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

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

The philosophers assure me that this is the time, that the signs have been met. But I still wonder if they have the wrong man. So many people depend on me. They say I will hold the future of the entire world on my arms.<br><br />

What would they think if they knew that their champion--the [[Hero of Ages]], their savior--doubted himself? Perhaps they wouldn't be shocked at all. In a way, this is what worries me most. Maybe, in their hearts, they wonder--just as I do.<br><br />

{{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 />

Perhaps another person, reading of my life, would name me a religious tyrant. He could call me arrogant. What is to make that man's opinion any less valid than my own?<br><br />

{{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 />

{{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 />

{{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 />

{{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 />

{{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 />

{{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 />

{{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 />

{{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 />

{{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 />

{{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 />

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

Perhaps it is due to the pressure of knowing that I must somehow bear the burden of an entire world. Perhaps it is caused by the death I have seen, the friends I have lost. The friends I have been forced to kill.<br><br />

{{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 />

I think it would do men well to remember that this task was not begun by emperors, priests, prophets, or generals. It didn't start in Khlennium or Kordel, nor did it come from the great nations to the east or the fiery empire of the West.<br><br />

It began in a small, unimportant town whose name would mean nothing to you. It began with a youth, the son of a blacksmith, who was unremarkable in every way--except, perhaps, in his ability to get into trouble.<br><br />

{{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 />

{{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 />

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

I have met many other [[Terris]] philosophers since that day. They are, every one, men of great wisdom and ponderous sagaciousness. Men with an almost palpable importance.<br><br />

Not so Kwaan. In a way, he is as unlikely a prophet as I am a hero. He never had an air of ceremonious wisdom--nor was he even a religious scholar. When we first met, he was studying one of his ridiculous interests in the great Khlenni library--I believe he was trying to determine whether or not trees could think.<br><br />

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

This [[Ruin|dark thing]] that follows me, this thing that only I can see-- It isn't really a shadow. It's blackish and translucent, but it doesn't have a shadowlike solid outline. It's insubstantial--wispy and formless. Like it's made out of a dark fog.<br><br />

{{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 />

This is the thing I fight. This is the monster I must defeat. I fear that I have taken too long. Already, so much destruction has occurred that I fear for mankind's survival.<br><br />

{{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/>

{{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 />

{{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 />}}

When Kelsier asks Sazed how much [[Steel|speed]] he has stored, Sazed admits that it is a "very difficult attribute to collect."<br />

The Valtroux Garrison is only three days' march from Holstep.<br />

{{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 />

{{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 />

The Deepness must be destroyed. I have seen it, and I have felt it.. This name we give it is too weak a word, I think. Yes, it is deep and unfathomable, but it is also terrible. Many do not realize that it is sentient, but I have sensed its mind, such that it is, the few times I have confronted it directly.<br><br />

{{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 />

The man had become like a father to me. To this day, I don’t know why he suddenly decided that I wasn’t the [[Hero of Ages|Hero]]. Why did he turn against me, denouncing me to the entire Conclave of [[Worldbringers]]?<br><br />

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

{{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 />

{{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 />

{{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 />

The lake that Fedik discovered is below us now - I can see it from the ledge. It looks even more eerie from up here, with its glassy - almost metallic - sheen. I almost wish I had let him take a sample of its waters.<br><br />

Perhaps his interest was what angered the mist creature that follows us. Perhaps...that was why it decided to attack him, stabbing him with its invisible knife.<br><br />

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

{{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 />

{{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 />

{{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 />

{{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 />

But then, there is the peace.<br><br />

I feel it sometimes, as I do now, staring out over the frozen cliffs and glass mountains in the still of the morning, watching a sunrise that is so majestic that I know that none shall ever be its match.<br><br />

If there are [[Terris prophecies|prophecies]], if there is a [[Hero of Ages]], then my mind whispers that there must be [[Preservation|something directing my path]]. Something is watching; something cares. These peaceful whispers tell me a truth I wish very much to believe.<br><br />

If I fail, [[Sazed|another shall come to finish my work]].}}

Sazed speculates with Marsh and Vin on [[Rashek]]'s [[compounding]] abilities - without using that term - and the origins of [[Allomancy]]. When Sazed comments that he can truthfully record that the Lord Ruler was killed by one of the skaa he repressed, Vin hopes that he won't put too much detail in; she still doesn't want attention drawn to her. Marsh then discusses his beginnings as an [[Inquisitor]], describing the process of creating one as "messy". They discuss the [[kandra]], and Sazed tells Vin that Kelsier transferred [[OreSeur]]'s [[contract]] to her. As Vin reflects on the Lord Ruler's final words, the group discusses the [[Deepness]]. Sazed then talks about Elend's speech after the death of the Lord Ruler.<br><br />

{{summaries|donepartial}}