Shevek wakes up the morning after Vea's party with a hangover, feeling ashamed of himself. He is overcome with the desire to go home. The news about the war is that the Ioti and the Thuvians have fought in the Benbili capital, with the Ioti reinstalling the ousted general in power there. Shevek learns from Pae, whom he no longer trusts, that because of the turmoil, he is restricted to campus. After three days of shutting himself in his room and thinking over his theory, Shevek realizes that what has been holding him back from publishing his General Temporal Theory is only the fear that it will be disproved.
Shevek starts talking with his servant, Efor, who tells him of the abominable living conditions the lower classes must endure. Shevek tells him he wants.....
