Kaladin enters Shinovar and is struck by how unnatural and peaceful it feels compared with the rest of Roshar. The plants do not recoil, the ground is soft soil instead of stone, and there are no lifespren. While Syl delights in the novelty and darts through the forest, Kaladin and Szeth conserve Stormlight and continue on foot, with even Szeth’s sword briefly adding its unsettling humor to the journey.

Kaladin then tries to do what Dalinar hoped and talk to Szeth about his suffering. Szeth refuses the premise from the start, saying he simply obeys commands and does not need healing because his guilt is deserved. When Kaladin suggests that mental scars might be made bearable, Szeth rejects that as an insult to the dead and warns Kaladin not to assume everyone under his gaze needs saving, especially the man Kaladin once nearly killed.

Realizing that pressing further would become manipulation, Kaladin changes tactics and asks about their actual objective: finding Ishar. Szeth says they do not know where Ishar is hiding, and he reveals that his own purpose in Shinovar is a mission of cleansing and retribution. He believes one of the Unmade has been active in Shinovar since before the new Radiants rose, that his people somehow embraced it, and that he knows this because he encountered it in his youth, when the trouble began with a rock.

Elsewhere, Dalinar remains alone with the Stormfather and confronts him about the possibility of taking up Honor’s power. The Stormfather angrily denies the idea, calls Wit a liar, and accuses Dalinar of dangerous arrogance, even comparing him unfavorably with Gavilar. Dalinar pushes back, arguing that Odium has already outmaneuvered them, that the contest of champions may be unwinnable as planned, and that he needs some other path if he is to save anyone.

The argument forces the Stormfather to admit more than he wanted. He says the matter is not simply impossible but dangerous and uncertain, confesses that he has not told Dalinar the full truth about Tanavast, and finally agrees that Dalinar may look into the Spiritual Realm for answers, though not to seek Honor itself. The Stormfather warns that Dalinar may witness “our shame,” then ends the vision. Back in the tower, Wit confirms the risk, explains that time in the Spiritual Realm can pass wildly out of sync, and uses a special clock to tether Dalinar’s sense of time to the Physical Realm. With that safeguard in place, Dalinar decides to attempt the journey once Navani and Jasnah can monitor him.