Chapter 84: Selfish Reasons — Kaladin & Shallan vs. the Chasmfiend

Spoiler Warning: This page details Chapter 84 of Brandon Sanderson’s Words of Radiance, “Selfish Reasons.” Read on only after you’ve reached this chapter, or prepare for full plot revelations.

Summary

Kaladin and Shallan are stranded in the chasm darkness with an approaching chasmfiend. Shallan reveals a Shardblade and hands it to him. Kaladin notes the Blade doesn’t cause the screaming he experienced when fighting beside Adolin—a silence that darkly implies his bond with Syl is weakening. He takes the weapon to defend her but remains wary. Shallan insists he lead the monster left so she can retrieve her vital sketch satchel. Kaladin engages the beast, but without Stormlight he feels clumsy. He stumbles, loses the Blade momentarily, and is bitten savagely on the leg. In a moment of desperation he snatches a sphere, fails to draw Stormlight, yet somehow projects an illusionary double that distracts the creature. Seizing the chance, he thrusts the Shardblade through the roof of its mouth and kills it. Shallan cuts him free, binds his wounds, and they face the imminent highstorm. Shallan uses the Blade to carve a shallow ledge above the waterline, then cajoles Kaladin up the handholds with a quip about “selfish reasons.” They reach the cubby just as the stormwall roars through the chasm.

Key Events

Shallan summons a Shardblade and passes it to Kaladin.
Kaladin notes the absence of her Blade’s scream and realizes it matches his damaged bond with Syl.
Kaladin fights the chasmfiend without Stormlight, his leg mauled in the fight.
He fails to draw Light from a sphere but performs an unexplained duplication of himself, buying time.
Kaladin kills the chasmfiend by stabbing upward into its brain.
Shallan retrieves him and tends his wounds.
Shallan carves a storm shelter into the chasm wall with her Shardblade.
Kaladin climbs, injured, and they both squeeze into the cubby as the highstorm hits.

Character Development

Kaladin breaks his long-standing refusal to touch a Shardblade. He accepts it not as a prize but as a tool for immediate protection. His internal struggle with the weapon’s history and his bond with Syl is palpable—the silence of the Blade tells him something is deeply wrong. Stripped of Stormlight, he fights with only his soldier’s grit and a quick, desperate improvisation (the double). His physical vulnerability—a mangled leg and exhaustion—humanizes the Windrunner, yet his determination to live, and to let Shallan help him, shows new openness.

Shallan is resourceful and unflinching. She wields her Shardblade without hesitation, uses illusion to distract the monster, and then switches to practical problem-solver, carving a refuge. Her playful yet pointed line about “selfish reasons” (not wanting Kaladin’s last sight of her to be dirty) covers a genuine fear of losing him. She reveals more of her secret abilities but stops short of full transparency, still hoping Kaladin doesn’t guess she’s a Surgebinder.

Their dynamic shifts from mutual suspicion to interdependent survival. They bicker, tease, and rely on one another’s strengths, forging a bond that will shape their actions beyond the chasm.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

The Silence of Shardblades: Kaladin’s earlier scream at Adolin’s Blade marked a connection to Syl; its absence here signals the fraying nahel bond and his inability to draw Stormlight. The Blade becomes a symbol of Kaladin’s lost power and of Shallan’s hidden nature.
Selfishness and Selflessness: The title “Selfish Reasons” is echoed multiple times. Shallan jokes that she’s making Kaladin climb for her own vanity. But the deeper meaning is that both characters cling to life out of personal, sometimes unspoken, desires—to protect, to prove themselves, to see tomorrow. The line between selfish and selfless blurs when survival depends on helping another.
Light and Illusion: Shallan’s drawing-based illusions, Kaladin’s inexplicable double, and the failing sphere all highlight the theme of perception. In the darkness, truth becomes malleable, and the characters must rely on wits rather than certainty.
Transformation through Destruction: Shallan’s Blade is used to kill the chasmfiend, then to carve shelter. Destruction creates a path to survival. The chasmfiend’s spren rise like smoke, a reminder of the cycle of life and loss on the Plains.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter is the climax of the chasm sequence. It cements the active partnership between Kaladin and Shallan, proving they can cooperate under lethal pressure. It demonstrates Kaladin’s escalating crisis: he cannot access Stormlight, and his bond with Syl is in danger, yet he survives through sheer stubbornness and a new, mysterious trick. For Shallan, it’s a public (though to only one witness) deployment of her Shardblade and illusions, nudging her out of secrecy. Their joint survival lays groundwork for their later roles in the war camps and directly prefaces the return to Dalinar’s camp, raising the stakes for both their personal arcs.

Study Questions and Answers

Why does Kaladin accept the Shardblade despite his previous refusals?
Earlier, Kaladin turned down Blades after battle or in practice because he associated them with the shattering of bonds and personal dishonor. Here, taking the weapon is an immediate, practical decision—he does it to protect Shallan, not to claim ownership. He still views the Blade as a tool for the fight, not a symbol of Shardbearer status. This choice illustrates his growth: he can compromise his rigid code when another’s life is at stake.
What does the phrase “selfish reasons” refer to in this chapter?
Shallan says she’s forcing Kaladin to climb for “perfectly selfish reasons”—specifically, she doesn’t want his last memory of her to be disheveled and covered in purple ichor. The line is a half-joke, but it conceals a deeper truth: her desire for him to live is fiercely personal. It also mirrors Kaladin’s own will to survive, not just for duty but for his own stubborn refusal to let the chasm claim him. The chapter suggests that sometimes the most powerful motivations are the ones we disguise as selfishness.
How does this chapter illustrate Kaladin’s loss of Stormlight?
During the fight, Kaladin seizes a sphere and strains to draw Light, but he hears only weeping and receives no power. Without Stormlight, he stumbles, cannot heal, and feels slow and clumsy. The duplication of himself that appears in a flash is unexplained—possibly a subconscious surge, a remnant of power, or even a Lightweaving echo from Shallan—but the overall impression is that his bond with Syl is broken enough to leave him mortal and vulnerable. His survival depends on a Shardblade and wits, not his surgebinding.

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