Oathbringer

Oathbringer (2017) is a multi-perspective fantasy novel by Brandon Sanderson. It is the third book in the Stormlight Archive series, set on the planet of Roshar in Sanderson’s Cosmere universe. It immediately follows the aftermath of the second novel in the series, Words of Radiance, and it features characters Dalinar, Kaladin, Shallan, Navani, and others as they work toward the unification and salvation of their planet, Roshar.

This guide uses the 2017 Tor edition of the novel.

Content Warning: The source material features depictions of mental illness, including depression, suicidal thoughts, and symptoms inspired by dissociative identity disorder.

Plot Summary

The narrative opens on the days following the last battle of Words of Radiance. Dalinar Kholin, the high prince of war, leads the Alethi people in fighting the enemy—the deity-like being called Odium. Dalinar also instructs the Alethi in adapting to their new environment in a colossal tower, Urithiru, that was once the home of the ancient Knights Radiant, an order of humans with mystical powers provided through their bonds with creatures called spren.

Creatures that the humans refer to as Voidbringers (who call themselves the Fused) have returned to Roshar, the planet where the novel is set and the home of the main characters, bringing their Radiant-like powers and fighting for Odium. At the same time as this return, the parshmen, who are really singers (beings who can transform their bodies into forms that are best suited for specific purposes) regain their autonomy and powers after thousands of years of being enslaved and mentally suppressed.

Dalinar receives visions from the Stormfather, one of the shards of the Almighty after the god was broken. He is a cognitive shadow combined with the spren of the Rider of the Storms. Dalinar is a special kind of Radiant known as a bondsman and the Stormfather is a special kind of spren known as a bondsman spren. He is picky about the humans he bonds with and doesn’t really understand their thought processes or emotions, as he is not a shard from Honor or Odium. Dalinar believes the visions tell him that the only way to defend Roshar against Odium is through the collaboration of those who oppose Odium. He embarks on a diplomatic mission to unite them. While Dalinar and the Alethi remain in Urithiru, Kaladin, captain of Dalinar’s honor guard and a Windrunner (a Knight Radiant with the ability to fly) pursues the parshmen as they flee enslavement. Kaladin hopes to discover their plans so he can report back to Dalinar. He finds that the parshmen seem far more human-like than he expected. This realization causes a crisis within his conscience.

In the tower city, Urithiru, the Radiant Shallan searches for an “awakened” and more powerful spren (spirit-like being), an Unmade, called the Midnight Mother. The Unmade are beings comprised of shards of Odium, many, but not all, of whom do his bidding. Some of them are actual beings who move and think independently, others are personifications of various forces. Shallan finds the Midnight Mother and frightens it away, which frees the tower of its dark influence.

Elhokar Kholin, the king of Alethkar and Dalinar’s nephew, recognizes during the aftermath of the Voidbringers’ return that he has not been a good king; he pledges himself to Dalinar and offers to make Dalinar highking of Urithiru. He means to retain his kingship over Alethkar. Eager to prove himself a better man and leader, Elhokar organizes a mission to save his home city, Kholinar, from the invasion of Voidbringers headed its way. Voidbringers are legendary creatures that came with the ancient desolations. The Voidbringers were the original humans, but the term now refers to followers of Odium who “bring the Void.” The desolations are cataclysmic events that annihilate humankind and everything associated with it. Those who survive desolations work for generations trying to restore destroyed culture, technology, and humanity.

Jasnah Kholin, Elhokar’s sister and Shallan’s mentor, appears at Urithiru, revealing that she did not die in the assassination attempt by an underground organization called the Ghostbloods. Her return means Shallan again must answer to Jasnah. Shallan struggles to reacclimate herself to her ward status and to cope with emotional strife. She insinuates herself into Elhokar’s mission to Kholinar in desperation to escape Jasnah and the tower.

The mission in Kholinar becomes more complex when the group members see the massive Voidbringer army in front of Kholinar. Elhokar’s team sneaks into the city and performs reconnaissance. They discover that an Unmade spren has taken over the palace and Oathgate, one of the major gates allowing fast travel across Roshar. The Unmade spren also controls the queen, and a cult called the Cult of Moments now controls the Oathgate. This keeps Elhokar’s mission from achieving its goal. Shallan infiltrates Elhokar’s group while Kaladin infiltrates the Wall Guard to learn about their food supply and, eventually, recruit them to his cause. Adolin and Elhokar begin recruiting trusted lighteyes (members of a higher class of beings) within the city to build up an army within. The group leads their makeshift army against the palace, where Elhokar tries to save his wife and son, Gavinor, and Shallan pushes back the Unmade covering the outside of the Oathgate. Elhokar is killed in the fighting, and the group discovers that Odium created a trap to kill them in the Oathgate; the second Unmade within it claims she is not their enemy but rather a traitor to Odium, and she saves them by sending them to the Cognitive Realm, Shadesmar, where spren live. Shadesmar is a realm that is like the image on old film negatives used to develop photographs—anything that is land in the physical realm exists as sea in Shadesmar. If it is light in the physical realm, it is darkness in Shadesmar. Shadows walk around in plain sight, but beings are like shadows in Shadesmar.

Dalinar tries diplomacy with foreign leaders repeatedly, but they continue to reject his overtures to combine forces. He discovers he can bring people into his visions; the warnings of the visions and his complete honesty convince Queen Fen of Thaylenah and the Prime Aqasix (emperor) of Azir, Yanagawn, to at least meet with Dalinar. With Taravangian, king of the city-state Kharbranth and the nation of Jah Keved, they discuss the possibility of a coalition of monarchs.

While doing his diplomatic work, Dalinar slowly regains memories he lost for many years. After the death of his wife, Evi, he visited another of the Unmade, the Nightwatcher, to receive relief from his pain and feelings of profound guilt over his role in his wife’s death; Cultivation, a deity-like being like Odium, “pruned” Dalinar’s memories, which eased his emotional burden and allowed his cultivation as a better man. As the memories return, Dalinar struggles to cope with the pain and reconcile his past with his present attempts at growth. The coalition of monarchs begins to fail at the same time, as important information comes to light. Through the machinations of Taravangian, the monarchs discover that Dalinar kept secret his intent to become highking of Urithiru, that he spoke to Odium, their enemy, without their knowledge, and that the singers were not actually the Voidbringers and invaders that humans thought. No one is aware that the original Voidbringers were the humans who fled their dying planet and came to Roshar as interlopers. It is the singers who call the humans Voidbringers, but at other times, humans refer to the singers as Voidbringers. This is because Voidbringer refers more to the side beings take concerning Odium. Those who are on Odium’s side are Voidbringers.

While the coalition falls apart, the army of parshmen and Fused approaches Thaylen City, the capitol of Queen Fen’s nation, Thaylenah, which is weak from the new Everstorms, which came when the Fused returned.

Kaladin, Shallan, and Adolin travel through Shadesmar and reach its equivalent to Thaylen City. They attempt to cross into the Physical Realm through the Oathgate, but they are unable to do so.

Instead of using the parshmen army assembled, Odium declares they were only brought to the battlefield to watch him use the Thrill. Historians initially considered the Thrill the “battle rage” and believed it originated from another Unmade, Nergaoul. Its effects on soldiers include a strong competitive urge, razor-sharp focus, and the ability to ignore distractions such as pain and moral concerns. Because the Thrill is a part of Odium, through Nergaoul, it allows Odium easier access to control of those under the Thrill’s influence. Odium intends to take over the Alethi on the battlefield in front of the city and send them to attack their allies. Dalinar faces Odium alone and demands a contest of champions. Odium agrees but then reveals that his intended champion is Dalinar himself. He attempts to control Dalinar with the Thrill. Dalinar resists the Thrill’s power and defies Odium. In this process, Dalinar discovers a new power that allows him to pull all three Realms together and create a pillar of power that generates Stormlight and enables passage through the Realms. This allows Kaladin, Shallan, and Adolin to get home, appearing next to Dalinar as the other Radiants around the city stand beside him as well.

The Radiants and Adolin choose elements of the battle to tackle, which allows Dalinar to face the Thrill and keep it from corrupting his soldiers. With the help of Lift, a young girl with Radiant powers, he gains a gemstone large enough to trap the Unmade inside. This negates the Unmade’s powers. The Fused and their army flee, but Odium does not admit defeat. During the battle, Taravangia gets Odium’s attention by opening the Oathgate for the Fused. After the battle, Taravangia appears before Odium. Odium asks Taravangia what he wants in return for his service and Taravangian demands the survival of humanity. Odium only partially agrees to this demand and Taravangia settles for the survival of his people in Kharbranth. He continues to work for Odium from inside the coalition of monarchs.

Shallan struggles with his conflicting feelings about Adolin’s relationship with Kaladin but realizes she loves Adolin. Adolin and Kaladin marry. Dalinar, despite the reading prohibition upon men, asks Navani, his wife, to teach him how to read. He begins writing Oathbringer, the story of his life, revealing many of his past sins and sharing the truths he has learned about Honor, the god of the Vorin church.