Navani Kholin is a key character in Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive. As a member of the powerful (and central to the plot) Kholin family, she wields enormous influence among the Alethi. In addition to her royal heritage, Navani is a renowned scholar and a Knight Radiant of the order of Bondsmiths.
In this article, we’ll summarize the key events of Navani’s life, explain her powers as a Bondsmith, and describe her personality and appearance. We’ll also examine her most important and meaningful relationships.
Biography
This section only covers the most important events in Navani’s life — subplots or minor events will not be included here, unless they meaningfully impact either Navani or the overarching narrative of the series.
WARNING: This section contains major spoilers for all published Stormlight Archive books.
Early Life & Background
Born into a lighteyes family, but her father had a low-status position (for their dahn) as a chull farmer, and she was looked down upon by the other lighteyes.
Courted by both Gavilar and Dalinar Kholin, ultimately choosing Gavilar, who would go on to become Alethkar’s king.
As queen, had a daughter, Jasnah and a son, Elhokar.
During Gavilar’s campaign to unify Alethkar, Navani played a key role behind the scenes, working closely with Ialai Sadeas to maintain political stability. She and Ialai regularly conspired during court dinners, ensuring their husbands’ conquest did not lead to internal fractures. The two women were instrumental in arranging Dalinar’s marriage, which brought with it Shardplate.
Gavilar’s Assassination & The War of Reckoning (Way of Kings)
Notices a change in her husband’s behavior—he became increasingly distracted and secretive, leaving her to manage internal disputes among Alethkar’s lighteyes. Discovers that he possesses a strange gemstone with an unusual dark glow.
Hides what she knows about Gavilar’s strange behavior after he is assassinated.
After Gavilar’s death, Elhokar assumes the throne, leaving Navani without a clearly defined role in Alethi society. She goes to the Shattered Plains with the Alethi armies to support and guide Elhokar.
Returns to Kholinar to aid Elhokar’s wife Aesudan in governing Alethkar, believing that her presence was needed in the capital.
As the war stretches on, she recognizes that true power had shifted to the warcamps on the Shattered Plains and returns yet again. Privately confesses to Dalinar that beyond politics, her return was driven by personal reasons—she felt displaced, overlooked, and expected to quietly fade into irrelevance after Gavilar’s death.
Meticulously documents Dalinar’s visions, questioning him to extract additional details. Her scholarly approach led her to identify references from the Analectics, proving that some of Dalinar’s words were written in the lost Dawnchant. Using these visions as a guide, she assisted scholars in translating the Dawnchant, uncovering forgotten knowledge.
Aggressively pursues a relationship with Dalinar, eventually succeeding despite his reservations.
Uniting the Princedoms & The Battle of Narak (Words of Radiance)
Plays a crucial role in Dalinar’s strategy to unify Alethkar’s Highprinces, helping him construct a plan based on economic incentives, military strength, and political maneuvering.
Assists in the diplomatic attempt to negotiate peace with the Parshendi, advising Dalinar on how to approach Eshonai.
Directs fabrial research, working on practical innovations such as water pumps and defensive technologies. Also makes a significant discovery regarding Shardblades, determining that their gemstones were not originally part of the weapons.
Plays a logistical role before the Battle of Narak, ensuring that fabrial technology was leveraged to support Alethi forces.
Retreats through the Oathgate that Shallan activates, reaching Urithiru.
Urithiru & The Battle of Thaylen Field (Oathbringer)
Plays a central role in Dalinar’s efforts to continue unifying Roshar’s monarchs, and helps him form a coalition of monarchs across Roshar to fight the forces of Odium.
Marries Dalinar at the top of Urithiru, with the Stormfather officiating the ceremony.
Administrates Urithiru and supervises a large fabrial research program. With Renarin’s help, discovers a gemstone archive with ancient recorded messages from the last of the Knights Radiant.
Enters Dalinar’s visions once he learns to bring people into them, learning more about the history of Roshar.
The coalitions collapses despite Navani and the other Kohlin’s best efforts, after Taravangian strategically leaks three secret pieces of information: the humans are the Voidbringers, Elhokar has sworn fealty to Dalinar as High King, and Dalinar hid a vision in which Odium threatens to destroy the world.
Although the coalition had dissolved, Thaylenah accepted the Alethi offer for military aid, and Navani travels to the city to assist Queen Fen in preparing for the looming invasion.
During the battle of Thaylen field, is captured along Queen Fen and Fen’s consort Kmakl; Navani uses a painrial on their captors to affect their escape.
Learns of Elhokar’s death from Adolin near the end of the battle of Thaylen Field. Despite her personal loss, she continued working, overseeing efforts to protect Thaylen civilians in the aftermath of the battle.
Teaches Dalinar to read and write, and assists him in writing his autobiography, Oathbringer, My Glory and My Shame.
The Occupation of Urithiru (Rhythm of War)
Supports the evacuation of Hearthstone from aboard the Fourth Bridge, an airship she helped design.
Receives a mysterious spanreed message accusing her of imprisoning spren in fabrials. After a series of cryptic exchanges, she and her scientists deduce that the entity communicating with them is actually a spren inside Urithiru.
As the coalition’s forces departed for war, Navani remained in Urithiru, overseeing its daily operations. Before Dalinar left, she warned him of Taravangian’s potential schemes, concerned about his growing influence. Collaborates with Sebarial and Anesa to ensure the city of Urithiru functions smoothly.
Is present when Urithiru is taken over by singers, who corrupt the tower’s defenses, suppressing the use of Stormlight and causing almost every Radiant to fall into a coma. Navani quickly organized the remaining Kholin forces, rallying soldiers to mount a defense. The mysterious spren that had contacted her identifies itself as the Sibling, Urithiru’s guardian, and with the Sibling’s guidance, Navani is able to find a concealed chamber and infuse the gemstone there with Stormlight, activating a shield around the Sibling’s heart—the pillar in Urithiru’s basement. Navani’s forces sent to defend the pillar are destroyed, however.
Surrenders to the singers and negotiates the terms of her captivity. Raboniel, impressed by Navani’s intelligence, offers her a chance to continue her research, and suggests a collaboration between Alethi and singer scholars. Navani agrees, deciding to feign collaboration until she can find some way to escape or undermine the occupation.
Communicates via the Sibling with Kaladin, who she sends to protect the nodes that power the Sibling’s shield.
Working with Raboniel, combines the Rhythms of Honor and Odium, successfully creating Warlight. However, Navani soon realized Raboniel’s true goal—creating anti-Light, a deadly opposite to the existing forms of Investiture.
Focuses on developing anti-Voidlight—a destructive counter-energy capable of harming Fused and their gods. After days of experimentation, she succeeded, creating a fabrial that produced the necessary rhythmic frequency to generate anti-Voidlight.
Raboniel, realizing the implications, forced Navani to share her findings. Together, they refined the process, isolating anti-Voidlight within a vacuum tube. Rabonial then plans to use this technology to create Anti-Light capable of killing Radiant spren.
Sucessfully springs a trap on Raboniel, gravely injuring her with the an anti-Voidlight dagger.
Bonds the Sibling, becoming the Bondsmith of Urithiru and chasing off Moash, who had come to kill her, with her newfound power. Empowered by their connection, she restores Urithiru’s defenses, undoing the singers’ corruption of the tower and ensuring the occupying forces are defeated.
Enters the Spiritual Realm with Dalinar, via Honor’s Perpendicularity. As they do so, their Connection to the Physical Realm is cut off when the Perpendicularity is destroyed by an Anti-Light knife, stranding them in the Spiritual Realm.
Journeys through the Spiritual Realm with Dalinar, using his powers as a Bondsmith to move through visions of the past until they learn what they need to learn and find Honor’s power.
Odium discovers Navani and Dalinar in the Spiritual Realm, and begins torturing them with visions.
Manages to contact the Sibling by manipulating the visions Odium is sending her, and is able to have the Sibling send her back to the Physical realm via the Kholinar Oathgate (in a vision).
Physical Appearance
As an Alethi, Navani is tan, with epicanthic folds on her light violet eyes. Navani is described as stately and beautiful, with a full, curvaceous figure — one that would “make a man weep with desire”. She often wears red lipstick, paired with red gemstones in her hair, which is black with silver and usually in braids. She wears a less floral perfume than most Vorin women, and is described as smelling like spice and newly cut wood.
Personality, Strengths & Weaknesses
Navani is in many ways a woman of contrasts. She is strong-willed, and often challenges the strict Alethi social standards. Despite this, she is an expert at navigating political and diplomatic situations, knowing when to be bold and blunt, and when to be reticent and tactful. Despite her skills at politics, she doesn’t always make choices that strengthen her position in Alethi society, in large part because of her aforementioned disinterest in following social standards.
Much of her life was spent supporting other scholars, and doing her own scholarly work, while dismissing or downplaying her own talents as a scholar. During her time at Urithiru, however, Navani has begun to recognize and accept her talents as a researcher and scientist.
Navani is particularly interested in fabrials, and is a renowned artifabrian. She participated in the invention of numerous new applications of fabrial science, including shardbows, painrials, and the flying machine The Fourth Bridge. Her great strength in this area is in being a leader and organizer, able to direct and focus the scholars under her in order to facilitate new discoveries.
Despite her strengths as a scholar, she still struggles with imposter syndrome, feeling that she isn’t a “true” scholar and that all she does is supervise and give a space for real scholars to do research. She has made progress in realizing this isn’t accurate, but her doubts in herself persist. Ironically, she can also be overconfident at times, not giving her enemies enough respect and therefore not anticipating their ability to outmaneuver her.
Bondsmith Powers
Navani is bonded to The Sibling, one of three intelligent Bondsmith spren who can form Nahel bonds — Radiants bonded to one of these spren become a Bondsmith. The Sibling is a unique spren, formed from a mix of the power of two shards: Honor and Cultivation. The Sibling works with Navani to create Towerlight, which is a blend of Lifelight (the Light of Cultivation) and Stormlight (the Light of honor). This light powers fabrials throughout the tower of Urithiru, and also allows Radiants to power their Radiant abilities. Unlike Stormlight, it is difficult to hold Towerlight: it does not remain within a Radiant — or a gem — for a meaningful length of time after the Light leaves Urithiru.
It is “highly unplausible” for the Sibling to become a Blade, so Navani — unlike other Radiants — is not able to summon her spren as a Shardblade. She can still use Towerlight and Stormlight to energize herself and heal like other Radiants. Uniquely, her bond with the Sibling allows her to be aware of the entirety of Urithiru, sensing the status of its many fabrials as well as being able to know what goes on within the walls of the tower.
As a Bondsmith, Navani has access to two Surges:
Adhesion – By infusing an object or substance with Stormlight, it can be made to stick to other objects (or people) who come in contact with the infused object or area.
Tension – Infusing an object with Stormlight allows the Radiant to alter the flexibility of an object, making it stiffer or softer.
Swearing the First Ideal
Together, these Surges create a Resonance — a special effect from having both powers: Bondsmiths are able to use Stormlight to repair broken objects, though we have yet to see Navani use this power. Bondsmiths have a special ability to manipulate Connection — we see Navani use this to a minor degree in the Spiritual Realm when she interacts with the visions. She should also be able to summon a perpendicularity, at least theoretically.
Bondsmiths share the First Ideal with all Radiants, and like most of the Orders, swear Oaths to reach each Ideal. Navani has only sworn the First Ideal, so far as we know:
First Ideal – “Life Before Death. Strength before Weakness. Journey before destination, you bastard.”
Grants some access to the surges and Stormlight — Navani swears this at the Sibling’s pillar in Urithiru, as Moash is preparing to kill her.
Second Ideal – Unknown
Grants greater access to the surges and Stormlight, and allows the manipulation of Connection.
Third Ideal – Unknown
May allow the Bondsmith to open a Perpendicularity.
Fourth Ideal – Unknown
Effects unknown.
Fifth Ideal – Unknown
Effects unknown.
Relationships
Gavilar was Navani’s first husband. They began as strong partners during Alethkar’s unification, with Navani aiding in strategy and political plots. However, Gavilar’s disdain for her scholarly passions and growing emotional distance strained their marriage. Their relationship soured to the point where Navani prayed for his death the night he was assassinated, though she maintained a public facade of grief Despite knowing harsh truths about him, she chose to preserve his heroic image in her biography of him, for the sake of national unity.
Dalinar initially frightened Navani with his intensity, but she was also attracted to him — she chose Gavilar in part because he was the more powerful brother, but also because he was more forward in pursuing her, whereas Dalinar gave way to Gavilar. When Navani returns to the warcamps, she pursues Dalinar relentlessly. Their bond flourished into both a personal and political partnership, marked by mutual respect, intellectual collaboration, and emotional support. Their relationship defied the societal taboo against a woman marrying the brother of her deceased husband, but Navani didn’t care at all and Dalinar eventually accepted it.
Navani and her daughter Jasnah‘s relationship is marked by emotional distance. While Navani deeply loves and respects her daughter, Jasnah resists being mothered, creating a barrier that Navani struggles to break through. Jasnah’s presumed death was Navani’s first profound experience of mourning, revealing the depth of her feelings for her daughter (and her lack of grief when Gavilar was assassinated). After Jasnah’s return, they worked closely in both politics and scholarship, though their interactions often included Jasnah lecturing her mother.
Navani loves her son Elhokar, but views him as an incapable king, referring to him as her “poor distracted, oblivious boy.” Despite recognizing his flaws, she is fiercely protective, which is a large part of why she leaves Kholinar and returns to the Shattered Plains to support him. Though she doubts his leadership abilities, her motherly devotion remains unwavering. She is therefore forced to balance her political decisions with a mother’s instinct to shield her child from harm.
Shallan and Navani’s relationship was initially soured, as Shallan delivered the news of Jasnah’s death, leading Navani to reject her out of grief. However, this hostility shifted after Shallan’s survival after her and Kaladin fall into the chasms — when Shallan returns, Navani begins treating her as protectively as she does her own children. Their bond deepened through shared scholarly pursuits, with Navani recognizing and appreciating Shallan’s intellect.
Navani shares a warm, close relationship with her nephew Adolin, treating him with a mix of maternal affection and light-hearted teasing. She supports him when he duels, albeit with worry, and encourages his engagement to Shallan. Initially skeptical of Navani’s romance with Dalinar, Adolin grew supportive, celebrating their union with genuine joy. His respect for Navani’s wisdom is evident, though he’s often amused by her scholarly tendencies.
Raboniel and Navani’s relationship with Raboniel is a complex blend of intellectual rivalry and empathy. Though they began as enemies, collaborating under tense circumstances, Navani grew to respect Raboniel’s scientific mind, and understood her grief over her daughter. Their dynamic blurred the lines between adversaries and kindred spirits, culminating in Rabonial protecting Navani from Moash, and then from Navani granting Rabonial permanent death by killing her with an Anti-Light knife.
We hope this article had everything you wanted to know about Navani! If it didn’t, please let us know what we can improve — or share your coolest idea for a fabrial — by dropping us a line in the comments below.
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DanielD
A huge fan of sci-fi and fantasy (really anything with tons of weird proper nouns), music, and video games. Enjoys the outdoors, but has plenty to do on a rainy day.
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