From a vantage over the Tower plateau, Dalinar and Sadeas coordinate a massive assault. Dalinar refuses a single grand charge that would force his own bridgemen under fire, insisting Sadeas first secure a landing. Sadeas’s bridges go in, and the assault begins.

Kaladin leads Bridge Four’s armored decoy team, drawing Parshendi archers while suppressing signs of his Stormlight. Despite the distraction, several bridges fall. After the crossing, Kaladin treats casualties—cauterizing Teft’s shoulder wound and bandaging Skar’s foot—while keeping scouts alert for flanking moves.

With a foothold opened, Dalinar crosses, smashes a Parshendi push, and personally eliminates rock-slingers. Embracing the Thrill, he drives hard toward the southeast to split and trap the Parshendi. As victory builds, he hesitates over a terrified Parshendi youth, the Thrill fading as doubt and the Codes reassert themselves.

Haunted by the Parshendi death song and his visions’ call to unite, Dalinar feels revulsion at the slaughter even as his army presses forward. Adolin fights alongside the advance, pushing the enemy toward the cliff while maintaining formation integrity.

Adolin then spots a second Parshendi army arriving from the west. Dalinar climbs to survey the field and discovers Sadeas’s forces retreating to the north. The bridgemen loaned to Dalinar have withdrawn. Sadeas abandons Dalinar, taking all bridges and leaving Dalinar’s army surrounded on the Tower.