91. Worth Saving

Adolin endures a brutal second day of trial before the honorspren, where hostile spren orchestrate a coordinated attack on his testimony, culminating in the revelation of a recently-killed deadeye Cryptic. That evening, Shallan comforts him in their chamber while her internal personalities debate whether to assassinate Kelek and impersonate him to save the trial.

Adolin takes the podium at the honorspren forum to present his case for why humanity is worth saving and why spren should bond with Radiants. He opens with an appeal to the honorspren's sense of honor and legacy, arguing that humans and spren together become stronger. However, hostile spren immediately begin a coordinated assault, repeatedly interrupting with accusations about his father Dalinar nearly killing the Stormfather and using the Oathgates, as well as questions about Kaladin Stormblessed's conflict with Syl. Adolin tries to maintain composure and steer back to his prepared arguments, but Kelek forces him to engage the crowd directly after Adolin invites discussion. The situation deteriorates when Adolin admits he's encountered a dead spren. The ambush culminates when Amuna presents a broken-pattern Cryptic deadeye who died only years ago, not during the Recreance—proof, the honorspren claim, that modern Radiants are killing spren through broken oaths. Faced with the overwhelming assault of questions and accusations, Adolin loses the forum and walks up the steps in defeat, recognizing the trial was rigged from the start. Later, Shallan lies with Adolin in their darkened chamber, comforting him as he expresses despair about the trial's outcome. She offers to stage a rescue, but Adolin remains uncertain whether it's right to recruit spren to a war. In a final troubling moment, Shallan's fractured personalities debate Mraize's plan: Radiant and Formless push for assassinating Kelek and impersonating him to save the trial, while Veil initially resists but her vote is unclear, leaving the outcome unresolved.