111. Unchained

Spoiler Warning: This page discusses events from Rhythm of War in full. If you haven’t finished this chapter, read on at your own risk.

Summary

Dalinar and his Windrunner escort reach Ishar’s camp near the coast of Tukar. Sigzil scouts ahead and returns with disturbing news: the Herald believes he is the Almighty reborn and that Dalinar is Odium’s champion. Despite the warning, Dalinar lands with Sigzil, Szeth, and five Windrunners. Ishar attacks, wielding a recovered Bondsmith Honorblade—the very blade Szeth’s father once guarded. The Herald’s skill is beyond anything the Windrunners can match; he deflects and drains their Stormlight like a casual puppeteer.

Dalinar opens Honor’s Perpendicularity to re-Infuse his people, startling Ishar. The Herald tries to sever Dalinar’s bond to the Stormfather and steal his Connection to Odium. Szeth’s sentient sword Nightblood slices the tether, chipping the Honorblade in the process, and collapses the perpendicularity. Ishar momentarily speaks lucidly, mentioning a way to reset the Oathpact and begging Dalinar to come to Shinovar, before the madness reclaims him and he flees into Shadesmar with his soldiers.

While the Windrunners recover, Dalinar inspects Ishar’s pavilion and finds a charnel house: tables hold the physical corpses of spren—honorspren, Cryptics, cultivation spren—forcibly manifested and killed. Ledgers document horrific experiments that lasted only minutes. The Stormfather calls it an abomination without parallel.

At Urithiru, Navani bonds with the Sibling and begins venting Voidlight to cleanse the tower. Kaladin, armored in living Shardplate, soars to the Breakaway market just as Rlain’s resistance is about to be overrun. The tower’s defenses roar back to life; stormform lightning dies, Fused collapse, and the Radiants imprisoned on the floor awaken. Kaladin’s mere presence turns the tide.

Moash flees, his eyes burned blind by the tower’s light. Rescued by Heavenly Ones, Odium’s gift restores his emotional numbness, but his vision never returns. Dalinar returns to the Emuli camp, shaken; Szeth begins preparing for his pilgrimage to Shinovar, convinced his father did not willingly give up the Honorblade.

Key Events

  • Ishar mistakes Dalinar for Odium’s champion and attacks with a Bondsmith Honorblade.
  • The Herald easily outfights five Windrunners and drains their Stormlight using a Connection tether.
  • Dalinar opens Honor’s Perpendicularity; Ishar tries to steal the Bondsmith bond.
  • Szeth’s Nightblood interrupts, chipping the Honorblade and sending Ishar fleeing into Shadesmar.
  • Dalinar discovers Ishar’s tent filled with dead spren surgically manifested in the Physical Realm.
  • Rlain receives a cryptic prompting from a spren, indicating he is “spoken for.”
  • Navani and the Sibling purge Voidlight and reactivate the tower’s fabrial defenses.
  • Kaladin arrives in full Shardplate, the tower awakens, and the enemy forces collapse.
  • Moash escapes blinded; his connection to Odium numbs his guilt but cannot restore his sight.
  • Szeth resolves to return to Shinovar, convinced his father was murdered.

Character Development

  • Dalinar: Demonstrates patience and trust in his officers, but is horrified by the depths of Ishar’s atrocities. His faith in the Bondsmith mission is shaken, yet he seizes the opportunity to gather Ishar’s notes.
  • Ishar: Shown as a supremely skilled duelist and a dangerously unchained Bondsmith. Behind the grandiosity and madness lurks a calculating mind—and a brutal willingness to kill spren for knowledge.
  • Szeth: The sight of his father’s Honorblade and Ishar’s lies pushes him closer to his duty. His bond with Nightblood is both a shield and a volatile liability.
  • Navani: Steps fully into the role of Bondsmith partner, using her scholarly intellect to vent Voidlight and direct Kaladin where he is most needed.
  • Kaladin: His Fourth Ideal has restored his confidence and power. He becomes the tower’s champion, protecting the weak even as he delivers taunts.
  • Moash: Flees into Odium’s numbness but is irrevocably marked—blind, yet still tormented by a pain he cannot truly smother.

Themes, Symbols, and Motifs

  • Unchained Bondsmith: Ishar’s ability to steal Connections and manifest spren physically underscores the dangerous potential of a Bondsmith without Honor’s restrictions.
  • The Price of Connection: Ishar’s perversion of the Surge of Connection turns a uniting force into a tool of theft, torture, and murder.
  • Spren Mortality: The physical corpses of spren are a violation of the natural order, showing that even immortal beings can be killed if bound improperly.
  • Towerlight and Rebirth: The cleansing of Urithiru’s systems and Kaladin’s arrival mirror the tower’s long-awaited healing and the Radiants’ resurgence.
  • Blindness as Consequence: Moash’s physical blindness reflects his spiritual void—he can no longer see the world or himself, only the numbness that shields him from guilt.
  • Oathpact’s Lingering Hope: Ishar’s fleeting sane moment hints that the ancient pact may yet be restored, providing a path toward resolving the Desolation cycle.

Why This Chapter Matters

“Unchained” makes two pivotal turns. First, it transforms the Herald Ishar from a mysterious ally into a terrifying antagonist whose madness and unfettered Bondsmith powers are an immediate threat. The revelation that he has been murdering spren—even honorspren—raises the stakes for all Radiants and hints at a deeper plot. Second, the chapter resolves the Urithiru arc: Kaladin’s return in Plate and the Sibling’s reawakening free the tower and crush the singer occupation in one dramatic moment. Together, these events set the board for the contest of champions, Szeth’s pilgrimage to Shinovar, and the ethical battle over what it means to wield Surges unchecked.

Study Questions and Answers

  1. How does Ishar’s use of Bondsmith powers differ from Dalinar’s?
    Ishar weaponizes the Surge of Connection. Instead of uniting allies or realms, he forcibly tethers Radiants to the ground to drain their Stormlight and attempts to sever Dalinar’s bond with the Stormfather. Dalinar typically uses his abilities for restoration and unity; Ishar twists them for domination and theft, exploiting the absence of Honor’s laws.

  2. What is the significance of the spren corpses in Ishar’s tent?
    They prove that Ishar has found a way to pull spren fully into the Physical Realm and kill them—a feat the Stormfather calls impossible. This abomination demonstrates the Herald’s knowledge of unchained Bondsmith powers, threatens the foundation of Radiant bonds, and shows that even immortal beings become vulnerable when forced into physical forms.

  3. Why is Kaladin’s Shardplate arriving during the battle so symbolically important?
    The living Plate represents Kaladin having fully embraced his Fourth Ideal—accepting that he cannot save everyone. Its appearance signals his internal healing and readiness to lead. The Plate can also protect others (as it does for Adin and Leshwi), illustrating that Kaladin’s strength now extends outward to shield the weak, exactly when the tower needs it most.

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