Summary:The Way of Kings

This page contains a chapter by chapter summary of The Way of Kings. We hope this summary will make it easier to find specific areas of the book, as well as providing a quick plot refresher for anyone who doesn't want to take the time to reread the entire book. Similar summaries will be completed about future books in the Stormlight Archive.

Editing Note from Andrew: I'm posting these as I read the chapters on my re-read, and they're bound to be messy. If you want to clean them up in any way, feel free.

Prelude to the Stormlight Archive

The Prelude opens just after one of the Desolations (huge battles between humanity and the Voidbringers). Kalak, one of the Ten Heralds of the Almighty, is walking the desolated battlefield. The landscape is torn and ruined, apparently due to Surgebinders fighting and thunderclasts ripping themselves free from the ground. Kalak expresses relief that he didn't die in the battle (He's apparently died before), and also reveals that after each Desolation, the Heralds are supposed to return to an unspecified location where they are tortured until the next desolation. He contemplates just walking away instead.

Kalak goes to meet the other nine Heralds in the location they had chosen before the battle. Instead of the other nine, however, he finds only one waiting for him. That Herald, Jezrien, explains to Kalak that one of the Heralds (Talenel) was killed, and was sent back automatically to their place of torture. The rest of them decided that rather than face the torture again, they would simply go their separate ways.

Jezrien alludes to the Oathpact, apparently an agreement among the Heralds and possibly with some other entity, and says it is time for the Oathpact to end. Talenel, who was killed, will still be bound to the Oathpact. The other Heralds, by abandoning Talenel and walking away, remove themselves from the Oathpact.

The Heralds leave, abandoning mankind to the care of the Knights Radiant and Talenel. They plan to tell the men who fought on their side that they had finally beaten the Voidbringers for good. The Heralds go their separate ways. Kalak looks back at the ring formed by the Heralds' abandoned swords, and thinks about Talenel and his fate. He silently pleads for forgiveness, but leaves anyway.

Prologue: To Kill

The prologue begins 4500 years later with Szeth, a Truthless Shin assassin, waiting quietly in a large room, watching the Alethi celebrate the signing of a peace treaty with the Parshendi. None of the Alethi seem to notice him.

“He was just a servant, and Shin were easy to ignore. Most out here in the East thought Szeth's kind were harmless. They were generally right.”

-The Way of Kings, Pg 21 (Hardcover), Prologue: “To Kill”

Szeth leaves the room, noting that his Parshendi masters have seen him and will soon withdraw. He notes several important Alethi, particularly Dalinar Kholin, the king's brother, who is passed out drunk at a table, and Elhokar, the king's son and heir, who is talking to two foreigners.

Szeth wonders why the Parshendi have commanded him to kill King Gavilar of the Alethi.

“They did not seem offended. They did not seem angry. And yet they were going to break their treaty of only a few hours. It made no sense.”

- The Way of Kings, Page 22 (Hardcover), Prologue: “To Kill”

Szeth also explains that he wears white because the Parshendi commanded him too. The Parshendi apparently believe that if you are going to assassinate a man, he deserves to see you coming.

By this point, Szeth has reached an area just outside of the king's quarters. Making use of his abilities as a Surgebinder, Szeth uses the Stormlight from the gems that light the corridors to fight his way past all the guards. This is when Szeth explains another of the oddities in his orders from the Parshendi, the fact that he was instructed to kill the king, but be seen doing it. Make a scene.

As Szeth reaches the king's quarters, he sees the king leave with his guards through a side passage. Szeth is confronted by a Shardbearer, who he fights until he is able to get past the man.

As he is pursuing the king, Szeth realizes that the Shardbearer isn't following him. This is odd behavior for a bodyguard, and Szeth realizes that the Shardbearer is actually King Gavilar, and the man he's been pursuing is a decoy.

Szeth goes back to face Gavilar for the second time. He is nearly killed in the fight. Gavilar has the advantage of Shardplate, while Szeth is forced to rely on his Surgebinding to survive. Eventually, Szeth is knocked out onto the balcony of the King's Quarters, where Gavilar follows him. Szeth Lashes the balcony to the ground several times, making it five times as heavy as it normally would be. The balcony collapses under the weight, and Gavilar plunges to the ground below. Szeth, however, is able to keep from falling by Lashing himself to the wall of the palace.

Szeth goes down to see the king, who is near death. The king asks Szeth who sent him, and when Szeth tells him that the Parshendi are his masters, Gavilar says, “The Parshendi? That makes no sense.”

Gavilar then gives Szeth a strange black sphere and tells him, “You must take this. They must not get it.” The king then instructs Szeth to tell his brother that he must “find the most important words a man can say.”

Szeth leaves a note for Dalinar with the King's message, as the Shin consider a dying wish to be sacred. He takes the sphere and leaves, leaving the King's Shardblade behind, thinking “The Blade Szeth already carried was curse enough.”

Part One: Above Silence

Chapter One: Stormblessed

Five Years Later

Cenn, a new recruit in Brightlord Amaram's army, is terrified. The first battle of his career as a soldier is about to begin, and he has almost no idea of what to expect. They're fighting against another Alethi army over a minor border dispute. Most of the full-time well-trained soldiers are at the Shattered Plains, fighting a war against the Parshendi, so the leftover squads and new recruits are used to fight unimportant battles like this one.

Cenn is transferred to the squad of Kaladin Stormblessed at the last minute, for reasons he doesn't understand. He thinks it has something to do with camp politics. He is being guided by a veteran named Dallet, one of the senior members of Kaladin's squad.

Kaladin appears, and Cenn is amazed to discover how young he is. He appears to be no older than 19. Kaladin and Dallet discuss tactics for the upcoming battle briefly, and point out a promising hill to make a stand. Then Kaladin asks Dallet to help Cenn, since he won't know any of the squad's signals.

The battle begins, and Brightlord Amaram's untrained army is unable to hold a line, even against the other Alethi force, which is just as poorly-trained. Kaladin's squad races to be the first to the enemy lines, as doing so separates them from the rest of Amaram's army, and makes them a less appealing target for archers. They reach the hill that Kaladin and Dallet had chosen earlier, and make a stand there. They use various formations to shield their wounded while still effectively attacking the enemy.

Kaladin's men continue holding this hill for the better part of an hour without losing a single man, though they do have several wounded. Then, a large portion of Brightlord Amaram's army breaks, and Kaladin and his squad try to assist in keeping the enemy away while they reform formation. In the confusion, Cenn is isolated, and runs into a group of six enemy spearmen. He attempts to attack them, but takes a leg wound. Just as one of the enemy spearmen is about to kill him, Kaladin appears, somehow killing all six enemy spearmen before the rest of the squad can even arrive.

An enemy Brightlord appears on the battlefield. Cenn mistakes him for a Shardbearer, but Dallet tells him that no Shardbearers will take part in the conflict, as they're far to important to waste on simple border disputes, especially with the war with the Parshendi. Kaladin and his squad decide to try to kill the man, as it will make it more likely that they will be sent to the Shattered Plains, where they believe the true, honorable soldiers to be. Kaladin and his squad leave to engage the enemy Brightlord. Dallet explains to Cenn that a runner will come for him to take him to the surgeons, because Kaladin spends most of his pay on bribes to be certain that his men are well taken care of.

Cenn and Dallet discuss briefly that Kaladin is not like other men. He cares about what happens to his men, and he fights “like a storm,” as Dallet puts it. Cenn asks why Kaladin brought him into his squad, of all the soldiers. Dallet responds that Kaladin will often take in young new recruits, that many of the men in the squad started out that way. He thinks that they remind Kaladin of someone.

By this time, Cenn is suffering from severe blood loss. Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of a Shardbearer on the battlefield. Dallet is shocked by the use of a Shardbearer in such a mundane and unimportant battle.

Cenn thinks that the man's Shardplate and Shardblade are beautiful. The chapter ends with Cenn thinking to himself, “You didn't fight something like this. And that gorgeous, intricate, sinuous sword. It was like....like the Almighty himself had taken form to walk the battlefield.

And why would you fight the Almighty?

Cenn closed his eyes.”