Elhokar Kholin
| House / Order | Lightweavers (nascent); House Kholin |
|---|---|
| Race / Culture | Alethi |
| Status | Deceased |
| Origin | Alethkar; Shattered Plains; Kholinar |
| Born | Alethkar |
| Died | Kholinar (Oathbringer), murdered by Moash |
| Weapon | Shardblade; Shardplate |
| Fate | Killed by Moash in the very moment he spoke his first Radiant Ideal |
| Portrayed by |
Elhokar Kholin is a character in The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson. The son of King Gavilar Kholin and Navani Kholin, and nephew of Dalinar Kholin, Elhokar inherited the throne of Alethkar after his father's assassination. Insecure, suspicious, and painfully aware of his own inadequacy, he struggled to fill his father's shoes -- but in his final days began a genuine turn toward becoming a better man and a Lightweaver of the Knights Radiant, only to be murdered before he could complete the journey.
Elhokar's arc is a quiet tragedy: a flawed, frightened king who finally grasped what he needed to change just as his chance to do so was cut short.
Background
Elhokar became king of Alethkar when Szeth, the Assassin in White, murdered his father Gavilar Kholin. Thrust onto the throne, he proved an anxious and ineffective ruler, prone to paranoia and poor judgment, leaning heavily on his uncle Dalinar Kholin while resenting the dependence. He prosecuted the War of Reckoning on the Shattered Plains in pursuit of vengeance for his father.
Biography
The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance
On the Shattered Plains, Elhokar's insecurity and incompetence repeatedly endanger himself and others. He becomes convinced (sometimes wrongly, sometimes not) that assassins are stalking him. Kaladin, assigned to protect him, comes to despise the king as the embodiment of lighteyed entitlement. A Ghostbloods-linked plot, briefly involving Moash and Kaladin, targets Elhokar's life before Kaladin turns against it. By the end, a chastened Elhokar asks Kaladin to teach him how to be a better leader.
Oathbringer
Seeking to redeem himself, Elhokar leads an expedition to retake the occupied capital of Kholinar from the Voidbringers and the Cult of Moments. There, humbled and earnest, he begins to bond a Cryptic and to become a Lightweaver. In a heartbreaking scene, as he stammers out his first Ideal -- wanting to protect his son and his people -- Moash runs him through with a spear, killing him at the very threshold of becoming a Radiant.
Character
Elhokar was insecure, defensive, and often foolish, but not cruel; his failures sprang from fear and a desperate desire to measure up to his father and uncle. His final arc reveals real humility and the genuine desire to be "a good king, a good man." His murder mid-oath stands as one of the series' most poignant moments, a redemption interrupted.
Powers and abilities
Elhokar was a Shardbearer, wielding a Shardblade and Shardplate inherited as king. In his final days he began bonding a Cryptic spren on the path to becoming a Lightweaver, which would have granted him the Surges of Illumination and Transformation -- but he was killed before he could speak the First Ideal and access those powers.
Relationships
- Gavilar Kholin -- his assassinated father, whose legacy he could not match.
- Dalinar Kholin -- his uncle and protector, on whom he depended and resented.
- Navani Kholin -- his mother.
- Jasnah Kholin -- his sister, who succeeds him as ruler.
- Kaladin -- his reluctant bodyguard, who came to pity him.
- Moash -- his murderer.
Quotes
I want to be a good king. A good man.
I... I've been wrong, haven't I? About so many things.