Oathbringer Quiz: Test Your Stormlight Archive Knowledge

Test your knowledge of Brandon Sanderson’s epic third Stormlight Archive novel with this in‑depth quiz. The 20 questions span major plot beats, character drives, thematic symbols, and cross‑book synthesis. You’ll find both multiple‑choice and short‑answer prompts, all based on the supplied chapter outline. At the end, an answer key explains each response. Before you start, revisit the full Oathbringer guide, browse common questions and answers, or dive into the ending explained.

Questions

(Plot/Sequence – Multiple Choice)
In the prologue, Eshonai learns something that convinces the Five to assassinate Gavilar. What is it?
A) Gavilar has a dark sphere that can capture spren.
B) Gavilar plans to enslave the parshmen.
C) Gavilar knows how to return the listeners’ ancient gods.
D) Gavilar intends to destroy the listeners’ homeland.
(Plot/Sequence – Short Answer)
After discovering Sadeas’s murdered body, Dalinar holds a meeting and appoints new highprinces. Name two of the roles he creates and the highprince he assigns to each.
(Plot/Sequence – Short Answer)
In Hearthstone, what does Kaladin do to Roshone immediately after seeing him, and what does he say?
(Plot/Sequence – Multiple Choice)
What is the primary goal of the team sent to Kholinar (Elhokar, Kaladin, Adolin, Shallan)?
A) Rescue Queen Aesudan.
B) Reopen Kholinar’s Oathgate to allow troop movement.
C) Assassinate the Fused leaders.
D) Retrieve a hidden gemstone from the palace.
(Plot/Sequence – Short Answer)
In Kholinar, Kaladin limits his Surgebinding. Why?
(Plot/Sequence – Multiple Choice)
What unexpected result occurs when Shallan engages the trapped Oathgate in Kholinar?
A) The control building explodes, killing everyone on the platform.
B) The gate sends the party safely to Urithiru.
C) The gate transports the party to Shadesmar.
D) The gate destroys the Oathgate spren and remains dormant.
(Plot/Sequence – Short Answer)
During the final battle in Thaylen City, what does Dalinar do that creates a pillar of light, fills spheres with Stormlight, and solidifies the bead sea?
(Plot/Sequence – Multiple Choice)
How does Moash kill Elhokar?
A) He stabs him with a Shardblade during the palace assault.
B) He runs him through with a spear and salutes Bridge Four.
C) He pushes him off the Oathgate platform.
D) He poisons his wine before the battle.
(Character Motivation – Short Answer)
Why does Shallan develop the Veil persona? Provide at least two distinct reasons.
(Character Motivation – Multiple Choice)
What drives Dalinar to seek the Old Magic and lose his memories of Evi?
A) He wants to forget the Thrill’s influence on his youth.
B) He is tormented by the screams of the Rathalas victims and guilt over his wife’s death.
C) Odium’s influence forces him to erase the memories.
D) Navani persuades him that forgetting will make him a better leader.
(Character Motivation – Short Answer)
In the final battle, Kaladin is unable to speak the Fourth Ideal. Explain the core reason for his failure.
(Character Motivation – Multiple Choice)
Taravangian ultimately betrays Dalinar because:
A) He craves the throne of Urithiru.
B) The Diagram indicates that after Dalinar’s coalition collapses, negotiating with Odium is the only way to save a remnant of humanity.
C) He loathes Dalinar’s heresy.
D) He believes Odium cannot be defeated and wants to serve him directly.
(Character Motivation – Short Answer)
What inner conflict prompts Venli to hide the spren Timbre and later speak the First Ideal?
(Theme/Symbol – Multiple Choice)
The Thrill is ultimately revealed to be:
A) A natural surge of battle rage granted by Honor.
B) An expression of the Nahel bond.
C) The Unmade Nergaoul, a spren that induces bloodlust.
D) Voidlight that corrupts soldiers.
(Theme/Symbol – Short Answer)
By the end of Oathbringer, what does the command “Unite them” mean to Dalinar?
(Theme/Symbol – Short Answer)
In “The Girl Who Looked Up,” what does the wall represent, and how does Shallan’s retelling with Wit mirror her own journey?
(Theme/Symbol – Multiple Choice)
What are Shardblades, as revealed in Oathbringer?
A) Advanced fabrials crafted with Soulcasting.
B) Honorblades that have lost their bond.
C) Dead spren, the remnants of broken Nahel bonds.
D) Weapons forged by the Fused.
(Synthesis – Short Answer)
Compare how Dalinar and Moash handle personal guilt over lives they have taken. What is the outcome for each?
(Synthesis – Multiple Choice)
Which statement best captures the central revelation about the origin of humans and Voidbringers?
A) The Fused are ancient human kings corrupted by Odium.
B) Voidbringers are mindless spren of destruction.
C) Humans are the original Voidbringers who fled their previous world after destroying it.
D) The Heralds created the Desolations to test humanity.
(Synthesis – Short Answer)
How does Shallan’s use of multiple personas reflect the novel’s theme of identity? Use specific events from the Kholinar mission and the final battle.

Answer Key

C – Eshonai learns Gavilar can return the listeners’ gods (the Fused). The Five vote to assassinate him to prevent that. Distractors A and B are related but not the direct cause; D is fabricated.
Highprince of Information: Aladar; Highprince of Commerce: Sebarial. Dalinar also appoints Adolin to oversee troop training and Renarin/Shallan to master their Radiant powers.
Kaladin punches Roshone in the face and states, “That was for Moash.”
B – Elhokar kneels and appoints Dalinar highking, then requests a covert mission to Kholinar specifically to restore its Oathgate and allow troop movement. Rescuing Aesudan is secondary; assassination of Fused or gem retrieval are not primary.
Even minor Stormlight use causes screaming yellow-white spren and a flying Voidbringer to appear, betraying his presence and endangering the team.
C – Sja‑anat warns Shallan that the Oathgate is trapped; when activated, it hurls Adolin, Shallan, Kaladin, and Azure into Shadesmar instead of Urithiru.
Dalinar seizes the Cognitive and Spiritual Realms, merging them with the Physical. He declares “I am Unity,” creating Honor’s Perpendicularity—a pillar of light that infuses spheres with Stormlight and turns the bead sea solid.
B – During the chaotic palace retreat, Moash kills Elhokar with a spear through the eye and gives the Bridge Four salute.
To investigate Sadeas’s murder without being recognized as Shallan Davar, and to interact with (and eventually infiltrate) the Ghostbloods. Equally, Veil shields Shallan from the trauma of her past and lets her act more boldly.
B – The screams of the dead from the Rathalas massacre and the guilt over causing Evi’s death become unbearable; Cultivation prunes those specific memories at his request.
Kaladin cannot accept that he is unable to protect everyone—especially after watching friends and parshmen alike die. The Fourth Ideal requires him to let go of the burden, and in that moment he is not ready.
B – The Diagram frames Dalinar’s coalition as a temporary measure; after it falls, Taravangian plans to negotiate from a weakened but surviving position, sacrificing other nations to preserve Kharbranth.
Venli feels profound guilt over causing Eshonai’s death and the destruction the Fused bring. Timbre’s presence slowly restores her ability to hear the old rhythms, rekindling her identity and pushing her toward the First Ideal.
C – Dalinar identifies and captures the Thrill as the Unmade Nergaoul, a primal spren that feeds bloodlust. A and B reflect common Vorin misunderstandings, while D confuses Voidlight with the Thrill’s effect.
“Unite them” expands from uniting nations to uniting Radiants, spren, and even his own fractured self. Embracing his pain and responsibilities enables him to become Unity.
The wall is a prison, not a protection—it kept people from the light and from the truth. Wit’s illusion shows Shallan that she can accept her painful memories without letting them define her; she stops hiding behind personas.
C – Shardblades are dead spren, the remnants of Nahel bonds broken during the Recreance. This is shown through Adolin’s speaking to his blade and the deadeyes in Shadesmar.
Dalinar eventually accepts his guilt, refuses to give it to Odium, and uses it as the foundation for growth, becoming Unity. Moash succumbs to self‑loathing, kills Elhokar, then willingly serves Odium, ultimately murdering the Herald Jezrien.
C – The Eila Stele reveals that humans fled their previous world after destroying it with Surgebinding and brought Odium with them, making them the original Voidbringers. The other options misstate the revelation.
Shallan creates Veil and Radiant to cope with trauma and situations she cannot face as herself. In Kholinar, Veil distributes food and infiltrates the Cult of Moments, but her charitable acts inadvertently cause suffering. During the final battle, she consciously silences the personas, choosing to be Shallan for Adolin and embracing a unified identity.

Ready for more? Dive into the complete Oathbringer guide, browse detailed Q&A, or explore the ending explained.