90. Reborn

Szeth, resurrected by the Herald Nin after his defeat, begins training as a Skybreaker hopeful at a fortress overlooking the Purelake. He speaks the First Ideal alongside five other recruits and learns the structure of the Skybreaker oaths and path to full membership, while struggling with his restored but spiritually fractured condition and the persistent sword companion Nin has given him.

Szeth has been brought back to life by Nin, though his spirit remains improperly reattached to his body, leaving a glowing afterimage when he moves. He stands among five younger hopefuls at a Skybreaker fortress in Marabethia, near the Purelake. The black sword he carries, animated and talkative, constantly urges him to draw it, though Nin warned him only to do so in extreme emergencies. Szeth wrestles with questions of whether he can be trusted with justice after his past as the Assassin in White, though the sword insists he is trustworthy. Ki, a golden-haired Skybreaker woman, leads the group in speaking the First Ideal—"Life before death, Strength before weakness, Journey before destination"—which officially pardons all past misdeeds. Szeth learns the structure of Skybreaker progression: the First Ideal grants pardon, the Second (Ideal of Justice) requires a master, the Third (Ideal of Dedication) requires bonding a highspren and teaches Division, the Fourth (Ideal of Crusade) involves a personal quest, and the Fifth (Ideal of Law) has not been achieved in centuries. Nin has already abandoned him here, leaving Szeth to follow the standard training path like the other hopefuls despite initial hopes he might advance more quickly. The chapter ends with the Skybreakers Lashing the hopefuls into the air to carry them to their first test, as Szeth cannot yet access Stormlight on his own.