Oathbringer

This is the series' emotional core: the book where the invincible Blackthorn confesses his worst act and builds a religion of second chances around it. Read it if you love epic fantasy that treats redemption as hard, unglamorous work—forgiveness demanded by the people a monster wronged, not granted by him. It rewards readers of the first two Stormlight volumes and anyone drawn to villains and heroes who are the same man on different days.

1. 1

   Act 1

   The Storm That Wakes the Dead

   Six years before the main events, during the night of King Gavilar's assassination in Kholinar, Eshonai performs to celebrate the Alethi-Listener peace treaty. King Gavilar privately shows her a fabrial that traps spren in gemhearts and reveals his plan to bring back the Listeners' old gods. He hands her a dark gemheart as a gift. Horrified, she tells the five Listeners who still hear the old rhythms, and they decide an assassin must stop him. The night before the murder, Eshonai flees her own performance in tears. In the present, six days after arriving at Urithiru, Dalinar revisits a vision with the Stormfather. He learns the Almighty was Honor, killed by Odium, and sees Odium summoning nine shadowed spren, the Unmade, during the Everstorm. Dalinar proposes to Navani, and the Stormfather grumbles consent: 'I will not be a chaperone, but I will not object.' Kaladin returns to Hearthstone and reunites with his parents, who introduce his baby brother Oroden. He reveals he is a Radiant by absorbing Stormlight. Kaladin tracks escaped Parshmen and turns himself in to avoid conflict. Syl explains the Everstorm restored the Parshmen's minds and physiques, allowing Voidspren to bond them and guide them to Kholinar as a declaration of war. Shallan unconsciously combines her Lightweaving with Dalinar's Bondsmith powers while touching a map of Roshar, revealing the locations of ten Oathgates across the continent. Shallan creates the persona 'Brightness Radiant' to cope with wielding a Shardblade during training with Adolin. She feels traumatized remembering killing her mother with Pattern as a Blade. Then Shallan, Adolin, Renarin, and Bridge Four explore a hidden section of Urithiru and find an abandoned library. They encounter Re-Shephir, the Midnight Mother, an Unmade that creates shadowy copies of people.

2. 2

   Act 2

   The Mother Below and the God in White and Gold

   Shallan realizes Re-Shephir fears Lightweaving. She creates an illusion of herself approaching with a Shardblade, and the Unmade retreats into a pit, fleeing Urithiru. Jasnah Kholin unexpectedly returns to Urithiru, revealing she survived the assassination on the Wind's Pleasure by escaping into Shadesmar. Dalinar challenges ardent Kadesh to a duel over faith in the Almighty. He catches the ardent's Shardblade with his bare hands, revealing himself as a Bondsmith, and says 'I am Unity.' Dalinar's memory of his wife Evi returns when Navani reports the Iriali queen demands Adolin's Shardplate as recompense for the broken marriage alliance. He remembers Evi's name for the first time in years. He later returns the sword Oathbringer to Ialai Sadeas as a gesture of peace, though she refuses it. In a vision of Aharietiam, the Last Desolation, the Stormfather reveals the nine Heralds abandoned the Oathpact, leaving only Talenel to endure torture for four thousand years. Dalinar realizes the madman he met is Talenel and his Blade is a regular Shardblade. Mraize's letter reveals Shallan's brother Helaran was a Skybreaker acolyte sent by Nale to kill Amaram as a loyalty test. Kaladin killed Helaran in battle on the Shattered Plains. Renarin uses his Truthwatcher abilities to reveal hidden records preserved in crystals within the library walls of Urithiru, surprising everyone. Moash, captured by Fused in the Frostlands, kills one and is taken to Revolar. He grows attached to the Parshmen and demands to speak with their leader. Leshwi, the Fused Moash killed during his capture, spares him because of his passion for fighting. Moash says he has given up on humanity and seeks vengeance. Leshwi assigns him to train Parshmen to fight with spears. Then Odium appears in Dalinar's vision as a man in white and gold. He says he is 'passion' and asks Dalinar to release him from his bonds by Intent. Dalinar refuses and challenges Odium to a contest of champions, but Odium declines. Odium overwhelms Dalinar with visions of his power, showing him the true scope of the Shard's influence. Dalinar states he is no longer afraid of Odium.

3. 3

   Act 3

   The City That Burned, the King Who Died

   Dalinar uses his Bondsmith abilities to repair a broken statue in Thaylen City, inadvertently responding to a voice pleading for help. Queen Fen witnesses this and Renarin healing the wounded, and finally agrees to discuss a coalition. Then Dalinar collapses upon learning of Evi's death. In flashback, a young Dalinar claims Oathbringer from Brightlord Tanalan of Rathalas, spares Tanalan's son, and years later burns Rathalas to the ground, unknowingly killing Evi who was inside trying to negotiate surrender. Elhokar's group enters Kholinar using Shallan's illusions. They discover an Unmade, the Heart of the Revel, has corrupted the city, and the Cult of Moments occupies the Oathgate platform. Any use of Stormlight causes the corrupted spren to scream and attracts Fused. Kaladin befriends the Kholinar wall guard and their leader Azure. Azure reveals she uses metal plates to hide Soulcasters from the Voidbringers, which is why they lost contact with Urithiru. While infiltrating the Cult of Moments as Veil, Shallan hears strange voices from the Unmade. She struggles with her personas bleeding together and has to break free to return to her core identity as Shallan. Elhokar's group reaches the Oathgate, but they are attacked by the Fused; Elhokar is killed by a Fused. A famous line is spoken by the dying King Elhokar as he tries to become a Radiant: 'The words, Kaladin! What are the words?' The Unmade Sja-anat corrupts the spren of the Kholinar Oathgate. Shallan, Adolin, Kaladin, and Azure are transported not to Urithiru, but into the cognitive realm of Shadesmar.

4. 4

   Act 4

   The Next Step

   Dalinar Kholin travels alone to the valley of Thaylen Field to face Odium's forces. He uses his Bondsmith powers to open a perpendicularity, allowing Stormlight to flood the battlefield and empower the Radiants. Jasnah Kholin arrives at Thaylen Field with the Thaylen navy and her own Radiant powers fully realized. She fights fiercely against the Fused, demonstrating her ability to Soulcast the air around her into weapons. Dalinar, holding the combined powers of Honor's perpendicularity, confronts Odium's champion—a fused version of his brother, Gavilar. He refuses to fight, instead embracing him and saying, 'I will take responsibility for what I have done. If I must fall, I will rise each time a better man.' Dalinar forges a connection between three realms, creating a stable, permanent perpendicularity at Thaylen Field. He then speaks the Third Ideal of the Bondsmiths: 'I will unite instead of divide. I will bring men together.' With the battle won, Queen Fen of Thaylenah and the newly crowned Prime of Azir, Yanagawn, sign a treaty forming a coalition of nations against Odium, with Dalinar as its leader. Dalinar uses the last of the Stormfather's power to heal the spiritual wound on the Thaylen gemstone reserve, restoring the city's wealth. He then writes the final words of his memoir, which becomes the book 'Oathbringer.' Szeth-son-son-Vallano, the Assassin in White, swears his Third Ideal to Dalinar Kholin, becoming his Truthless blade: 'I will protect even those I hate, so long as it is right.' Taravangian, alone in his room, meets with Odium. He offers his service and his Diagram to the god, and Odium accepts, naming Taravangian his highpriest and granting him a powerful new capacity for compassion and intelligence.

• DDalinar KholinDalinar Kholin, the Blackthorn turned Bondsmith, races to unite Roshar's fractious nations against Odium before the Everstorm's armies swallow them. His memories of burning a city and killing his own wife return at the worst moment, nearly breaking him.
• KKaladin StormblessedKaladin Stormblessed, a Windrunner who defends a doomed city and loses King Elhokar at the Oathgate.
• SShallan DavarShallan Davar, a Lightweaver splintering into personas—Veil, Radiant—to survive her own memories. She drives out the Midnight Mother, infiltrates a cult, and fights to stay one person.
• OOdiumOdium, the god of hatred and passion, appearing as a man in white and gold. He asks Dalinar to release him from his bonds by Intent, but Dalinar refuses and challenges him to a contest of champions, which Odium declines.
• TTaravangianTaravangian, the scheming King of Kharbranth. In the end he offers his service and his Diagram to Odium and becomes his highpriest.
• SSzeth-son-son-VallanoSzeth-son-son-Vallano, the Assassin in White, once declared Truthless. He swears his Third Ideal to Dalinar Kholin, becoming his Truthless blade: 'I will protect even those I hate, so long as it is right.'
• EEvi KholinEvi Kholin, Dalinar's first wife, killed in the burning of Rathalas while trying to negotiate surrender. Her name returns to him for the first time in years.

The sword Oathbringer

The Shardblade 'Oathbringer' is the focus of Dalinar's past. He won it from Brightlord Tanalan at the battle of Rathalas. He later returns it to Ialai Sadeas as a gesture of peace, though she refuses it.

The Everstorm

The Everstorm restored the Parshmen's minds and physiques, allowing Voidspren to bond them and guide them to Kholinar as a declaration of war.

The perpendicularity

Dalinar forges a connection between three realms, creating a stable, permanent perpendicularity at Thaylen Field.

The dark gemheart

King Gavilar privately shows her a fabrial that traps spren in gemhearts and reveals his plan to bring back the Listeners' old gods, giving her a dark gemheart as a gift.

Dalinar, holding the combined powers of Honor's perpendicularity, confronts Odium's champion—a fused version of his brother, Gavilar. He refuses to fight, instead embracing him. With the battle won, Queen Fen of Thaylenah and the newly crowned Prime of Azir, Yanagawn, sign a treaty forming a coalition of nations against Odium, with Dalinar as its leader. Dalinar uses the last of the Stormfather's power to heal the spiritual wound on the Thaylen gemstone reserve, restoring the city's wealth. He then writes the final words of his memoir, which becomes the book 'Oathbringer.' Taravangian, alone in his room, meets with Odium. He offers his service and his Diagram to the god, and Odium accepts, naming Taravangian his highpriest.

1. 1.Dalinar's Third Ideal claims unity, yet his coalition is led by a man who burned a city and only remembers it under duress. Can leadership built on confessed atrocity be legitimate, or is 'I will take responsibility' a story the powerful tell themselves?

Readers of The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance who want the series' emotional payoff, and epic fantasy fans who prefer moral weight with their battles. Anyone who has ever wondered whether a bad person can become a good one without erasing what they did.

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