Oathbringer

Shallan Davar is betrothed to Adolin Kholin, the son of Dalinar. She comes from a lower-ranked lighteyed family from the nation of Jah Keved. In Way of Kings, the first novel of the series, she becomes the ward of Jasnah, Adolin’s cousin, to learn scholarship and, secretly, to steal Jasnah’s soulcaster, a device that allows people to transform rock into food and other materials. Jasnah discovered her secret, but she continued to keep Shallan as her ward. When Jasnah was assassinated on their journey to the Shattered Plains, Shallan continued their plan to become Adolin’s betrothed. Now, Shallan finds herself truly loving Adolin. She also works secretly to discover the secrets of the Ghostbloods, an underground society that sent the assassins for Jasnah. In Oathbringer, Shallan struggles with the pain of her memories of killing her mother and father. She turns to creating personas with their disguises, and she finds herself using them more frequently to cope with emotional duress.

Although Adolin Kholin is not a Radiant like many of the other main characters, he plays a major role in the narrative. He is the son of Dalinar and cousin to the Alethi king, Elhokar. At the very end of the novel preceding Oathbringer, Words of Radiance, Adolin murders Torol Sadeas for his multiple betrayals of Dalinar and for the threat he poses. In this novel, Adolin struggles with the guilt of that action. He also struggles with a sense of self-worth in a changing world, since he is not a Radiant and thus does not have mystical powers.

Adolin’s brother, Renarin, is a Knight Radiant. However, Jasnah discovers by the end of the novel that Adolin’s spren is corrupted and is normally the kind that works for Odium, despite Renarin’s loyalty to his family and home. Adolin was sickly for much of his childhood and thus never became a soldier like his father and brother. Renarin’s healing powers, which he accidentally discovers during Oathbringer, emphasize his gentler nature. While Adolin is preoccupied with soldierly pursuits and tries to live up to the expectations of his father, Renarin is more closely aligned with their deceased birth mother Evi. Renarin’s ability to heal parallels Evi’s desire to preserve life, which she pursued by promoting the importance of peace and mercy. Renarin joined Bridge Four in Words of Radiance, allowing him to have a group of friends who understand feeling like an outsider. Another of his Radiant powers is the ability to see the future, but he discovers by the end of the novel that his visions are not always correct.

Elhokar Kholin is the son of Gavilar and Navani and the king of Alethkar after his father. He led the Alethi highprinces in a war of revenge against the listeners (called parshendi by humans) after the listeners had Gavilar assassinated. He led for several years with a light hand and ruled selfishly. In Oathbringer, he realizes the full scale of the threat Dalinar has warned him about and recognizes that he has not been a great ruler. He pledges loyalty to Dalinar and promises to learn how to be better, using his mission to Kholinar to both prove himself and learn from the greatness of others, like Kaladin.

Jasnah Kholin is the daughter of Navani and King Gavilar, sister to Elhokar, and cousin to Adolin and Renarin. Jasnah is an atheist and a brilliant scholar. In Words of Radiance, the Ghostbloods attempt to assassinate Jasnah; she escapes by pretending to die and then slipping into Shadesmar, the Cognitive Realm. At the very end of Part 1, she arrives in Urithiru after she travels a great distance, unable to contact her family and alert them to her survival. Now that the world has found out about Voidbringers, the very things she studied and tried to warn people of, she feels as if she has fallen behind.

Navani was the wife of Gavilar and is the mother of Elhokar and Jasnah. She loves scholarship, so she leads the scholars under her household in seeking answers to the mystery of Urithiru and tools to help them against Odium. She has long loved Dalinar, as he does her, and pursues a relationship with him despite the religious stricture against siblings-in-law marrying. She and Dalinar marry in Oathbringer.

Evi Kholin was the first wife of Dalinar and mother to Adolin and Renarin. She came from a nation called Rira, but she and her brother left their home and took their inherited Shardblade and Plate, angering their people and turning themselves into refugees. Evi is primarily a flat character, serving as an important symbol for Dalinar, but she receives some characterization in this novel. She is the opposite of Dalinar, praying often for peace rather than war. This causes strife between them, but it also gives Dalinar something to strive for: her good opinion and a view of him as a hero. When Dalinar declares that he will burn the Rift to the ground, Evi tries to save the people of the city by going to their highprince and pleading with him to surrender. This puts her in the very place that Dalinar’s men burn first; her death and his own role in it destroy Dalinar, driving him to drink.

Kaladin Stormblessed is a darkeyed Alethi man who, due to his status as a Radiant, has been elevated to the status of a lighteyes. Kaladin’s second name is a moniker he earned in previous novels. He studied medicine with his father as a young man but joined the army to protect his younger brother when the boy was sent away by a lighteyed lord as punishment for the family. He later became an enslaved person when, upon killing a Shardbearer and thus earning the Blade and Plate for his own, he was betrayed by Amaram, his commander at the time. Since rescuing Dalinar and his men after they were betrayed by Sadeas, Kaladin has led the men of Bridge Four, from Sadeas’s bridge crews, as an honorguard for Dalinar. In Oathbringer, Kaladin struggles with his feelings of failure to protect others, with his depression deepening after every loss.