Difference between revisions of "Summary:The Way of Kings"

 

==Part Two: The Illuminating Storms==

=== Chapter 12: Unity ===

 

[[Adolin]] is on a [[chasmfiend]] hunt with [[Dalinar]], [[Renarin]], [[Elhokar]], and [[Sadeas]]. He is troubled by Dalinar's increasingly strange behavior, especially his fits during the highstorms, and worries that his father is going mad. Sadeas also continually taunts Dalinar over his lack of recent success in capturing [[gemheart]]s, which frustrates Adolin.

 

Meanwhile, Dalinar, riding up by Elhokar and Sadeas, tells Elhokar that if they had a proper vantage point, they could observe the progress of the soldiers crossing the chasms. Elhokar charges off to a nearby rock formation, betting Dalinar five broams that he can beat him there. Dalinar races after him, at first thinking only of Elhokar's safety, but eventually getting into the thrill of the contest. Just as Dalinar is about to win, he remembers the strange voice in his dreams, who he presumes to be the Almighty, telling him to “unite them.” He hesitates, and Elhokar beats him to the top. When he sees how thrilled Elhokar is to have beaten him, Dalinar is glad to have waited. They watch the soldiers cross for a few minutes, then begin to return to the others. Adolin watches their return, all the while giving orders for his men to circle around to various plateaus, securing the area.

 

After a brief conversation with the King's Wit, in which Wit tells Dalinar that Renarin is not as fragile as he thinks, Dalinar and Adolin meet again with Elhokar and Sadeas, making final preparations for the hunt. After only a few minutes conversing with [[Bashin]], the hunt master, however, Dalinar and Adolin realize that something is wrong. At this point, the [[chasmfiend]] they are supposedly hunting appears, climbing onto the platform with all of the courtiers and scribes, rather than the smaller plateau the hunt was supposed to take place on.

 

=== Chapter 13: Ten Heartbeats ===

 

Dalinar, Adolin, and Elhokar all immediately begin to race for the chasmfiend, hoping to kill it before it can harm any bystanders. Sadeas uses his [[grandbow]], weakening it from a distance while Dalinar and Adolin go for its many legs and Elhokar distracts it. While doing so, however, the strap on Elhokar's saddle breaks, causing him to be thrown to the ground. Just as he is about to be crushed by the chasmfiend, Dalinar hurls himself beneath the descending claw and, with Shardplate-enhanced strength, catches it, giving Elhokar time to escape. Adolin continues to cut off its legs, and the chasmfiend is eventually unable to support its own weight. Elhokar summons his Shardblade once again and uses it to kill the felled chasmfiend, then harvest its [[gemheart]].

 

=== Chapter 14: Payday ===

 

Kaladin gets up before any of the other bridgemen, resolved that he will fight for a better existence, even in his terrible circumstances. He attempts to rouse the rest of Bridge Four, but none come. After Kaladin physically carries [[Moash]] out of the barrack, however, the rest of the bridgemen reluctantly get up. Kaladin then informs the men of bridge four that instead of sleeping in each morning, they will be training, and that he intends to do everything he can to ensure that Bridge Four never loses another man.

 

{{Anchor|Chapter 15|}}

=== Chapter 15: The Decoy ===

 

Adolin is overseeing the cleanup four hours after the chasmfiend attack while the group waits for a bridge crew to come, replacing the bridge the chasmfiend had destroyed in its rampage. He reflects that many of the other lighteyes are treating Dalinar slightly more respectfully and carefully after his earlier rescue of Elhokar, and thinks to himself that it can't last. Having finished his rounds, he approaches Elhokar's pavilion to give his final casualty report.

 

{{Anchor|Chapter 16|}}

=== Chapter 16: Cocoons ===

 

Kaladin is talking to his friend [[Laral]] about his fathers plans for him to be a surgeon. Laral encourages him to become a soldier and win Shardplate and blade for himself. Tien interrupts their conversation and gives Kaladin a rock, intended to make him feel better. Tien and Kaladin then go hunting for [[lurg]]s, a type of small, slimy, creature.

 

{{Anchor|Chapter 17|}}

=== Chapter 17: A Bloody Red Sunset ===

 

Kaladin visits an apothecary, hoping to get some antiseptic. He leaves when he finds out the apothecary is charging considerably more than he can afford.

 

{{Anchor|Chapter 18|}}

=== Chapter 18: Highprince of War ===

 

Adolin is out walking with Janala, the woman he has been courting. He visits the leatherworkers who were inspecting the strap from Elhokar's saddle, and they tell him that the strap was almost certainly cut, but it's possible it was a buckle from the saddle itself that sliced it. A horn is sounded, signalling that a chasmfiend has been spotted close enough for Dalinar's men to attempt to reach it first. Adolin is disappointed when Dalinar elects not to seek it.

 

Dalinar, meanwhile, is working with several of his scribes in attempting to manipulate the other highprinces into following Elhokar in truth. [[Teshav]], the wife of one of his officers, questions the number of troops Dalinar has set patrolling, and Dalinar instructs her to set more patrolling anyway. Renarin comes to talk to Dalinar, and Dalinar promises him that if he captures a new suit of Shardplate and a Shardblade, they will go to Renarin, to help compensate for his blood weakness and allow him to fight like any other man.

 

Adolin seeks out Kadash, an ardent, to ask his opinion on Dalinar's dreams during highstorms. Janala leaves him, growing frustrated with his lack of attention. Kadash expresses the opinion that Dalinar is either going insane, or the visions are just particularly vivid products of his own mind.

 

Dalinar visits Elhokar, making his reports for the day. While there, he asks Elhokar how long he intends to continue the war, and suggests that Elhokar consider withdrawing. Elhokar is shocked that Dalinar would even consider an end to the Vengeance Pact. Dalinar eventually backs down, instead saying they need a new approach, a way to win the war instead of simply trying to outlast the Parshendi. Dalinar suggests that Elhokar appoint him Highprince of War, and Elhokar tells him he'll consider it.

 

 

{{Anchor|Chapter 19|}}

=== Chapter 19: Starfalls ===

 

The moment the storm hits, Dalinar finds that he is no longer in the barracks, but in an unfamiliar barn in the middle of a clear, cool night with only a small girl for company. The girl is terrified of something, and thinks that Dalinar is her father. After a few moments of hushed conversation, a strange creature bursts through one of the walls of the barn and attacks. Dalinar is able to avoid the creature long enough to grab the girl and escape to a nearby house where a woman who thinks he is her husband is waiting for him.

Dalinar continues to question the voice, but before he can receive answers, he wakes up back in the barrack on the shattered plains, surrounded by soldiers who have been holding him down, keeping him from acting out his visions. He tells them that his mind is clear and they can release him, then takes Renarin and leaves.

 

=== Chapter 20: Scarlet ===

 

Kaladin is performing an unexpected surgery on a girl from his village. He had fortunately been nearby when the girl was injured. He begins working to stop her bleeding. After a short time, he succeeds in stopping the bleeding, but realizes that his success was not due to his treatment but rather because the girl has died.

 

{{Anchor|Chapter 21|}}

=== Chapter 21: Why Men Lie ===

 

Kaladin lies in bed, debating whether or not to get up. Eventually, he forces himself up and realizes that the other bridgemen had all been watching to see if he would get up and continue his training routine from the previous day. Kaladin goes to check on the wounded from the previous day's bridge run. Two of them are, for the most part fine, but one of them badly needs antiseptic.

 

{{Anchor|Chapter 22|}}

=== Chapter 22: Eyes, Hands, or Spheres ===

 

Dalinar goes with his sons to the king’s feast. Adolin reports that according to the leatherworkers he consulted, the strap was cut, though it could’ve been an accident. They discuss the king’s paranoia and Dalinar refuses to talk about his episode in the highstorm, saying that perhaps it was good for the men in the barracks to witness it, as the rumors about his condition were perhaps worse than the truth.

 

{{Anchor|Chapter 23|}}

=== Chapter 23: Many Uses ===

 

Bridge Four is on rock duty, finding stones to soulcast into food. Kaladin has Rock and Teft searching for [[knobweed]] to extract the antiseptic sap from. Rock, who can inexplicably see Syl, finds knobweed quickly guided by her. Kaladin ties bundles of the reed to the bottom of the cart to conceal them. Syl comes to him excitedly, telling him that she led Rock to a pile of dung as a joke. He makes small talk with the bridgecrew, trying to soften their attitude towards him, with little success. Kaladin realizes that even though he has saved lives in Bridge 4, no one will follow his leadership unless he finds a way to make their lives worth living.

 

{{Anchor|Chapter 24}}

=== Chapter 24: The Gallery of Maps ===

{{epigraph|Neither point makes the things I have written to you untrue.}}

 

Dalinar stands in the king’s [[Gallery of Maps]], waiting for Highprince Roion to come and meet him. Dalinar’s ultimate goal is to follow his visions by uniting the highprinces, and he thinks he can start by working with another prince on a joint plateau assault. Since Roion has won the fewest gemhearts of all the princes, Dalinar tries to convince him that working together would be more effective. Roion is suspicious of this, because he is afraid Dalinar will take any gemhearts and shards for himself. Dalinar compromises, saying that they will split gemhearts and that the first set of plate can go to Roion. Roion rebuffs this offer, instead insinuating that Dalinar is growing weak and deluded by his lapses from sanity during highstorms. Roion says he’ll think about a joint assault and leaves.

 

{{anchor|Chapter 25}}

=== Chapter 25: The Butcher ===

 

Kal overhears some villagers speaking poorly of his father's work, accusing him of stealing the spheres and suspicious of how Lirin can write. Kal meets with his mother, Hesina, who tells him not to hate the villagers for repeating what they have heard. They respect Lirin but are intimidated by his status as second nahn. Kal realizes his parents had hoped to marry him off to Laral. He can't decide if he wants to be a soldier or a surgeon.

 

{{anchor|Chapter 26}}

=== Chapter 26: Stillness ===

{{epigraph|I am being chased. Your friends of the Seventeenth Shard, I suspect. I believe they're still lost, following a false trail I left for them. They'll be happier that way. I doubt they have any inkling what to do with me should they actually catch me.}}

 

Brightness [[Litima]] reads the ''[[Way of Kings]]'' to [[Dalinar]]. [[Renarin]] is with him. Listening usually comforts Dalinar, but not this time. It reminds him of [[Adolin]]'s arguments. Dalinar thinks about the nature of his visions. It disturbs him. Dalinar tells Renarin that Highprince [[Aladar]] refused his offer of an alliance, just as [[Roion]] did. Horns sounds outside. Dalinar enters the war room and gives [[Teleb]] an order to march. Dalinar gives Teleb a permission to recruit and train a single bridge crew. [[Sadeas]] comes to interview Dalinar's solders. Dalinar and his army leaves, Sadeas and his attendants follows behind. Dalinar and Sadeas talks about the [[Thrill]]. Usually men dodn't speak about it.

 

{{anchor|Chapter 27}}

=== Chapter 27: Chasm Duty ===

{{epigraph|If anything I have said makes a glimmer of sense to you, I trust that you'll call them off. Or maybe you could astound me and ask them to do something productive for once.}}

 

Coming back from the apothecary where Kaladin sold the self-made knobweed sap, he discovers that Gaz had changed Bridge Four's work duty for this day to chasm duty.

 

{{anchor|Chapter 28}}

=== Chapter 28: Decision ===

{{epigraph|For I have never been dedicated to a more important purpose, and the very pillars of the sky will shake with the results of our war here. I ask again. Support me. Do not stand aside and let disaster consume more lives. I've never begged you for something before, old friend.<br />I do so now.}}

 

While on an inspection [[Adolin]] studies his father and worries about what he sees. They watch the prototype of a portable bridge that [[Teleb]] is showing them fail, and Adolin suggests to redesign it. As they star moving again [[Dalinar]] wonders why there are no Shards for ordinary people and comments to Adolin about the Thrill. On their way to the fifth Battalion, Adolin considers the war camp and his current girlfriend [[Malasha]] and his new interest [[Danlan]]. He notes to his father, how he agrees with the decision to let so many bring their families. Dalinar tells him about his considerations what will happen to the [[Shattered Plains]] in onehundred years and about the economics of gemhearts, telling Adolin that soon he will have to consider this. After inspecting the 5th Battalion, [[Havrom]] the Battalionlord has the ten soldiers that were questioned by [[Sadeas]], in a tent where Dalinar indicates for Adolin to question them. Afterwards Adolin has to conclude that because of their ardor to defend Dalinar they didn't help. Dalinar charges [[Tadet]] to interview the men separately and find out specifics. Adolin than questions why Dalinar keeps pushing him out in front. Dalinar tells him that he has a decision to make, but before he can elaborate, he notices a messenger in [[Thanadal]]'s colors. The messenger informs Dalinar that Thanadal has to cancel their meeting and after pressing the messenger Dalinar finds out that Thanadal does not wish to do a joint plateau assault with him. This making eight refusals he has gotten and only leaving Sadeas. After this he asks Adolin to continue the inspection without him as he sees some work that need to be done.

 

As he walks towards the staging field Dalinar is thinking about if he should abdicate due to the fact that he might be mad. He tells [[Niter]] to send for his war hammer, than orders some workers out of the new latrine pit. As he continues their work with [[Shardplate|plate]], [[Shardblade|blade]] and Hammer, he starts thinking about why the ancients didn't make anything for normal people. Musing how he is losing his thirst for battle, how the book, the Codes and the Visions have changed him and how the others are regarding him and by extension his sons. As he closes to the end of his work he also closes to a decision but is interrupted by [[Navani]] and after a short banter she informs him that he has forgotten their appointment. After he apologizes she also lets him know that one of his [[Spanreed]]s, the one liked to her daughter [[Jasnah]], is flashing. While accompanying him she remarks how he has become the man all the others are pretending to be. After telling him why she choose [[Gavilar]] all those years ago and telling him why she likes him, he tells her that nothing could happen as he would not dishonor his brother like that. Dalinar is surprised to find Adolin , along with his clerks and their attendants, also already in his sitting chamber. Adolin introduces his new interest Danlan Morakotha. Telling Dalinar he has offered her a position as one of his clerks. Dalinar then asks her to accept his massage from Jasnah. After indicating that not all ears around can be trusted, Jasnah and he have a short exchange about their family, before Jasnah wants him to repeat his first encounter with the Parshendi, seven years ago. She also wants to know when he first saw Shardblades in their possession, to which he replies that he only saw them after Gavilar's death. She then has her new ward ([[Shallan]] Davar) draw what is reffered to in a book as a [[Voidbringer]] although she doesn't belief it to be one. Dalinar and Adolin identify it as a [[Chasmfiend]]. Dalinar asks Jasnah to come back to the Shattered Plains as soon as possible, since he has made up his mind to abdicate in favor of Adolin, though he does not voice this. He is surprised to find himself alone with Navani. In a short conversation he reveals to her that he intents to abdicate. Which she tell him she believes to be a mistake.