Chapter 229

Adolin duels Abidi in the foreign throne room using unconventional techniques to hold his own against superior strength; Szeth is forced into a brutal one-sided fight against multiple Honorbearers including his own father Neturo and sister Sivi while under Ishar's control; Rlain and Renarin confront the imprisoned Ba-Ado-Mishram in the gemstone and grapple with whether to free or hide her; Kaladin attempts to reason with Ishar, challenging his claims of godhood and urging him to accept help, but Ishar dismisses him and intensifies the violence against Szeth.

The chapter intersperses four simultaneous conflicts. Adolin fights Abidi in a throne room, using parrying and unconventional techniques learned from Zahel rather than matching strength. When Abidi questions why he fights for a land not his own, Adolin explains that the invasion unified the people and that he made a promise. He distinguishes between an oath and a promise, viewing the difference as core to his identity. Meanwhile, Szeth endures a beating from multiple Honorbearers in stone-based terrain while his broken arm heals. His father Neturo physically attacks him, and Ishar refuses to let him yield, demanding he fight until he loses. Szeth realizes the Edgedancer is missing from the group—she was the only one he killed with Nightblood and hasn't been reborn. In the Spiritual Realm, Rlain and Renarin discover the gemstone prison containing Ba-Ado-Mishram. They debate whether to hide it deeper in the Spiritual Realm, take it to Urithiru, or consider another option. Ba-Ado-Mishram is diminished and afraid inside the prison, and Rlain deduces she led them to her because she hoped for rescue despite her two-thousand-year imprisonment and hatred of humanity. Back on the field, Kaladin observes that Ishar's emotional state controls the Honorbearers' aggression. When Kaladin and Nale attempt to convince Ishar to accept help, Ishar claims he has become god and subsumes Odium's corrupting power through sheer will. He describes holding the Heralds' accumulated darkness and grief. Kaladin challenges Ishar's claim to godhood, arguing that true worship requires free choice rather than forced obedience. Ishar dismisses Kaladin as irrelevant and worn out, but Kaladin responds that his worth comes from trying, not from success. When Ishar prepares to leave, Kaladin tells him plainly he is not a god but a man who needs help. Syl warns that the spren are terrified of what is coming, but Ishar replies that their fear of him should be greater and returns to the fighting, ordering Szeth to continue despite his failing Stormlight.