48. No More Weakness
Contains spoilersOverview
Three years earlier, Shallan confronts her family’s collapse: creditors seize Jushu for gambling debts and her father refuses to pay. Shallan bargains with her brothers’ heirloom knives to free Jushu, glimpsing crippling household debts. Her father embraces cruelty—declaring “no more weakness” and injuring a servant—cementing Shallan’s fear and obedience.
Summary
Years earlier in the Davar gardens, Shallan banters with Balat and Wikim about love. Wikim, now steadier, quietly hands Shallan a pouch of blackbane he had carried for suicide, thanking her because her efforts have helped him enough that he no longer needs it.
A carriage arrives: debt collectors have bound Jushu for massive gambling losses. Their father refuses payment and gives Jushu up. Seeking answers, Shallan sees open ledgers revealing staggering family debt. When Shallan protests, her father seizes her, declares there will be “no more weakness,” and confines her to her room.
Defying him, Shallan asks Balat for his prized knife and takes Wikim’s as well, adds her necklace, and chases the carriage. She argues the creditor leader, Mill, out of using Jushu as a bloody example, offering the knives as certain value versus the gamble of deterrence. Mill accepts the knives, returns her necklace, and releases Jushu.
Balat helps the beaten Jushu home. Later, as Shallan waits in her room, shouts rise. Their father appears; outside her door Minara lies injured and bleeding. He tells Shallan he must vent anger on those who disobey and warns he does not want to punish others because of her. Declaring the family must not appear weak, he leaves, confirming his turn toward calculated brutality.
Who Appears
- Shallan Davar
Teenage protagonist; negotiates Jushu’s release with knives, sees family debts, and fears her father’s new, brutal resolve.
- Shallan’s father
Brightlord; refuses to pay Jushu’s debts, proclaims “no more weakness,” injures Minara, and imposes harsh control.
- Jushu Davar
Brother seized for gambling debts; freed by Shallan’s bargain, returns beaten and shaken.
- Balat Davar
Elder brother; gives Shallan his prized knife and helps Jushu back to the manor.
- Wikim Davar
Brother; improving stability, gives Shallan blackbane he no longer intends to use, and his knife.
- Mill
Creditor leader; values the trade, releases Jushu after Shallan’s logical plea, returns her necklace.
- Minara
Serving maid injured during the father’s rage; seen bleeding outside Shallan’s room.