Interlude 16

Interlude 16 shifts perspective to Odium as Cultivation launches a surprise military strike on Kharbranth, taking Taravangian's family hostage to force him into peace negotiations. Faced with an impossible choice between his loved ones and his vision, Taravangian uses his divine power to destroy the entire city as a devastating lesson to Cultivation and any who would attempt to control him.

Odium is pulled from teaching Dalinar by the shocking sight of Cultivation's forces attacking Kharbranth, his mortal home. Cultivation has sent uniformed agents via black boats to assault the city with advanced weaponry and tactics, overwhelming the city guard while Odium watches helplessly from an invisible avatar—the Fused and Unmade are forbidden from the city. Cultivation appears beside him and reveals her ultimatum: she holds his daughter Savrahalidem and grandchildren Gvori, Karavangia, and Ruli hostage in the palace, with assassins ready to kill them unless Odium agrees to an immediate armistice, cedes the Kholin kingdom back to the humans, and accepts peace. She accuses him of not realizing she planted agents within his own staff. Taravangian confronts her, revealing that she chose him as Ascendant knowing she could control him through his love for his family, and argues that her own nature—Cultivation's Intent—actually thrives on the growth conflict produces. As Cultivation's panic grows evident, Taravangian begins summoning a massive wave from the ocean, claiming it as a lesson for anyone who would threaten a god. Despite Cultivation's pleas for him to stop, Taravangian deliberately floods Kharbranth with the hundred-foot wave, destroying the entire city and killing his family, his friends Maben and Adrotagia, and all of Cultivation's forces within it. He does this to demonstrate that he will tolerate no vulnerabilities and to cement his position as an uncontrollable god, accepting the crushing emotional weight of his sacrifice.