Bayrd, a common soldier in Jarid Sarand's army, feels the wrongness spreading through the land as food rots and the sun refuses to shine. Talmanes leads the Band of the Red Hand into a Trolloc-besieged Caemlyn, fighting desperately through burning streets to reach the dragons stored in the city before the Shadow can seize them. Isam hunts through the wolf dream at Slayer's command, and Leilwin Shipless approaches the White Tower with a desperate plea.
Rand and Perrin walk through a decaying orchard in Braem Wood, and Rand confides that he intends to break the remaining seals on the Dark One's prison before reforging it anew. Egwene receives word of this plan and is horrified, resolving to gather the rulers of the world at the Field of Merrilor to oppose him.
Pevara and Androl struggle against the Turned Asha'man in the Black Tower, where Taim's loyalists have seized control and are forcibly converting channellers to the Shadow. Aviendha returns from Rhuidean haunted by her vision of the Aiel's bleak future and begins working to change the course the columns showed her.
Androl and Pevara deepen their unusual double bond, discovering they can sense each other's thoughts, and plot to free the remaining loyalist Asha'man from Taim's prison. Rand arrives at the Field of Merrilor and meets with the gathered rulers, presenting his terms for going to Shayol Ghul - a peace treaty binding all nations, which he calls the Dragon's Peace.
Androl and Pevara attempt a daring rescue inside the Black Tower, but Taim springs a trap and captures them both, beginning the process of Turning them to the Shadow. Rand confronts Egwene and the assembled monarchs at the Field of Merrilor, and a fierce debate erupts over his plan to break the seals, with Moiraine's unexpected arrival tipping the balance toward compromise.
Aviendha proposes that the Aiel be included in the Dragon's Peace as enforcers rather than excluded from it, altering the future she saw in the columns. Rand and Egwene reach an accord: the Amyrlin will hold the seals and judge the right moment to break them, while Rand leads the assault on Shayol Ghul. Elayne is appointed captain-general of the combined forces of the Light.
Perrin enters the wolf dream to scout the Blight and discovers vast Shadowspawn armies marching south toward the Borderlands. Lan leads the defence of Tarwin's Gap with the Malkieri and their allies, holding the line against impossible numbers while waiting for reinforcements that may never come.
Elayne organises the forces of the Light into four great battlefronts and assigns commanders, sending armies to Tarwin's Gap, Kandor, Shienar, and the Blight itself. Lan fights a grinding retreat from the Gap, his forces battered and outnumbered, as the first day of the Last Battle drags on with staggering losses.
Elayne takes command at Braem Wood and begins coordinating supply lines and troop movements across the continent. Androl, freed from captivity by Pevara's ingenuity, uses his Talent for gateways to turn the tide inside the Black Tower, and together they expose Taim's Dreadlords before the remaining Asha'man.
Lan continues his desperate stand at Tarwin's Gap, cycling fresh companies to the front lines in an endless rotation against the Trolloc hordes. Egwene marshals the Aes Sedai for battle and travels to Kandor, where the Shadowspawn have overrun several towns and threaten to break through into the heartlands.
Perrin scouts the wolf dream near Shayol Ghul and realises that Slayer is operating there to protect the Dark One's stronghold. Elayne reviews the battlefronts from her command post and begins to suspect that one of her generals is feeding intelligence to the Shadow.
Egwene leads the White Tower forces into battle in Kandor, unleashing devastating weaves against the Trolloc army while struggling to coordinate with the Borderlander commanders. Mat arrives at the Field of Merrilor and is reluctantly drawn into the war councils, where his tactical genius begins to show despite his best efforts to avoid responsibility.
Min pores over ancient prophecies in the camp, searching for any advantage against the Shadow, and realises that Callandor's flaw may actually be the key to victory. Tuon sends emissaries from the Seanchan, and the uneasy question of whether the Return will join the Last Battle looms over every strategy.
Elayne rides the battlefield in Cairhien, commanding Andoran and Cairhienin forces against a Trolloc assault, and narrowly survives an ambush when Dreadlords target her position. Perrin continues to patrol the wolf dream, hunting Slayer through shifting landscapes while protecting the dream from the Shadow's incursions.
Perrin confronts Slayer in the wolf dream near the Bore and is badly wounded, forced to retreat and recover. Androl uses his gateway Talent to spectacular effect, redirecting enemy channelling and opening portals beneath rivers of lava to devastate Shadowspawn columns at the Black Tower.
Mat takes command of the combined armies of the Light, devising an audacious battle plan that treats all four fronts as a single engagement. Rand prepares to enter the Pit of Doom, saying quiet farewells to those he loves and steeling himself for what may be a journey with no return.
Loial fights alongside the Ogier at the front lines, his great axe cleaving Trollocs as his people sing songs of growing to strengthen the soldiers around them. Galad leads the Children of the Light in a flanking action, and Rand enters the cavern at Shayol Ghul, stepping through the Bore to face the Dark One directly.
Mat infiltrates the Seanchan court in Ebou Dar disguised as a common soldier, navigating Tuon's elaborate protocols to convince her that the Empire must commit its armies to the Last Battle. His irreverent charm cuts through Seanchan formality, and Tuon - now Fortuona - agrees to march, though on her own terms.
Gawyn duels Demandred on the slopes of Polov Heights, using the three Bloodknife rings to move with inhuman speed. He lands a wound but is struck down, the rings burning away his life force. Rand enters the Dark One's domain and begins a battle of wills, each combatant weaving visions of possible futures for the world.
Elayne's forces suffer a devastating defeat when the Trollocs spring a coordinated trap, and she is captured by Mellar and the Darkfriend Dreadlords. Aviendha leads the Aiel channellers against the Shadow's forces at Shayol Ghul, wielding the One Power with fierce precision.