The Pursuer
Known facts
- travels-as-a-ribbon-of-light-leaving-a-huskTo get up the stairwell to hunt his quarry, the Pursuer turns himself into a ribbon of red light and shoots through the air, leaving the body he was wearing behind as a lifeless husk — a way of moving Venli watches him use without ceremony.SA:RoW:Ch 41
- tradition-of-killing-those-who-have-killed-himWhen Venli taunts that Stormblessed will be helpless if found unconscious, the Pursuer answers that tradition matters more than honor — he must kill those who have killed him, and he has always done so — and Raboniel formally lifts the Nine's prohibition so that he may take this one named prize and keep his custom.SA:RoW:Ch 41
- drops-a-decoy-husk-into-a-formationFalling onto a tight human shield-formation on the basement stairs, the Pursuer swings out once with his carapace, then ribbons back into red light — leaving the body behind as a decoy his quarry stab repeatedly while he reappears in another segment of the line.SA:RoW:Ch 42
- limited-to-three-bodies-per-engagementKaladin works out, fighting the Pursuer a second time, that the Fused needs a substantial pause after abandoning a third body and can only form a fourth at meaningful risk to himself. He keeps reserve stashes of Voidlight gemstones near where he fights so he can re-infuse and form new bodies without leaving the engagement.SA:RoW:Ch 59
- vow-to-hunt-his-killers-foreverPinning Kaladin in the corridor, the Pursuer tells him plainly that he has killed every person — human or singer — who has ever killed him; no one has ever defeated him twice; and that since the Fused are no longer confined to Braize between Returns, he is now an immortal he-spren of vengeance who can and will pursue Kaladin forever.SA:RoW:Ch 59
- forced-into-fourth-and-last-bodyRepeatedly slipped by Kaladin's use of Navani's flying gauntlet, the Pursuer burns through his husks under public ridicule and, when Kaladin raises a boot knife, panics into his fourth and last body — the vulnerable one — before a hushed audience of singers, Fused, and painted humans.SA:RoW:Ch 104
- killed-at-the-great-window-on-his-final-bodyAfter refusing Moash's standing order and attacking the kneeling Kaladin anyway, the Pursuer was pinned to the great atrium window on his final body and beheaded when Kaladin Lashed the floor against his trapped skull. His personal soldiers — denied Stormblessed himself — turned on the invalid Radiants in the infirmary instead.SA:RoW:Ch 106
Events
- SA:RoW:Ch 41 Looms in from the stairwell as a scar of red and black, asks Raboniel's leave to hunt the Windrunner, gets the Nine's prohibition lifted, then ribbons into red light and flies up, leaving his body as a husk.
- SA:RoW:Ch 42 Ribbons in from above, drops as a husk among the shield wall, then reappears repeatedly inside the formation until it breaks.
- SA:RoW:Ch 44 Stalks the dark tunnels with a single ruby and red-glowing eyes in a new body, doubles back on a wall smear of blood, and ribbons off after Syl when she flits past.
- SA:RoW:Ch 59 Pins Kaladin in a precise immobilising hold meant to wait out his Stormlight, whispers his immortal vow of vengeance, and is bluffed off only by Syl in Voidspren guise; chases Kaladin in two further bursts as a crimson ribbon, recharging from Raboniel's Voidlight stash, and finally pursues him into a hidden room that locks behind him.
- SA:RoW:Ch 70 Waits at the secondary entrance of the Breakaway market for Kaladin and ambushes him in mid-flight, burns through two of his three bodies to grappling-knife wounds before withdrawing to heal, then orchestrates the trap that seals Kaladin in the well — a wooden lid weighted down by terrified civilians instead of stone — and stands on top of it smiling as the lid drops.
- SA:RoW:Ch 102 Waits in the centre of the atrium, blocking the way to the infirmary; when Kaladin enters he charges straight in to claim the kill.
- SA:RoW:Ch 103 Burns his first two husks rushing Kaladin, drives him to the ground in a grapple, and taunts him — but his rhythm cracks as Kaladin promises to kill him every time he returns, and he loses Kaladin entirely when Navani's gauntlet yanks the Windrunner across the floor.
- SA:RoW:Ch 104 Burns through his second and third bodies trying to grapple Kaladin; offers no taunts in the third clash, panics when Kaladin raises a boot knife, and materialises a short distance away in his fourth, vulnerable body.
- SA:RoW:Ch 105 Bleeds orange from his cracked carapace against the window, tears himself free of Navani's gauntlet, and breaks through his own soldiers to flee under Kaladin's repeated *flee* — then returns later as a shameful ribbon of light, takes a new body, and accepts the bound Lirin from Moash with strict orders not to touch Kaladin.
- SA:RoW:Ch 106 Shoves Lirin into Leshwi's hands, refuses to stand still in respect for an enemy, and attacks the kneeling Kaladin with a sharpened carapace spur — burning through two bodies before being pinned to the great window and beheaded on his final body.
Backreferences
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 31
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 41
- factThe Pursuer
- factThe Pursuer
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 42
- factThe Pursuer
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 44
- factthe Sibling
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 51
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 53
- factLeshwi
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 58
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 59
- factThe Pursuer
- factThe Pursuer
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 74
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 83
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 100
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 102
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 103
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 104
- factVenli
- factThe Pursuer
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 105
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 106
- factThe Pursuer
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 107
- factVenli
- factMalal
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 109
- factLeshwi
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 4