Words of Radiance

As Shallan and Adolin ride out onto the Shattered Plains, one of Shallan’s soldiers delivers a copy of Words of Radiance, finally located in the market. Shallan then rides in a carriage, reading about the different orders of the Knights Radiant. Jasnah joins Shallan to configure the ruins of Stormseat over the Shattered Plains, and Shallan tells her about the Oathgate she believes will be found among the ruins. Shallan also reveals that Jasnah was a Radiant.

As the Weeping begins, the constant light rain weighs on Kaladin, and he goes for walks to combat the depression. He meets with Moash, who shares that they will kill Elhokar while Dalinar is away and that they no longer need Kaladin’s help. Kaladin tells Moash that Syl is gone because of the plot to kill Elhokar. Moash assures him that it is for the greater good.

Shallan has all the scholars on the expedition helping her to complete her map and find the Oathgate. Dalinar comes to speak with Shallan alone after hearing of Jasnah’s power, and Shallan shows him her ability to Lightweave. She swears him to secrecy, suggesting that he needs to find the new Radiants. Their conversation is interrupted with news that Parshendi have been spotted. Soldiers bring them the corpse of one, who looks different from the Parshendi before. Shallan opens its eyes and sees that they are red, marking it as a Voidbringer. Reports soon come of another Parshendi nearby, and they run to find Rlain, in warform, waiting for them.

Rlain admits to having been a spy for three years to Dalinar, Navani, and Adolin. He explains that he became worried after seeing Eshonai at the peace meeting, believing she had changed. He snuck away to observe the Parshendi and noticed that they have all changed, as though their gods have returned, meaning they will bring destruction. He wants to help Dalinar defeat them, as he no longer considers them worth saving. Dalinar sends Rlain to Shallan to help finish the map, and Navani reminds him that they have three days left on the countdown.

Shallan can see the ruins of Stormseat on the plateaus around them. She advocates for advancing toward the Parshendi city, and Dalinar agrees. Dalinar tells Shallan that they have only one day left until the countdown ends, and they will be trapped against whatever evil the Parshendi bring. He is depending on her to find the Oathgate and provide a way to escape.

Back at the warcamp, Kaladin returns from a walk to find Elhokar in his room. Elhokar asks Kaladin how to lead. Kaladin tells Elhokar that he cannot teach him and that he believes Elhokar is a bad king. As Elhokar leaves, Kaladin suggests that he do what is right by stepping down, and Elhokar dismisses this suggestion but apologizes to Kaladin for overreacting at the duel and punishing him.

Dalinar readies his army as the Parshendi line up, eyes glowing, on the other side of the chasm. The Parshendi do not attack but begin singing, and as a storm begins to build around them, Rlain warns Dalinar that they are summoning something and must be stopped. Worried, Dalinar sends the signal to attack. The Parshendi are on three plateaus, and Aladar, Roion, and Adolin will each attack one.

Kaladin goes to the training yard to seek advice from Zahel. When he tells Zahel that he is struggling with a difficult decision, Zahel tells him to do what will help him sleep at night. Afterward, Kaladin practices spear movements in the yard and struggles without Syl’s help. He realizes that he cannot let Elhokar die.

The Parshendi can summon red lightning but cannot control or aim the deadly strikes. As Adolin cuts down Parshendi, he notices red spren escaping them. Meanwhile, when a scout tells Shallan that her map is wrong and that one of the plateaus is a circle and not a sliver, she realizes that this must be where the Oathgate is. Dalinar sends Renarin with the scholars and Shallan to the plateau. As they leave, he hears the voice of the Almighty say, “I am sorry that you have to die this way” (985).

Kaladin drags himself to the palace, realizing that though Elhokar is a bad king, the man tries. The castle is empty, and Kaladin fights his way past Graves’s men into Elhokar’s room.

Adolin and his forces try to fight through the Parshendi to those singing behind them but are repelled. He remembers Shallan’s claim that the rock formations are actually the ruins of a city, and he formulates a new plan.

Dalinar yells to the voice of the Almighty, who admits that he is not actually the Almighty, but a piece of him left from when Odium killed him. Learning that Roion is overwhelmed, Dalinar rushes to Navani, who uses fabrial to set up temporary tents that remove the moisture from the air, allowing archers to fire in the rain. The plan works, distracting the Parshendi long enough for Roion’s soldiers to push back.

Back in the castle, Kaladin shakes a drunk Elhokar awake and tells him they must flee. As they run through the corridors deep in the castle, looking for a way out, Elhokar faints. Before Kaladin can revive him, Moash and Graves appear with their Shardblades.

Shallan, Renarin, and the scholars reach the plateau. Shallan finds a rock formation that seems like a building and has Renarin use his Shardblade to cut a doorway into it.

On another plateau, Adolin leads his men through an abandoned building, cutting into it to sneak behind the Parshendi lines. He cuts through the back wall, and his men launch an attack, quickly killing the Parshendi and ending the singing. Eshonai confronts Adolin.

Dalinar hears the voice of the Almighty again and realizes that it is the Stormfather. He tells Dalinar that he cannot help him and that he will send a highstorm to wash away their corpses.

In the castle, Kaladin pleads with Moash that they must be honorable enough to confront those they disagree with in the open. He promises they will find justice for Moash’s family, but Moash will not listen.

Shallan enters the building and finds a dais with murals depicting the ancient kingdoms and the tower of Urithiru. She finds a Shardblade-sized keyhole. Pattern warns that a highstorm is approaching. The highstorm and the Everstorm, which the Parshendi summon, will collide and cause serious destruction. When Renarin’s Shardblade does not unlock anything, Shallan sends soldiers back to Dalinar, ordering everyone to evacuate there, hoping she can find a way to make the Oathgate function.

On the battlefield, Adolin faces Eshonai. Realizing that she is focused on him and not on her surroundings, he leads her to the edge of the plateau and pushes her off. In the moment of peace after this, he recognizes Szeth walking by.

In the castle, Kaladin tries to fight Moash but is quickly defeated. As he lies on the ground, Kaladin realizes that he came to protect Elhokar because he must protect everyone who cannot protect themselves. He hears Syl’s voice arguing against the Stormfather, and she asks him to make his oath: “I will protect even those I hate […] So long as it is right” (1015). Syl bonds with Kaladin, healing him and forming a Shardblade in his hand. Moash flees, and Graves does not attack. Kaladin looks out the window to see a red storm approaching.

Dalinar orders everyone to the circular plateau. Adolin finds Dalinar and warns him of Szeth. He tells Adolin to lead well once he is gone, and then he faces Szeth alone. They clash, and Dalinar realizes that he cannot, and never could, defeat the assassin. With this knowledge, he forgives himself for having failed to defend Gavilar on the night Szeth assassinated him. Szeth disarms him, but before he can kill Dalinar, Roion attacks. Szeth lashes the man to the sky, but with this distraction, Dalinar, Adolin, and Bridge Four surround him. They charge but cannot harm Szeth, who lashes Dalinar to the sky, sending him flying up. Dalinar soon floats back down from the sky, followed by Kaladin, awash in Stormlight with a glowing Shardblade.

Szeth flees into the air, and Kaladin follows. With Szeth gone, Dalinar and Adolin make for the Oathgate. Kaladin battles with Szeth in the air, Syl changing from sword to spear to shield to meet his needs.

At the Oathgate, Shallan realizes that the Oathgate is a fabrial and begins charging gemstones on the walls. Adolin meets her, but his Shardblade does not work either. Shallan understands why and summons her own Shardblade, which she now knows is Pattern. When she places him in the keyhole, something unlocks. She and Adolin push the keyhole to the image of Urithiru.

Szeth becomes unhinged, repeating that he is Truthless and that the Knights Radiant cannot return. Szeth cannot defeat Kaladin and lashes himself back to the ground. On the ground, in a flash of lightning, the armies on the plateau disappear.

Shallan can no longer hear the storm, and she leaves the Oathgate to find a sunny and bright sky with a tall tower looming over her. All the armies are there. The plateau is the portal.

Szeth screams in frustration, claiming that he knows they went to Urithiru. He flees to the west, and Kaladin follows him. Kaladin confronts Szeth again, and the assassin realizes that he is not Truthless and therefore did not have to become an assassin. He breaks the bond with his blade and falls into the storm. Kaladin dives for Szeth’s blade.

Syl explains that the Shardblades the Alethi use are dead spren, killed by the Radiants breaking their oaths. She is a living Shardblade and can therefore change form. She explains that Szeth’s blade is not a spren but one of the honorblades of the Heralds. At the circular plateau, Kaladin finds what remains of Bridge Four, who came back through the Oathgate to get him and show him how to operate it. They tell him that his eyes are now light blue, and Kaladin worries about what implications this will have for him.

At Urithiru, Pattern tells Shallan that she is almost a Radiant but must be truthful with herself. They send word back to the warcamps through a spanreeder that everyone must evacuate to the Oathgate. When Kaladin arrives in Urithiru, Navani asks if Elhokar is safe, and he explains that he hid him where no one would look. Meanwhile, Moash leaves the camps with Graves, who tells Moash he is bringing him to his organization.

In the tower of Urithiru, Shallan meets with Mraize, who is impressed with her skills and still wants her to join the Ghostbloods. He tells Shallan that he is bringing her brothers to Urithiru, and though Shallan can work with the Knights Radiant, her persona of Veil will cooperate with him. Afterward, she goes to her room, and Pattern tells her it is time to remember. She suddenly sees the day of her mother’s death and realizes that she developed her abilities at an early age, scaring her mother. Her mother tried to kill her, and Shallan used Pattern as a Shardblade to kill her mother in self-defense. Her father hid the Shardblade and took the blame.

Amaram sneaks into Dalinar’s camp to free Taln. Szeth wakes up, devastated that he is not dead. Standing over him is the man with the scar on his face. The man introduces himself as Nin, Herald of Justice, and tells Szeth that he wants Szeth to join him. He wants Szeth to work with him because he admires the assassin for following his code of ethics even at great cost to himself. He promises to train Szeth and deliver justice to those who banished him. He gives Szeth a new Shardblade, black with smoke trailing from it. When Szeth picks it up, he hears a voice.

Adolin explores the tower of Urithiru and encounters Sadeas alone on the steps. Sadeas states that he will continue to discredit Adolin’s father and steal the tower from him. Adolin cannot stand this anymore and kills Sadeas, fleeing before anyone can see him.

Dalinar climbs up to the roof of the tower and shouts to the Stormfather. The Stormfather assures Dalinar that they will all die: Since Odium killed the Almighty, humans stand no chance. He tells Dalinar that the Everstorm will continue to return, much like the highstorms, sweeping across the kingdoms and turning any parshmen it passes over into Voidbringers. Dalinar demands to be made a Knight Radiant. The Stormfather obliges but tells Dalinar he shall have no Shardblade. Dalinar summons his but drops it, severing the bond when he hears screaming. The Stormfather calls him Bondsmith.

Back in the tower, Dalinar meets Kaladin and Shallan, declaring them the new Knights Radiant. Renarin joins them, revealing that he, too, has a spren, as he is a Truthwatcher. Dalinar tells them what he learned from the Stormfather—that the Everstorm will return—and Kaladin declares that he will return to his town to protect his parents. Dalinar approves and asks Kaladin to protect Kholinar, the Alethi capital, after protecting his parents. Renarin leaves with Kaladin to help him prepare, and Shallan and Dalinar look out the window. They reflect on the coming destruction and pledge to save as many as they can.

Wit sits in the forest, waiting for someone. Suddenly, Jasnah appears, returning from Shadesmar. She worries frantically about the Everstorm, the Voidbringers, and the need to find Urithiru. Wit calmly tells her that all of this is already happening. They begin walking toward the nearest town, and Wit tells her that the Everstorm will hit Shinovar that night and quickly pass over the continent. Jasnah wonders what to do if they cannot trust the Almighty. Wit tells her that though the Almighty is dead, God can be found in the hearts of men. Jasnah agrees.