What is the four-stage handshake used for?

The four-stage handshake is used to authenticate stations against wireless networks. As part of the handshake, encryption keys are generated. Keys are derived on both sides of the transaction rather than being exchanged directly. This is handled during the four-way handshake. Keys are not passed. Messages can’t be encrypted until the four-way handshake is complete and the keys are generated. There is no such thing as initialization seeding.