In Urithiru’s past, Navani walks the freezing plateau outside the tower and studies the failing city. While searching through the vision, Navani finally perceives a Connection line to the Sibling and uses it to make contact. The Sibling confirms that Melishi had begun to withdraw from them, had discovered how to imprison spren in fabrials, and had become tied to events leading toward the Recreance. The Sibling also warns Navani to follow a Riran Windrunner with heliodor-colored hair because he lies.

Navani reports what she learned to Dalinar. Together they weigh the timeline: the revelation that humans were the invaders on Roshar may have helped cause the Recreance, but Dalinar says it cannot be the only hidden truth. Navani also confronts Dalinar about becoming too forceful and overwhelming again under the pressure of being Roshar’s central hope against Odium. Dalinar admits his fear that he may not be enough, and Navani reminds him that his old self could never have solved this crisis.

Wanting to move deeper into the past without losing themselves, Navani reframes the problem as one of repeatable control. She notices a woman in the crowd who resembles her in age and family circumstance, and when Navani consciously draws that parallel, Dalinar senses a new Connection. Using it, Dalinar places Navani into the woman’s role inside the vision, proving that they can influence how the visions perceive them. Building on that insight, Navani helps Dalinar identify a stronger anchor through the Stormfather, their Bonds, and the larger path toward the Recreance; Dalinar then shifts them forward to a battlefield where the same Windrunner, now older, appears near a tent.

In Azimir, Adolin continues his attempt to stop a thunderclast advancing on the dome. His soldiers spread oil across the street while Adolin, in Shardplate, tries to loop a heavy chain around the creature’s legs so he can trip it. The thunderclast’s size, strength, and repeated blows keep breaking Adolin’s momentum, though Neziham and the remaining soldiers repeatedly risk themselves to distract it. At the same time, Heavenly Ones bombard the city with dropped boulders, Deepest Ones attack from below, and commander Zarb Kushkam is briefly disoriented until a young Alethi healer restores his clarity with Stormlight.

Zarb rallies the defense, orders the healer protected, and commands the defenders inside the dome to prepare their firebombs when the wall is breached. Adolin makes one last attempt to bind the thunderclast’s legs together, but the monster outmaneuvers him, hurls him through the air, and cracks his Plate badly. When Neziham looks away at the wrong moment, the thunderclast smashes him to death. It then snaps Adolin’s chain outright and keeps advancing toward the dome, leaving Adolin battered, helpless, and feeling defeated as the Fused arrive in force.