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

Kalak, one of the Ten Heralds of the Almighty, is walking a torn landscape after one of the Desolations. He is on his way to meet up with whatever of the other Heralds survived the battle. He contemplates simply walking away in order to avoid the torture the Heralds are forced to endure between Desolations.

Instead of the other nine Heralds, Kalak finds only Jezrien waiting for him. Jezrien tells him that only one of the Heralds, Talenel, was killed. The other nine have decided that they will walk away, leaving Talenel to uphold the Oathpact alone.

The Heralds abandon mankind, leaving them in the care of the Knights Radiant and Talenel. They tell the men who fought with them that they have finally beaten the Voidbringers for good, and leave Talenel and mankind to their respective fates.

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. He leaves the room, noting that his Parshendi masters will soon withdraw. Szeth notes that the Parshendi insisted he wear white, as their custom dictates, so that Gavilar could see him coming.

When he reaches the area just outside the King's quarters, Szeth uses his abilities as a Surgebinder to fight his way past the guards. As he reaches the king's quarters, he is confronted by a Shardbearer as the King flees.

Szeth fights his way past the Shardbearer, but soon realizes that the Shardbearer, not the man he's chasing, is King Gavilar. He eventually defeats him by causing the balcony to fall, though Szeth is nearly killed in the fight. When Szeth tells Gavilar the Parshendi sent him, Gavilar is confused and 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.” He then instructs Szeth to tell Dalinar that he must “find the most important words a man can say.”

Because the Shin consider a dying wish to be sacred, he leaves a not for Dalinar written in Gavilar's blood. He takes the sphere and leaves.

Part One: Above Silence

Chapter 1: Stormblessed

Five Years Later

Cenn, a new recruit in Brightlord Amaram's army, is terrified. He is about to face his first battle and has no real idea of what to expect. Cenn is pulled into a new squad, that of Kaladin Stormblessed, at the last minute for reasons he doesn't understand.

Dallet, a sergeant, picks Cenn up and returns him to the squad. They are soon joined by Kaladin, who asks Dallet to take care of Cenn during the battle as he won't know the group's signals. They then fall to discussing tactics.

The opposing force arrives and the battle begins. Kaladin's squad does not lose a single man. At one point, Kaladin singlehandedly fights off six enemy spearmen to save Cenn. When an enemy Brightlord appears, Kaladin and his squad attempt to take him out. They are hindered, however, by the arrival of an enemy Shardbearer. Cenn is killed by blood loss, and the scene cuts out.

Chapter 2: Honor is Dead

Eight Months Later

Kaladin is now a slave in a caravan, waiting to be sold, and struggling to retain his ability to not think like a slave.

When approached by another slave about escaping, Kaladin blatantly tells him that he has no plans to escape, because it doesn't work. A second slave approaches Kaladin and asks how he came to be a slave. When Kaladin doesn't respond, the other men tell their stories. It eventually comes out that Kaladin killed a man, but the one he didn't kill is the reason he's a slave.

Kaladin idly toys with a leaf of blackbane, contemplating using it to poison Tvlakv. A windspren in the form of a slender young woman, but only a handspan tall, speaks to Kaladin and wants to know what the blackbane is. Kaladin is surprised because she knows his name. In the ensuing conversation, he observes that she is much more intelligent than a typical spren. When she asks why he doesn't fight anymore, he responds that he's failed.

Kaladin sees Tvlakv going to inspect a sick slave, and tells him that the man has the grinding coughs, and will survive if given extra water. Tvlakv removes the man from the rest of the slaves, and Kaladin thinks he is going to give him water. Instead, Tvlakv brutally murders the man. Kaladin is upset over his failure to save the man.

Kaladin then realizes that in his anger at the other slaves' murder, he crushed the blackbane against the bars of the wagon, losing most of it.

Chapter 3: City of Bells

Shallan Davar has just arrived in Kharbranth, the City of Bells. She is going through a culture-shock of sorts, amazed at the number and variety of people in the city.

After a short conversation with Captain Tozbek of the Wind's Pleasure, she receives word that Jasnah Kholin, the woman she has been chasing for several months, is still in the city.

Shallan and one of Captain Tozbek's sailors, Yalb, make the trip up to the palace so Shallan can speak to Jasnah. When they arrive, she asks Yalb to wait for her outside the palace. It is revealed that Shallan had requested to be Jasnah's ward, and that Jasnah told her to meet her in Dumadari. Shallan has been chasing her from city to city ever since.

Shallan goes on at great length about how her house's finances are in ruins since the death of her father, and that if they don't find some source of income or other means of controlling their rival political houses, they won't last long. She also reveals that her request to be Jasnah's ward is somehow related to resolving her house's crisis, though she does not make clear how.

The chapter ends with Shallan turning a corner and seeing Jasnah.

Chapter 4: The Shattered Plains

Kaladin is sitting in the slave wagon, waiting for the caravan to stop for lunch, noting that it's well after the time the caravan usually stops. After a few minutes, he realizes that it is because Tvlakv is lost. Tvlakv remembers that Kaladin was once an Alethi soldier, and might have knowledge of the lands. When he asks Kaladin to help them find the way out, Kaladin tears his map to pieces and tells Tvlakv that he doesn't know the way out.

In the conversation that follows, Tvlakv mentions that he's only comfortable with the idea of Kaladin escaping because he knows that he wants revenge on Brightlord Amaram more than he does on Tvlakv. Kaladin realizes that if Tvlakv knows about Amaram, then he also knows that Kaladin isn't actually a deserter, as the official story given when he was sold says. Tvlakv acknowledges this, but says that it's the story they will stick to because men who are guilty of high crimes are difficult to sell at a good price.

A short time later, the windspren comes back. She had apparently left during the recent highstorm, but now tells Kaladin that there is a large group of people not far away. A few minutes later, Kaladin realizes that it's an Alethi war camp, and that their destination is the Shattered Plains.

The other slaves express hope that they will be treated fairly in the warcamps. Kaladin has his doubts, thinking of the many lighteyes who have proven to be corrupt in the past. His one remaining hope is that he will be allowed to fight again.

Chapter 5: Heretic

As Shallan meets Jasnah Kholin for the first time, she thinks about how beautiful she is. Jasnah is exactly what Shallan thinks the ideal beauty – tall, Alethi tan skin, long dark hair. She is talking to a man who Shallan later identifies as King Taravangian of Kharbranth.

Jasnah and Taravangian seem to be negotiating over something, though Shallan can't tell what. As they begin to walk, Jasnah beckons for Shallan to follow. After a preliminary conversation, Jasnah mentions that because Shallan was so persistent in seeking her out, she will hear her petition to be her ward. Shallan is shocked, as she had believed that she had already been accepted as Jasnah's ward.

A lengthy conversation about Shallan's level of education ensues, in which it is decided that Shallan has passing skill in most subjects, is very good in the sciences, excels at drawing and writing (the feminine arts), and is sadly lacking in history and philosophy.

They arrive at the entrance to a room which has been blocked off by a large stone. Shallan realizes that the king's granddaughter is trapped in the room, and Jasnah is planning to use her Soulcaster to remove the stone in exchange for access to the Palanaeum.

Jasnah Soulcasts the stone, transforming it into smoke. The king retrieves his granddaughter and, when asked, agrees to take Jasnah to the Palanaeum.

Jasnah rejects Shallan as her ward. Shallan is frustrated, but decides to persevere in trying to become Jasnah's ward. It is then that Shallan reveals that she wishes to become Jasnah's ward not out of scholarly pursuit, but in order to steal her Soulcaster to help her family's finances recover.

Chapter 6: Bridge Four

Kaladin and the rest of the slave caravan have arrived at the Shattered Plains, specifically at the warcamp of Highprince Sadeas. They are taken to a women who is to decide whether she can use any of the slaves or not. When Kaladin tries to convince her to let him fight, Tvlakv tells her that Kaladin is a deserter, dashing his hopes.

The woman decides that Kaladin and his companions are to be made members of the bridge crews. Kaladin and his new immediate superiour, Gaz, take an instant dislike to each other, and as a result, Kaladin is placed in one of the worst locations on the bridge when they are called on a bridge run, without the benefit of shoes or vest for protection.

After several hours of agonizing running, they arrive at the final chasm, where the Parshendi are waiting on the other side. They take heavy fire while placing their bridge. Kaladin is the only survivor in the front row.

He wakes up several hours later when the windspren who's been following him shocks him with some sort of energy. Kaladin realizes that if he doesn't hurry, he will be left. The spren tells him that her name is Sylphrena, or Syl.

Though he's exhausted, Kaladin is told that if he doesn't help to carry the bridge back, he will be left. He takes a spot on the bridge and begins the long way back to camp.

Chapter 7: Anything Reasonable

Shallan is en route to the Palanaeum, hoping to convince Jasnah that she is worthy to be her ward. She believes that it is critical that she find a way to do so, as without her father, her family can no longer Soulcast its way into wealth or manipulate others into doing as they want.

She is allowed to wait for Jasnah in her reading alcove, though she is denied access to the Palanaeum itself. While she waits, she writes a letter to Jasnah containing arguments for her reconsideration, then begins to sketch several scenes from the past few hours. She is interrupted by an ardent introducing himself as Kabsal. He asks to wait for Jasnah with Shallan, and praises her sketches highly.

Kabsal tells Shallan that he is trying to convert Jasnah to Vorinism. He leaves, asking her to let Jasnah know that he had come by to speak with her. She agrees, and begins to lacquer her drawings. She realizes that she's been there for quite a while, and begins to gather her things, leaving the letter for Jasnah. Before she can leave, however, Jasnah appears in the doorway.

Chapter 8: Nearer the Flame

Jasnah scolds Shallan, telling her that she had already made her decision. Shallan is embarrassed that she disturbed Jasnah again and leaves. After only a few moments, however, Jasnah calls her back and apologizes to her.

Shallan asks Jasnah to read the letter she had written for her earlier. Jasnah is impressed that she is self-taught, and agrees to accept Shallan as her ward once she has adequately learned philosophy and history. Shallan is pleased by this, but knows that it won't be enough to save her house.

In a last ditch attempt to convince Jasnah to take her as her ward, Shallan buys several books on history and philosophy and begins to study them, planning to impress Jasnah with her rapid learning just before Jasnah leaves Kharbranth. Before long, however, she is interrupted by Jasnah, who had paid the servants to tell her if Shallan returned to the palace.

Jasnah asks to see Shallan's satchel. When she comes across Shallan's sketches, she asks why she made them, to which Shallan replies that she wanted to. It is ultimately the fact that Shallan pursues scholarship in her free time (in the form of her sketches and notes), along with her persistance, that convince Jasnah to accept her as her ward.

Shallan reflects that now she's completed the first phase of her plan, but now needs to discover how to accomplish the rest of it without being caught.

Chapter 9: Damnation

Kaladin has now been a member of the bridge crews for somewhere between two to four weeks. Of the twenty five who survived his first bridge run, only one other man is still alive.

A few new arrivals are brought in, and Kaladin sees a young boy who reminds him of Tien. In general, Kaladin is handling the transition to life as a bridge crew member poorly, snapping at Syl and becoming despondent. Syl leaves, unable to continue watching him in his current state.

The bridge crews are called on another run, and the boy who reminded him of Tien is killed, as well as the only remaining man from Kaladin's first bridge run. Kaladin thinks to himself that he's dead inside, then begins to cry.

Chapter 10: Stories of Surgeons

Nine Years Earlier

Kaladin helps his father treat a young woman, Sani. Kaladin reflects over the course of the surgery on how his family is treated so differently because of his father's career.

When they finish amputating Sani's middle finger, Lirin asks Kaladin why he was late to arrive, and Kaladin replies that he was with a boy named Jam learning to use a quarterstaff. This sparks a debate between Kaladin and Lirin about the relative merits of being a soldier or a surgeon. Lirin meets Kaladin's claim that it's possible to save lives by killing others with the assertion that doing so is like "trying to stop a storm by blowing harder." Eventually, Kaladin simply stops arguing and goes back to cleaning up the room.

Lirin quizzes him on various things a surgeon should know, then tells him that he plans to send him to Kharbranth to train under the surgeons there if he can find a way to do so. Lirin also tells him that he's incredibly gifted when it comes to surgery, and he shouldn't waste himself on soldiering.

Chapter 11: Droplets

Kaladin is outside just after a Highstorm, going to the Honor Chasm. Gaz stops him, accusing him of trying to steal spheres from others, but Kaladin simply ignores him and goes.

Just as Kaladin is about to give up and step into the chasm, Syl reappears, carrying a single blackbane leaf which she had brought hoping to make Kaladin happy. When Kaladin expresses his frustrations at his previous failures to protect people, Syl convinces him to try again, arguing that the bridgemen are going to die anyway.

Kaladin returns to the camp and attacks Gaz, throwing him to the ground. He demands that Gaz make him bridgeleader of Bridge Four, and that he give Kaladin full control of it. In return, Gaz receives one fifth of Kaladin's wages.

Kaladin then goes inside the barracks and begins asking the other Bridgemen's names, noticing for the first time how pathetic they all are.

Interludes

Interlude I-1: Ishikk

Ishikk, a fisherman in the Purelake, is just returning home after a long day of fishing. He meets with Maib, a local woman who has been attempting to get him to marry her for years by trying to keep him in her debt, mostly by giving him food. Ishikk avoids this by bringing her fish that cure her aches in her joints.

Following a brief conversation with Maib, Ishikk goes to meet with a group of foreigners. They ask him about whether he has any new information for them, and Ishikk tells them that he has been to many villages in the area and none of them know anything about the man the foreigners are looking for, revealed to be Hoid. The foreigners argue amongst themselves for a while, then leave Ishikk to his thoughts.

Interlude I-2: Nan Balat

Nan Balat, Shallan's brother, is torturing various small animals in the gardens of their family's estate. He reflects on how Shallan is doing most of the work to save their family, and tries to convince himself that he isn't a coward for remaining at home to manage the estate. He admits to some resentment of Shallan because of all of their siblings, she was the only one their father never truly got angry at, but is shortly interrupted in his thoughts by Tet Wikim, another brother, coming to find him with the announcement that they have a big problem.

Interlude I-3: The Glory of Ignorance

Szeth is now serving a man named Took, who uses him to gain the interest of mine workers in the small towns they pass through. As a demonstration of Szeth's total obedience, he has him do various things, such as jump up and down and cut his own arm. When he orders Szeth to kill himself, Szeth informs him that he cannot be ordered to kill himself, then returns to his own thoughts. The others are shocked at how refined his speech is, and are slightly discomfited, associating him with the lighteyes. Szeth reflects that his speech and mannerisms may well be part of the reason that his masters never keep him for long, since his masters know that he is capable of so much more than they are using him for, and that in many ways, he is much more refined and intelligent than they are. Szeth revels in his common labor, though, as it means that he is not being used to spill more blood.

As the night passes on and it becomes apparent that the townsfolk are no longer really listening to Took's stories, Took and Szeth leave. However, on the way out of town, Took is killed by a group of thugs, who consider selling Szeth to the slavers. Then one of them picks up Szeth's Oathstone, and he informs them of his obligation to serve them as long as they hold it. When asked for clarification, Szeth tells him that he must obey any order except to kill himself, and thinks to himself that he can't be asked to give up his Shardblade either, but the man need not know that. The man muses for a moment on the possibilities he has with such a servant.

Part Two: The Illuminating Storms

Chapter 12: Unity

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

Dalinar and Elhokar return, and Adolin gives his report to them. Elhokar reluctantly agrees to wait for the rest of the soldiers to cross, setting up a small awning to wait under, and conversing with his courtiers. Adolin questions Dalinar about the purpose and the wisdom of their hunting expedition, particularly where it leaves Elhokar open to a potential Parshendi ambush. Dalinar replies that a victory such as a successful hunt, in a controlled, safe environment, will bolster the king's reputation and increase his self-confidence as well. Just as he gains Adolin's confidence, however, he voices a thought about how the Alethi should be in Alethkar, not on the Shattered Plains. This shocks and upsets Adolin.

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.