Sigzil leads the defense as Narak Three falls. After Yelig-nar is finally killed in the middle of the plateau, the defenders are too overrun by Fused to hold the position, so Sigzil organizes a disciplined retreat onto the Oathgate platform and has the Stonewards drop the bridge behind them. The singers celebrate their victory, and Sigzil hopes the empty gemstones left behind will make them think the defenders merely exhausted their Stormlight instead of discovering his deception.

Back at Narak Prime, Sigzil forces himself to remain visible and steady for the soldiers even though he is shaken by memories of Leyten and Teft and by the burden of command. General Winn praises Sigzil for leading without breaking, but their conversation turns to the real crisis: Stormlight is nearly gone. Vienta estimates they may run out sometime that day or early the next, and because gemstones are scarce, Sigzil cannot fully use the Radiants Jasnah has sent. Realizing they still must survive two more days, Sigzil asks Winn to assemble a planning meeting and admits they will need an unconventional solution.

Elsewhere, Dalinar is trapped in another punishing Spiritual Realm vision. He finds himself inhabiting Rortel on the night Gavilar was assassinated and recognizes the beggar outside the feast as Jezrien, who briefly speaks with painful lucidity. When soldiers rush to fetch the drunken Blackthorn, Dalinar follows them and watches his younger self sprawled in disgrace, demanding more wine while Gavilar is being murdered. Sickened by what he was, older Dalinar physically confronts his younger self, tells him Gavilar is dying, and watches him collapse instead of rising to help.

The vision shifts to Gavilar's corpse, where Dalinar sees his younger self break in grief. Then Gav appears among the guards, and Dalinar grabs and comforts his grandson as the visions turn chaotic again. Hearing Gav's fear that war never ends, Dalinar finally understands why he has been resisting Honor's plan: even if he wins the contest, a contractual peace with Odium would only delay future war because humans would break under Odium's oppression and the cycle would restart. Concluding that Honor's solution is fundamentally flawed, Dalinar demands the power to confront Odium at the root of the conflict, but Odium answers by accusing Dalinar of always destroying what he touches, tearing Gav from his arms, and battering Dalinar with visions until he feels himself cast into Damnation.