Oathbringer Chapter 116: Alone

Spoiler Notice

This page reveals plot details from Oathbringer Chapter 116. If you haven’t read through this chapter, bookmark this page and return later.

Chapter Summary (Chronological)

Kaladin steps onto the Thaylen Oathgate bridge in Shadesmar, seeing that many soul-flames on the other side have turned red. Six Fused notice him and rise to attack. He draws in all his Stormlight, Lashes himself upward, and engages four in aerial combat while two remain to guard the platform.

Adolin, Pattern, Syl, his deadeye blade, and a pack of Shallan’s illusions rush the remaining Fused. Adolin mimics the illusions’ stiff motions to stay hidden. Shallan reaches the platform and speaks to two towering spren, mother-of-pearl and oily black. They explain that the Oathgate is locked by Honor’s last command and refuse her passage, though they let the dead through. Desperate, she buys more time.

In the Physical Realm, Dalinar flees the collapsing wall, shoves the Thrill aside after it tempts him with power, and gets crushed by a thunderclast. Stormlight—drawn unconsciously from nearby—heals him. He follows two Fused who slide with eerie grace; they tear open a palanquin and steal a huge ruby called the King’s Drop. Dalinar realizes Sadeas’s soldiers outside have red eyes and have turned traitor.

Jasnah confronts Renarin’s spren, recognizing it as a corrupted spren of Odium. Venli watches Odium direct the gemstone theft, calling it a precaution. Yanagawn hears false reports that Alethkar has betrayed Thaylenah and feels his trust broken. Szeth debates Nale’s logic that parshmen are the rightful rulers, but his sword urges him to fight.

Kaladin weaves through glass trees and mountain crags, disarms one Fused, and captures a lance and harpoon. As he accepts a one-on-one challenge, his Stormlight runs out. Navani sees Amaram’s army with red eyes and then spots Dalinar, book under his arm, standing alone in the broken wall to face the nightmare.

Key Events

Kaladin enters the fray alone and Lashings into the sky with four Fused in pursuit.
Shallan learns the Oathgate is locked by a command from Honor and the spren cannot override it.
Adolin uses mimicry of illusions to distract two Fused.
Dalinar resists the Thrill, survives a building collapse, and pursues Fused to the King’s Drop.
The theft of the gem—a ruby of enormous size—is revealed as a precaution ordered by Odium.
Sadeas’s forces appear with red eyes, confirming Amaram’s betrayal.
Jasnah identifies Renarin’s spren as corrupted by Odium.
Yanagawn receives disinformation that the Alethi are traitors.
Szeth questions Nale’s authority and hears his sword’s contrary plea.
Kaladin disarms a Fused but loses all Stormlight just as he accepts a duel.
Navani witnesses the overwhelming enemy force and Dalinar’s solitary stand at the breach.

Character Development

Kaladin recaptures the joy of flight and his purpose to protect Dalinar. He fights with escalating skill but overextends, trusting his own limits too much.
Dalinar confronts the Thrill as a dangerous old lover and rejects it even when crushed and battered. He moves from general to a lone figure walking into certain death.
Shallan shoulders the impossible task of opening the Oathgate and manages her fear with pragmatic, even humorous mental dialogue. She must accept that locked gates demand a different solution.
Adolin shows tactical creativity by acting like an illusion, placing himself at risk without lament.
Jasnah solidifies her role as a truth-seeker, realizing the scope of Odium’s infiltration into the Radiants.
Venli watches Odium and the unmade spirit, growing more uneasy with her god’s true motives.
Szeth begins to see that his obedience to a law—any law—is a choice, not a compulsion.
Navani moves from queenly shelter to awe-struck witness, finally seeing her husband’s impossible courage.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Isolation and Singular Courage: Each point-of-view character operates alone in a critical moment—Kaladin in the sky, Shallan before the gatekeepers, Dalinar in the gap—mirroring the chapter’s title.
The Thrill as Temptation: Dalinar experiences the Thrill as a lover he spurned. Its seductive promise of strength contrasts with the ruin it causes.
Corrupted Bonds: Renarin’s spren, a “wrong spren,” shows that Odium can infiltrate the nahel bond, corrupting the Radiant order from within.
Honor’s Lock and Broken Rules: The gatekeeper spren are bound by a dead god’s command, showing how past ideals can become imprisoning structures.
Betrayal and Perception: Yanagawn and his advisors draw false conclusions from Amanam’s treachery, demonstrating how easily trust evaporates in war.
The King’s Drop: A single enormous ruby—far more than wealth—serves as a narrative red herring while Odium’s true goal remains obscured.

Why This Chapter Matters

“Alone” is the explosive midpoint of the Battle of Thaylen Field. It fractures all sense of allied strength: the Alethi turn, the Oathgate remains sealed, and the Skybreakers follow a logic that aids the enemy. Kaladin’s aerial battle demonstrates his growth but also his vulnerability when separated from his power source. Dalinar’s walk to the breach embodies the chapter’s core: facing overwhelming evil without Shards, without armies, armed only with a book and the will to resist. The chapter sets the stage for the climax by isolating each hero and forcing them to rely on what they truly are when all support is stripped away.

Study Questions

Why does Dalinar resist the Thrill even when he is helpless, and what does this reveal about his character arc? Dalinar recognizes the Thrill as a dangerous addiction that would turn him back into the Blackthorn, a figure of pure destruction. Refusing it even when buried under rubble shows he values the man he is becoming—a leader who inspires rather than a warlord who dominates. This moment crystallizes his rejection of violence as identity.
How does the locked Oathgate serve as a metaphor for the larger conflict in the story? The gatekeeper spren are bound by Honor’s dying command, unable to adapt even when the world’s survival depends on passage. This rigid obedience mirrors the way Honor’s ancient rules now hinder the fight against Odium, forcing characters to find new paths—like unity through Dalinar—to breach the impossible.
Kaladin loses his Stormlight at the worst possible moment. What does this say about his overreliance on power? Kaladin’s exhilaration in flight and his effortless combat lead him to forget that Stormlight is finite. His acceptance of a fair duel right as the light runs out dramatizes that raw skill is not enough; he still needs to learn that true strength requires prudence, not just spectacle.

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