“Family. Peace. Syl. He’d been running from disaster to disaster for so long, he’d completely forgotten this joy. Even eating stew with Bridge Four—precious moments of respite—had felt like a gasp of air while drowning. Yet he was here. Retired. Watching his brother play… Storms, but it had been a wild ride. He had managed to survive. And it wasn’t his fault that he had.”

This moment occurs early in the novel and depicts Kaladin’s pleasure at finally being able to enjoy the luxury of peace. At the beginning of the novel, Kaladin realizes that he no longer wants to be a soldier; instead, he is motivated to help others process their trauma and find inner peace, just as he is striving to do for himself. Kaladin is characterized by this intense desire to help and protect others.

“‘Shallan,’ he said, and she looked up, meeting his eyes. ‘If it weren’t for that capacity, then what good would choices be? If we never had the power to do terrible things, then what heroism would it be to resist?”

These lines, spoken by Wit, reinforce one of the novel’s central themes: The Importance of Personal Accountability and Choice. Here, Wit reminds Shallan that people are defined by their choices, which imbue their actions with meaning. He delivers this reminder to Shallan because she is doubting whether she is ready to tackle the hard things that are coming her way. This exchange suggests that finding self-confidence and self-acceptance are a crucial thread in her character arc.

“‘Roshar has seen so many versions of this war, Kaladin,’ Dalinar said softly. ‘We’ve been fighting the singers since our first generations on this planet, a time that stretches back far beyond our written histories. Through multiple calamities, and the almost utter loss of civilization. I want to see that cycle ended.’”

This passage summarizes the epic scale of the conflict that is depicted throughout the Stormlight Archive series. Dalinar is speaking here, and this passage also highlights the lofty—and seemingly impossible—responsibility that Dalinar places on himself: to end a conflict that has been raging for millennia.