Szeth, Kaladin, and Syl finally meet Ishar, who confirms that he has long been the Voice in Szeth’s mind. Ishar says he deliberately kept Shinovar nearly bereft of spren, shaped Szeth through exile and slaughter, and intended him to return as the first of a new generation of Heralds who would command Ishar’s forces after Dalinar’s expected defeat. When Nale objects, Ishar dismisses him as weak and says he will replace him next.

The transformed Honorbearers emerge, reclaim the Honorblades, and place nine of them into a stone ring. Szeth realizes one of the Honorbearers is his father, Neturo, now remade into one of Ishar’s servants. Ishar declares that Szeth’s final lesson must be humility, so the Honorbearers will defeat him together; Szeth privately tells Kaladin and Syl to keep Ishar talking and persuade him to release Shinovar, because that release could fulfill Szeth’s quest and let him advance.

Accepting that fighting to win would not solve what matters most, Szeth chooses to lose on purpose so he can try to reach his family. He approaches Neturo unarmed, hoping that refusing violence will create the same opening he once found with his sister. Instead, Neturo punches him in the face, and the other Honorbearers join in, beating Szeth to the ground with fists and feet while he does not strike back.

On the roof of Urithiru, Dalinar arrives early for the contest and reflects that his long journey has prepared him for this moment. Taravangian appears in person, no longer wearing the frail posture Dalinar once knew, and opens a portal into the Spiritual Realm. From it steps Odium’s champion: Elhokar, wearing a Kholin uniform and carrying Oathbringer, turning Dalinar’s confrontation into a deeply personal trial.

In Azimir, Adolin is trapped alone in the throne room with Abidi while Maya remains inaccessible and escape routes fail. He survives by using pillars and furniture against a skilled enemy who is powerful in Shardplate but still somewhat unpracticed in it, then realizes Abidi is delaying because he expects to win Azir through the deadline and wants Yanagawn alive as a puppet ruler. Remembering Kaladin, the helplessness ordinary soldiers feel before Shardbearers, and Zahel’s training on unstable footing, Adolin adapts his stance to account for his peg leg; then, after feigning negotiation to buy time, he seizes an ornate aluminum candelabra and uses it to parry Abidi’s Shardblade.