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Stormlight Recap Series: World and History | Main Characters | Other Notable Characters Welcome back! If you missed the first two Stormlight Archive recap articles you can find them above. So far we have covered the world and history of Roshar, the three main characters of the Stormlight Archive, and Szeth, the upcoming flashback character. In this article we will discuss some other need-to-know characters. This article will have spoilers for the Stormlight Archive, but there will NOT be spoilers for other Cosmere books. Here we go! ADOLIN Adolin is Dalinar's firstborn son, with unparalleled skills in Shardblade dueling (thanks to instincts from his father, perhaps) and fashion (definitely not from Dalinar). Though Adolin never believed his father was perfect, he has always managed deep respect for the man. Their relationship grew immensely as they worked together fighting Parshendi on the Shattered Plains, and was strengthened after their betrayal together and the hands of Sadeas and their shared mission to unite the highprinces. Adolin's murder of Sadeas was an unexpected development for Dalinar, however, and the truth of Dalinar's role in the death of his mother wasn't easy for Adolin to swallow. Adolin left for Lasting Integrity on poor terms with his father. Will their relationship improve or be shattered beyond repair? Meanwhile, Adolin's Shardblade, Mayalaran, showed remarkable signs of recovery when she stood up for Adolin during his trial among the Honorspren. Will she continue to improve? And what will that mean for the rest of the deadeyes in Shadesmar, who came to witness Adolin's trial? RENARIN Renarin is Dalinar's youngest son, having a kindhearted nature and thoughtfulness that could only have been gained from his loving mother. With epilepsy keeping Renarin off the battlefield and a growing interest in scholarship, Renarin has had a more difficult time relating to his father than Adolin. While the two have made some progress, and his experiences as a member of Bridge Four have boosted his confidence, Renarin still struggles to find his place in the world. His strange bond to the corrupted Truthwatcher spren Glys, which grants cryptic visions of the future, left Renarin in a more unusual place than ever. Will his visions ultimately prove to be a blessing or curse? NAVANI Navani originally married Gavilar despite a quiet interest in Dalinar, making her queen of Alethkar for some time. Her husband proved to be an abusive man, however, and he ultimately left her with shaky self-confidence in her passion for fabrials. Now several years later, she has married Dalinar and helped him to forge the coalition of rulers standing against Odium. When the enemy captured Urithiru one year into the war, Navani worked with the Sibling--the spren of the city--to protect the tower from Raboniel's and her army of Fused. Under Raboniel's eye Navani also discovered the secrets to creating destructive "anti-Light". In one desperate moment the Sibling bonded Navani, creating a new Bondsmith and restoring the city to its former glory. As a new Bondsmith, what role will Navani have in the fight to come? The Sibling isn't pleased with the techniques used to create modern fabrials. Will they find a way to compromise? And perhaps most important of all, how will the creation of anti-Light, capable of permanently destroying both Fused and spren, change the war? JASNAH Jasnah's research into the past, acted upon by Shallan, was largely to thank for humanity's survival so far in the True Desolation. She is now a queen and one of the few Radiants to have reached the Fourth Ideal. What kind of queen will she be, and what role will she play among the Radiants? BRIDGE FOUR Let's talk about this group here rather than the "Groups" section in the next article, Bridge Four is less about a group with some overarching goal and more about a collection of amazing individuals that we know and love deeply! All of the original members of Bridge Four, and many who came later, are now full Windrunners. Many have also moved on: Rock departed for personal reasons, Teft was killed at the hands of Moash, and now Kaladin himself has stepped down from leadership. Will Bridge Four and the Windrunners be in good hands with Sigzil, Skar, Drehy, and Lopen running the crew? RLAIN One special member of Bridge Four never had an opportunity to bond a spren of his own... Until very recently. The Enlightened mistspren Tumi, sent by Sja-anat at a recommendation of Renarin, observed Rlain and decided to bond the singer. Renarin is now longer the only Enlightened Truthwatcher standing against Odium. What visions of the future will Rlain experience, and what role will he play as the "Bridger of Minds" as Tumi named him? MOASH Then we have Moash. Though he was skeptical of Kaladin early on, Moash grew to trust Kaladin deeply and the two quickly became friends. Moash's drive to seek vengeance against Elhokar placed him at odds with Kaladin's Ideals however. Disillusioned by both human and singer leaders, Moash turned to Odium for release from his burdens. After killing Elhokar during the Battle of Kholinar, Moash was given the task of assassinating the Herald Jezrien with a special dagger. After performing that deed without question, Moash was renamed "Vyre" by the Fused. During the occupation of Urithiru, Moash added Teft to his body count, and attempted to drive Kaladin to suicide. But in the end he fled from the tower, blinded by the light of the new Bondsmith. Will Moash's guilt finally crush him, will he seek redemption for his failures, or will he turn to Odium all the more? VENLI While her elder sister sought to make peace with the humans, Venli hungered for power and sought to return her peoples' ancient gods. When the Everstorm came, bringing with it the Fused, things did not go as planned. Venli was reduced to a puppet spreading Odium's propaganda about her people, but she was encouraged by a new bond with the lightspren Timbre to do better. Venli swore the oaths of the Knights Radiant to become a Willshaper, allowing Timbre to capture the Envoyform-granting Voidspren in her gemheart. She began furtive efforts to restore a listener nation independent of Odium's rule, while serving under the Fused Leswhi. During the occupation of Urithiru, she learned that a remnant of her people remained, east of the Shattered Plains. Her followers were granted an opportunity to return to the listeners, though first she returned to the tower and inspired Leswhi and some of her Shanay-im to rebel and aid the humans. After the battle, Leshwi joined Venli and the rest of the listeners, who have found allies in the chasmfiends. Several lightspren followed as well, granting a bond to Venli's mother and several others. What is next for Venli, the listeners, their chasmfiends, and the rebellious Shanay-im? THE HERALDS Taln, the sole Herald who was abandoned, is in particularly poor shape after his four and a half millennia alone on Braize. Ash attends to him, wracked with guilt for what the Heralds did and interested in little else. Ash's father, the Herald Jezrien, was murdered by Moash and is the first of their number to have ever been permanently killed. Though the Oathpact is not shredded completely, it is gravely weakened. Beyond these three, we only know about the activities of four other Heralds. Kalak has been hiding among the honorspren in Lasting Integrity. He became a target of the Ghostbloods, though he was spared by Shallan. Nale is actively leading the Skybreakers and working with Odium. Battar appears to have worked for Taravangian's Diagram under the name "Dova", though her activities now that the Diagram has been disbanded are a mystery. Lastly, the crazed Ishar has named himself god-priest of Tukar, and appears to have been performing grotesque experiments that involve bringing spren from Shadesmar into the Physical Realm. The purpose of these ghastly experiments is unclear, but in a moment of mental clarity the Herald urged Dalinar to seek him out in Shinovar. What has become of the three remaining Heralds--Chanarach, Pailiah, and Vedel--and what role will these broken immortals play in the future of Roshar? TARAVANGIAN Taravangian was one of the few whom Gavilar confided in regarding his visions, and after Gavilar's assassination Taravangian was driven to extreme measures to curb the threat of the coming Desolation. He visited the Nightwatcher and asked for the capacity to save the world; he came out with a strange effect from Cultivation herself, which left him dull-minded and deeply emotional on some days while genius and dispassionate on others. The most notable result of this magic was Taravangian's creation of the Diagram--the collected works of a single day of brilliance which left Taravangian with a plan for saving the world, as well as an organization of followers committed to seeing the Diagram fulfilled. They supplemented the Diagram with death rattles--the utterances of men and women who die when the Unmade Moelach is nearby, which sometimes contain hints about the future. The Diagram proved impossible to fulfill perfectly, however, as Taravangian's efforts to seize ultimate control on Roshar failed when Dalinar unexpectedly rejected Odium. In a desperate attempt to save a remnant--his home city of Khabranth--Taravangian betrayed the coalition to Odium. Dalinar had the man under house arrest in the weeks that followed, during which Taravangian realized Odium's futuresight was blinded by Renarin Kholin. He failed to communicate this important knowledge to Dalinar, but when Szeth came to kill Taravangian at the same time Odium paid a visit, Taravangian drew Nightblood and killed the vessel of Odium. Taravangian's deeply emotional state made him an enticing new vessel for the Shard, and Taravangian Ascended--becoming the new Odium. That will be all for this time. In the next and final article we will be talking about important groups and some ongoing mysteries to be aware of! If you found this helpful, make sure to tag your friends or share it around. If you feel like something important was left out, or if you have a question, let us know in the comments. If you haven't visited our forums and Discord server, consider this your welcome! We'd love to hear your voice in the conversation. Until next time, Life before Death! Check out our other articles in our Stormlight Recap Series: World and History | Main Characters | Other Notable Characters Special thanks to the artists whose work was used in this article! Dalinar Wind and Truth Concept Art by Petar Penev Artifabrian, and Mastermind by Ari Ibarra on behalf of Brotherwise Games Willshaper by Nastya Lehn on behalf of Brotherwise Games

Stormlight Recap Series: World and History | Main Characters | Other Notable Characters Welcome back! If you missed the previous Stormlight Archive recap article you can find it here. Last time, we covered the world and history of Roshar. In this article we'll look at the three main characters of the Stormlight Archive so far, Dalinar, Kaladin, and Shallan. We'll also spend some time on the upcoming flashback character, Szeth! This article will have spoilers for the Stormlight Archive, but there will NOT be spoilers for other Cosmere books. Let's do it! DALINAR We caught glimpses of Dalinar's dark and bloodthirsty past as he worked with his brother, Gavilar, and friend, Sadeas, to unite the princedoms of Alethkar. Afflicted by the Unmade called Nergaoul (the Thrill) for most of his life, Dalinar's victories only left him thirsty for more. It wasn't until the accidental murder of his own wife, Evi, that Dalinar began to change. Her death left him an alcoholic and a shell of his former self, and after his failure to protect Gavilar from assassination, Dalinar became determined to turn his life around. He visited the powerful, mysterious, and ancient spren called the Nightwatcher where he asked to forget about the painful death of his wife. Cultivation herself made an appearance, and took all memories of Evi from Dalinar--giving him an opportunity for a fresh start. Dalinar seized that opportunity firmly as he joined the war effort against the Parshendi, to avenge the death of his brother. After a few years of war, Dalinar's resolve began to shift in a new direction. Strange visions granted to Dalinar by the Stormfather ultimately revealed to him that their God, Honor, was dead at the hand of Odium. Despite the treacherous betrayal at the hands of his old friend Sadeas, Dalinar began efforts to unite the Alethi highprinces against the coming True Desolation. After facing the Parshendi in the center of the Shattered Plains and surviving the first Everstorm, Dalinar established a new base of operations in the lost, mythical city of Urithiru. His mission of uniting the highprinces grew quickly to include uniting all the nations of Roshar AND re-establishing the forgotten orders of the Knights Radiant. Dalinar became the first new Bondsmith, bonded to the Stormfather--the spren of the highstorm itself--and organized a shaky coalition of Roshar's monarchs to stand against Odium's forces, even as Alethkar fell to enemy forces. Dalinar confronted his dark past at the Battle of Thaylen Field--thwarting Odium's plan to make Dalinar his own champion. Seizing fragments of Honor's power, Dalinar halted Odium's advance and earned the humans a much-needed victory. Dalinar learned of Taravangian's efforts to undermine him, however, leaving little room for trust between the two men in the year of war that followed. That mistrust was validated when Taravangian arranged for Jah Keved to betray the coalition while Dalinar was leading a campaign in Emul alongside the Mink. Dalinar had the former king held captive, as their campaign continued. Meanwhile, Dalinar's thoughts began to shift away from battle and toward his role as a Bondsmith, and how he might end the war more permanently. He sought out the Herald Ishar, who proved too mad to be useful, before meeting with Odium once again and setting terms for a final contest of champions to be held in two weeks' time. What's next? Dalinar has elected to serve the role of Honor's champion himself, with the contest just ten days away. When the time of the contest comes, will Dalinar be prepared to face Odium's champion? Who will he have to face? Will things proceed as planned or will Dalinar have another role to play? After the terms of the contest of champions was set, Taravangian himself Ascended to the role of Odium, unbeknownst to Dalinar. Will Taravangian making any unexpected moves, and how will Dalinar react if he discovers his former friend is now his greatest enemy? KALADIN Kaladin grew up in the newly reunited Alethkar as an apprentice surgeon to his father, Lirin. He spent much of his young life torn between his father's expectations and his desire to become a soldier. Hearthstone's brightlord died when Kaladin was young, leaving his family to suffer under the bitter, angry Brightlord Roshone. After witnessing his father's strength and defiance, Kaladin decided to become a surgeon after all... until Roshone had Kal's younger brother, Tien, drafted into the army. Kaladin joined to protect his brother, but failed within months and was too ashamed to return home. Upon winning a set of Shards on the battlefield years later, Brightlord Amaram stole Kaladin's spoils for himself and consigned Kaladin to slavery. One year later, Kaladin found himself running with Sadeas's bridge crews on the Shattered Plains. His spren, Sylphrena encouraged Kaladin to fight on, and he did. Kaladin united the bridgemen under his command, trained them to fight, and ultimately saved Dalinar after his betrayal at the hands of Sadeas. After joining Dalinar's forces, Kaladin's loyalty was tested as Amaram arrived on the Shattered Plains, reminding Kaladin that no lighteyes can be trusted, while his new friend Moash revealed King Elhokar and Roshone's roles in the deaths of Moash's grandparents. Dalinar's honor won Kaladin over in the end, as Kaladin grew into his new Surgebinding powers and used them to save Elhokar and Dalinar both from assassination. After the Everstorm, the members of Bridge Four began to manifest their own powers as Kaladin's Windrunner squires. Accompanied by two squires, he traveled with Elhokar's team to save Kholinar, but ultimately failed to protect the king from Moash. In Shadesmar Kaladin experienced a vision suggesting that Dalinar would soon be in danger, and the team journeyed through Shadesmar to Thaylen City, where Kaladin failed to speak his Fourth Ideal with the team in mortal danger. Saved by Dalinar, the team was returned to the Physical Realm, where Kaladin fought and helped defeat Amaram, who had been consumed by the Unmade Yelig-nar. In the year of war that followed, Kaladin continued to be plagued with guilt and an overwhelming need to protect his friends at all costs. Ultimately, Dalinar forced the bridgeman into retirement. That retirement was short-lived however, as Urithiru became occupied by enemy forces. Kaladin worked with Queen Navani to protect the tower, and in one final act of defense lost his friend Teft at the hands of Moash. Kaladin nearly succumbed to influence of Odium, before speaking his Fourth Ideal as he dropped from the tower after his father--letting go of his burdens of guilt, and earning his Shardplate. What's next? Kaladin has agreed to accompany Szeth to Shinovar, in search of Ishar. Will he reach the Herald in time to bring the aid that Dalinar hopes for? As for his traveling companion: the two have clashed more than once before, have never been on the best of terms. Will these two men work together or will the journey be more bumpy than Dalinar expects? Now that Kaladin has sworn his Fourth Ideal, accepting that those he cannot protect, what steps are next in his own personal growth? And how will his Ideals be tested next? SHALLAN We don't know how or when Shallan's bond with her spren began, but at a mere eleven years old she was forced to kill her own mother with her Shardblade in self-defense. Her father, Lin Davar, tried to protect his daughter by allowing rumors of the murder to point at himself. The pressure of these rumors, along with financial decline, fueled violence and abusive tendencies in her father, and Shallan was left acting as the glue holding her elder brothers together as they suffered. Shallan was ultimately forced to poison and strangle her father. During that confrontation, Lin's secret Soulcaster, on loan from the Ghostbloods, was damaged. Shallan then journeyed to Kharbranth where she became Jasnah Kholin's ward in hopes of stealing the princess's own Soulcaster. Shallan ultimately committed the theft and made plans to return home. A strange encounter with Cryptics and an accidental poisoning exposed Shallan's machinations to Jasnah, but the wardship was allowed to continue after Shallan was revealed to be a budding Knight Radiant. The pair traveled by ship to the Shattered Plains in search of Urithiru and proof of an impending Desolation, but an attack by the Ghostbloods left Shallan shipwrecked and Jasnah presumed dead. Shallan made her way to the Shattered Plains, collecting several mercenaries along the way. Once there, Shallan balanced her time between exploring her Lightweaver powers, infiltrating the Ghostbloods, and wooing Adolin Kholin. Shallan eventually determined the location of the Oathgate, and as the Everstorm was summoned Shallan spoke her next "truth" and activated the Oathgate. To cope with her broken past, Shallan began to develop alters; first Veil, a Ghostblood spy, and then Radiant, an exemplary Knight Radiant. Shallan also struggled readjusting to her role as Jasnah's ward, and to escape Jasnah's scrutiny, she traveled with Elhokar's team to Kholinar, where her skills proved useful as the group attempted to infiltrate the palace. Their activities in the city failed, including Veil's personal attempts to help the people of the city, leaving Shallan's identity in a tailspin, but her alters began to stabilize following the Battle of Thaylen City and her marriage to Adolin Kholin. In the year that followed, Shallan formed a team of Lightweavers named the Unseen Court, who successfully dismantled the Sons of Honor. A new dark persona, named Formless, seemed to develop however, as Shallan was sent with Adolin on a mission to the Honorspren city of Lasting Integrity. Shallan had her own orders, from Mraize, to kill the Herald Kalak--but when the time came, Shallan rejected the darkness within herself, turned down the Ghostbloods, and accepted another truth: her original spren bond had not been Pattern, but Testament. What's next? Shallan's past still has some mysteries, including the foremost question: how and why did Shallan form a Radiant bond at such a young age? And how will the revelation that she has a second spren bond to another Cryptic affect Shallan going forward? Perhaps most pressing is Shallan's rejection of the Ghostbloods. They both seek the Unmade Ba-Ado-Mishram, and the Ghostbloods aren't a foe to be taken lightly. SZETH Every Stormlight Archive book contains the flashback sequence for a certain character, and in Wind and Truth we finally get the character who started all of this in the prologue to The Way of Kings: Szeth. Hailing from the strange, isolationist nation of Shinovar, Szeth was named "Truthless" by his people after he claimed the Voidbringers were returning to Roshar. He was sold into slavery, carrying Jezrien's Honorblade and forced to do the will of any person who carried his Oathstone. After the listeners found and used him to assassinate Gavilar, Szeth was passed between several inconsequential masters until Taravangian came in possession of him. Taravangian used him to assassinate several world leaders across Roshar, to destabilize the world as required by the Diagram. After the arrival of the Everstorm and the Last Desolation, Szeth was forced to confront the truth that he was made Truthless by his people in error, and the responsibility for all his murders rests at his own feet. Looking for moral guidance, Szeth was recruited by Nale into the Skybreakers, and given a mysterious black Shardblade. After swiftly advancing in the ranks of the Skybreakers, Szeth gained the acceptance of a spren and swore his Third Ideal to follow Dalinar Kholin. In the year that followed, Szeth willingly remained imprisoned until he was asked to accompany Dalinar to Emul. While there he faced Ishar, who claimed that Szeth's father was dead and that Shinovar had been overtaken by the Unmade. This reignited Szeth's desire to fulfill his Fourth Ideal quest--to return and bring justice to ones who falsely exiled him. What's next? Dalinar has agreed to allow Szeth to return to Shinovar, but Szeth can only guess what awaits him there. Will he succeed or fail? Will he finds what he expects or are there new mysteries to uncover? Szeth's mind is broken, and the authority he swore allegiance to will not be accompanying him on this next journey. Will he begin to heal or will he spiral further? And lastly, how will the truth of Szeth's past, finally revealed in his own sequence of flashbacks, shape his future and the future of Roshar? That will be all for this time. In the next article we will continue exploring some other notable characters! If you found this helpful, make sure to tag your friends or share it around. If you feel like something important was left out, or if you have a question, let us know in the comments. If you haven't visited our forums and Discord server, consider this your welcome! We'd love to hear your voice in the conversation. Until next time, Life before Death! Check out our other articles in our Stormlight Recap Series: World and History | Main Characters | Other Notable Characters Special thanks to the artists whose work was used in this article! Dalinar Wind and Truth Concept Art by Petar Penev A Man's Worth by Randy Vargas Stormblessed by Ari Ibarra Shallan in the Palanaeum by Alex Allen Assassin in White by Ari Ibarra on behalf of Brotherwise Games

Stormlight Recap Series: World and History | Main Characters | Other Notable Characters Welcome, welcome! One of the most common questions we see prior to any Stormlight Archive release is a request for good recaps of the previous books. Not everybody has time for rereads of the full series, of course. If you want to read Wind and Truth this December and the last Stormlight book you cracked open was four years ago... you might be in for a bumpy ride! Over on the Coppermind wiki you can find detailed chapter summaries for each book. If you don't have the time for a full reread but want something thorough, that's your best option. You can also check out our SpanReads podcast series, which will feature Stormlight Archive before Wind and Truth releases. And if you'd like something visual don't miss our Interactive Map and Timeline of Roshar! But if you want something brief? Well, you've found the right place! This series of four articles will serve as a concise overview of the previous Stormlight Archive books. Rather than just giving a detailed book summary, I'm going to break things down by topic. Over these four articles we will cover: (1) the world and its historical background, (2) the main characters going into Wind and Truth, (3) other notable characters, and (4) significant groups on Roshar and some outstanding mysteries to keep an eye on! I'll try to link Coppermind articles, so if you find yourself itching for more details on some topic it will only be a click away. (though beware of spoilers for other Cosmere books) I certainly don't intend to cover EVERY notable detail, but if you feel like something major is missing let me know in the comments. This article will have spoilers for the Stormlight Archive, but there will NOT be spoilers for other Cosmere books. Let's do this! ROSHAR Let's begin with a quick overview of the world itself. Roshar is a harsh, rocky world with colossal "highstorms" sweeping across the continent on a regular basis, but the planet is teeming with alien life that has adapted to this extreme environment. Trees brace for storms, grass retracts into the ground, and native animals have hardened shells. Also native to Roshar is a sapient, humanoid species, called the singers (called parshmen, Parshendi, or listeners in the early books). The flora and fauna aren't the only alien aspect of Roshar however. Forces of nature and ideas come to life in the form of magical "spren", spirit-like creatures which can appear out of nowhere drawn by human emotions or acts of nature. These spren are but a glimpse into an entirely separate, overlapping realm called the Cognitive Realm, or simply Shadesmar, where the spren have more fully realized form. The various sapient species of spren even have cities, culture, and a civilization of their own. Spren aren't entirely detached from the Physical Realm however, as they play an important role on several levels. They have formed bonds with animal life, enabling the development of creatures with remarkable size or magical abilities. The native singers have also learned to bond with spren in their own way by taking the spren into a natural gemstone within their bodies (gemhearts), which causes dramatic changes in their psychology and physiology depending on the type of spren. Spren have even developed a special sort of bond with some humans, allowing those humans to access the powers of Surgebinding--manipulation of the Surges, the fundamental forces, like gravity or friction, that drive the world. Behind the magic of Roshar are beings of godlike power, called Shards. Indeed, the spren are fragments of these deities that have developed their own sentience. The Shards themselves are the leftover pieces of an ancient god known as Adonalsium, slain by mortals with the use of the legendary Dawnshards. Each Shard carries one aspect of Adonalsium's nature--now separated from the other Shards which once held each other in balance. There are three Shards of note where Roshar is concerned, each named after that aspect which governs its nature. The first two, Honor and Cultivation, arrived long in the past. The third, Odium, arrived shortly after the original human migration to Roshar. The conflict between these three beings is, at its grandest scale, the story of the Stormlight Archive. HISTORY Now we can talk history, and we'll begin with one of the big reveals at the series so far: the humans are the Voidbringers! Well, from a certain point of view. You know how most life on Roshar seems to have lizard-crab-things somewhere in their evolutionary tree? It comes as no surprise that the singers called Roshar home even before Honor and Cultivation came into town. Apparently under the influence of Odium in some way, the humans showed up on Roshar's doorstep after destroying their own previous homeworld (Ashyn, another planet in the same star system) with magic. Honor and Cultivation encouraged the singers to welcome these refugees, but it didn't take long before things went terribly wrong and war broke out. Odium lent some of his power to create the Fused--singer souls who, upon death, could take over the body of another. These beings, effectively immortal and with access to the Surges, were joined by the Regals (singers granted magical "forms of power" by one of Odium's voidspren in their gemhearts), Thunderclasts, and the Unmade. To counter Odium's forces, Honor empowered his Heralds--ten immortal humans with ten powerful Honorblades. The Oathpact was established as a means to limit Odium's forces. Thus began the Desolations. With each Desolation, Odium's forces would return to Roshar and the war would begin anew. Though the humans were always ultimately victorious the cycle wore down the resolve of the Heralds as they returned to Damnation after each Desolation along with the Fused, where they would be tortured until the point of breaking again. During this time, humans began to ally and bond with intelligent spren. This Nahel bond granted the humans access to Shardblades, Shardplate, and various forms of Surebinding. These Surgebinders organized and became known as the Knights Radiant. With their headquarters in the tower city of Urithiru and their philosophies inspired by Nohadon, author of The Way of Kings, they afforded some stability amid the Desolations. But even they could only do so much. After a series of particularly challenging Desolations, nine of the Heralds abandoned the Oathpact, leaving the tenth--Taln--to face Damnation on his own. Under Taln's resolve alone the cycle of Desolations nearly halted. After the "Last Desolation", Odium's forces did not gather again for thousands of years. When they did, during the so-called "False Desolation" it was without the support of the Fused, still bound by Taln. The singers were, however, still granted forms of power in this conflict from their leader, the Unmade Ba-Ado-Mishram. Honor himself was slowly dying, for reasons not entirely known, and the integrity of the Knights Radiant was collapsing with him, but the Knights Radiant were ultimately victorious... At great cost. They captured Ba-Ado-Mishram, intending to prevent the singers from taking forms of power, but this act came with unfathomable unintended consequences. Most of the living singers--all but the listeners, who abandoned their gods and their forms--were stripped of spiritual Identity and Connection, leaving them as near-mindless "parshmen". They were not the only casualty however, as the act also is believed to have left the planet itself with some great wound and to have affected the spren in unexpected ways. Fearing some greater danger, the Knights Radiant and their spren abandoned their oaths--their Shardplate left behind and the spren frozen as Shardblades. This event would become known as the Recreance. Time passed, and power was re-consolidated. The Silver Kingdoms of the past warped into the nations of modern Roshar. New religions developed to explain the past and the place of humans on Roshar. In eastern Roshar, the Vorin church developed significant political influence and encouraged extensive revisionist history before Sadees, the Sunmaker, ended their "Heirocracy". And so it was, until the Alethi king Gavilar Kholin discovered a rogue band of intelligent singers… The novels open with the assassination of Gavilar, Dalinar Kholin's elder brother, at the hand of Szeth, "the Assassin in White"--who was hired by the Parshendi on the very night they planned to sign a peace treaty. Gavilar told Eshonai of his desire to bring back the Fused--something that the Parshendi wanted no part in. While Gavilar's own dealings and motives--which involve several other suspicious groups and machinations--were surrounded in mystery, the result of his assassination was simple for Dalinar and the Alethi, who swore vengeance upon the Parshendi. Thus began the War of Reckoning--with the Alethi laying siege to the Parshendi on the Shattered Plains. CURRENT EVENTS Over the course of the novels, we saw Dalinar discover (through visions granted by the Stormfather) that their God, Honor, was dead and that a new Desolation would soon arrive. Dalinar united as many of the Alethi highprinces as he could and assaulted the Parshendi at the center of the Shattered Plains. Though they technically won that battle, the listeners succeeded in mustering the Everstorm, and as the Everstorm swept across Roshar, it restored the minds of the parshmen worldwide. With the Everstorm also came the Voidspren, Fused, and a stronger presence from Odium himself, who organized these former slaves and ignited a global war with the humans. The humans refounded the Knights Radiant and rediscovered the ancient city of Urithiru, with Oathgates allowing for fast travel. Led by Dalinar, a loose coalition was formed between Urithiru, the Alethi refugees, King Taravangian of Kharbranth and Jah Keved, Queen Fen of the island nation Thaylenah, Emperor Yanagawn of Azir, and several smaller states. The two sides ultimately clashed at the Battle of Thaylen Field, where Dalinar seized fragments of Honor's power and temporarily repelled the Shard of Odium. The war continued for a full year until, as the coalition began a new military campaign to retake occupied Emul, Taravangian betrayed his allies in exchange for the protection of Kharbranth. Urithiru was captured by the Fused Raboniel as a result. With the help of Kaladin, Navani Kholin was able to protect and bond the Sibling, the awakened spren of the tower city, and drive out the invaders. Odium visited Dalinar once more to finalize their agreement to a contest of champions, but then met his sudden demise at the hands of Taravangian--perhaps on the strings of Cultivation herself. Rayse, the once-mortal who held Odium, was dead, and Taravangian himself seized the Shard of Odium. WHAT'S NEXT? Much of the past is still a big mystery to us! How did the first Desolation begin? What have the Heralds been up to? Is there more story behind the Recreance that we don't know? What schemes was Gavilar involved in and what was he ultimately trying to do? And of course, the future of the world hangs in the balance with the contest of champions just ten days away! That will be all for this time. In the next article we will begin exploring characters! If you found this helpful, make sure to tag your friends or share it around. If you feel like something important was left out, or if you have a question, let us know in the comments. If you haven't visited our forums and Discord server, consider this your welcome! We'd love to hear your voice in the conversation. Until next time, Life before Death! Check out our other articles in our Stormlight Recap Series: World and History | Main Characters | Other Notable Characters Special thanks to the artists whose work was used in this article! Dalinar Wind and Truth Concept Art by Petar Penev Shallan painting by Michael Whelan Honorblades by Antti Hakosari on behalf of Brotherwise Games Map of Roshar by Isaac Stewart