Summary:The Well of Ascension

This page contains a chapter by chapter summary of Mistborn: 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.

Editing Note from Dean: Feel free to help me edit this page, if I miss something important. I am starting from chapter 13 (it's were I'm up to in the book). I will then come back and fill in the rest at the end. If anyone wants to upload any chapter header pictures to, this would be greatly appreciated.

Part One: Heir of the Survivor

Chapter 1

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

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.

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.

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.

Chapter 5

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.