AFTERWORD

Chapter 93

Chapter 101

Overview

Chapter 101 presents a series of interconnected visions in which Shallan, Renarin, and Rlain confront pivotal memories from their pasts. Shallan revisits a childhood moment when she comforted her brothers despite family turmoil and encounters the Cryptic Testament. Renarin experiences a formative humiliation at a feast where older boys bully him until Adolin intervenes. Rlain recalls volunteering to infiltrate the humans as a spy, a moment when his own people treated him as invisible and expendable.

Summary

Shallan awakens in a vision of her past, a day marked by her parents' violent argument. She finds her brothers hiding beneath the steps and distracts them from their fear by telling an elaborate story about an axehound who becomes king. Despite her own terror and pain, she brings them together as a family through imagination and companionship. Later that night, she discovers a strange spiral pattern on her wall—drawn there by Testament, the Cryptic seeking the beautiful contradictions of human lies, specifically Shallan's own protective fiction that she is happy and strong. Renarin experiences a memory from his youth at a grand feast. He encounters older boys in a hallway who surround and shove him, testing the limits of his father's protection. Renarin fights back, knocking one to the ground, but finds no catharsis in it. Adolin arrives and threatens them with a duel, scattering them. Renarin realizes this moment taught him he could not trust people because he cannot read them, a fear that would shape his decision to become a soldier and wear Shardplate. Rlain relives a strategic meeting with Eshonai and other listeners where they discuss infiltrating the human forces using dullform. Thude, Bila, Harvo, and Tusa all decline the dangerous assignment for various reasons. When Rlain volunteers, his people accept immediately and with relief—not out of confidence in him, but because none of them regard him as truly present or valuable. He realizes in retrospect that not a single friend objected to his departure, a rejection that would haunt him through his subsequent years as a spy and eventually in Bridge Four.

Characters

  • ShallanProtagonist reliving a traumatic childhood memory of her parents' conflict and her act of comforting her brothers with storytelling; encounters the Cryptic Testament
  • Shallan's MotherAppears in Shallan's memory, conflicted and distressed about her role as a homemaker, slamming doors and muttering in anger
  • Shallan's FatherPresent in the memory as an angry, abusive figure who shouts at servants and creates an atmosphere of fear
  • JushuShallan's younger brother who hides with her and their other siblings, initially frightened but comforted by her story
  • WikimShallan's younger brother who pretends strength but allows himself to be a child and enjoy her storytelling
  • BalatShallan's younger brother who initially withdrawn but turns and smiles at her story
  • HelaranShallan's eldest brother, mentioned as absent; noted that Kaladin will one day kill him
  • TestamentA Cryptic drawn to Shallan by her lies; marks her wall with a spiral pattern
  • RenarinProtagonist reliving a childhood memory at a feast where he is bullied by older boys until his brother intervenes
  • AdolinRenarin's older brother who arrives during the bullying and threatens the boys with a duel, protecting his younger brother
  • GlysRenarin's spren who questions Renarin about his motivations for becoming a soldier
  • King GavilarMentioned as Renarin's father, a general who unified Alethkar and is becoming more political
  • DalinarReferenced as Renarin's father; the older boys believe he is ashamed of Renarin
  • ZahelReferenced as having taught Renarin hand-to-hand combat techniques
  • RlainProtagonist reliving a memory of a strategic meeting where he volunteers to infiltrate the humans in dullform
  • EshonaiA listener general in Shardplate leading a strategy meeting about the war with humans; accepts Rlain's volunteer offer
  • ThudeA listener who suggests the spy infiltration plan and volunteers first but is rejected by Eshonai
  • BilaA listener who supports the spy idea and attempts to volunteer but is rejected
  • HarvoA listener deemed too useful for farming to be spared; one of Rlain's better friends who does not speak up for him
  • TusaA listener deemed essential for research and rejected from volunteering