Wind and Truth
by Brandon Sanderson
Contents
Chapter 93
Overview
Shallan finally confronts the childhood memory she had hidden from herself and learns that her mother was the Herald Chana. The vision reveals that Nale ordered Chana to kill Shallan for becoming a Radiant, and that young Shallan killed both Chana and Dreder in self-defense with Testament. By accepting that truth and the pain of what she did to Testament, Shallan gains clarity instead of breaking, and the chapter ends with the major revelation that Chana survived and later appeared at Shallan’s wedding.
Summary
In the Spiritual Realm, Shallan decides she must finally face the buried day that Veil and Radiant had been carrying for her. She revisits the Davar estate as an adult and first sees her eleven-year-old self in the garden with Testament, speaking a truth about fearing the future. That memory reminds Shallan that Testament had been real, wise, and trusted long before Shallan destroyed their bond.
Shallan then enters her mother’s room and discovers the truth she had never fully understood. Her mother is speaking with a Skybreaker named Dreder and communicating through a device with Nale, who calls her “Chana.” Nale orders Chana to come to Kholinar and, more urgently, to kill Shallan because Shallan has become one of the Radiants. Chana insists that Shallan is taking her place and will return after death, while Dreder dismisses Chana’s reasoning but still supports murdering the child to eliminate a budding Radiant.
Testament urges young Shallan to flee, and adult Shallan follows Chana and Dreder to Lin Davar’s rooms. Lin resists them, wounds Dreder, and is subdued. Dreder then hands Chana a knife, and Chana pins young Shallan to the floor. Adult Shallan rushes forward in horror, but Chana hesitates instead of striking immediately. In that pause, young Shallan summons Testament as a Shardblade and kills both Chana and Dreder.
Watching the full memory, Shallan realizes several things at once: her mother truly meant to kill her, her mother was also deeply unstable, and young Shallan acted in self-defense. She also understands that this was the beginning of her rejection of Testament, a renunciation that would fully happen the next day and leave Testament broken. Veil reassures the child-self inside Shallan, and Shallan begins to separate guilt from blame, deciding that context explains Chana’s actions but does not excuse them.
By the end of the vision, Shallan is still in pain but no longer shattered by the truth. She accepts that she survived because she was strong, not because the event was unreal, and she admits that while she does not have to forgive her mother, she wants to. Pattern then points out that Heralds do not die permanently, and Shallan reveals that she already knows Chana survived, because Chana was present at Shallan’s wedding.
Who Appears
- Shallan DavarRevisits her buried childhood trauma, learns her mother was Chana, and accepts that she killed in self-defense.
- TestamentShallan’s first spren, present in the memory and later summoned as the Shardblade that killed Chana.
- ChanaShallan’s mother and a Herald, ordered to kill Shallan and ultimately slain during her attempt.
- PatternGuides Shallan through the revelation, worries the Spiritual Realm may break her, and notes Heralds survive.
- VeilUrges Shallan to face the memory and explains that she has long protected Shallan’s child-self.
- DrederSkybreaker who supports murdering Shallan, restrains Lin, and dies when young Shallan strikes back.
- RadiantSupports Shallan emotionally and helps her endure the returning flood of trauma and grief.
- NaleAppears through a communication device and explicitly orders Chana to kill Radiant-child Shallan.
- Lin DavarShallan’s father, fights Chana and Dreder, then comforts young Shallan after the killings.