2: HONOR IS DEAD

Eight months into slavery, a broken and despairing ex-soldier named kaladin sits caged in a slaver's wagon, having abandoned hope. When a sick slave faces execution and kaladin briefly intervenes to save him, the slave is murdered anyway—crushing what little resolve remained. kaladin's attempts at escape, suicide, and even revenge crumble in quick succession, leaving him utterly defeated. (This is the prologue/opening chapter establishing kaladin's darkest point before his larger story begins.)

kaladin sits in a slave wagon crossing the unclaimed Hills with nine other captives, eating meager slop and bearing the brands of a dangerous slave—shash—on his forehead. he has attempted escape ten times in eight months without success and has resigned himself to slavery, viewing hope and resistance as futile. A windspren—an unusual one that calls him by name and seems genuinely interested in him—follows him throughout the day, questioning why he no longer fights. Fellow slaves approach him, offering food in exchange for help escaping, but kaladin refuses, convinced that anyone he tries to help will die. When evening falls and tvlakv the slaver inspects the slaves, he orders bluth the mercenary to kill a man suffering from the grinding coughs. kaladin, moved by instinct, initially stays silent but then cannot bear it—he tells tvlakv the disease is survivable and demands they give the man extra water. tvlakv agrees and the slave is removed from the cage. However, bluth immediately murders the slave with his cudgel, and tvlakv explains the man would have infected others. kaladin rages against the bars, but realizes in his fury that he has dropped the blackbane leaves he was carrying—leaves he'd considered using to poison tvlakv's tea. The leaves scatter in the wind, scattering his final passive hope for revenge. he sinks back, defeated, the windspren hovering nearby in confusion.