Summary:The Well of Ascension

This page contains a chapter by chapter summary of The Well of Ascension. 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. Each section will include epigraph quote, chapter summary and annotation summary.

Part One: Heir of the Survivor

Chapter 1

I write these words in steel, for anything not set in metal cannot be trusted.

Point of View: Elend, Vin

Elend Venture and Hammond stare outwards from the tops of Luthadel's walls at the eve of their siege. Straff Venture and his fifty thousand estimated soldiers have Elend worrying the Assembly will surrender the city to avoid bloodshed. Breeze has disappeared too and Elend is unsure where Vin is.

Vin skulks through the streets to meet OreSeur. Having her suspicions of being followed deflated she suggests returning to the wall, just before a hail of steel Pushed coins hurtle towards her.

Chapter 2

I have begun to wonder if I am the only sane man left. Can the others not see? They have been waiting so long for their hero to come - the one spoken of in Terris prophecies - that they quickly jump between conclusions, presuming that each story and legend applies to this one man.

Point of View: Vin

Vin is ambushed by a group of eight allomancers, consisting of thugs, a coinshot, a lurcher, a smoker and a mistborn. She battles and defeats them with minor assistance from The Watcher, though she has to use her last bead of Atium. OreSeur is gravely injured with broken bones, but Vin doesn't allow him to take one of the bodies of the foes she has just slain.

Chapter 3

My brethren ignore the other facts. They cannot connect the other strange things that are happening. They are deaf to my objections and blind to my discoveries.

Point of View: Elend, Vin

Elend works on a proposal to the Assembly, to prevent them from taking any actions that he feels are rash, before he can parlay with Straff Venture.

Vin watches him from the outside of his palace, while also keeping an eye out for threats. She senses allomantic pulses that seem to be distant, but turn out to be caused by a figure made out of mist that is standing near her on the rooftop. The mist figure vanishes when Vin uses steel to push coins at it.

Vin joins Elend, and tells him of the Watcher, and the mist figure. Vin and Elend discuss the proposal to the assembly.

Hammond arrives, and tells Elend and Vin that the allomancers that Vin killed were sent by Ashweather Cett, a king from the Western Dominance.

Chapter 4

Perhaps they are right. Perhaps I am mad, or jealous, or simply daft. My name is Kwaan. Philosopher, scholar, traitor. I am the one who discovered Alendi, and I am the one who first proclaimed him to be the Hero of Ages. I am the one who started this all.

Point of View: Sazed

Sazed examines the body of a deceased skaa in a village in the Eastern Dominance. Teur tells Sazed that he witnessed daytime mists, and that Jed was standing in some mist, and he began to jerk and twist as if being shaken by something strong, then collapsed and died. Sazed searches his medical coppermind for more information about possible causes of death, due to the suspicious circumstances, but accepts disease as the explanation.

Sazed performs HaDah funeral rites and buries Jed. He stays at the village to teach them to be self-sufficient.

Chapter 5

And I am the one who betrayed Alendi, for I now know that he must never be allowed to complete his quest.

Point of View: Vin

Vin walks through the streets of Luthadel, and reflects on the bustle of the market caused by the siege, on her childhood, and on whether she is a noblewoman. She walks alone heading for the livestock pens but soon is followed by members of the Church of the Survivor, who see Vin as the "Lady Heir", an important leader of their religion, and who ask for her protection and blessing. Vin is flustered by the attention, and rushes away to find solitude from them. She then purchases a wolfhound to be used as OreSeur's new body which she brings to him, though OreSeur protests not being given a human body to use. Vin receives a shipment of duralumin from Terion, a master allomantic metallurgist.

Vin joins Elend in his study. Dockson is also there, having recently returned from a trip to Terris, but he leaves to attend other business. Vin and Elend discuss having OreSeur accompany Vin on her patrols in his new canine form, and about how Elend and Kelsier are different. Hammond shows up and Vin talks about the duralumin alloy that she received, and that she thinks it is important to discover the proper alloy of aluminum, so that she might gain an allomantic advantage in the future. She burns some duralumin, but isn't able to determine its allomantic use, though she also doesn't suffer the side effects of an improper allomantic alloy either. Hammond invites Vin and Elend to spar, but only Vin accepts, while Elend elects to watch instead.

Chapter 6

I write this record now, pounding it into a metal slab, because I am afraid. Afraid for myself, yes - I admit to being human. If Alendi does return from the Well of Ascension, I am certain that my death will be one of his first objectives. He is not an evil man, but he is a ruthless one. That is, I think, a product of what he has been through.

Point of View: Elend

Vin duels with Hammond using staves, and agrees to only burn pewter. Elend watches, along with Clubs, and Spook, and Clubs coerces Elend to bet on Hammond to win, while Clubs and Spook each bet on Vin. As they watch the fight progress, they discuss the siege and rumors that are spreading about an atium cache in Luthadel. Vin uses her dexterity to triumph over Hammond.

Vin and Elend go to her rooms in the palace, and find OreSeur has finished his replication of the wolfhound. Vin takes her kandra out for a walk.

Chapter 7

I am also afraid, however, that all I have known - that my story - will be forgotten. I am afraid for the world that is to come. Afraid that my plans will fail.
Afraid of a doom worse, even, than the Deepness.

Point of View: Sazed

Sazed teaches rural skaa various skills, including writing, farming, governing and medicine, at the behest of the Synod, the Terris governing body. He feels restless, and thinks there are more mysteries to solve even after the Lord Ruler's death.

Marsh appears at the village, having somehow traced Sazed's presence, and urges Sazed to accompany him to the Conventical of Seran, a stronghold of the Steel Ministry, so that they can search through its archives for valuable information while it is vacated. Marsh reiterates the tale that mists are coming during the day. Sazed agrees to his request to follow him.

Chapter 8

It all comes back to poor Alendi. I feel bad for him, and for all of the things he has been forced to endure. For what he has been forced to become.

Point of View: Vin

Vin patrols the city, and OreSeur demonstrates a fair propensity for keeping up with her. She spies the Watcher, and sets out to chase him. During the chase, she accidentally discovers the allomantic use for duralumin, since she burns it while burning another metal, tin. While she was temporarily disoriented due to sensory overload, OreSeur catches up to her, bringing her abandoned metal vial, and the Watcher approaches her to talk, asking why she fell down, and if she had really slain the Lord Ruler, and why she "plays their games", indicating Elend's keep. He tells her he is an insane enemy and departs, and Vin lets him leave without incident, to OreSeur's disgust. Vin asks OreSeur to carry metals for her, and he obliges, opening a cavity in his shoulder for a vial.

Chapter 9

But, let me begin at the beginning. I met Alendi first in Khlennium; he was a young lad then, and had not yet been warped by a decade spent leading armies.

Point of View: Sazed

Sazed and Marsh journey to the Conventical of Seran. Marsh says that Sazed belongs in Luthadel helping Elend and Vin and the others, and that their work supercedes the task that Sazed has been performing in spreading knowledge to the rural areas and that Sazed should go to the capital city when they finish their work at the Conventical. Sazed states that he already sent help but Marsh counters that it is not enough, and Sazed silently agrees with this assessment.

Chapter 10

Alendi's height struck me the first time I saw him. Here was a man who towered over others, a man who - despite his youth and his humble clothing - demanded respect.

Point of View: Vin

Vin and Hammond guard Elend at an Assembly meeting. Elend gives a speech about the army sieging Luthadel, and proposes that negotiations with Straff be attempted before any further votes by the Assembly regarding the disposition of the city are taken. The Assembly accepted his proposal by meeting a two-thirds majority in favor.

Vin notices there is a Terriswoman in the audience, and tells Elend that she never met this woman before, which is unusual since Vin thinks all the other Terris visitors to the city seek out Vin to thank her for freeing them from the Lord Ruler's tyranny.

A messenger arrives, telling Elend and Vin that a second army is now outside Luthadel.

Chapter 11

Oddly, it was Alendi's simple ingenuousness that first led me to befriend him. I employed him as an assistant during his first months in the grand city.

Point of View: Elend, Vin

Elend, Clubs, Vin and OreSeur stand atop the city wall, scouting Cett's army. They notice a rider leaving the army and Vin realizes it is Breeze trying to reach sanctuary in Luthadel while being pursued by archers. Vin uses a duralumin steel-push to intercept the pursuers, buys time for Breeze to escape, then uses another duralumin steel-push to scatter her foes.

Breeze explains that he was one of Cett's advisors, and that he contrived to have Cett attack Luthadel to force a standoff between the two invading armies, and improve Elend's bargaining position.

Guards in the palace find two skeletons that were left behind by kandra, including a very fresh set of bones, and Vin realizes that a kandra is probably impersonating one of Elend's inner circle.

Part Two: Ghosts in the Mist

Chapter 12

It wasn't until years later that I became convinced that Alendi was the Hero of Ages. Hero of Ages: the one called Rabzeen in Khlennium, the Anamnesor.
Savior

Point of View: Sazed

Sazed and Marsh arrive at the Conventical of Seran. They explore the building, and Sazed stores his observations in a coppermind. They find the remnants of a massacre.

Marsh asks Sazed for privacy and goes to the Inquisitor's quarters. Sazed explores elsewhere and finds a descending set of stairs that he follows. Sazed finds a chamber that was used to make new Inquisitors. Exploring further, he finds a steel plate with engravings in an old Terris dialect which he is able to decypher without difficulty as being written by a Terrisman named Kwaan, who had first proclaimed Alendi to be the Hero of Ages, before realizing that he had to stop Alendi from finishing his quest.

Marsh tells Sazed that he isn't able to find anything important left behind by the Inquisitors, but Sazed states that he needs to make a record of the engravings, and takes charcoal rubbings of them.

Chapter 13

When I finally had the realization - finally connected all the signs of the Anticipation to Alendi - I was so excited. Yet, when I announced my discovery to the other Worldbringers, I was met with scorn.
Oh, how I wish that I had listened to them.

Vin notices that the mists are coming earlier. OreSeur does not notice, nor think it strange, but will do so if Vin commands it: she does not. Vin then proceeds to question OreSeur about Kandra society. OreSeur replies that the infiltrating kandra will be fulfilling his Contract. He scoffs at the idea of the kandra being a rogue, saying that no kandra is allowed to enter human society without a Contract. OreSeur states that Kandra cannot be affected by mental Allomancy, nor can they use Allomancy. However, he refrains from commenting on why a Kandra should be kept away from Inquisitors and the Lord Ruler. Vin tries to learn more about OreSeur personally, but he does not answer her questions, and she does not command him.

Vin burns bronze. She feels the same odd pulsing that she felt in Chapter 3. She decides to face her fear of the mist spirit. She finds the spirit on the third floor of an apartment block, with prime vantage point to overlook Vin and OreSeur's prior conversation. Vin yells at the mist spirit, but it merely steps forwards and dissipates. She feels cold grab her arm and a pain pierces Vin, running from her ear (presumably the one with the earring) to her mind, causing her to fall from the window. She flares tin and pewter to ease her fall. Vin begins to fear the mists.

Elend organises a meeting with the 'old crew'. The crew have come up with a solution to form an alliance with one of the two armies surrounding Luthadel. Elend does not like the idea, especially considering that he would be left with a guilty conscious. Instead he recommends sabotaging the food supplies, then set the two armies against each other, liking the three-way stalemate to politics. The crew decide to go ahead with Elend's 'foolhardy' plan.

A Terriswoman is ushered into the room, caught eavesdropping. She wishes to speak to Elend alone. She is a Keeper and Feruchemist.

Chapter 14

And yet, any who know me will realize that there was no chance I would give up so easily. Once I find something to investigate, I become dogged in my pursuit.

The Terriswoman's name is Tindwyl, an acquaintance of Sazed. Her coppermind specialty is biographies - the has studied the lives of great men. She has come to (forcibly) tutor Elend in the arts of being regal. Vin immediately distrusts her.

Chapter 15

I had determined that Alendi was the Hero of Ages, and I intended to prove it. I should have bowed before the will of the others; I shouldn't have insisted on traveling with Alendi to witness his journeys.
It was inevitable that Alendi himself would find out what I believed him to be.

Eight days after leaving the Conventical, Sazed finds himself alone. At the village of Urbene, Sazed finds the bodies of the skaa villagers. They had died from starvation and dehydration. Sazed finds a man still alive, though close to the brink of death. The man is too scared to go outside as there is mist appearing during the day. Some who tried to leave ended up dead from violent shakes (almost like an epileptic fit). Others survived, either untouched by the mists, or had a seizure, but were still alive. The man walks over to a corpse and starts eating it. Sazed uses a pewtermind to pick up the man and take him outside. Once outside the man runs away. Sazed retrieves his bag, pulling out a steelmind, using the stored speed to get to Luthadel faster.

Chapter 16

Yes, he was the one who fuelled the rumours after that. I could never have done what he himself did, convincing and persuading the world that he was indeed the Hero. I don't know if he himself believed it, but he made others think that he must be the one.

Vin pulls apart Alendi's logbook, looking for references to the mist spirit and the Deepness. She realises that the mist spirit watching her was the same one the followed Alendi around. However, Alendi's logbook gives little information regarding the creature, and The Deepness.

Elend stands atop the city's walls, looking down at the invading armies 'digging in'. He is met by Clubs on the wall, where they discuss Elend's ability to lead. Clubs was sent by Tindwyl to tell Elend to meet her.

Tindwyl tries to fix up Elend's appearance. She gives him a uniform, and despite his objections, cuts his hair so he looks like a military man and warrior. He is to wear nothing else but this uniform until the end of the war. He is also given a crown to wear, a symbol of authority. Captain Demoux arrives bearing news from Ham that a messenger has arrived from King Straff Venture.

Chapter 17

If only the Terris religion, and belief in the Anticipation, hadn't spread beyond our people.

Chapter 18

If only the Deepness hadn't come when it did, providing a threat that drove men to desperation both in action and belief.

Chapter 19

If only I had passed over Alendi when looking for an assistant, all those years ago.

Chapter 20

It wasn't until a few years later that I began to notice the signs. I knew the prophecies - I am a Terris Worldbringer, after all. And yet, not all of us are religious men; some, such as myself, are more interested in other topics. However, during my time with Alendi, I could not help but become more interested in the Anticipation. He seemed to fit the signs so well.

Chapter 21

He was born of a humble family, yet married the daughter of a king.

Chapter 22

He could trade words with the finest of philosophers, and had an impressive memory. Nearly as good, even, as my own. Yet, he was not argumentative.

Chapter 23

The Terris rejected him, but he came to lead them.

Chapter 24

He commanded kings, and though he sought no empire, he became greater than all who had come before.

Chapter 25

He fathered no children, yet all of the land became his progeny.

Chapter 26

He was forced into war by a misunderstanding - and always claimed he was no warrior - yet he came to fight as well as any man.

Chapter 27

He was no simple soldier. He was a force of leadership - a man that fate itself seemed to support.

Part Three: King

Chapter 28

He left ruin in his wake, but it was forgotten. He created kingdoms, and then destroyed them as he made the world anew.

Chapter 29

There were other proofs to connect Alendi to the Hero of Ages. Smaller things, things that only one trained in the lore of the Anticipation would have noticed. The birthmark on his arm. The way his hair turned gray when he was berely twenty and five years of age. The way he spoke, the way he treated people, the way he ruled.
He simply seemed to fit.

Chapter 30

but, I must continue with the sparsest of detail. Space is limited. The other Worldbringers must have thought themselves humble when they came to me, admitting that they had been wrong. Even then, I was beginning to doubt my original declaration.
But, I was prideful.

Chapter 31

In the end, my pride may have doomed us all.

Chapter 32

I had never received much attention from my brethen; they thought that my work and my interests were unsuitable to a Worldbringer. They couldn't see how my work, studying nature instead of religion, benefited the people of the fourteen lands.

Chapter 33

As the one who found Alendi, however, I became someone important. Foremost among the Worldbringers.

Chapter 34

There was a place for me, in the lore of the Anticipation - I thought myself the Announcer, the prophet foretold to discover the Hero of Ages. Renouncing Alendi then would have been to renounce my new position, my acceptance, by the others.
And so I did not.

Chapter 35

But I do so now. Let it be known that I, Kwaan, Worldbringer of Terris, am a fraud.

Chapter 36

Alendi was never the Hero of Ages. At best, I have amplified his virtues, creating a Hero where there was none. At worst, I fear that all we believe may have been corrupted.

Chapter 37

And so, I come to the focus of my argument. I apologize. Even forcing my words into steel, sitting and scratching in this frozen cave, I am prone to ramble.

Chapter 38

This is the problem. Though I believed in Alendi at first, I later became suspicious. It seemed that he fit the signs, true. But, well, how can I explain this? Could it be that he fit them too well?.

Part Four: Knives

Chapter 39

I know your argument. We speak of the Anticipation, of things foretold, of promises made by our greatest prophets of old. Of course the Hero of Ages will fit the prophecies. He will fit them perfectly. That's the idea.

Chapter 40

And yet ... something about all this seemed so convenient. It felt almost as if we constructed a hero to fit our prophecies, rather than allowing one to arise naturally. This was the worry I had, the thing that should have given me pause when my brethren came to me, finally willing to believe.

Chapter 41

After that, I began to see other problems.

Chapter 42

Some of you may know of my fabled memory. It is true; I need not a Feruchemist's metalmind to memorize a sheet of words in an instant.

Chapter 43

The others call me mad. As I have said, that may be true.

Chapter 44

But must not even a madman rely on his own mind, his own experience, rather than that of others?

Chapter 45

I know what I have memorized. I know what is now repeated by the other Worldbringers.

Chapter 46

The two are not the same.

Chapter 47

Alendi believes as they do.

Chapter 48

He is a good man—despite it all, he is a good man. A sacrificing man. In truth, all of his actions—all of the deaths, destructions and pains he has caused—have hurt him deeply. All of these things were, in truth, a kind of sacrifice for him.

Part Five: Snow and Ash

Chapter 49

He is accustomed to giving up his own will before the greater good, as he sees it.

Chapter 50

I have no doubt that if Alendi reaches the Well of Ascension, he will take the power and then—in the name of the presumed greater good—give it up.

Chapter 51

And so, I have made one final gamble.

Chapter 52

My pleas, my teachings, my objections, and even my treasons were all ineffectual. Alendi has other counselors now, ones who will tell him what he wants to hear.

Chapter 53

I have a young nephew, one Rashek. He hates all of Khlennium with the passion of an envious youth. He hates Alendi even more acutely—though the two have never met—for Rashek feels betrayed that one of our oppressors should have been chosen as the Hero of Ages.

Chapter 54

Alendi will need guides through the Terris Mountains. I have charged Rashek with making certain that he and his trusted friends are chosen as those guides.

Chapter 55

Rashek is to try and lead Alendi in the wrong direction, to discourage him, or otherwise foil his quest. Alendi doesn't know that he has been deceived, that we've all been deceived, and he will not listen to me now.

Part Six: Words in Steel

Chapter 56

If Rashek fails to lead Alendi astray, then I have instructed the lad to kill Alendi.

Chapter 57

It is a distant hope. Alendi has survived assassins, wars, and catastrophes. And yet, I hope that in the frozen mountains of Terris, he may finally be exposed. I hope for a miracle.

Chapter 58

Alendi must not reach the Well of Ascension....

Chapter 59

...for he must not be allowed to release the thing that is imprisoned there.

Epilogue