6. Terrible Destruction

Shallan studies the mysterious spren Pattern on the ship's deck while reflecting on her newfound freedom, then visits Jasnah and discovers the older woman is terrified about an impending Voidbringer revolution. Jasnah reveals her desperate quest to find Urithiru, an ancient city that may contain evidence to convince others of the coming Desolation. The chapter ends with Shallan awakening to screams and smoke.

Shallan sits on deck observing Pattern, a spren she is studying. Through conversations with him, she learns that he struggles to understand basic concepts like eating and memory, though he grasps abstract ideas easily. Pattern seems to originate from her father's gardens. When Yalb arrives with a new crew member, Shallan becomes frightened after Pattern nearly causes her to have a vivid memory of her father's death, which she forcefully suppresses. She later studies texts on advanced spren in her cabin, feeling contentious about her life as a scholar sailing toward New Natanan. She notices her spheres have gone dun faster than expected and visits Jasnah's cabin to borrow more. There she finds Jasnah exhausted and terrified, with fearspren around her head. After pressing the older woman, Jasnah reveals her deep fears: she believes the parshmen will soon revolt against humanity in another Desolation, just as the Voidbringers did in ancient times. She has tried warning scholars and kings but been dismissed. Jasnah explains that the Cryptics sent Pattern to Shallan because she is becoming a Surgebinder—specifically one capable of Illumination. Jasnah is racing against time to find Urithiru, an ancient hidden city that once served as the Knights Radiant's base and may contain uncorrupted historical records about the Voidbringers. She explains that the Hierocracy has suppressed knowledge of Urithiru and the Radiants. Without proof, no one will believe her warnings about the coming catastrophe. Jasnah gives Shallan a book called Words of Radiance about the Lightweavers, an ancient Radiant order. Shallan returns to her cabin, troubled by Jasnah's terror, and falls asleep—only to awaken to screams, shouts, and smoke.