The Coppermind

Summary:Shadows of Self

Summary pages have spoilers through the end of the book they summarize. However, they also have links to the rest of the Coppermind, which has full spoilers. To safely browse non-summary pages, consider using the Time Machine.

This page contains a chapter by chapter summary of Shadows of Self. We hope this summary will make it easier to find specific areas of the book, as well as providing a quick plot refresher for anyone who doesn't want to take the time to reread the entire book.

PrologueEdit

 
Characters
Plot Summary

Waxillium and Wayne ride up to a saloon in Weathering. Wayne stays with the horses while Wax enters and asks the barkeeper where to find the outlaw Granite Joe. The man extracts a bribe from Wax, after which he leads him to a small room near the stairs and tells him to wait. After a time of waiting alone, Wax is astonished as Lessie breaks into the room via the window. After a standoff, they work out that they are both after the same quarry and resolve to work together and split the reward. Lessie is incredulous to hear that Wax had asked the barkeep about Joe, telling him that everyone in the building is on the outlaw's payroll. They try to sneak out the window, but a sharpshooter stops them. Deciding to make for the next floor and find a window on the opposite side of the building instead, they run up the stairs while Wax covers them, firing and missing everything but the piano. Wax remembers seeing Lessie before as a dancing girl, and they banter as he whistles for his horse. After a conversation with Wayne, Wax notices a moving blue line from across the street and the sun glinting off something. Realizing that Granite Joe is likely in the basement, he grabs Lessie and taps into his feruchemical ability to crash down through the floor to the basement. The pair crash down onto a dining table, interrupting Granite Joe's meal. The outlaw's bodyguards have non-metallic weapons, so Wax is trapped in a stand-off while Granite Joe stalls for reinforcements. Joe finally makes a move, and Wax defeats the bodyguards only to find that Lessie has drawn her weapon on him. Wax desperately tells her that he likes her legs, and she sighs and shoots Joe in the neck. As reinforcements scramble down to the basement, Wax strikes a dramatic pose next to the body of Granite Joe. The sight intimidates the thugs who have just come down, who then immediately return the way they had come. Wax Pushes himself and Lessie back up to Wayne and his waiting horse.

Part 1Edit

Chapter 1Edit

 
Characters
Plot Summary
Seventeen years later

Winsting Innate prepares to auction off his senate vote to various crime lords and nobles in Elendel. The ostensible item for sale is his latest painting. After an introductory speech, he begins to mingle. His bodyguard Flog follows nearby. Winsting is quite disappointed that Edwarn Ladrian is not there. He is approached first by a smuggler named Dowser Maline, who is accompanied by a tall, slender woman with short golden hair. After the conversation, Winsting identifies the woman as a spy--possibly from the constabulary--to his bodyguard Flog and orders her watched. He continues to mingle for the next hour, but then a gunshot rings out, with several more quickly following from different parts of the room. Flog drags him out and takes him to his saferoom. No one is certain who started the gunfight, but Flog decides to go back up to the room to investigate. Winsting locks the door from the inside after he leaves. Eventually Flog returns, and Winsting lets him in. He tells them that everyone upstairs is dead. As Winsting considers what to do, someone grabs his hair and slits his throat.

Chapter 2Edit

 
Characters


Plot Summary

Steris and Wax discuss wedding invitations, with Steris trying to work out which of Wax's enemies to invite so that she can properly plan for the wedding to be interrupted. Wax suggests that she invite members of his family, but they want him dead too. He tells her to invite the leaders among the seamstresses and forgeworkers of his house and the constable-general of each of the city octants. Their discussion is interrupted by Wayne bursting in to tell Wax that the Marksman has made his move. With some hurried apologies and an awkward farewell, he races out, but is surprised by the sight of a motorcar, with Marasi at the wheel. After protesting that a carriage with horses would be better, he gets in and they drive off, Marasi and Wayne filling Wax in on the details. They quickly find Marks, who is bounding through the streets using Steelpushes. Wax jumps out of the car and propels himself onto the roof of Marasi's car before Pushing off and chasing the man. Marks enters a building, and Wax busts through a different window on the same floor. He bluffs Marks into giving away his position, and Wax shoots from a neighboring room, using a hazekiller round and a Push to get the bullet through the wall. Marks is hit and jumps out of the building, Wax giving chase. Wax is distracted by one of the bystanders, bearing the face of Bloody Tan. Marks momentarily forgotten, he pushes through the crowd, trying to find the man he had seen, calling out to see if anyone had seen him. Wayne and Marasi catch up and ask him what happened. Wax has lost Marks for the moment, but he is leaving trail of blood and bank notes.

Chapter 3Edit

 
Characters
Plot Summary

Wayne

The trio head further into the slums. Wayne lags behind and finds an older man sitting next to a doorway, coughing. Wayne mimics the man, learning the accent as he talks to him, having a mouthful of whisky before trading the flask for the man's hat. He then joins a group of men, fitting right in with his accent and his new hat. He comments about Wax and Marasi, who are trying (in vain) to get information from people around the place. Wayne mentions that there's a thousand notes on Marks' head. The men tell him off, warning him not to be a rat. Eventually the group dissipates, and Wayne trails the man who had lectured him. Eventually the man enters a building and Wayne overhears him talking to Marks. Slipping on his sets of wooden knuckle-bones, Wayne charges into the building, throwing up a speed bubble and knocking out Marks. Looking around, he sees that he placed the bubble perfectly, with the other half dozen individuals in the room outside of the bubble. Wayne throws Marks out the window, then follows him out. The speed bubble collapses after Wayne leaves it, and he throws Marks over his shoulder and strolls away, eating an apple.

Marasi

Meanwhile, Marasi and Wax try to find out where Marks went, still with no luck. Wayne eventually turns up, and Marasi asks where he's been. He tells her that he took care of her problem, at which point she realizes there's a person at his feet. When they go to leave the slums, they get attacked, with Marks being killed by a crossbow bolt. Wax shoots off to pursue the assailant. Marasi checks Marks' corpse, but when she realizes that the assassin would double back to check that they made the kill properly, the assassin appears and takes her hostage, holding a glass knife to her throat. Wax comes back from chasing after the assassin and brandishes a coin. Marasi reminds herself of her hostage training: talk him down, speak comforting words. She instead instinctively takes a small pistol out of her purse and shoots her captor through the head.

Chapter 4Edit

 
Characters
Plot Summary

Wax

Marasi cleans up after being covered with blood, deafened from the shot. Constable Reddi shows up, and he and some other constables secure the scene. Reddi pulls Wax aside to tell him about the death of the governor's brother.

Marasi

Marasi gets permission from Reddi to report to Constable-General Aradel. She follows Wax and Wayne in the motorcar and arrives at Winsting Innate's mansion. Wax recognizes a number of the corpses as being notable criminals, and Aradel verifies the fact, adding that there are nearly thirty dead criminals of some significance. Discussion leads to the conclusion that it would make the most sense for someone outside the existing criminal structure to have made the attack, and Wax realizes from examining the bodies that the melee was started from the middle, with different groups killing each other, rather than another group bursting in. Wax then asks to see the body of Lord Winsting. Examining the scene, he concludes that it was the work of a Feruchemist, specifically a Steelrunner. They were known to Lord Winsting, and were allowed into the saferoom. They then killed Lord Winsting and executed the guards outside on their way out.

Part 2Edit

Chapter 5Edit

 
Characters
Plot Summary

Wayne

Wayne is residing in Wax's mansion. He has a minor illness because he is filling his goldmind--with all the dead people at Winsting's place, he feels he is bound to be needing healing soon. Wax has been up all night analyzing the crime scene. He's convinced that a Steelrunner is involved. Wayne studies the picture and points out that the first four shots came from the direction of the enemies of those being shot, sowing even more chaos. Wax wants Wayne to go to the Village to investigate, but he has another task that he must do since it's the first day of the month.

Marasi

Marasi buys the afternoon edition of The Elendel Daily to monitor the Winsting story. She notices a number of unemployed men loitering, their life-long jobs gone due to technological progress. The governor seems unresponsive to the ills of the city, vetoing a workers' rights bill. Now the populace will wonder if he is as corrupt as his brother. Marasi fears that the city is reaching a breaking point.

Wax

Wax enters the Village and runs into three Terris guards ("brutes," or pewter ferrings). They tell him to get lost, but Vwafendal, his grandmother, intervenes.

Wayne

Wayne arrives at Elendel University for his three tests. He sees two guards, apparently watching for him, and he sees that his other ways in have been foiled. He talks to Dims, a leader of a street gang, and tries some gum for the first time. Wayne bribes him into wearing his clothes and trying to get through the gate. When he does, Wayne saunters in with no problem. He heads to the girls' dormitory and faces his second test: a large woman he calls the "Tyrant of Pashadon." He bribes her with a ticket to the governor's spring dinner he has obtained in a "trade" with Wax. She leads him into the visiting room and sends for Allriandre. He offers her the usual monthly stipend, and she shows him the picture of her father, forcing him to repeat his crime. She looks at him without emotion and makes sure he knows that he is not forgiven for killing him. Wayne humbly accepts her treatment.

Wax

Wax enters his grandmother's log hut, filled with reminders of Terris past. Vwafendal worries about the mixing of Feruchemy and Allomancy--she fears another tyrant will come. Wax asks for the names of known Steelrunners. They rehash old arguments about Wax's chosen way of life as a lawkeeper. She finally reveals the name of Idashwy as the only one who could be involved. She left the Village after behaving strangely. Wax recognizes the name, and she reminds him that she was with him "that night." She asks him to bring her back instead of killing her.

Marasi

Marasi enters the precinct offices to report in to Aradel. In conversation, she realizes the reason for the resentment from the others in the office is due to her getting the position of Aradel's assistant instead of Reddi, one of their own. Marasi suggests that the governor is corrupt; she has a secret file on him. Aradel orders Marasi to go with a street detail assigned to help out the Second Octant constables manage crowds for the governor's address. She is to report back on how the people react to the speech.

Chapter 6Edit

 
Characters
Plot Summary

Wax

Wax soars over Elendel musing to himself about the weight of his responsibility to the thousands of workers that depend on him. He finds Wayne, who asks him why Wax didn't shoot him when he found Wayne. Wax tells Wayne that he would have if he'd caught Wayne in the act, which cheers Wayne up.

Marasi

Marasi overhears someone selling apples at a high price, and asks them about it. They tell her that floods meant that there would be grain shortages soon, and that the city was a single shipment away from starvation. She moves on to where the governor is about to hold a press conference. Meeting up with some of the other constables, she is directed to the reporters' section so she can hear the governor's address.

Wax

Wax thinks he sees Bloody Tan, but he can't find him when he looks for the man in the crowd on the street. In the meantime, Wayne has found the address where Idashwy is staying. They arrive, and when no one answers the door, they kick open the door and enter carefully. They find a corpse, with a large hole in her chest, in the kitchen.

Marasi

Marasi makes it through to the crowd. The governor appears and begins defending his brother, calling for an investigation of the constabulary. Then he promises aid for those affected by the floods. Marasi notes to herself that none of this is what the people want to hear. She continues to maneuver through the crowd to getting a better view of Innate. She finally gets close enough, then notices a guardsman, who had been blocking her view, turn, whispering to no one, before pulling out a revolver. Marasi screams.

Wayne

Wax and Wayne discuss the murder and why Idashwy left the Village. Wax shows Wayne the book that Death had given him and invites him to read it.

Marasi

No one hears Marasi's scream, and she doesn't have enough time to get her gun, so instead she runs forward, grabbing the man and slowing time, having downed some cadmium earlier. The man fires a shot, but it goes wild. Another one of the guards caught in the bubble knocks the man out, and Marasi drops the bubble, with the governor having been rushed away.

Wax

Wax and Wayne discuss Hemalurgy, determining that the killer had stolen Idashwy's Steelrunner ability and used it to kill Winsting and those at his auction. Wayne finds a piece of paper in the woman's pockets inscribed with the words: "Someone else moves us, lawman." These are the same words that Bloody Tan said before Lessie was killed.

Chapter 7Edit

 
Characters
Plot Summary

Wax

Wax and Wayne return to the mansion. Darriance informs Wax that Ranette has been by and left some equipment for him to test. Wax briefly talks to Steris, who reminds him about Lady ZoBell's party. She informs him that someone tried to kill the governor, but she has it on good authority that he's still going to attend. Wax decides he will need to talk to the man who tried to shoot him. They head out in a carriage driven by the new coachman, Hoid. Wax puts in his earring, wondering if it had been made by killing someone, to which a distinct voice replies, startling Wax. Harmony talks to him, telling him that a kandra (which he calls a Faceless Immortal) named Bleeder is wearing the body of Bloody Tan and is the culprit behind the murders. He tells Wax that he can't stop her because she is only using one Blessing at a time, meaning she's going mad but is unable to be controlled by Harmony. Wax discovers Harmony can read his thoughts, and Harmony explains that he can while the earring is in. Preservation enables him to hear Wax; Ruin enables him to speak to him. Harmony also explains that his hands are tied, and he's not able to track Paalm down himself. Hence his plea for Wax's help, though Harmony promises to send help. During this talk, Harmony also tells Wax that he might have made life too easy for the people. He mentions some technological advancements, like radio and aviation, that they haven't needed to discover. Harmony tells Wax to be less harsh with Marasi, who is also Harmony's agent on Scadrial.

Marasi

Aradel and the other constables watch Rian in the interrogation room through glass. He only mumbles incoherently when questioned. He had a set of bracers, so they wonder if he is Metalborn. Wax joins them and easily Pushes on the bracers, confirming that they aren't metalminds. The assassination attempt was simply a ruse. Wax goes to talk to Rian himself, taking Marasi with him and telling her about his experience with Harmony. Rian tells them they won't save the governor and that he has something for Wax in his arm. It turns to be a special old coin, a message to Wax from Bleeder.

Chapter 8Edit

 
Characters
Plot Summary

Wax is twelve years old, riding in his uncle's carriage. He is trying to see the defect in a mis-struck coin. His uncle is taking him to the bank to encourage him to be a banker, but Wax insists he is going to be a "hero." Edwarn is disdainful, saying that the days of heroes are past. He shows Wax two loan applicants, one poor, trying to get his family out of the slums, the other rich, buying another boat. Unlike other banks, who only make safe loans, they will lend money to the poor man and charge a high rate of interest, thus creating value from something that has no value, like the defective coin. He gives the coin to Wax as a remembrance. Wax snatches it and takes it to the poor man, telling him what it's worth and to not sign the loan.

Wax is relating the story to Steris on the way to Lady ZoBell's party. It turns out the man didn't believe Wax, signed the loan, and killed himself eight years later, still in debt. The visit to the bank was one reason why Wax left Elendel for the Roughs, where one man with a gun could make a difference. They arrive at the party to a long line of carriages. Wax thinks about Pushing up to the party, which Steris was expecting and is prepared for. They Push up to an outcropping and Wax examines a tether from Ranette. He uses it to Push themselves all the way to the top of the skyscraper.

Chapter 9Edit

 
Characters
Plot Summary

Wayne

Wayne and Marasi make their way into the party. Marasi tells Wayne that they found a small spike in Rian's chest. After it was removed, he calmed down, but still wouldn't talk. When they finally get to the front of the line, the bouncer won't let them in. Wayne throws up a speed bubble and discovers that their names are on a specific do not admit list, so Wayne finds someone on the list to impersonate.

Wax

Wax and Steris walk by a display of Allomantic metals, including one for atium, the lost metal. Steris disapproves of Wax wearing his mistcoat, but she does let him decide what to do in order to find Bleeder rather than simply chatting with various nobles. Wax turns on his protective Steelpush bubble and colors his water to make it look like alcohol. Steris is impressed with Wax's tactics, while Wax is enchanted with Steris' preparation, even down to what witty things to say. They get in line to talk to the governor. A tall woman who introduces herself as Milan starts flirting with Wax, and he stares her down. She retreats.

Wayne

Wayne is acting the part of Professor Hanlanaze, a mathematics professor, with Marasi as his assistant. A colleague recognizes him, and he throws up a speed bubble while Marasi figures out how to respond to him. Wayne bluffs the man into a hasty retreat and concentrates on eating again.

Wax

Wax and Steris and the governor make some small talk, then Wax warns him that the assassination attempt was just a distraction. They promise to meet so Wax can explain more. Wax suddenly hears a voice in his head, taunting him about the phony nobles and Harmony's control; Bleeder has figured out how to speak to him when his earring is in.

Chapter 10Edit

 
Characters
Plot Summary

Wayne

Wayne reaches for another sausage and gets slapped in the face. A teenage girl yells at him about stealing her father's invention and leaving him destitute. The situation reminds him too much of his own (with Allriandre's father), and his mood is dampened. He goes to look for Wax.

Wax

Wax abruptly leaves Steris and Governor Innate to look for Bleeder. She continues to whisper to him in his mind, and Wax realizes that she can't hear him think like Harmony. He walks carefully around the room, looking for anyone staying close to him. There are two: Milan and a server, who is walking in the opposite direction compared to the other servers. Wax catches the servant's eye and he runs. Convinced that this means he is Bleeder, Wayne tackles him. Unfortunately, the guards also pile on, allowing the man to escape. Wax shoots and misses, and the servant jumps out a window. Wax gives chase and tells Wayne to stay behind to protect the governor in case this is another diversion.

Chapter 11Edit

 
Characters
Plot Summary

Wax leaps out into the mists. Once on the ground, he hears a car start up and speed away. He decides to chase it, hoping it's Bleeder. He lands on it and pops the tires with enhanced weight, but only finds a cab driver trapped inside; Bleeder had already jumped out of the car on Tage Street. He goes there and searches but finds nothing. Suddenly, the door to a warehouse opens up, revealing a dozen men with guns blazing. Wax's steel bubble protects him from all bullets but one, which gets him in the arm. He desperately retreats and is pinned down by gunfire. He sees more guys on his flank; he shoots a couple of them, and a couple of them are attacked by MeLaan, who was sent by Harmony to help Wax. Wax figures his uncle is behind this because of all the aluminum bullets, and he fears that Bleeder and the Set may be working together. They split up to attack two different groups. Wax kills several with his guns. Then, when he runs out of ammo, he uses Ranette's hook device to kill the rest with some help from MeLaan. He sends MeLaan to a tavern while he goes to check on Lord Harms, thinking that Bleeder's threat might have been referring to Wax's "father". He Pushes past the remaining snipers and into the canal, then Pushes on the mooring rings to quickly swim away from danger.

Chapter 12Edit

 
Characters
Plot Summary

Wayne

Wayne is finishing up his interrogation of the staff. He concludes that the server Wax chased was not Bleeder, as the choice of impersonating a new guy that nobody liked was too obvious. He suddenly realizes that Innate isn't there. The governor's guards confess that they had sent him off to a secure location.

Wax

Wax Steelpushes his way to Lord Harms' mansion. He asks him a question only he would know to verify that he isn't Bleeder, feeling suspicious of everyone now. He tries to figure out where to hide him, knowing that it will be hard to outguess someone as old and crafty as Bleeder.

Steris

Steris tries to converse with Wayne, but he only insults her and walks away. Marasi arrives and tells Steris that the danger isn't over. She collects Wayne as well, and the three of them leave the scene.

Wax

Wax stows Harms on the top of a tower chosen at random, figuring that a random location is the best approach to outsmarting Bleeder. He goes searching for the governor. He figures that he'll be back at his mansion, so he waits in the vicinity. When he sees his carriage, he lands on top of it and asks Drim to let him in. Innate doesn't want to deal with him, so Wax threatens to just leave him alone without help. He tells them that a kandra is after the governor, but they are incredulous and want to see proof. They eventually agree to let Wax help protect the governor. Wax suggests that he leave the city, but he refuses. They exchange passphrases. There is commotion outside the mansion, and a servant reports that Father Bin has been murdered.

Marasi

Marasi looks up at Father Bin's corpse, nailed to the wall by two spikes, one in each eye. The conventicalists (workers at the church) are not talking, so Aradel has Marasi interrogate them instead of Reddi. She empathizes with them and gets them to reveal what happened. A Pathian priest named Larskpur had started preaching to the congregation, gathered for the mistdawn, and then lowered a drape, revealing Father Bin nailed to the wall. Speaking with Aradel, Marasi suggests that the murders and the unrest in the city are all related--all the work of Bleeder trying to make the city fall. Even the flood, causing the food shortage, might be attributable to sabotage. She also tells Aradel of her secret file on Governor Innate. Wax shows up and demands to see the body himself. Marasi discovers that Aradel resents Wax because he can do whatever he wants has someone else to clean up his messes. Wax doesn't think the spikes are Hemalurgic but asks for a sample anyway. He invites Marasi to his meeting with MeLaan so they can figure out Bleeder's abilities and motives.

Chapter 13Edit

 
Characters
Plot Summary

Wayne

Wayne enters the Counselor's Cup, describing it as the temple of the common man. As the "deity" there is Breeze, the worship ritual revolves around drinking and people offer up prayers by grousing to friends. Normally, the people there are drinking and happy, but now they are morose and desperate. Wayne goes around changing everyone's drink to cheer them up, adding soda water, sugar, lime, etc., and he happens upon MeLaan.

Wax

Wax and Marasi arrive, interrupting Wayne and MeLaan's belching contest. MeLaan warns that while she is not great at impersonating, Paalm is one of the best. Wax wants to know how to kill her, but MeLaan wants to help her because there are so few kandra left. Because Paalm has deliberately removed one spike so Harmony can't control her, MeLaan tells them that the best way to neutralize her would be to pull her spike out, making her a mistwraith. She gives them a needle and syringe with a substance that will cause a kandra to lose shape and become immobilized if injected with it. Unfortunately, it would kill a human, so Wax has to be sure before he can use it. MeLaan tells more about Paalm: she was the personal kandra of the Lord Ruler and was always out on missions, even perhaps imitating Inquisitors. She probably has special knowledge about Feruchemy and Allomancy. Marasi and MeLaan head to the precinct, and Wax orders Wayne back the governor's mansion.

Chapter 14Edit

 
Characters
Plot Summary

Wax

Wax arrives at a Pathian church with a mob outside. He shows himself with Vindication drawn, and the group scatters, although one person stays hidden nearby. He tells the Pathian missionary what happened to Father Bin. He suggests she flee to the Village and get her colleagues to go with her. He then seeks out person hiding, who reveals that the trouble started when two people dressed in Pathian robes came into a pub and started cursing the Survivor. Wax next goes to Ashweather Carriage and Coach because some silver paint scraped off on the bricks in the alleyway behind the Survivorist church looks like it came from one of their carriages. He asks the proprietor who has retained a carriage that night, and he seems too eager to please, raising Wax's suspicions. He narrows it down to coach sixteen as the one Bleeder might have used to make her getaway. Cett's Coinshot employee shows up to report on the drivers, and she lets slip that they also employ a Rioter to drum up business, a serious crime.

Marasi

Marasi and MeLaan arrive at the precinct where rifles are laid out. Extra constables are being called in. MeLaan notices all the women in the station, and they start to discuss religion. MeLaan thinks it's silly to worship the Survivor instead of Harmony because the Survivor died, but Marasi explains that he did survive and even held Preservation before Vin took it up. Marasi gets the file on the dam investigation, and MeLaan notices a lot of hostility toward her from her colleagues. The file explains that a farmer had blown up the dam to ruin a neighbor's harvest, but he put too much dynamite in. He was acting insane and couldn't remember his children's names, and the grave was "desecrated" two days after his execution and burial. The desecration of the grave indicates to MeLaan that the farmer was actually Bleeder.

Chapter 15Edit

 
Characters
Plot Summary

Wax

Wax finds the coach with scraped paint parked outside a Soothing parlor. The proprietor leads him to the driver, who has paid for a private session. Wax asks him a question to make sure he isn't Bleeder in disguise, then asks why he's there. After admitting that he is there to try to forget something he saw, Chapaou states that he saw himself.

Marasi

Marasi finds Aradel on the roof taking reports from a couple of Coinshot contractors. He's decided to ask the governor to declare martial law and close down the pubs. Marasi shares the information about the dam destruction, but he still wants proof that a kandra is involved. Marasi invites him to talk to MeLaan. She turns translucent and confirms that there is a crazy kandra on the loose. After MeLaan's demonstration, Aradel asks Marasi to give him reports on what Wax is doing. Marasi agrees, but she says she will tell Wax that she's doing so. Marasi wonders if that's the only reason that she got the job as his assistant--so he could have access to Wax. She rejoins MeLaan, and they head to the governor's mansion.

Wax

Chapaou tells Wax what happened while he examines the items Paalm left behind in the coach. He finds a set of bones and a Pathian robe, plus a bloody mallet. Chapaou thinks that he went crazy and murdered someone, but Wax assures him he had just been tricked. Chapaou says that Paalm had him drop her off at Lestib Square, close to the governor's mansion. Wax spots a glowing substance on the hem of the robes and takes a sample. He gives the coachman some money and tells him not to worry.

Chapter 16Edit

 
Characters
Plot Summary

Wax is perched on an electrical pole outside the governor's mansion. He hears Bleeder's voice in his head again, indicating that she is close. She threatens to kill the governor again and calls Wax a pawn. Wax walks about, trying to determine her location. He notices some movement in a window of a nearby office building, and Paalm starts speaking aloud in her raspy voice. She tries to turn him against Harmony for not intervening with Lessie's death. Bleeder exits the building and runs toward the mansion at Feruchemical-enhanced speed. Wax gives chase. She shoots guards as she makes her way to the saferoom, which she unlocks. She's shocked when Wax moves the same speed as her--Wayne is there and has thrown up a speed bubble, including Wax. Wax fires everything he's got and also sends MeLaan's syringe out with the bullets. The bullets scatter as they pass through the bubble, but many hit Paalm and blood spurts everywhere. The syringe misses. Paalm flees into the saferoom, and Wax hears a single gunshot. He enters the room to see the governor trying to save Drim, who is shot in the neck. The escape tunnel door is open, so Wax goes up and finds her bloody cloak, discarded in the tunnel. Wax can't figure out why she didn't kill the governor. The governor insists on staying to try to save the city.

Chapter 17Edit

 
 
Characters
Plot Summary

Wayne

Wayne and Wax wait around while the governor has a meeting with city officials. Wax shows him a bit of the Marksman's mask that Bleeder was wearing, saying it's possible that he was Bleeder all along, goading the slum people into disliking Wax and the establishment even more. Wayne will stay to help protect the governor with help from MeLaan, who is changing into a female guard that just died in the attack. Wax shows her the glowing substance that he collected, and MeLaan recognizes it as perchwither, which means that Bleeder has been in the kandra Homeland, something that disturbs MeLaan because it is a holy place. Wax wants to go there to check if she's there, and Harmony gives his permission through MeLaan. A footman arrives to tell Wax that his uncle is outside in a carriage.

Wax

Wax has found his uncle by leaving a message in one his safe deposit boxes listed in the notebook he stole. Wax enters the carriage, and they start moving. Edwarn compares what he's doing with the Set to Kelsier's crew and posits that Wax would have been on the Lord Ruler's side. Wax puts this aside and asks for help against a common enemy--his uncle wants to rule, but Paalm wants everything destroyed. Edwarn would like Paalm taken down, but he's choosing to wait and see and says that he will not help Wax. He insists that the Set will be hailed as heroes against oppression and promises that Wax's sister will die if Wax kills him. Before leaving, Wax promises to take care of Bleeder and then someday come after him.

Chapter 18Edit

 
 
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Plot Summary

Marasi

Innate is meeting with his staff, trying to decide what to do about the looting and unrest. The various ministers seem more concerned about political ramifications. He dismisses them and gives Marasi a written order declaring martial law and naming Aradel lord high constable over all of the precincts. He decides to allow the people to congregate at the mansion so he can speak to them, but looters elsewhere in the city are to be dealt with using force. Marasi requests a carriage to deliver the writ, but there are none available at the moment because of everyone else sending messages. She wanders about and decides to visit the saferoom, where she notices that some of the books on the shelves are scuffed while the others are pristine. She finds a key in one of them and unlocks a safe under a rug. Inside is a wad of cash and various letters proving the governor's corruption. She takes the evidence with her and heads back upstairs.

Wax

Wax soars over the city and tries to find solitude after the disturbing conversations with his uncle and Bleeder. Walking for a while atop Eastbridge, he wonders why Harmony didn't save Lessie and resents the fact that he expects Wax to help him. However, Wax knows he can't just let Bleeder keep killing and let the city burn. He feels overwhelmed by his burdens, but he shoulders them again because he knows that ducking the responsibilities he holds is cowardice.

Chapter 19Edit

 
 
Characters
Plot Summary

Wayne

Innate retires to his room to prepare his remarks, upsetting his guards by not allowing anyone in the room with him. Wayne coaches MeLaan on her accent while they wait in the hall. He teaches her his trick with hats: wear someone's hat, and you can think like the owner does. He asks MeLaan about immortality, and she reveals that the kandra have a way to die if they so desire. Wayne hears Ranette's voice and runs downstairs to speak with her. She delivers a special bullet Wax had asked her to make. She's so worried about the mobs in the city that she doesn't get violent when Wayne flirts with her. People are gathering outside the mansion, chanting slogans.

Marasi

Aradel has received the governor's writ, and he's not thrilled with being named lord high constable. He gives orders to set up a center of operations at the mansion. Marasi and Aradel head out on horseback, and Marasi gives him the letters she has stolen from the mansion. Aradel decides he will still protect the governor, but really he sides with the people.

Wax

Wax goes to the Field of Rebirth and enters the museum/tomb. He bluffs his way past the caretaker and jumps down into a pit. He turns on the lights and walks down the cavern, passing several chambers along the way with various relics and displays. He finds the secret door in the atium chamber and closes it behind him. A growling voice in the dark says, "I've been waiting for you."

Chapter 20Edit

 
 
Characters
Plot Summary

Wax

Wax very nearly panics and fires his gun down the corridor, using the flashes to try to see who spoke. The voice tells him to turn on the lights and lock the hidden door, and he sees a wolfhound which he guesses is a kandra. TenSoon explains that other kandra are out trying to counteract Paalm to calm the city down. They pass through many caverns and tunnels, including the remnants of Kredik Shaw. TenSoon explains that the kandra don't come back to the Homeland often, preferring to live in the world, interacting with their own kind. He leads Wax to a certain room where Paalm has discarded an old copy of The Words of Founding, pages ripped out and random words and curses written in blood on them. As Wax sorts the pages, trying to discern a message, he learns about Vin from TenSoon. Wax perceives that the book is just a distraction. He explains to TenSoon that Paalm may be insane, but her methods are not. She somehow wants to free people of Harmony and destroy him. He realizes that she has anticipated how the other kandra would help, and her next step is to bring them down.

Wayne

Wayne listens to someone whip up a mob, railing against the abuse at the hands of the aristocracy. He agrees with their sentiment and shouts along with them. A Survivorist priest then speaks, telling the crowd that the Survivor would not encourage them to loot and destroy. The crowd starts to calm down, but Wayne sees the first guy sneak up behind the priest with a syringe. He injects its contents into the priest, revealing that he is a kandra in disguise. Someone in the crowd recognizes Wayne as the conner from the Roughs, and they all turn to look at him.

Chapter 21Edit

 
 
Characters
Plot Summary

Wax

TenSoon has told Harmony to call off the other kandra, but it may be too late. They are running for the exit when they suddenly hear a strange howl that neither of them recognizes. They run the other direction, and Wax struggles to keep up. He finally finds a corridor that he can Push down, and he glimpses human-like forms running on all fours. TenSoon figures they are some kind of Hemalurgic construct that Paalm came up with. TenSoon has led them to his collection of bones, and he quickly transforms into a superhuman form. They hunker down and fight, killing all five of the creatures. They are built to defeat Wax, but he kills them anyway by shooting them up close and using his extra weight to crush them. TenSoon fishes out a spike from one of them that has a red cast to it. He leads Wax to another way out.

Wayne

Wayne manages to switch into a quick disguise and lead the mob away from him. He heads back to the mansion and hears someone speaking. The accent is off, so he realizes who Bleeder is impersonating.

Wax

TenSoon shows Wax a crevice that leads out to the city. Wax uses some extra weight to widen the opening. They start to crawl up, hearing more howling creatures coming their way. Wax drops his lantern and panics, then realizes that there is glowing fungus here too. TenSoon explains that Harmony didn't want anyone to experience darkness here again, and Wax realizes that he is in the Pits of Hathsin. TenSoon encourages him up, and they emerge in the sewer. Wax figures Bleeder hasn't killed the governor yet because she wants to do it in front of the people to incite a complete riot.

Part 3Edit

Chapter 22Edit

 
 
Characters
Plot Summary

Wax arrives at the mansion and tells Marasi to go check on Steris. He goes back to the governor's study, where a guard informs him that no one is allowed in. Wax blasts the door open with Allomancy and finds the governor going over his speech. Wax scolds him for locking out the guards, but he argues that no one can really stop Bleeder anyway. Wax goes over to the window to think and notices a wad of gum. He figures out that Bleeder is impersonating Innate himself and spins around with his gun drawn. Bleeder draws an aluminum gun, but doesn't kill Wax. He wonders why she is reluctant to do so. Wax yells for help. The guards rush in and attack Wax--since they are tasked with protecting the governor--and Bleeder guns them all down. Meanwhile, Wax throws himself closer to the desk, getting out the last syringe. He yells at MeLaan, and she grabs Bleeder, but Bleeder is too strong and fast for them. She uses the syringe on MeLaan, and Wax fruitlessly shoots her. She hears footsteps and escapes out the window. Wax looks for Wayne and finds him tied up in a closet. Wayne gives Wax the special bullet from Ranette, and he goes off to chase Bleeder.

Chapter 23Edit

 
 
Characters
Plot Summary

Wax

Wax flies out into the night and sees a crowd dispersing in the mansion's garden. Investigating the area, he enters a dark shed and finds signs that Bleeder is changing into a new body. She whispers to him in the dark, promising to "free" him from Harmony, as she claims that Wax serves as his hands. She blasts out a wall and Pushes into the air. She's out of speed, but she's now acting as a Coinshot.

Wayne

Wayne, Marasi, and MeLaan are in the shed, looking at the governor's bones. Marasi convinces MeLaan to impersonate the governor and give a sympathetic speech, rather than the inflammatory one Bleeder was planning.

Chapter 24Edit

 
 
Characters
Plot Summary

Wax

Wax pursues Paalm through the city. Wax concludes that she wasn't the Marksman after all, even though she is wearing his mask. While she's good at Steelpushing, Wax is better, and he eventually catches up with her on the Eastbridge. Wax tries to convince her to give up, but she Pushes up to a suspension tower and removes her mask. She looks like Lessie.

Marasi

Marasi doesn't tell anyone that the governor is dead. MeLaan starts speaking, and just about everyone calms down. Marasi feels calm too and suddenly realizes that someone is Soothing the crowd. She worries that the Set is involved and that there is a Rioter waiting for the right moment in the speech to whip up the crowd again. She finds Reddi and convinces him that someone is Soothing the crowd. She spies a carriage parked nearby in an alleyway.

Chapter 25Edit

 
 
Characters
Plot Summary

Wax

Bleeder talks in Lessie's voice. Wax can't believe he has to shoot her again and tries to remember that it's not really her. She says she regrets what she's doing, but it takes strong emotions to break free of Harmony. Wax marvels at how good she is at acting as Lessie. Bleeder hints that she really is Lessie. Wax pleads to Harmony for help, but he doesn't have his earring in.

Marasi

Marasi and Reddi approach the carriage with a strike force, all of them wearing aluminum-lined helmets. Reddi takes his off and can tell the Soothing is indeed coming from the carriage. He indicates that they will fight hand-to-hand to protect the nearby crowd from stray bullets. As the constables approach the carriage, a group of men enter the alley from a building. Reddi engages with his dueling cane, and the two groups start fighting.

Wax

Bleeder walks toward Wax and professes her love to him. She says she will have to do something about Wax to get him out of the way. She likes Wayne but decides that he must die because he is of Harmony. Wax lifts Vindication, but it's Pushed out of his hands. He tackles her, and they both fall from the tower, Bleeder shooting him in the leg as they fall. He manages to Push enough to fall safely, and he looks around for the gun. He sees the orange glow of fires in the city.

Marasi

Reddi's men are outnumbered and losing, and MeLaan's speech isn't going very well. Marasi manages to sneak up to the carriage, where she finds two guards. She puts up a few slowness bubbles for a fraction of a second each, making it look like there are Metalborn among the fighters. They run to warn their guys, clearing the way for Marasi to enter the carriage. She finds the Soother and Rioter in there, and she pulls a gun on them.

Wax

Bleeder is crying, begging Wax to stop obeying Harmony. Wax finds his gun and spins it to the special bullet. He shoots her in the head. She is at first unconcerned, but then she realizes that Harmony is controlling her again. The special bullet is Wax's earring, providing a second spike.

Chapter 26Edit

 
 
Characters
Plot Summary

Marasi

Marasi drags the Soother toward the crowd. MeLaan is doing well at impersonating Innate, which means that she's doing a poor job of quelling the riotous crowd. She throws up her hands and gives up, but then Aradel goes up to her and points a gun at her. Marasi makes an impromptu immunity deal with the Soother, and the woman Soothes for all she's worth, quieting the crowd. Aradel arrests Innate and claims control over the city due to martial law. He channels the crowd's rage by promising to arrest a bunch of corrupt nobles.

Wax

Wax limps over to Bleeder to make sure she's neutralized. She starts convulsing and thrashing about and tells Wax that she's killing herself. He takes pity on her and holds her as she dies. She repeats the first words Lessie ever said to him, and Wax finally realizes that Bleeder is Lessie. After she dies, he howls, driving back the mists. An hour later, TenSoon arrives and explains that Lessie was sent by Harmony to be Wax's bodyguard out in the Roughs. He didn't tell Wax because he foresaw disaster if Wax had known whom he was hunting. Wax hates Harmony for forcing him to kill Lessie again.

EpilogueEdit

 
Characters
Plot Summary

Wax

Wax sits by the fire in a deep depression while others celebrate. The city is saved and has a new governor with no noble blood. Steris protects him from having to interact with the others and is thoughtful enough to provide a fire and a traditional lamp instead of electric lights. Wayne tries to cheer him up, but he won't be consoled. Wayne sees the girl who slapped him at the party and offers her some venture capital for developing uses for electricity. As the guests leave, Marasi shows him a metal spike with red spots recovered from Paalm's body. They can't figure out what kind of metal it is. Wax doesn't care. He is consumed with hatred and anger towards Harmony.

Marasi

Marasi goes back to the station, where she finds Aradel doing paperwork. He is not happy about having to be governor but realizes he needs to fill the position. "Innate" walks in and asks how to tie a belt to be able to hang oneself. MeLaan refuses to testify at trial, saying that it's not clear when the actual governor was killed, so the evidence against him is sketchy. She refuses to set a precedent by lying for them at court, so instead, she decides to fake his death. MeLaan explains that Harmony won't step in and reveal the truth himself because that would only be doing what Paalm was complaining of: stepping in and controlling everyone's lives. She also reveals that Harmony doesn't know what the metal spike is made of, so Marasi decides to research Trell.

Wax

Wax sits by a dying fire. Steris puts a log on. She sits near him and says nothing, only putting her hand on his. He lays his head on her shoulder and weeps.

Ars ArcanumEdit

The arcanum displays a detailed chart of the metals (Metals Quick Reference Chart), a List of Metals with properties explained and a short essay, On The Three Metallic Arts. The last compares Allomancy with Investitures from Sel, as well as a mention that the cosmere is greatly interested in Hemalurgy. The first parts are the same as The Alloy of Law arcanum. A further section discussing the twinborn combinations of powers is additional to this.

NotesEdit


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