Eighteen and a half years earlier, an exhausted Dalinar returns to camp after routing a Veden raiding force at the border. Kadash delivers the report: the Vedens are shattered with minimal Alethi losses. Dalinar emphasizes allowing retreats over extermination and expects a prolonged campaign, noting their limited Soulcaster and the need for supply lines. The Thrill still surges within him despite his fatigue.

As Dalinar tries to rest, Evi arrives unannounced at the warcamp, wearing a havah and boots, with their children. Dalinar is angered that she came to the front and brought the boys, but Evi says Navani urged her, noting Dalinar’s long absences—Adolin hasn’t seen him in a year and infant Renarin has never met him. Dalinar bristles at Renarin’s name and its foreign construction, then insists the front is unsafe.

Evi softens the confrontation by tending to Dalinar and praising his service, but questions the killing, asking if surrender could be offered. Dalinar explains the Vedens are testing borders, not seeking surrender, and that battlefield realities preclude such niceties.

Dalinar goes to see the boys. Adolin, playing soldier atop a chull, salutes on approach. Dalinar summons Oathbringer for him to see and promises to win Adolin a Blade someday; Adolin insists he will earn one himself. Nearby, a quiet toddler Renarin toddles and watches, meeting his father for the first time.

With the visit, the last embers of the Thrill fade. Dalinar defers decisions about Evi’s role in camp and finally collapses into sleep in her stormwagon.