Chapter 2: Prologue: To Kill – Summary and Analysis

Spoiler Notice: The following analysis reveals major events from Chapter 2 of The Way of Kings, including the assassination of King Gavilar. Proceed only if you have read the chapter or don’t mind spoilers.

Summary

On the night of the treaty between Alethkar and the Parshendi, Szeth-son-son-Vallano, a Truthless assassin from Shinovar, dons white Parshendi garb and infiltrates King Gavilar’s feast in Kholinar. He observes the drunken revelry, then makes his way toward the king’s private chambers. Drawing Stormlight from infused lamps, Szeth uses his three types of Lashings to manipulate gravity and fight through multiple squads of guards. When he encounters a Shardbearer in blue Plate, a fierce duel ensues. Szeth eventually realizes the Shardbearer is the king himself, deliberately disguised to draw the assassin’s attention while a decoy fled. After shattering the Plate’s helm and receiving a devastating punch that throws him through balcony doors, Szeth Lashes the balcony downward, causing it to collapse. The king survives the fall but is impaled by debris. Dying, Gavilar presses a mysterious sphere—dark yet luminous—into Szeth’s hand and whispers a cryptic request: “Tell my brother…he must find the most important words a man can say.” Szeth scrawls the message in blood, then escapes, leaving behind the king’s Shardblade.

Key Events

  • Szeth, wearing white, attends the Alethi-Parshendi treaty celebration.
  • He absorbs Stormlight from lamps and proceeds toward the king’s quarters.
  • Using Basic, Full, and Reverse Lashings, he fights guards, including creating a stone block trap and redirecting spears.
  • A Shardbearer in blue Plate confronts him; Szeth first thinks it’s a bodyguard.
  • Szeth attacks the Shardbearer, cracking the Plate but failing to kill him.
  • Chasing what he believes is the king with a group of guards, Szeth realizes the Shardbearer is the true king, Gavilar.
  • He returns, resumes combat, and eventually Lashes the balcony to collapse.
  • King Gavilar, impaled, gives Szeth a strange black sphere and a dying message.
  • Szeth writes the message in the king’s blood and flees, abandoning the fallen Shardblade.

Character Development

Szeth: Introduced as a deeply conflicted, honor-bound assassin. He views himself as “Truthless,” forced to obey his masters despite reviling his actions. His internal struggle is evident: he apologizes before killing, welcomes death as release, yet cannot commit suicide or fail his mission. He is methodical, sorrowful, and wields immense power with resignation.

Gavilar Kholin: The king appears only briefly but reveals cunning, skill, and unknown depths. By disguising himself as a Shardbearer, he demonstrates tactical acumen. His dying words hint at secret knowledge and a greater conflict—the “most important words” and a desire to hide the sphere suggest he was entangled in something beyond the treaty.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

  • Profanity and the Sacred: Szeth repeatedly labels stone-walking, using Stormlight for light, and killing as profane. These taboos from his Shin culture underscore the clash between his beliefs and his actions.
  • The Power of Shards: Shardblades and Plate are presented as legendary weapons that trivialize ordinary soldiers. The ease with which Szeth cuts through men and stone highlights their terrifying might and the thematic weight of wielding such power.
  • Unknowable Mysteries: Gavilar’s cryptic dying words and the anomalous dark sphere introduce a sense of larger, hidden machinations. The king’s reference to “Thaidakar” and the Parshendi’s irrational attack imply conspiracies yet to unfold.
  • Duty vs. Morality: Szeth’s entire existence is a paradox: he condemns killing as sin yet kills because he must obey. His white clothing—a warning—symbolizes his role as both executioner and message-bearer.

Why This Chapter Matters

This prologue is the catalyst for the entire Stormlight Archive. The assassination of Gavilar triggers the war on the Shattered Plains, setting alethi society and the main characters into motion. It introduces the core magic systems—Stormlight, Lashings, Shards—through visceral, action-packed storytelling. Szeth’s perspective establishes the Shin, the concept of Truthlessness, and the cultural significance of stone and Stormlight. The cryptic sphere and dying message seed the central mystery that will drive much of the series. Additionally, the chapter demonstrates Brandon Sanderson’s ability to blend intense action with deep worldbuilding, making the reader question the nature of free will, honor, and the cost of power.

Study Questions and Answers

  1. What are the three types of Lashings Szeth uses, and how does each function?
    Answer: Szeth uses Basic Lashings to change the direction of gravity for himself or others, effectively making any surface “down.” Full Lashings create a powerful bond that holds objects together, like gluing a door shut. Reverse Lashings draw nearby objects toward a point he touches, deflecting projectiles. All consume Stormlight.

  2. Why does Szeth consider walking on stone a profanity?
    Answer: Szeth’s Shin culture reveres stone as sacred and forbids treading on it. His people walk on soil or wood, not stone. By moving through the stone palace, he is committing a blasphemy, compounding his guilt over the assassination.

  3. What is the significance of Gavilar’s dying request and the black sphere?
    Answer: Gavilar’s plea about “the most important words a man can say” and the strange sphere imply he possessed secret knowledge—possibly related to the Knights Radiant, Voidbringers, or the true nature of the Parshendi. These elements introduce the series’ central mysteries and suggest that the king’s death was part of a larger, perhaps cosmic, struggle.

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