Chapter 225

Szeth, Kaladin, and Nin-son-God continue their wagon journey through the borderlands as Nin reveals Ishar's plan to create immortal human Fused as a defense against future threats. Elsewhere, Dalinar meets with Wit, who tells him a parable about a lumberman's son and an unlosable contest before Dalinar prepares to face Odium. Simultaneously, Adolin leads a strike force of twelve people through conquered Azimir toward the palace via a hidden smuggler's entrance, where they discover loyal soldiers willing to help them reclaim the throne room.

The chapter unfolds across three simultaneous plot threads. In the first, Szeth drives the wagon while Nin explains that Ishar foresaw future threats and decided to create immortal human Fused—beings that require new bodies upon rebirth and endure excruciating pain in the process—as an insurance against catastrophe. When Kaladin and Szeth challenge the morality of this solution, arguing that sacrificing one's integrity for survival creates a world of misery, Nin ultimately agrees they are right. Szeth concludes he must stop Ishar's plans, finally deciding to take action for himself rather than following orders. In the second thread, Wit meets Dalinar at Urithiru and recounts a story about a lumberman's son given a seemingly unlosable poetry contest by a king—a tale that itself proves paradoxical, as the contest was both impossible to fail and meaningless to win due to a coup already underway. Wit explains that originality emerges from each person's unique existence, not from novelty of ideas, and that Dalinar should not run from his upcoming confrontation with Odium as Tanavast did. Wit reveals he cannot foresee the outcome due to Renarin's connection to Dalinar, then affirms that Dalinar is being sent not as a soldier but as a king. In the final thread, Adolin leads a covert group of eleven through looted and burning Azimir toward the palace. He resolves his lingering anger toward his father by accepting him as a flawed person rather than demanding perfection, which paradoxically frees Adolin from his own burden to be perfect. After nearly being discovered by a singer patrol, the group reaches a hidden smuggler's entrance to the palace complex, where they discover loyal soldiers stationed in a tunnel system beneath the wall. Yanagawn reveals himself as the true emperor and recruits the soldiers, particularly one named Jaskkeem, to guide them through the palace grounds to the throne room before Dalinar's confrontation with Odium begins.