Shallan collapses beside Mraize’s corpse after successfully deceiving him with layered Lightweaving and a real anti-Light knife. Radiant kneels with her and makes clear that Shallan killed Mraize herself rather than hiding behind a separate persona. Shallan accepts that Mraize’s death hurts because of his own choices, not because she is responsible for them, and she and Radiant merge back together.

Afterward, Shallan tells Pattern that she is not fully healed, only improved, and that she will still have to keep fighting her mind’s habits. Mraize’s body then reveals the wounded Cryptic bonded to him, badly damaged where the anti-Light burned away part of its Stormlight nature. The Cryptic apologizes yet openly hates Shallan, and Shallan, with Pattern’s help, pulls it free and wonders whether Sja-anat might be able to heal it.

As Shallan heads toward the room holding Ba-Ado-Mishram’s prison, she suddenly sees Renarin and Rlain holding the gemstone aloft, ready to smash it and release Mishram. The sight shocks her, because the release is no longer a distant plan but an immediate act.

Elsewhere, Ishar’s assault drives everyone around him into crushing despair. Nale collapses under the weight of his failures and murders. Sylphrena experiences a terrifying emptiness and isolation so deep that she wants not to exist. Szeth, exhausted and overwhelmed by guilt and old deaths, curls up and ignores Nightblood’s voice.

Kaladin is struck by the same darkness while Ishar speaks of abandoning his earlier choice, dissolving the Oathpact, and bringing spren physically into the world as his army. Instead of surrendering, Kaladin does what he has learned to do first: he looks up. He sees the different versions of himself from earlier stages of his life, realizes that each one was defined by the desire to protect others, and understands that this is still the core of who he wants to be.

Kaladin then applies the growth he gained while helping Szeth. He recognizes that becoming healthier does not require abandoning his protective nature; it requires boundaries that keep him from taking every failure onto himself. With that understanding, Kaladin takes a breath and stands, resisting the worst darkness he has ever faced.