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Vin's earring

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Vin's earring
Type Jewelry
Function Hemalurgic spike (Allomantic bronze)[1]
Creators Vin's mother, Vin's sister
Owner Vin
World of Origin Scadrial
Universe Cosmere

“Reen said that he came home one day and found my mother covered in blood. She'd killed my baby sister. Messily. Me, however, she hadn’t touched—except to give me an earring. ”

—Vin explaining how she got the earring to Marsh[2]

Vin's earring is a simple piece, a small, silver-plated bronze stud.[3][4] Vin wears it from her sister's death until Marsh rips it out just prior to her Ascension.[5] It is also a Hemalurgic spike that enhances Vin's Allomantic bronze.[1]

Hemalurgic propertiesEdit

In the Words of Founding, Sazed explained that Vin's sister was a Seeker, that her death had turned the earring into a Hemalurgic spike, and that the earring was why Vin was able to pierce copperclouds.[1] He also noted that the foothold the earring gave Ruin in Vin's mind allowed him to subtly encourage her to continue wearing it.[6] By the time she joined Kelsier's crew, Preservation had nearly gotten her to stop wearing the earring. She put it in before starting her Allomantic training with Kelsier, however, and then continued to wear after he suggested she keep it as a back-up weapon.[7][8] Sazed also wrote that her skill with Allomancy likely came from drawing in some of the mists as a child, when she wasn't wearing the earring.[7]

HistoryEdit

Gaining the earringEdit

Vin does not remember when she got the earring, but Reen told her the story. Their mother was schizophrenic, allowing Ruin to speak to her. Ruin made her love Vin but hate her sister,[9] leading her to kill Vin's sister with the earring, then put the earring in Vin's ear. Since Vin's sister was a Seeker, this turned the earring into a Hemalurgic spike. When Reen returned home, he found Vin in her mother's lap, who was proclaiming Vin a queen, with the body of Vin's sister at her mother's feet. Reen then took Vin, and the two fled, leaving their mother behind.[2][10]

Overthrowing the Final EmpireEdit

When Vin begins learning Allomancy, she asks Kelsier if she will have to get rid of her earring, as Allomancers try to limit the amount of metal they carry on their persons. He tells her it is fine to keep it, as Allomancers cannot affect metal that pierces the skin and it could be a useful back-up weapon.[8] When training in the use of Allomantic bronze with Marsh, she tells him the story of how she got the earring.[2]

When Vin confronts the Lord Ruler during the Collapse, he rips the earring out of her ear with a Steelpush. Vin then draws on the mists to fuel her Allomancy, and is able to kill the Lord Ruler.[11] Vin recovers the earring after the fight is over.[12]

Finding the Well of AscensionEdit

After Vin attacked Cett's forces in Luthadel, she hid in Camon's safe house, where TenSoon eventually found her. Elend then came to comfort her, and she told him the story of how she got the earring.

When Vin takes the power of Preservation in The Well of Ascension, her earring pains her. At the time, she does not realize that it is because her earring is a Hemalurgic spike reacting against Preservation's power, but instead assumes it is because the earring is made of metal. She then proceeds to remove all other sources of metal from her body.[13]

After Ruin's releaseEdit

Once Ruin was free, he was able to use its nature as a Hemalurgic spike to speak with her directly.[14]

After Aradan Yomen captures Vin in Fadrex City, he takes the earring, but then returns it to her in a controlled environment. He expressed surprise at the fact that it is made of bronze and silver, as other metals are far more useful in Allomancy, and was further surprised when Vin didn't attack after receiving the earring.[3][14]

AscensionEdit

When Marsh arrives in Fadrex City, Vin used a duralumin-enhanced Steelpush on the earring, pushing it straight through his head.[15] When they again fought in Luthadel, Marsh realized that earring was a Hemalurgic spike and managed to resist Ruin's control long enough to rip it from her ear. With the earring removed, Vin was at last able to draw upon the mists and defeat the Steel Inquisitors who were attacking her, before Ascending as Preservation.[5][16]

TriviaEdit

  • Vin wore the earring in her left ear.[17]

NotesEdit

  1. ↑ a b c The Hero of Ages chapter 73 epigraph#
  2. ↑ a b c The Final Empire chapter 20#
  3. ↑ a b The Hero of Ages chapter 54#
  4. ↑ Hemalurgy - The earring has a Hemalurgic charge of Allomantic bronze, and bronze is the metal that steals mental Allomancy#
  5. ↑ a b The Hero of Ages chapter 72#
  6. ↑ The Hero of Ages chapter 75 epigraph#
  7. ↑ a b The Hero of Ages epilogue epigraph#
  8. ↑ a b The Final Empire chapter 8#
  9. ↑ The Hero of Ages Annotations
    — Arcanum - 2010-04-08#
  10. ↑ The Well of Ascension chapter 44#
  11. ↑ The Final Empire chapter 38#
  12. ↑ The Final Empire epilogue#
  13. ↑ The Well of Ascension chapter 58#
  14. ↑ a b Barnes and Noble Book Club Q&A
    — Arcanum - 2009-07-08#
  15. ↑ The Hero of Ages chapter 65#
  16. ↑ The Hero of Ages chapter 73#
  17. ↑ General Twitter 2018
    — Arcanum - 2018-10-23#
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