65: THE TOWER

As a large-scale battle erupts at the Tower plateau, General forces led by both General and General forces push the initial wave of the numerically strongest , but a second massive army of arrive by chasm. discovers that his ally is retreating across the bridges, abandoning him and his entire force surrounded on the hostile plateau with no means of escape.

The chapter opens with a vision epigraph, then shifts to the Tower plateau, where a massive combined force of blue and red troops gathers—the largest assembly of soldiers ever fielded against the with thousands of men and dozens of bridges. General and General discuss tactics; General refuses General's suggestion for a coordinated assault, insisting his bridge crews not be forced to carry bridges under fire, and they agree to dine later to discuss strategy. General examines the Tower's unusual wedge shape and terrain, planning to push the enemy southeast toward the cliff edge.

Kaladin, at the front of Bridge Four, uses his enhanced abilities to draw archer fire and distract the, dancing between arrows while managing his visible use of. When casualties occur—an arrow in's foot and an arrow in's shoulder—works urgently to treat them, cauterizing's wound on the battlefield. Bridge Four holds their position as thousands of soldiers cross into assault the Tower.

General charges across once's men have created a foothold, smashing through initial lines with his and rallying his troops onto the plateau. His son, armored in, leads the effort to push enemies southeast. During the fighting, the emerges in, fueling him with power and joy as he dominates the battlefield. He reaches a young, boy-aged, and raises his blade to strike—but freezes, seeing the youth's terrified face and recognizing the fundamental humanity in his features. A guard kills the youth before can stop them. The moment shatters 's combat euphoria; surrounded by dying singing their haunting death song, he is struck by the horror and sickness of what he is doing, troubled by doubts about whether the visions he trusts are guiding him correctly.

Then, in catastrophe, a second massive army of leaps the chasm toward the plateau. alerts, and both climb a rock formation to see the truth: is retreating across the bridges to the staging plateau, pulling all bridges back and abandoning and his entire force, trapped and surrounded on the without any means of escape.