Taravangian walks unseen through Kholinar, now the capital of a growing singer civilization, and reflects on the people he rules. He recognizes that the singers are trying to build something better than the humans who enslaved them, yet their anger still drives cruelty and retaliation. That anger appeals to the calculating side of Taravangian, because he sees it as a resource for building armies and imposing order on the cosmere, while the gentler side of him wants peace and questions whether conquest is truly necessary.

As Taravangian wrestles with these competing impulses, Cultivation appears beside him. She offers to show him a broader perspective, and together they look out across the stars while Taravangian remains rooted on Roshar. Cultivation tries to demonstrate a vision of separate Shards governing their own realms, arguing that no single god or single solution can fit every world and urging Odium to leave the wider cosmere alone.

Taravangian draws the opposite lesson from what Cultivation intends. Instead of seeing a case for restraint, he sees that the other gods fear Odium and are content to leave Roshar isolated as a dangerous problem. Because the Shards are scattered, cautious, and in some cases damaged or missing, Taravangian concludes that he could study them one by one and eventually defeat them. He becomes especially curious about two absent Shards, understanding one with effort but wondering where Valor has gone and how she has hidden herself.

When their attention returns to Roshar, Cultivation openly admits that Taravangian has always frightened her, though she still believes there is a real chance he will choose what is right. Taravangian replies that he will do what is right, but Cultivation warns him not to ignore the part of himself that already knows his current path is terrible. Remembering his love for his family, his regret over manipulating Dalinar, and the sincere desire that once led him to seek the power to save his people, Taravangian feels that older self still alive within him. He makes a compromise rather than a surrender, promising only that he will try, and ends by considering whether his divided nature might let each side rule in turn.