Difference between revisions of "Summary:Mistborn: The Final Empire"

<div style="float:right; padding-left:1em z-index: 20;">__TOC__</div>

 

{{icon|0|m|70px|center|link=}}

{{epigraph|Sometimes, I worry that I’m not the hero everyone thinks I am.<br><br>

When they see me, do they see a liar?}}

 

 

;Summary

First mention of the caves held by the [[skaa rebellion]].

Context suggests this chapter takes place in the summer.

 

{{Anchor|Part 1}}<!-- #Part_1 -->

 

{| style='margin:auto; width:50%'

{{row|{{icon|bronze|m|70px|center}}|{{icon|zinc|m|70px|center}}|{{icon|brass|m|70px|center}}}}

|}

{{icon|iron|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|I consider myself to be a man of principle. But, what man does not? Even the cutthroat, I have noticed, considers his actions "moral" after a fashion.<br><br>

I guess it all comes down to one fact: In the end, I'm the one with the armies.}}

 

 

;Summary

Vin introduced, summoned to Camon by Ulef.

Camon pretends to be Lord Jedue, head of a house desperately looking for new contracts; this is a cover, an attempt to scam the [[Steel Ministry]] out of money.

;Notes

Lord Tresting's first name mentioned: Themos.

 

{{icon|steel|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|If men read these words, let them know that power is a heavy burden. Seek not to be bound by its chains. The [[Terris]] [[Terris Prophecies|prophecies]] say that I will have the power to save the world.<br><br>

They hint, however, that I will have the power to destroy it as well.}}

 

 

;Summary

Dockson plans to distract the [[obligator]], while Kelsier plans to distract the [[Bendal|Inquisitor]].

 

{{icon|tin|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|We arrived in [[Terris]] earlier this week, and, I have to say, I find the countryside beautiful. The great mountains to the north--with their bald snowcaps and forested mantles--stand like watchful gods over this land of green fertility. My own [[Khlennium|lands]] to the south are mostly flat; I think that they might look less dreary if there were a few mountains to vary the terrain.<br><br>

The people here are mostly herdsmen--though timber harvesters and farmers are not uncommon. It is a pastoral land, certainly. It seems odd that a place so remarkably agrarian could have produced the [[Terris Prophecies|prophecies]] and theologies upon which the entire world now relies.}}

 

 

;Summary

She tells Ulef, whom she wants to bring along, but he tells Camon while she retrieves her personal effects (including the [[hemalurgy|hemalurgic]] earring her mother gave her).

Kelsier saves Vin, promotes Milev to Crewleader, takes the three thousand boxings as payment for dealing with the obligator and [[Steel Inquisitor|Inquisitor]], and rents the den for the evening meeting.

 

;Notes

Vin subconsciously burns [[pewter]] after Camon hits her with a thrown stool. The likelihood of an allomantic halfbreed is mentioned - about one misting in 10,000.

 

{{icon|pewter|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|Apparently, the next stage of my quest will take us up into the highlands of [[Terris]]. This is said to be a cold, unforgiving place--a land where the mountains themselves are made of ice.<br><br>

Our normal attendants will not do for such a trip. We should probably hire some Terris packmen to carry our gear.}}

 

 

;Summary

 

;Notes

[[Mare]] mentioned by thieving crew, but not by name.

 

{{icon|zinc|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|I don't even understand what I'm supposed to do. The [[Terris]] philosophers claim that I'll know my duty when the time comes, but that's a small comfort.<br><br>

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

First mention of [[OreSeur]] by name. Spook isn't identified at all. [[Mare]] mentioned as a [[Tin]]eye. First mention of [[Gemmel]]. First mention of [[Feruchemist]]s (but not by name) as Kelsier remembers some of Gemmel's advice.

 

{{icon|brass|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|I never wanted this, true. But somebody has to stop the [[Deepness]]. And, apparently, [[Terris]] is the only place this can be done.<br><br>

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

Spook named by Clubs' as his nephew; Spook identifies himself as Lestibournes, speaking in Eastern street slang.

 

{{icon|copper|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|[[Rashek]] is a tall man--of course, most of these [[Terrisman|Terrismen]] are tall. He is young to receive so much respect from the other packmen. He has charisma, and the women of court would probably describe him as handsome, in a rugged sort of way.<br><br>

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

First mention of odd things happening when an Allomancer [[Allomancy#Allomantic_savants|flares metals for too long]].

 

{{icon|bronze|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|"[[Hero of Ages|He]] shall defend [[Terris|their]] ways, yet shall violate them. He will be their savior; yet they shall call him heretic. His name shall be Discord, yet they shall love him for it."}}

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

 

;Notes

{{Anchor|Part 2}}<!-- #Part_2 -->

 

{| style='margin:auto; width:50%'

{{row|{{icon|gold|m|70px|center}}|{{icon|cadmium|m|70px|center}}|{{icon|electrum|m|70px|center}}}}

|}

{{icon|atium|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|In the end, I worry that my arrogance shall destroy us all.}}

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

This chapter begins in late autumn; a comment by Kelsier confirms that the Prologue was only a few months earlier. Sazed referred to as "Master Vaht" by Cosahn; it is the proper title for a Terrisman steward. First mention of [[Keeper]]s. The ten Great Houses of [[Luthadel]] are named in order of power: [[House Venture|Venture]], [[House Hasting|Hasting]], [[House Elariel|Elariel]], [[House Tekiel|Tekiel]], [[House Lekal|Lekal]], Erikeller, Erikell, Haught, Urbain, Buvidas.

 

{{icon|malatium|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|It amazes me how many nations have united behind our purpose. There are still dissenters, of course--and some kingdoms, regrettably, have fallen to wars that I could not stop.<br><br>

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

Possible additional unnamed character--Demoux. Breeze clarifies the meaning of "[[Sliver of Infinity]]." Kelsier, on Clubs' rooftop, looks towards the northern horizon, towards the [[Pits of Hathsin]]. Sazed (erroneously) believes the [[Lord Ruler]] fears [[Keeper]]s, believing they are something unknown to him. Marsh's nickname mentioned (Ironeyes); also mentioned that people stopped using it because it was too reminiscent of [[Steel Inquisitor]]s.

 

{{icon|gold|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|It seems [[Rashek]] represents a growing faction in [[Terris]] culture. A large number of the youths think that their [[feruchemy|unusual powers]] should be used for more than just fieldwork, husbandry, and stonecarving. They are rowdy, even violent--far different from the quiet, discerning Terris philosophers and holy men that I have known.<br><br>

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

Another reference to feruchemy without using the term (in the epigraph).

 

{{icon|electrum|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|What would it be like if every nation--from the isles in the South to the [[Terris]] hills in the North--were united under a single government? What wonders could be achieved, what progress could be made, if mankind were to permanently set aside its squabblings and join together?<br><br>

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

Vin heads off to a ball at [[Keep Venture]], Sazed driving the carriage. Kelsier drops in while the carriage is en route, gives Vin some advice, then jumps back out into the mists. Vin arrives at the ball, is introduced, gets scared at the initial attention, then realizes "Valette Renoux" is who the nobles are seeing, not Vin, herself. During the dinner, Vin sees her father across the room, witnessing an exchange between two young nobles--[[Reen]] had identified him to her when she was younger. Vin declines dancing invitations extended by various nobles, then takes a break and heads upstairs to the balcony over the hall. Vin has her first conversation with Elend, which shocks Sazed when he hears about it.

 

{{icon|chromium|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|I know that I shouldn't let a simple packman perturb me. However, he is from [[Terris]], where the prophecies originated. If anyone could spot a fraud, would it not be he?<br><br>

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

House Erikeller mentioned as a major supplier of armaments. Vin's description of atium: "[a] tiny, silvery ball of metal. It was so reflective and bright that it almost seemed to be a drop of liquid, yet it was solid to the touch."

 

{{icon|nicrosil|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|Sometimes I wonder if I'm going mad.<br><br>

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

A room that Vin stumbled into during her escape from Kredik Shaw contained a golden altar and "other religious paraphernalia"--likely remnants of the original [[Terris]] religion.

 

{{icon|aluminum|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|I don't know why [[Kwaan]] betrayed me. Even still, this event haunts my thoughts. He was the one who discovered me; he was the [[Terris]] philosopher who first called me the [[Hero of Ages]]. It seems ironically surreal that now--after his long struggle to convince his colleagues--he is the only major Terris holy man to preach against my reign.}}

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

{{Anchor|Part 3}}<!-- #Part_3 -->

 

{| style='margin:auto; width:50%'

{{row|{{icon|iron|m|70px|center}}|{{icon|bendalloy|m|70px|center}}|{{icon|aluminum|m|70px|center}}}}

|}

{{icon|duralumin|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|Many think that my journey started in [[Khlennium]], that great city of wonder. They forget that I was no king when my quest began. Far from it.<br><br>

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

Sazed admits to knowing 172 languages, most of which are no longer spoken after "[t]he [[Lord Ruler]]'s unity movement of the fifth century...."

 

{{icon|Cadmium|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I'd remained there, in that lazy village of my birth. I'd have become a smith, like my father. Perhaps I'd have a family, sons of my own.<br><br>

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

Vin internally laments a four-week recovery full of boredom. Members of the crew arrive to discuss updates. Vin convinces Kelsier to let her attend an upcoming ball. Later, Vin and Kelsier talk a bit about [[Mare]] and Kelsier's motivations.

 

{{icon|bendalloy|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|You could say that circumstances forced me to leave my home behind--certainly, if I had stayed, I would now be dead. During those days--running without knowing why, carrying a burden I didn't understand--I assumed that I would lose myself in [[Khlennium]] and seek a life of indistinction.<br><br>

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

"Valette's" trip to [[Luthadel]] took almost two months by canal, with some stops; Elend remarks that it can take half a year to go from one end of the [[Final Empire]] to the other. [[Feruchemy]] explicitly mentioned in one of Elend's books. Also mentioned in the book are [[metalmind]]s, "the Massacre at Devanex, the revision of the [[Deepness]] Doctrine, and the relocation of the Renates peoples."

 

{{icon|19|m|70px|center|link=}}

{{epigraph|[[Kwaan]] and I met by happenstance--though, I suppose, he would use the word "providence."<br><br>

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

Kelsier sows more chaos to build the House War by leaving the obviously-murdered body of one Charrs Entrone in the garden of [[House Tekiel]]. Afterward, he meets up with Hoid, masquerading as a street informant, in order to find out what rumors exist regarding House Renoux. He leaves Hoid to meet up with Lord Venture, pretending to be a sickly, lame [[skaa]] beggar and street informant. Kelsier returns to Mansion Renoux, trading information with Vin, Sazed, and Renoux.

 

{{icon|20|m|70px|center|link=}}

{{epigraph|It isn't a shadow.<br><br>

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

Vin returns from [[Luthadel]] to see weapons being crated up in front of Renoux's mansion, to be shipped out. Marsh arrives soon after, and he teaches her about [[Bronze|Seeking]], as well as some additional details about [[allomancy]] in general.

 

{{icon|21|m|70px|center|link=}}

{{epigraph|"The [[Hero of Ages]] shall not be a man, but a force. No nation may claim him, no woman shall keep him, and no king may slay him. He shall belong to none, not even himself."}}

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

Kelsier reads a translation of the [[Mistborn:_The_Final_Empire/Epigraphs|journal]] as he travels by canal boat. The caravan stops at a lock, and Kelsier, the recruits, and the supplies leave the caravan, heading to the caves where the [[skaa rebellion]] is training. Kelsier overcomes memories of the [[Pits of Hathsin]] and enters the cave complex, inspecting the army Ham was forming. During a dinner, Kelsier [[Zinc|Riots]] Bilg's emotions, intending to use him as an example. Bilg and Demoux duel, with Kelsier using allomancy to help Demoux--the smaller of the two men--win the duel.

 

{{icon|22|m|70px|center|link=}}

{{epigraph|At first, there were those who didn't think the Deepness was a serious danger, at least not to them. However, it brought with it a blight that I have seen infect nearly every part of the land. Armies are useless before it. Great cities are laid low by its power. Crops fail, and the land dies.<br><br>

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

 

 

{{icon|lerasium|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|I sleep but a few hours each night. We must press forward, traveling as much as we can each day-but when I finally lie down, I find sleep elusive. The same thoughts that trouble me during the day are only compounded by the stillness of the night.<br> <br>

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

 

{{icon|iron|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|In the end, I must trust in myself. I have seen men who have beaten from themselves the ability to recognize truth and goodness, and I do not think I am one of them. I can still see the tears in a young child's eyes and feel pain at his suffering.<br><br>

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

 

{{icon|steel|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|No man dies by my hand or command except that I wish there had been another way. Still, I kill them. Sometimes, I wish that I weren’t such a cursed realist.<br><br>}}

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

{{Anchor|Part 4}}<!-- #Part_4 -->

 

{| style='margin:auto; width:50%'

{{row|{{icon|steel|m|70px|center}}|{{icon|lerasium|m|70px|center}}|{{icon|malatium|m|70px|center}}}}

|}

 

{{icon|tin|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|I am growing so very tired.}}

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

Fifteen days after the run to the [[Arguois caverns|caves]], Vin’s head still hurts from the pewter drag. Breeze successfully sees through Kelsier’s plans regarding the job, but still without an inkling of the true nature of the plan.

 

{{icon|pewter|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|I think I’ve finally discovered why [[Rashek]] resents me so very much. He does not believe that an [[Khlennium|outsider]] such as myself - a foreigner - could possibly be the [[Hero of Ages]]. He believes that I have somehow tricked the philosophers, that I wear the piercings of the Hero unjustly.<br><br>

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

The crew returns to Clubs’ shop and plan their next moves. Sazed delivers a message from Marsh, telling Kelsier where the two can meet, in the [[Luthadel|Twists]]. Kelsier and Vin head out to observe the meeting point hours before the meeting, and as they wait they talk about the [[Eleventh Metal]]. He also explains [[Feruchemy]], and gives Vin some [[gold]] to burn. (Her first experience with it.) At the meeting, Marsh describes the Soothing stations in Luthadel. Marsh also says that Inquisitors can die of old age.

 

{{icon|zinc|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|Sometimes, my companions claim that I worry and question too much. However, while I may wonder about my stature as the hero, there is one thing that I have never questioned: the ultimate good of our quest.<br><br>

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

House Hasting has plantations in the [[Southern Dominance]].

 

{{icon|brass|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|The others all think I should have had [[Kwaan]] executed for betraying me. To tell the truth, I’d probably kill him this moment if I knew where he’d gone. At the time, however, I just couldn’t do it.<br><br>

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

;Notes

This chapter begins with an extensive passage from the end of Alendi’s logbook.<br>

 

{{icon|copper|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|Most of the [[Terris|Terrismen]] are not as bad as [[Rashek]]. However, I can see that they believe him, to an extent. These are simple men, not philosophers or scholars, and they don’t understand that their own prophecies say the [[Hero of Ages]] will be an outsider. They only see what Rashek points out - that they are an ostensibly superior people, and should be “dominant” rather than subservient.<br><br>

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

At the Venture ball, Vin and Sazed notice something unusual. Vin receives very cold receptions when she tries to mingle with various groups. They soon find out that this is the last house ball for a while, and that the partygoers are finalizing alliances; Valette, associated with House Renoux, is considered too neutral and too dangerous a gamble at this point. Vin and Elend speak briefly, wherein he ends their conversations. Kliss also reveals herself as an informant, and offers her services to Renoux - as well as attempting to blackmail Renoux into her remaining silent about the rumors Vin tried to spread through Kliss. In exchange for a sapphire necklace, Kliss tells Vin that Elend will be the first casualty in the house war. Using emotional allomancy, Vin convinces Kliss to tell all she knows about the attempt on Elend’s life - Elariel assassins will try to kill Elend and two of his friends, and Straff will have reduced the number of guards around the room to make it easier for the assassins. Vin destroys a stained glass window in order to get outside the Keep. Once outside, she makes her way to Elend’s room and fights off the assassins: two [[pewterarm|Thug]]s, two [[Coinshot]]s, and two Mistborn, one of whom is Shan Elariel. Vin manages to stop the assassination attempt, and while fighting Shan, Vin manages to trick Shan (by extinguishing her [[atium]] early) and kill her.

 

{{icon|bronze|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|Other men worry whether or not they will be remembered. I have no such fears; even disregarding the [[Terris prophecies]], I have brought such chaos, conflict, and hope to this world that there is little chance that I will be forgotten.<br><br>

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

The crew is joking around in Clubs’ kitchen when Vin bursts in, bandage around the wound on her arm, dress in tatters. Sazed ministers to her wounds and Vin recounts the events of the evening after Sazed’s early departure from the ball. Vin yells at Kelsier, putting him in his place when Kelsier explains that Vin should not have saved Elend's life. Vin retreats to the roof, and Kelsier follows her, to talk to her and give her advice. Vin tells Kelsier about Venture’s administration of the [[Pits of Hathsin|Pits]], and Vin comments on her belief that [[Inquisitor]]s can see through [[coppercloud]]s. Kelsier tests her theory, and proves Vin correct. Elend and Jastes meet up with Felt, and Felt recounts everything that Elend’s spies have discovered about Clubs’ shop and those in it. After Felt and Jastes leave the carriage, Elend is taken to Straff by Venture guards, where Straff explains that Shan was a Mistborn and tried to assassinate Elend.

 

{{icon|atium|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|Though many [[Terrisman|Terrismen]] express a resentment of [[Khlennium]], there is also envy. I have heard the packmen speak in wonder of the Khlenni cathedrals, with their amazing stained-glass windows and broad halls. They also seem very fond of our fashion - back in the cities, I saw that many young Terrismen had traded in their furs and skins for well-tailored gentlemen’s suits.}}

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

Vin and Spook stand on a rooftop, watching as [[House Elariel]] attacks [[House Hasting]]. Spook also gives Vin some tips on burning tin: learning to ignore certain sensory inputs. Kelsier arrives, and then he and Vin leave to go meet with [[Marsh]]. On the way, they stop at a [[skaa]] tenement, and Kelsier speaks to the residents. When they arrive at the meeting place, they see a flayed and dismembered corpse in the middle of a blood-splattered room. The pair understandably mistakes the corpse for Marsh. As they leave, Vin sees the hollowed out table leg Marsh used to smuggle the earlier map, and she takes it. Back at Clubs’, Dockson reads Marsh’s note. Kelsier orders [[Renoux]] to pull out of [[Fellise]], and to return to the crew after a day’s travel by canal boat. Kelsier then orders everyone to the backup lair, which only he and Dockson know about. Kelsier leaves Clubs’ shop and travels to the [[Pits of Hathsin]] to destroy the crystal formations that produce the Hathsin geodes, inside which resides a bead of [[atium]].

 

{{icon|malatium|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|We are close now. Oddly, this high in the mountains, we seem to finally be free from the oppressive touch of the Deepness. It has been quite a while since I knew what that was like.<br><br>

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

;Notes

 

 

The last two sentences of this epigraph are reproduced exactly as in the print copy paperback (first printing, second mass market edition), and the Kindle ebook version: the penultimate sentence is a sentence fragment.

 

{{icon|gold|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|I never wanted to be feared.<br><br>

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

{{Anchor|Part 5}}<!-- #Part_5 -->

 

{| style='margin:auto; width:50%'

{{row|{{icon|copper|m|70px|center}}|{{icon|pewter|m|70px|center}}|{{icon|21|m|70px|center|link=}}}}

|}

{{icon|electrum|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|I know what will happen if I make the wrong choice. I must be strong; I must not take the power for myself.<br><br>

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

Vin and Sazed speak for a time, about [[Kelsier]], about the religion growing around him and his deeds, and he tells her that the crew is likely splitting up, each person going his own way. Sazed, too, will leave, traveling to [[Terris]] to spread among the [[Keeper]]s the knowledge he has learned. They then observe a group of skaa, led by one man calling others out into the mists. The man makes a claim to the crowd that Kelsier appeared to him that very night, just a few hours after his death. The crew finally realizes what Kelsier’s plan was all along. At Vin’s request, Dockson leads her and the crew to the warehouse where Kelsier held his informant meetings. Inside is a massive stockpile of weapons - and OreSeur, wearing Kelsier’s bones. OreSeur explains Kelsier’s plans, his need of the crew, and shows them a document Kelsier left for them. Before he leaves, OreSeur gives Vin a bag containing a smaller bag of [[atium]] beads, a note, and the [[Eleventh Metal]] - and the picture of a flower that [[Mare]] held so dear. Clubs leaves to bring the group of skaa from earlier to the warehouse, and Dockson starts dispensing arms and armor. Vin decides that she needs to find out what’s inside the guarded chamber in the [[Kredik Shaw|palace]], and starts swallowing various metals - including the Eleventh.

 

{{icon|chromium|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|I have decided that I am thankful for [[Rashek]]’s hatred. It does me well to remember that there are those who abhor me. My place is not to seek popularity or love; my place is to ensure mankind’s survival.}}

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

Elend meets up with his father, who informs the younger Venture that they are leaving [[Luthadel]] due to the skaa rebellion. Elend tells his father that he’s staying. Straff agrees, hoping that Elend will be killed, and after Straff leaves, Elend orders his soldiers to [[Keep Lekal]], to join forces with them in mutual defense against the skaa. Elend then takes his five best soldiers as an honor guard and goes to turn himself in to the skaa leadership.

 

 

;Notes

Though she doesn't know it at this time, Vin sees two separate [[malatium]]-ghosts in this chapter: the Lord Ruler's (as a [[Terrisman]] packman, perhaps even a leader of his village), and the unnamed Inquisitor's (as a wealthy merchant).

 

{{icon|nicrosil|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|Is there anything more beautiful than the sun? I often watch it rise, for my restless sleep usually awakens me before dawn.<br><br>

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

Kar violently returns Vin to her cell, and a bruised, beaten, and naked Sazed is thrown into the adjoining cell. After Kar leaves, Sazed, using a swallowed [[pewtermind]], makes himself stronger to break his bindings and free himself and Vin. His minute amount of strength exhausted, Vin and Sazed can't fight their way out easily. Using some torturer's knives, Vin attempts to fight off some soldiers. She takes out two before she is partially incapacitated. Elend then arrives with six guards, his five plus Goradel, and they attempt to fight off the soldiers. Elend's team is outnumbered, but Vin sees her possessions and finds a vial of metals. Recharged allomantically, Vin easily dispatches the [[Steel Ministry|Ministry]] soldiers. Vin then asks Sazed to take Elend to safety, while she goes to kill the Lord Ruler.

 

{{icon|aluminum|m|70px|center}}

{{epigraph|Such are my fears as I scribble with an ice-crusted pen on the eve before the world is reborn. [[Rashek]] watches. Hating me. The [[Well of Ascension|cavern]] lies above. Pulsing. My fingers quiver. Not from the cold.<br><br>

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

As dawn slowly breaks, Vin [[steel|Pushes]] herself outside of [[Kredik Shaw]] to the Lord Ruler’s throne room, and the skaa rebellion closes on the palace. The Lord Ruler officially turns the [[Steel Ministry]] over to the [[Inquisitor]]s, with Kar at the head. Kar’s thoughts cover some of what it is like to be an Inquisitor as he reflects on his version of vision. During his reflection, Vin breaks through the southern portion of the stained glass window-wall and charges the Lord Ruler. Burning the [[Eleventh Metal]], Vin attacks the Lord Ruler’s [[malatium]]-ghost to no avail. Kar engages her at this point, and Vin kicks him off her as they tumble. The Lord Ruler calls for the other Inquisitors, and Kar manages to grapple Vin and hold her. The back door opens, but only Marsh enters - the other Inquisitors had their [[hemalurgy#bind_points|linchpin spikes]] removed by Marsh as they slept, killing them. Marsh, believed by Kar to be a loyal Inquisitor, walks up behind Kar and kills him by removing his linchpin spike. Marsh then charges the Lord Ruler, attempting to do the same to him. Marsh quickly discovers that the Lord Ruler does not have a hemalurgic spike in his back like Inquisitors. The Lord Ruler Pushes everyone away from him, affecting even the metals within Vin’s stomach. Tearing off the remnants of his shirt and jacket, Vin can clearly see the various rings the Lord Ruler wears, as well as the [[feruchemical]] [[atium]] bracelets piercing his upper arms. As he Pushes her around the room, the Lord Ruler Pushes Vin’s earring - a bronze hemalurgic spike - out of her earlobe. This proves to be his downfall, as removing this hemalurgic influence allows Vin to channel the mists directly, [[iron|Pulling]] the Lord Ruler’s atium bracers off his arms, and forcing his rapid reversion to old age. Sazed then arrives and gives Vin some metals to ingest. A final, short conversation transpires between the Lord Ruler, Marsh, Sazed, and Vin, and then Vin kills the Lord Ruler with a simple wooden spear that Sazed brought with him.

 

{{icon|0|m|70px|center|link=}}

{{epigraph|Oddly, on occasion, I sense a peacefulness within. You would think that after all I have seen--after all I have suffered--my soul would be a twisted jumble of stress, confusion, and melancholy. Often, it's just that.<br><br>

 

;Characters

 

;Summary

At the end, rather than turning her back on a life with Elend, Vin drops down through the still-broken skylight in Elend's rooms and embraces him.

 

 

= Notes =

<references />