The Way of Kings

The climax centers on the Battle of the Tower, where Highprince Sadeas betrays Dalinar Kholin by retreating with the bridge crews, stranding Dalinar's army on the plateau surrounded by Parshendi forces. Kaladin and his bridge crew, Bridge Four, stay behind. Syl, revealing herself as an Honorspren, urges a reluctant Kaladin to save Dalinar rather than flee. Kaladin, now able to draw on Stormlight for supernatural strength, speed, and healing, deliberately pulls an entire volley of arrows onto his shield, stunning the Parshendi archers, then charges alone into the enemy line. Bridge Four rallies to support him, holding the line long enough for Dalinar's son Adolin to cut a path through the Parshendi and allow the Kholin army to retreat safely.

Afterward, Dalinar, Adolin, and Kaladin confront Sadeas in his camp over the betrayal. When Sadeas refuses to simply hand over the two thousand bridgemen under his control, Dalinar trades away his Shardblade, Oathbringer, to buy their freedom. Having lost faith in the other highprinces, Dalinar pressures King Elhokar to name him Highprince of War, and he begins imposing stricter codes of honor on the army, angering rival factions. He formally makes Kaladin and Bridge Four his personal bodyguards, naming Kaladin captain of the guard. Dalinar resolves to found the Knights Radiant anew, convinced by his recurring highstorm visions that a great destruction is coming.

In Kharbranth, Shallan completes her theft, swapping a broken Soulcaster for Jasnah Kholin's working one. Along the way, an ardent named Kabsal, who had been courting her, attempts to poison Jasnah and is revealed to be an agent of a secret organization called the Ghostbloods — the same group Shallan's late father was involved with. In the aftermath, Shallan discovers that she and Jasnah can both Soulcast without any physical Soulcaster at all, a supposedly impossible ability. Jasnah shares her research suggesting the Parshendi, not mythical Voidbringers, were responsible for an ancient near-annihilation of humanity, deepening the mystery behind the war on the Shattered Plains.

Szeth, the assassin from the prologue, completes further killings of nobles across the kingdoms before returning to Kharbranth, where he learns that the seemingly feeble King Taravangian was his true employer all along — Taravangian had added his own name to the target list to deflect suspicion. Taravangian shows Szeth his secret hospital, used to gather "death rattles," cryptic glimpses of the future spoken by the dying. In the epilogue, the wandering storyteller Hoid waits in Kholinar when a Shardbearer smashes through the city gates, announcing himself as Taln, the last of the ancient Heralds, who declares that the Everstorm is coming before collapsing. Hoid, having watched this, states grimly that the warning has come too late.