Dalinar is thrown deeper into the Spiritual Realm and, unlike before, loses hold of Navani and Gav in the transition. Surrounded by overwhelming fragments of his own past selves, he resists being consumed by them and ignores the Stormfather’s demand that he leave this realm forever. Using the Honorblade as an anchor, Dalinar forces himself farther than before and arrives at Aharietiam, the day the Heralds abandoned their swords, discovering that his anchor has brought him to the end point of its significance.

Dalinar realizes he is inhabiting Chana’s perspective and follows Jezrien to meet Ishar. On the way, Jezrien explains the mechanics of the Oathpact: Braize acts as a prison for the Fused, and the Heralds’ shared oath serves as the lock that binds them there. Dalinar understands more clearly that the Heralds would train humanity, fight until enough Fused were dead, then return to Braize to reinforce the prison until one of them broke under torture and began the cycle again.

At the meeting place, Dalinar witnesses Ishar speaking directly with Honor. The Heralds ask Honor to alter the Oathpact because they are broken by endless torture. Honor says the pact could be cracked so that one Herald could stand at the forefront while ten still hold the core, but then declares that he will no longer aid them and vanishes. With Honor refusing to help, Jezrien and Ishar decide the others will abandon Taln to hold for all ten. Ishar also offers to take some of the others’ pain onto himself, which Dalinar realizes may help explain Ishar’s instability in the present.

After the decision is made and the Heralds begin leaving their Blades behind, Dalinar regains his Connection to Navani and Gav and pulls them back to him. He tells Navani what he has learned, and Gav reveals that one of the Heralds is someone he knows as Aunt Dova, implying a Herald had visited Aesudan in the palace. Navani discovers that the vision treats her as something like a spren and ignores her direct attempts to interact, much as it does with Gav. Nale then arrives, accepts the disbanding of the Heralds, leaves his sword, and departs.

Dalinar tries to send Gav away for safety, but the Stormfather refuses and turns the moment into a harsher confrontation. The Stormfather accuses Dalinar of always solving problems through force, of treating others as he once treated Elhokar, and of trying to bend both people and power to his will. Dalinar is shaken because he recognizes truth in the accusation, but he also concludes that the Stormfather is hiding vital knowledge and is personally bound to the events surrounding Honor’s death.

As the vision starts to collapse, Dalinar rejects surrender. He grabs his Connection to the Stormfather with one hand and his Connection to Navani with the other, then forces those lines together, creating a new vision through sheer will. Dalinar, Navani, and Gav arrive in ancient Urithiru and see a younger Windrunner who will later be the first Radiant to abandon Blade and Plate at the Recreance. Dalinar realizes he has successfully reached the final days before the Recreance and Honor’s death, though another full day has been lost before the coming contest.