Shallan wakes inside a vision of her childhood and at first recoils from the day tied to her mother. Instead of fleeing, Shallan forces herself to watch one of the older patterns of pain in her home: her parents shouting, her mother unraveling, and Shallan hiding from both fear and violence. With Veil and Radiant urging her forward, Shallan admits she is not ready for the worst memory yet, but she does accept that her family was damaged long before her mother’s death.

Still inside her younger body, Shallan finds Jushu, Wikim, and Balat hiding together beneath the stairs. Remembering what she once did, Shallan tells them an improvised story about a little axehound mistaken for a king, and the shared silliness gives the children a real moment of comfort and connection. After their parents calm down, the brothers hug Shallan and leave in better spirits; later, in her room, Shallan notices the spiral pattern of a Cryptic and recognizes that Testament was drawn not only to deception, but to the sustaining lie that she was happy, strong, and unafraid.

Renarin then relives a feast from his youth in Kholinar, when he still sat at the children’s table and had not yet understood how other people judged him. On his way to the privy, a group of older boys corners him, and the adult Renarin now sees what he missed then: the boys are afraid, testing whether Dalinar’s awkward younger son is truly protected. Renarin briefly fights back, but the act brings no real release; instead he understands more clearly that repeated moments like this taught him to distrust others, fear hidden contempt, and crave the strength not to depend on anyone.

As in the original memory, Adolin arrives and scatters the boys through sheer confidence, proving again how naturally he defended the vulnerable. Renarin admits to Glys that he loves Adolin for that rescue, even while resenting that he once needed it. The chapter then shifts to Rlain reliving an old listener war council, where Eshonai and the others discuss sending a spy among the humans in dullform. When stronger or more valued listeners volunteer, the group objects; when overlooked, warpair-less Rlain offers, everyone immediately agrees. Rlain sees that this pivotal moment shaped his path into espionage and eventually Bridge Four, while also exposing a painful truth: even his own people were content to send him away because few of them truly saw him.