urithiru on the Shattered Plains. Pattern encourages Shallan to work on her Lightweaving, making her illusions move and make sound. She tells Shallan that she must remember her past to improve her skills. She succeeds in making a vision of Veil move by attaching it to Pattern.

A year and a half ago, Shallan became the perfect daughter, staying quiet in her room. The family’s fortunes improved, as her father proved shrewd and lucky in consolidating power. One night, Shallan’s father told Balat that he could not marry the girl he loved, Eylita. They argued bitterly, and Balat called their father a murderer and admitted that he had met Helaran in the city. Later, Shallan found Balat and promised to help him run away with Eylita. As she passed her father’s room that night, she heard her father order the assassination of Helaran. When his wife, Malise, called him amoral, he beat her.

Dalinar visits Kaladin in prison to tell him that Elhokar will release him in a few days. When Kaladin brings up how Elhokar killed silversmiths, Dalinar refers to it as the Roshone affair. Kaladin tenses, remembering Roshone as the brightlord in his town who hated his father and doomed his brother to death in Amaram’s army in retribution. Dalinar explains that Roshone manipulated a young Elhokar into imprisoning the old couple, and Roshone was exiled as punishment. Kaladin criticizes the ease with which Roshone escaped justice, and Dalinar explains that anything worse would have caused political turmoil. After hearing this story, Kaladin believes that though Dalinar is honorable, he cannot see how weak Elhokar is. Kaladin now sees that Moash is right.

Hidden in a building, Shallan watches a tree that Mraize told her would hold instructions for her. She hopes to catch the Ghostbloods delivering the instructions in the tree, but Pattern tells her that the woman in the mask is a floor below them. Disguised as Veil, Shallan intercepts the woman, Iyatil. Iyatil explains that the instructions are to investigate a madman held with Dalinar’s ardents. Iyatil is meant to follow Shallan, and Shallan invites her along. When they arrive at the Temple, Shallan tells the ardents that Iyatil is possessed by a Voidbringer, and Iyatil plays along. Shallan sneaks into the madman’s cell while ardents surround Iyatil, and she listens as the madman proclaims that he is the Herald Talenel’Elin. When she looks out of the room to leave, she sees Amaram approaching.

Shallan Lightweaves herself into the wall. Amaram enters the room and treats the man as a Herald. He rejoices and claims that Gavilar’s efforts have finally succeeded. He asks the man where the stash of Shardblades is, but the man continues to mutter. Amaram believes they are Honorblades, the original blades of the Heralds, and leaves to search for them. Shallan leaves. Still disguised as Veil, she hands Iyatil a note with the madman’s words on it. Later, Shallan receives a message from Mraize inviting her to join the Ghostbloods.

A year and a half ago, Shallan sat in her room reading a tract by Jasnah about how women should not be assigned roles in life but rather should choose what they do. She decided to be brave, telling Balat to contact Helaran and warn their brother about the assassination. Balat agreed to take Eylita and Malise with him. Next, Shallan visited Malise, blinded by the light coming from behind the painting. She told Malise that they would get her away.

Kaladin is released from prison and walks out to find Adolin also being released from a cell. Adolin imprisoned himself in protest, believing Kaladin’s punishment unfair. Adolin blames Elhokar for ruining the plan to take down Sadeas, and he asks Kaladin whether it is true that Amaram is a murderer. Adolin shares that he never trusted Amaram, thinking him too perfect, and that he believes Kaladin. Bridge Four greets Kaladin, and Adolin gifts Kaladin Shardplate and a Shardblade won from the duel. Kaladin accepts the gift but hands the Shardblade to Moash, not wanting to wield such a murderous weapon. Before leaving, Kaladin speaks to Moash alone and tells him that he will help him remove Elhokar.

At a feast, Dalinar works to convince other highprinces to join his attack on the Parshendi, but he notices people laughing at him. Amaram shows Dalinar copies of Navani’s accounts of his highstorm visions that are being circulated. Navani finds them and explains that her language has been changed and notes have been added to discredit Dalinar. It is an attack from Sadeas.

Dalinar admits to the crowd that his visions are real and that in the coming days, he will be proven right. After the feast, Wit compliments his approach to countering the attack. He notes that no one spoke with Elhokar because Dalinar is the real king. Dalinar asks Wit whether he is a tyrant, and Wit says that he is. Wit believes Dalinar is a benevolent tyrant and that his people need that now. Wit denies being a Herald or a Radiant but says that he has important work and cannot be caught by “[t]he father of hatred,” whom Dalinar fights (799).

Kaladin, Dalinar, Shallan, and Adolin join Dalinar’s army on the Shattered Plains, scouting for the final assault. As he walks, Kaladin tries to breathe in Stormlight but cannot, and Syl explains that it is because of bad choices. Syl is distracted and distant, and Kaladin wonders if their bond is decaying. He realizes that he has conflicting oaths. One to Dalinar to protect Elhokar, and the other to Moash to kill him. He is confused, and Syl instructs him to do what he believes is right.

Moash speaks with Kaladin, explaining that his role in killing Elhokar will be minimal. Kaladin believes the murder is just, but he does not feel comfortable with it. Afterward, he joins Adolin and Shallan and watches as she asks Adolin to use his Shardblade to cut a rock formation for her, finding white stone under it. It was once a building. At a bridge crossing later in the day, Kaladin, Dalinar, Shallan, and Adolin are all on the bridge when a man whom Kaladin suddenly recognizes from Sadeas’s camp pulls a lever. The bridge collapses as horns sound, signaling the arrival of the Parshendi.

Kaladin cannot take in Stormlight as he falls, and just before he hits the bottom, he hears Syl scream and feels Stormlight course through him. He wakes up in pain and notices that his spheres are drained. He remembers seeing Adolin dive to get his father off the bridge. Suddenly, Shallan comes around the corner, startling Kaladin, who wonders how she survived. She explains that the carpenter pulled the emergency collapse lever, and there are no survivors. Luckily, Dalinar and Adolin are not among the bodies. With two days before the next highstorm floods the chasms, they decide to walk back to the warcamp. As they walk, they argue over Kaladin’s opinion of lighteyes. They only stop when they hear an approaching chasmfiend.

They flee, and as they run, Shallan takes them back to the site of the bridge collapse, leading the chasmfiend to food. They sneak a look at the creature, a gigantic beast with many legs, mandibles, and red, lightning-like spren surrounding it. They walk a long distance before settling down for the night, and Shallan draws a map of the plateaus from memory, which Kaladin uses to plot their course. They sleep and set out before the sun rises. Shallan finds herself drawn to Kaladin, and they playfully contradict each other. Shallan reveals her theory about the parshmen, and Kaladin worries that if the Alethi forsake the parshmen, darkeyes will be enslaved in their place.

In the chasms, Shallan adds to their map. As they pass plateaus, Shallan realizes that the plateaus are symmetrical, reflecting the ruins of Stormseat. Therefore, the Oathgate is likely at the center. Kaladin still cannot use Stormlight, and Syl is gone. The highstorm approaches, and Kaladin worries that they will not make it back in time. Their journey is delayed when the chasmfiend finds them again and traps them in a small crevice. As Kaladin prepares to distract it, Shallan gives him a Shardblade.

Unlike the last time he touched a Shardblade, Kaladin hears no screams when he takes it. He fights the chasmfiend, though he struggles without Stormlight to help. He loses the blade twice, and when he recovers it the second time, the chasmfiend bites his leg. Shallan distracts it, and Kaladin retreats, though he can barely support his weight on his injured leg. As the chasmfiend aims to eat him, He hears Syl weeping, and as the chasmfiend reaches down to bite him, he thrusts the sword into its mouth. The chasmfiend collapses, and Shallan has to summon the Shardblade back to her to cut Kaladin from its mouth. Kaladin suggests she use the blade to carve a small cave high up in the wall to wait out the highstorm. Shallan does so, pulling the injured Kaladin into the space right as the stormwall hits.

One year ago, on the night Balat was to escape, neither he nor Shallan had heard from Helaran. Shallan’s father brought Eylita to their home. Her brothers rushed to the hall in a panic, but before joining them, Shallan retrieved the bag of Blackbane leaves Wikim had given her. Her father announced that Helaran was dead, killed on the battlefield in Alethkar, and that Malise had told him their plan. Shallan found Malise dead on the floor, and as Balat fought their father, Shallan poured wine. Her father defeated Balat, then drank the wine Shallan gave him. As their father continued to hit Balat with a poker, he collapsed. Shallan admitted that she had poisoned his wine. As they searched his pockets, they found a soulcaster. Her father began twitching, and Shallan strangled him to death with her necklace.

The waters rise in the chasm as the highstorm rages, nearly sweeping Kaladin and Shallan from their place. To distract themselves from the chaos, they share their life stories. Kaladin explains how Amaram made him an enslaved person, and Shallan admits to killing her father. Kaladin realizes that Shallan has a harder life than he does, and he begins to trust her. Suddenly, the storm stops, and the face of the Stormfather is above them. The Stormfather tells Kaladin that Syl is dead and that it was Kaladin who killed her, just as the Radiants before him killed their sprens. The storm returns, and Kaladin questions whether Syl is actually dead, remembering her screams.

Before the final assault on the Parshendi, Amaram encourages Dalinar to unite with Sadeas. Dalinar refuses, and Amaram questions why Dalinar gave him the responsibility of leading the Knights Radiant if he does not trust him. When news spreads that Kaladin and Shallan have emerged from the chasms, Dalinar and Amaram rush to find them. Kaladin tells Dalinar he must see Shallan’s discovery.

Later, in Dalinar’s study, Shallan asks to join the assault, wanting to find the Oathgate and the way to Urithiru. Dalinar wants her to come, but she agrees to do so only if they leave the parshmen. Shallan explains that Jasnah believed they were dangerous, and Dalinar agrees.

Brother Lhan shows Pai around and tries to convince her to stay as an ardent to the queen in Kholinar. Pai accuses Elhokar’s wife of being wasteful and her ardents of pleasing her at the expense of the people. Lhan convinces Pai by giving her the task of disseminating the daily leftovers to the poor. The next morning, however, Lhan rushes to the throne room to see that Pai has written paragraphs across the floor condemning the queen, the monarchy, and lighteyes. Pai is executed the following day, and riots break out soon after.

Eshonai buries her screams as she observes her new troops. Venli reports that the Alethi are on their way. Eshonai explains that they will wait until the Alethi are close, then summon the storm to destroy them while they are defenseless on the Shattered Plains. Venli notes that this new storm will blow in the opposite direction of the highstorms, which always begin in the east.

King Taravangian wakes and assesses his intelligence. Today, he does not feel stupid. When he went to the Nightwatcher and asked for the knowledge to save the world, he did not expect the ironic consequence to be that his intelligence fluctuates from day to day. He disembarks from his ship with his retinue to survey Vedenar, destroyed in a war of succession that he began by instructing Szeth to kill the king of Jah Keved. He feels guilty but is confident in following the Diagram, a guide to saving the world, which he wrote during the one day of absolute genius he had.

He notices tents with his flags, representing the healers he sent to help. This wins him public favor. Szeth appears, and as he meets with soldiers, Szeth reveals that he has fought a Surgebinder, meaning he is no longer Truthless and therefore no longer bound to Taravangian. Anxious, Taravangian explains that this man must be like Szeth, with one of the honorblades, and therefore not a Surgebinder. He instructs Szeth to return to the Shattered Plains and kill Dalinar.

Taravangian plans to manipulate a vague claim to the throne and his newfound popularity to take the throne of Jah Keved. This is the first step to uniting the world. Gavilar saw this plan in his visions and told Taravangian of it at the feast years ago.