Chapter 137

Venli contemplates a desperate plan to offer the listeners an alternative to Odium's dominance, while Navani navigates visions in the Spiritual Realm, discovering she can influence and steer them toward finding Gavinor.

The chapter opens with Venli and the Five listeners debating whether to accept Odium's offer of dominion. The Five struggle with the impossible choice: joining Odium risks their people becoming fodder in his final assault, yet resisting him alone seems impossible. Venli, comforting the Fused Leshwi, experiences a moment of resolve and recalls her oath to seek freedom and help those in bondage. She forms a desperate, dangerous plan and asks the Five to hear her out.

Navani finds herself trapped in visions within the Spiritual Realm, initially overwhelmed by nightmares of her childhood humiliation in Shulin when she struggled with writing. She recognizes these as lies and consciously rejects the vision's power. Analyzing the pattern of her experiences, Navani realizes the visions have been deliberately escalating in intensity rather than appearing random. Treating this as a scientific problem, she hypothesizes that either Odium or Dalinar's vulnerable state is directing her toward painful moments. She tests her theory by entering a vision of her study in Kholinar palace and discovers she can subtly influence the vision—steering it like an ornery chull rather than controlling it outright. When confronted by a simulacrum of Gavilar attempting to psychologically torment her, she recognizes his manipulation tactics and takes control of the interaction. Determined to find Gavinor, she deliberately invokes her deepest pain—the memory of her son Elhokar's death—and the vision shifts to show her the palace on the day he was killed, suggesting she can now navigate these visions toward her goal.