Navani arrives at the site of a tower-lab explosion to find Nem and Talnah dead and their laboratory destroyed, including the likely loss of Szeth’s prized Voidlight sphere. She orders Rushu to preserve and catalogue every fragment and to care for the bodies, then moves to question the voiceless courier and summon Radiants, suspecting sabotage amid the tower’s recent anomalies.

Below, Venli endures a grueling ascent with Raboniel’s stormform troops and Deepest Ones through a secret tunnel that opens into Urithiru’s basement. The infiltrators silently kill guards and scholars; Deepest Ones restrain survivors and slit their throats, clearing the chamber around the crystal pillar composed of many gems. Raboniel addresses the Sibling and begins channeling Voidlight to corrupt the pillar.

In the tower’s winehouse, Kaladin meets Teft and Rlain. Rlain faces stares but joins them, recounting the horror of serving as a bridgeman under friendly fire and the moral compromises of war. Kaladin apologizes for desecrating listener bodies in the past; the three discuss missing Dabbid, the Everstorm’s passage, and the new program to help the battle-shocked.

Pressed by Teft, Rlain, and Syl, Kaladin agrees to attend the next support meeting, recognizing that addressing his own wounds will better equip him to aid others. He reflects on stepping back from command, working as a surgeon, and beginning to rebuild himself, hoping never to need a spear again.

Back in the basement, alarms ring as human forces respond, but Raboniel completes an initial corruption: Voidlight seeps into the pillar’s garnets and the tower shudders. She declares the defenses activated and inverted to the singers’ advantage, rendering Radiants unable to fight, and orders the shanay-im to seize the city.