Warning – the information below the break in this blog post is a reference for all Way of Kings chapters. As such, it contains minor spoilers (like who has PoVs in each chapter).
This chart (below the break; click “More” to reveal) shows information about each chapter of The Way of Kings, including the quotation (if any) at the chapter heading, the chapter’s title, the first viewpoint character and others that follow, and the chapter’s place in the timeline (most of these are noted in the book text, but the time for the flashback in Chapter 67 is estimated based on the timeline placements of other chapters). This information was drafted based on a pre-publication copy of the book, but has been checked and adjusted to be accurate to the hardcover. If you find an error or conflict, please post a comment here or email steve@stormblessed.com .
Thanks to PRationality for lots of help checking the draft against the TWoK hardcover!
| Quote | Chapter | First Viewpoint Character | Other Viewpoint Characters (in order of PoV) | Timeline |
| Prelude to The Stormlight Archive | Kalak | 4500-4505 years before Chapter 1 | ||
| “The love of men is a frigid thing, a mountain stream only three steps from the ice. We are his. Oh Stormfather… we are his. It is but a thousand days, and the Everstorm comes.” –Collected on the first day of the week Palah of the month Shash of the year 1171, thirty-one seconds before death. Subject was a darkeyed pregnant woman of middle years. The child did not survive. | Prologue: To Kill | Szeth | 5 years before Chapter 1 | |
| “You’ve killed me. Bastards, you’ve killed me! While the sun is still hot, I die!” –Collected on the fifth day of the week Chach of the month Betab of the year 1171, ten seconds before death. Subject was a darkeyed soldier thirty-one years of age. Sample is considered questionable. | Chapter One: Stormblessed | Cenn | ||
| “Ten orders. We were loved, once. Why have you forsaken us, Almighty! Shard of my soul, where have you gone?” –Collected on the second day of Kakash, 1171, five seconds before death. Subject was a lighteyed woman in her third decade. | Chapter Two: Honor is Dead | Kaladin | 8 months after Chapter 1 | |
| “A man stood on a cliffside and watched his homeland fall into dust. The waters surged beneath, so far beneath. And he heard a child crying. They were his own tears.” –Collected on the 4th of Tanates, year 1171, thirty seconds before death. Subject was a cobbler of some renown. | Chapter Three: City of Bells | Shallan | ||
| “I’m dying, aren’t I? Healer, why do you take my blood? Who is that beside you, with his head of lines? I can see a distant sun, dark and cold, shining in a black sky.” –Collected on the 3rd of Jesnan, 1172, 11 seconds pre-death. Subject was a Reshi chull trainer. Sample is of particular note. | Chapter Four: The Shattered Plains | Kaladin | ||
| “I have seen the end, and have heard it named. The Night of Sorrows, the True Desolation. The Everstorm.” –Collected on the 1st of Nanes, 1172, 15 seconds pre-death. Subject was a darkeyed youth of unknown origin. | Chapter Five: Heretic | Shallan | ||
| “I’m cold. Mother, I’m cold. Mother? Why can I still hear the rain? Will it stop?” –Collected on Vevishes, 1172, 32 seconds pre-death. Subject was a lighteyed female child, approximately six years old. | Chapter Six: Bridge Four | Kaladin | ||
| “They are aflame. They burn. They bring the darkness when they come, and so all you can see is that their skin is aflame. Burn, burn, burn. . . .” –Collected on Palahishev, 1172, 21 seconds pre-death. Subject was a baker’s apprentice. | Chapter Seven: Anything Reasonable | Shallan | ||
| “Victory! We stand atop the mount! We scatter them before us! Their homes become our dens, their lands are now our farms! And they shall burn, as we once did, in a place that is hollow and forlorn.” –Collected on Ishashan, 1172, 18 seconds pre-death. Subject was a lighteyed spinster of the eighth dahn. | Chapter Eight: Nearer the Flame | Shallan | ||
| “Ten people, with Shardblades alight, standing before a wall of black and white and red.” –Collected: Jesachev, 1173, 12 seconds pre-death. Subject: one of our own ardents, overheard during his last moments. | Chapter Nine: Damnation | Kaladin | ||
| No quote | Chapter Ten: Stories of Surgeons | Kaladin | 9 years ago | |
| “Three of sixteen ruled, but now the Broken One reigns.” –Collected: Chachanan, 1173, 84 seconds pre-death. Subject: a cutpurse with the wasting sickness, of partial Iriali descent. | Chapter Eleven: Droplets | Kaladin | ||
| No quote | Interlude 1: Ishikk | Ishikk | ||
| No quote | Interlude 2: Nan Balat | Nan Balat | ||
| No quote | Interlude 3: The Glory of Ignorance | Szeth | ||
| Old friend, I hope this missive finds you well. Though, as you are now essentially immortal, I would guess that wellness on your part is something of a given. | Chapter Twelve: Unity | Adolin | ||
| I realize that you are probably still angry. That is pleasant to know. Much as your perpetual health, I have come to rely upon your dissatisfaction with me. It is one of the cosmere’s great constants, I should think. | Chapter Thirteen: Ten Heartbeats | Dalinar | ||
| Let me first assure you that the element is quite safe. I have found a good home for it. I protect its safety like I protect my own skin, you might say. | Chapter Fourteen: Payday | Kaladin | ||
| You do not agree with my quest. I understand that, so much as it is possible to understand someone with whom I disagree so completely. | Chapter Fifteen: The Decoy | Adolin | Dalinar | |
| No quote | Chapter Sixteen: Cocoons | Kaladin | 7 ½ years ago | |
| Might I be quite frank? Before, you asked why I was so concerned.
It is for the following reason: |
Chapter Seventeen: A Bloody, Red Sunset | Kaladin | ||
| Ati was once a kind and generous man, and you saw what became of him. Rayse, on the other hand, was among the most loathsome, crafty, and dangerous individuals I had ever met. | Chapter Eighteen: Highprince of War | Adolin | Dalinar, Adolin, Dalinar | |
| He holds the most frightening and terrible of all of the Shards. Ponder on that for a time, you old reptile, and tell me if your insistence on nonintervention holds firm. Because I assure you, Rayse will not be similarly inhibited. | Chapter Nineteen: Starfalls | Dalinar | ||
| No quote | Chapter Twenty: Scarlet | Kaladin | 7 years ago | |
| One need only look at the aftermath of his brief visit to Sel to see proof of what I say. | Chapter Twenty-one: Why Men Lie | Kaladin | ||
| In case you have turned a blind eye to that disaster, know that Aona and Skai are both dead, and that which they held has been Splintered. Presumably to prevent anyone from rising up to challenge Rayse. | Chapter Twenty-two: Eyes, Hands, or Spheres? | Dalinar | ||
| You have accused me of arrogance in my quest. You have accused me of perpetuating my grudge against Rayse and Bavadin. Both accusations are true. | Chapter Twenty-three: Many Uses | Kaladin | ||
| Neither point makes the things I have written to you here untrue. | Chapter Twenty-four: The Gallery of Maps | Dalinar | Adolin | |
| No quote | Chapter Twenty-five: The Butcher | Kaladin | 7 years ago | |
| I am being chased. Your friends of the Seventeenth Shard, I suspect. I believe they’re still lost, following a false trail I left for them. They’ll be happier that way. I doubt they have any inkling what to do with me should they actually catch me. | Chapter Twenty-six: Stillness | Dalinar | ||
| If anything I have said makes a glimmer of sense to you, I trust that you’ll call them off. Or maybe you could astound me and ask them to do something productive for once. | Chapter Twenty-seven: Chasm Duty | Kaladin | ||
| For I have never been dedicated to a more important purpose, and the very pillars of the sky will shake with the results of our war here. I ask again. Support me. Do not stand aside and let disaster consume more lives. I’ve never begged you for something before, old friend.
I do so now. |
Chapter Twenty-eight: Decision | Adolin | Dalinar | |
| No quote | Interlude 4: Rysn | Rysn | ||
| No quote | Interlude 5: Axies the Collector | Axies the Collector | ||
| No quote | Interlude 6: A Work of Art | Szeth | ||
| “The ones of ash and fire, who killed like a swarm, relentless before the Heralds.”
–Noted in Masly, page 337. Corroborated by Coldwin and Hasavah. |
Chapter Twenty-nine: Errorgance | Shallan | ||
| “They were suddenly dangerous. Like a calm day that became a tempest.” –This fragment is the origin of a Thaylen proverb that was eventually reworked into a more common derivation. I believe it may reference the Voidbringers. See Ixsix’s Emperor, fourth chapter. | Chapter Thirty: Darkness Unseen | Kaladin | Gaz, Kaladin, Gaz | |
| No quote | Chapter Thirty-one: Beneath the Skin | Kaladin | 6 years ago | |
| “They lived high atop a place no man could reach, but all could visit. The tower city itself, crafted by the hands of no man.” –Though “The Song of the Last Summer” is a fanciful tale of romance from the third century after the Recreance, it is likely a valid reference in this case. See page 27 of Varala’s translation, and note the undertext. | Chapter Thirty-two: Side Carry | Kaladin | ||
| “They changed, even as we fought them. Like shadows they were, that can transform as the flame dances. Never underestimate them because of what you first see.” –Purports to be a scrap collected from Talatin, a Radiant of the Order of Stonewards. The source–Guvlow’s Incarnate–is generally held as reliable, though this is from a copied fragment of “The Poem of the Seventh Morning,” which has been lost. | Chapter Thirty-three: Cymatics | Shallan | ||
| “I walked from Abamabar to Urithiru.” –This quote from the Eighth Parable of The Way of Kings seems to contradict Varala and Sinbian, who both claim the city was inaccessible by foot. Perhaps there was a way constructed, or perhaps Nohadon was being metaphorical. | Chapter Thirty-four: Stormwall | Kaladin | ||
| “Though many wished Urithiru to be built in Alethela, it was obvious that it could not be. And so it was that we asked for it to be placed westward, in the place nearest to Honor.” –Perhaps the oldest surviving original source mentioning the city, requoted in The Vavibrar, line 1804. What I wouldn’t give for a way to translate the Dawnchant. | Chapter Thirty-five: A Light by Which to See | Kaladin | Teft | |
| “Taking the Dawnshard, known to bind any creature voidish or mortal, he crawled up the steps crafted for Heralds, ten strides tall apiece, toward the grand temple above.” –From The Poem of Ista. I have found no modern explanation of what these “Dawnshards” are. They seem ignored by scholars, though talk of them was obviously prevalent among those recording the early mythologies. | Chapter Thirty-six: The Lesson | Shallan | ||
| No quote | Chapter Thirty-seven: Sides | Kaladin | 5 ½ years ago | |
| “Born from the darkness, they bear its taint still, marked upon their bodies much as the fire marks their souls.” –I consider Gashash-son-Navammis a trustworthy source, though I’m not certain about this translation. Find the original quote in the fourteenth book of Seld and retranslate it myself, perhaps? | Chapter Thirty-eight: Envisager | Kaladin | Teft | |
| “Within a heartbeat, Alezarv was there, crossing a distance that would have taken longer than four months’ travel by foot.” –Another folktale, this one recorded in Among the Darkeyed, by Calinam. Page 102. Stories of instantaneous travel and the Oathgates pervade these tales. | Chapter Thirty-nine: Burned into Her | Shallan | ||
| “Death upon the lips. Sound upon the air. Char upon the skin.” –From “The Last Desolation” by Ambrian, line 335. | Chapter Forty: Eyes of Red and Blue | Kaladin | ||
| No quote | Chapter Forty-one: Of Alds and Milp | Kaladin | 5 ½ years ago | |
| “Like a highstorm, regular in their coming, yet always unexpected.” –The word Desolation is used twice in reference to their appearances. See pages 57, 59, and 64 of Tales by Hearthlight. | Chapter Forty-two: Beggars and Barmaids | Shallan | ||
| “They lived out in the wilds, always awaiting the Desolation–or sometimes, a foolish child who took no heed for the night’s darkness.” –A child’s tale, yes, but this quote from Shadows Remembered seems to hint at the truth I seek. See page 82, the fourth tale. | Chapter Forty-three: The Wretch | Kaladin | ||
| No quote | Chapter Forty-four: The Weeping | Kaladin | 5 years ago | |
| “Yelig-nar, called Blightwind, was one that could speak like a man, though often his voice was accompanied by the wails of those he consumed.” –The Unmade were obviously fabrications of folklore. Curiously, most were not considered individuals, but instead personifications of kinds of destruction. This quote is from Traxil, line 33, considered a primary source, though I doubt its authenticity. | Chapter Forty-five: Shadesmar | Shallan | ||
| “Though I was due for dinner in Veden City that night, I insisted upon visiting Kholinar to speak with Tivbet. The tariffs through Urithiru were growing quite unreasonable. By then, the so-called Radiants had already begun to show their true nature.” –Following the firing of the original Palanaeum, only one page of Terxim’s autobiography remained, and this is the only line of any use to me. | Chapter Forty-six: Child of Tanavast | Kaladin | ||
| No quote | Chapter Forty-seven: Stormblessings | Kaladin | 1 year ago | |
| “They take away the light, wherever they lurk. Skin that is burned.” –Cormshen, page 104. | Chapter Forty-eight: Strawberry | Shallan | ||
| “Radiant / of birthplace / the announcer comes / to come announce / the birthplace of Radiants.” –Though I am not overly fond of the ketek poetic form as a means of conveying information, this one by Allahn is often quoted in reference to Urithiru. I believe some mistook the home of the Radiants for their birthplace as well. | Chapter Forty-nine: To Care | Kaladin | ||
| “Flame and char. Skin so terrible. Eyes like pits of blackness.” –A quote from the Iviad probably needs no reference notation, but this comes from line 482, should I need to locate it quickly. | Chapter Fifty: Backbreaker Powder | Shallan | ||
| No quote | Chapter Fifty-one: Sas Nahn | Kaladin | 1 year ago | |
| No quote | Interlude 7: Baxil | Baxil | ||
| No quote | Interlude 8: Geranid | Geranid | ||
| No quote | Interlude 9: Death Wears White | Szeth | ||
| “I’m standing over the body of a brother. I’m weeping. Is that his blood or mine? What have we done?” –Dated Vevanev, 1173, 107 seconds pre-death. Subject: an out-of-work Veden sailor. | Chapter Fifty-two: A Highway to the Sun | Adolin | Dalinar | |
| “He must pick it up, the fallen title! The tower, the crown, and the spear!” –Dated Vevahach, 1173, 8 seconds pre-death. Subject: a prostitute. Background unknown. | Chapter Fifty-three: Dunny | Kaladin | ||
| “The burdens of nine become mine. Why must I carry the madness of them all? Oh, Almighty, release me.” –Dated Palaheses, 1173, unknown seconds pre-death. Subject: a wealthy lighteyes. Sample collected secondhand. | Chapter Fifty-four: Gibletish | Dalinar | ||
| “A woman sits and scratches out her own eyes. Daughter of kings and winds, the vandal.” –Dated Palahevan, 1173, 73 seconds pre-death. Subject: a beggar of some renown, known for his elegant songs. | Chapter Fifty-five: An Emerald Broam | Kaladin | ||
| “Light grows so distant. The storm never stops. I am broken, and all around me have died. I weep for the end of all things. He has won. Oh, he has beaten us.” –Dated Palahakev, 1173, 16 seconds pre-death. Subject: a Thaylen sailor. | Chapter Fifty-six: That Storming Book | Dalinar | ||
| “I hold the suckling child in my hands, a knife at his throat, and know that all who live wish me to let the blade slip. Spill its blood upon the ground, over my hands, and with it gain us further breath to draw.” –Dated Shashanan, 1173, 23 seconds pre-death. Subject: a darkeyed youth of sixteen years. Sample is of particular note. | Chapter Fifty-seven: Wandersail | Kaladin | ||
| “Re-Shephir, the Midnight Mother, giving birth to abominations with her essence so dark, so terrible, so consuming. She is here! She watches me die!” –Dated Shashabev, 1173, 8 seconds pre-death. Subject: a darkeyed dockworker in his forties, father of three. | Chapter Fifty-eight: The Journey | Adolin | Dalinar | |
| “Above the final void I hang, friends behind, friends before. The feast I must drink clings to their faces, and the words I must speak spark in my mind. The old oaths will be spoken anew.” –Dated Betabanan, 1173, 45 seconds pre-death. Subject: a lighteyed child of five years. Diction improved remarkably when giving sample. | Chapter Fifty-nine: An Honor | Kaladin | ||
| “The death is my life, the strength becomes my weakness, the journey has ended.” –Dated Betabanes, 1173, 95 seconds pre-death. Subject: a scholar of some minor renown. Sample collected secondhand. Considered questionable. | Chapter Sixty: That Which We Cannot Have | Dalinar | ||
| “In the storm I awaken, falling, spinning, grieving.” –Dated Kakanev, 1173, 13 seconds pre-death. Subject was a city guardsman. | Chapter Sixty-one: Right for Wrong | Dalinar | ||
| “The darkness becomes a palace. Let it rule! Let it rule!” –Kakevah 1173, 22 seconds pre-death. A darkeyed Selay man of unknown profession. | Chapter Sixty-two: Three Glyphs | Kaladin | ||
| “I wish to sleep. I know now why you do what you do, and I hate you for it. I will not speak of the truths I see.” –Kakashah 1173, 142 seconds pre-death. A Shin sailor, left behind by his crew, reportedly for bringing them ill luck. Sample largely useless. | Chapter Sixty-three: Fear | Kaladin | ||
| “They come from the pit, two dead men, a heart in their hands, and I know that I have seen true glory.” –Kakashah 1173, 13 seconds pre-death. A rickshaw puller. | Chapter Sixty-four: A Man of Extremes | Dalinar | Kaladin, Adolin | |
| “I see them. They are the rocks. They are the vengeful spirits. Eyes of red.” –Kakakes 1173, 8 seconds pre-death. A darkeyed young woman of fifteen. Subject was reportedly mentally unstable since childhood. | Chapter Sixty-five: The Tower | Dalinar | Kaladin, Dalinar | |
| “That chanting, that singing, those rasping voices.” –Kaktach 1173, 16 seconds pre-death. A middle-aged potter. Reported seeing strange dreams during highstorms during the last two years. | Chapter Sixty-six: Codes | Kaladin | Dalinar | |
| “Let me no longer hurt! Let me no longer weep! Dai-gonarthis! The Black Fisher holds my sorrow and consumes it!” –Tanatesach 1173, 28 seconds pre-death. A darkeyed female street juggler. Note similarity to sample 1172-89. | Chapter Sixty-seven: Words | Kaladin | Dalinar, Kaladin, Kaladin (flashback to about 3 years ago), Kaladin | |
| “They named it the Final Desolation, but they lied. Our gods lied. Oh, how they lied. The Everstorm comes. I hear its whispers, see its stormwall, know its heart.” –Tanatanes 1173, 8 seconds pre-death. An Azish itinerant worker. Sample of particular note. | Chapter Sixty-eight: Eshonai | Adolin | Teft, Dalinar, Kaladin, Dalinar, Kaladin, Dalinar | |
| “All is withdrawn for me. I stand against the one who saved my life. I protect the one who killed my promises. I raise my hand. The storm responds.” –Tanatanev 1173, 18 seconds pre-death. A darkeyed mother of four in her sixty-second year. | Chapter Sixty-nine: Justice | Navani | Dalinar, Kaladin, Dalinar | |
| No quote | Chapter Seventy: Sea of Glass | Shallan | ||
| No quote | Chapter Seventy-one: Recorded in Blood | Szeth | ||
| No quote | Chapter Seventy-two: Veristitalian | Shallan | ||
| No quote | Chapter Seventy-three: Trust | Kaladin | ||
| No quote | Chapter Seventy-four: Ghostblood | Shallan | ||
| No quote | Chapter Seventy-five: In the Top Room | Dalinar | ||
| No quote | Epilogue: Of Most Worth | Wit |
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