Difference between revisions of "Summary:The Hero of Ages"

*[[Rashek]] (mentioned only)

}}

The book opens several months since [[Vin]] released Ruin from his prison within the [[Well of Ascension|Well]]. [[Fatren]] and his town are one of many that have been devastated by Ruin's malevolent horde of [[koloss]] and the [[Mist|killer mists]]. As they prepare for death having reports of an approaching koloss army they are greeted by a lone rider. This rider proves to be an [[Allomancy|Allomancer]] identifying himself as their emperor: [[Elend Venture]].

 

Elend has mental control of the koloss army, with the steel inquisitor now deceased. Vin realizes this inquisitor had a non-allomantic speed enhancement, and after investigation, finds and removes a pewter spike from its heart. Elend ponders if there is a third power besides allomancy and feruchemy. Elend and Vin discuss their losing battle against their [[Ruin|nebulous foe]].

 

 

=== Chapter 6 ===

*[[Ruin]] (mentioned only)

}}

Marsh regains lucidity as Ruin lessens his control over the inquisitor. He is in a large koloss camp, and is accompanied by several inquisitors, many of whom have new hemalurgic spikes charged by Terris keepers. He ponders that he will never get enough control to kill himself, and that he wishes Ruin would keep control over him permanently to let him see the beauty in the destruction of the world.

 

*[[TenSoon]] (point of view)

*[[VarSell]]

*[[Rashek]] (mentioned only)

}}

TenSoon consumes a new body. Four kandra of the Fifth Generation, including [[VarSell]], escort TenSoon to trial in the [[Trustwarren]].

 

{{epigraph|Rashek moved the Well of Ascension, obviously.

It was very clever of him—perhaps the cleverest thing he did. He knew that the power would one day return to the Well, for power such as this—the fundamental power by which the world itself was formed—does not simply run out. It can be used, and therefore diffused, but it will always be renewed.

He constructed his palace around that room at its heart, the room where he would meditate, the room that was a replica of his old hovel in Terris. A refuge created during the last moments before his power ran out.}}

 

}}

 

Spook explores his past in a fever-dream, reliving the day he was taken in by [[Clubs]].

=== Chapter 24 ===

{{icon|iron|mb3|70px|center}}

*[[Breeze]]

*[[Goradel]]

}}

 

 

;Plot Summary

 

Kelsier tells Spook that he has to kill the guards to save the prisoners from being executed. Spook finds a secret bolt-hole where some of the Citizen's soldiers were liberating one of the prisoners, and attacks, killing all the soldiers, though he ends up locked in the burning building with one of the prisoners, a young girl.

 

;Plot Summary

 

Marsh observes in secret as surgeons confer about Penrod, deciding to leave the spike in place since they aren't able to safely remove it and since he seems to be in good health even with the spike, all according to Ruin's plan.

An Inquisitor who was a Seeker before his transformation would therefore have an enhanced ability to use bronze. This simple fact explains how many Inquisitors were able to pierce copperclouds.}}

 

Vin confronts Reen, demanding who or what he really is. She tries a duralumin zinc blast but nothing happens, proving the creature is not a kandra. She goes on the offensive, though Reen only backs away defensively, not attacking, and asks her to stop to talk. The lights go out, but Vin is still not able to hit the impostor. In the dark, she focuses on the allomantic pulses and realizes they match the ones from the Well of Ascension, and that the creature is Ruin. Ruin tells her that all things must end and that he is not her enemy. It also says that it has always been with her, even when she couldn't see it, since she was a child.

 

Ruin's prison, however, was fabricated of that power. Therefore, it was attuned to the power of Preservation—the very power of the Well. When that power was released and dispersed, rather than utilized, it acted as a key. The subsequent "unlocking" is what finally freed Ruin.}}

 

Sazed, Breeze and Allrianne await Spook's return to the storage cavern, and speculate on his actions and his ability to jump two stories without being severely injured. Sazed thinks that are no known examples of an allomancer gaining new powers after snapping.

 

Which was why Ruin became so obsessed with finding the hidden part of his self.}}

 

 

Elend stands in the mists, worrying about Vin, but also having faith in her ability to take care of herself. Lord Cett tells Elend that the siege isn't working, and that they should attack Fadrex then return to Luthadel. They are interrupted by a disturbance and Elend leaves to investigate and it turns out to be a brawl between mistfallen and other soldiers which Elend helps break up. Elend orders Demoux to march with the mistfallen back to Luthadel to assist Penrod. Elend goes to Noorden's tent to change his battle tactics against Yomen.

 

He was also able to affect and control far more people than before. Where he had once influenced only a few select individuals, he could now direct entire koloss armies.}}

 

Vin ruminates on all the knowledge she has about Ruin to try to figure out how to defeat it. Having no light, it takes her some time to explore the cavern. She finds the metal plate and reads it by touch. The Lord Ruler wrote that Ruin had spoken in his mind, that he tried to be a good ruler, and that he cared despite the fact that if anyone read these words that meant he was dead, and that he hid Ruin's body well and that Ruin is not omnipotent.

 

Thus, Ruin needed a much more indirect way to achieve his purpose. He needed someone he hadn't tainted too much, but someone he could lead by the nose, carefully manipulating.}}

 

 

Sazed researches how to refill the canals with water, withdrawing a book on engineering from his copperminds. Sazed speaks in detail to Breeze about how canals work, which pleases Breeze since Sazed is showing interest in his scholarship again. Breeze tells Sazed to be himself and do what makes him happy. Breeze also expresses confidence in Spook's leadership though Sazed has reservations about him. Spook joins them and states that it feels wrong that Quellion hasn't attacked them. He says that Quellion came to power by getting people to go into the mists and declaring all who lived were pure, and by killing nobles in the name of the Survivor, though Quellion concealed the facts that no nobles died in the mists. Sazed says he is ready to start construction of the structures to redirect water to the canals. Goradel shows up to say Beldre has appeared asking to speak with Spook.

 

On the time scale of gods and their power, this very tricky timing was as precise as an expert cut performed by the most talented of surgeons.}}

 

 

Vin uses her last allomantic vial and exits through the cave door past several men, using a steel push to try to escape using the ceiling trapdoor but she fails because the trapdoor has weights on top to keep it from opening. The first man who entered, dressed as a noble, is Telden Hasting, and he tells her that she will be freed from the cavern if she agrees to drink drugged wine. Vin tries to bluff Telden but he doesn't fall for it, so she takes the wine and falls unconscious.

 

To achieve such things, he apparently began with people who already had a tenuous grip on reality. Their insanity made them more open to his touch, and he could use them to spike more stable people. Either way, it's impressive how many important people Ruin managed to spike. King Penrod, ruling Luthadel at the time, is a very good example of this.}}

 

 

 

Elend uses steelpushes to travel toward an area where a koloss army was sighted. He locates the army attacking a village and starts fighting and killing koloss. After a while, he uses a duralumin pull to successfully control the army. Then he returns to his camp.

In the end, the entire system fell apart. Ash fell so steadily that it smothered and killed, and the world's plant life died off. The microbes had no chance of keeping up, for they needed time and nutrients to reproduce.}}

 

TenSoon goes to Luthadel to find Vin, but finds instead an overcrowded ash-filled city. He proceeds to Keep Venture to eavesdrop on a couple of guards but doesn't learn anything about Vin's whereabouts. He thinks of a new plan however, going to where OreSeur buried Kelsier's bones and absorbing them as a new disguise.

 

Ruin, of course, eventually acquired the ability to end the world and gain the satisfaction he wanted. But, then, that wasn't originally part of the bargain.}}

 

 

Spook talks with Beldre, who tells him that she is half-skaa and that she was going to be executed but was saved when the Final Empire was overthrown. Beldre says that Spook is like Quellion but he denies this. Spook speaks of his life in Kelsier's crew and of Sazed and Breeze allowing him to give orders even though he feels like he isn't really in charge. He speaks of Vin and Elend, and promises to try to save the city and not harm Quellion, then leaves to go out to the city.

 

And Preservation eventually broke it.}}

 

Vin awakes in chains, and with no metals in her stomach to burn. Yomen describes all the precautions that are in effect to keep Vin from escaping. Yomen took Vin's earring to examine it, and it confuses him, since it is made of silver and bronze, a combination of little use to an allomancer. He allows her to take the earring and she does, putting it back in place. One of Elend's soldiers is escorted in to ask Vin a question to verify that she is still alive and not a kandra impostor. Yomen says that she was captured to be executed for the murder of the Lord Ruler, though he will allow her to speak in her own defense. Ruin whispers to her to kill Yomen.

 

These two minds were, of course, independent of the raw force of their powers. Actually, I am uncertain of how thoughts and personalities came to be attached to the powers in the first place—but I believe they were not there originally. For both powers could be detached from the minds that ruled them.}}

 

 

Elend walks back to the camp at Fadrex accompanied by his new army of thirty thousand koloss. He feels heavily burdened by the hardships of his job and kneels down in the ash, ready to give up. The mist figure appears, kneeling next to him. It points to the northeast when Elend asks what it wants him to do, but Elend says he is confused. Elend manages to communicate with it using yes or no questions, with the figure waving its arms for yes, so that Ruin can't change its message, and Elend asks questions about the figure, the mists, the ashfalls and Ruin. The figure indicates that it doesn't want him to attack Fadrex, and that the mists are not killing people, and points at Elend's metal vial, then vanishes after saying that they maybe can survive. The encounter revigorates Elend though he isn't sure why.

 

As it was, the corpse was left alone to be buried in ash. The world was dying. Its gods had to die with it.}}

 

 

Spook works on a plan for Quellion to reveal his allomantic ability. He discusses the plan with Beldre, who asks to be allowed to write a letter to Quellion to convince him to not oppose Spook, and he gives permission. Goradel summons Spook to alert him that the Citizen's soldiers left the Canton building. Spook sends scouts to investigate where the soldiers went to.

There is more to this. Much more that even I do not yet comprehend.}}

 

 

 

Ruin's voice gives Vin insights about the creature. She thinks that it acts similar to emotional allomancy. She realizes that she can still communicate with the thousand koloss but can't communicate intelligent thoughts to them and can't think of any other valuable way to use them.

Or, at least, keep him from destroying things too quickly. Once his mind was "freed" from its prison the destruction accelerated quickly.}}

 

 

 

Sazed instructs Spook on how to activate the water flow mechanism to divert the water back to the canals and verifies that they will be clear of people. Beldre pleas for more time for Quellion, but Spook declines, as Beldre's letter to Quellion was met with a cold response.

Of course, there was another part for him to play. Granted, not large, but still important, all things considered.}}

 

 

TenSoon reaches Urteau, and finds that the city has a great number of burned buildings, though the canals are again flowing. He finds Elend's soldiers guarding a ministry building and wanting to save time, tells them he is a messenger from Elend and wants to speak to the city leaders. He finds Breeze in charge, who thinks he is OreSeur, but TenSoon corrects him. They both go to Sazed to discuss the situation. Sazed explains that Vin is at Fadrex City, and TenSoon is upset since that is a great distance from Urteau. Sazed asks why TenSoon wants to see Vin, and he replies that it has to do with the Hero of Ages and the end of the world. TenSoon is puzzled by the lack of reaction on Sazed's part.

 

I wonder what he thought when those creations repeatedly failed him.}}

 

 

Vin mock attempts to escape from her confinement, attacking guards as they retrieve her to bring her to Yomen. She downs four of them, but there are twenty at least, and they easily foil her. She is brought to Yomen, and after being shackled to a bench, secretly rubs some grease from her food on her hands and wrists. She is able to escape her shackles and throws silver screws at the guards to distract them but she is unable to grab Yomen since he is burning atium. He has her sit back down, unshackled. She says he is a mistborn but he denies this and tells her it is time to make a decision about her execution. Some other obligators join Yomen and Yomen questions why Vin's army is there, and she tells of needing the supplies and of Cett wanting to reclaim his kingdom. Ruin walks around Yomen proclaiming him a disappointment. Yomen asks Vin about her role in the Church of the Survivor. Yomen questions faith in an unseen god and Vin replies that is what Yomen is doing, but he denies the Lord Ruler is gone. Yomen asks her to tell about her slaying the Lord Ruler and she gives all the details save about her drawing from the mists. Yomen states that this is all a ploy by the Lord Ruler. Vin replies that she isn't the Survivor's Heir, but rather the Lord Ruler's, and that he isn't returning.

 

True, the mists did also cause some deaths in those who went out in them, but the number killed was not a large enough percentage of the population to be a threat to our survival as a species. The ash, that was our real problem. The smoke filling the atmosphere, the black flakes covering up everything beneath, the eruptions of the volcanic ashmounts . . . Those were what would kill the world.}}

 

 

Elend arrives at his camp with his group of koloss. Elend tells Hammond that Vin is still alive, since her bonded koloss haven't lost control. Hammond says that scouts from the Central Dominance say that Luthadel and many villages are in very bad shape, and that some cities have been destroyed by earthquakes and lava. Elend orders Hammond to plan a surprise attack for the morning with the koloss leading the way.

 

The power in these few beads was so concentrated that it could last through ten centuries of breeding and inheritance.}}

 

 

Spook is alive but unconscious, badly burned and slowly recovering in a hospital, as Sazed watches on. He gave pewter to Spook but this does not speed up his healing. Beldre is there also and she speaks of how Spook got her brother to act as he did in the past, and that he will survive and that he is a hero to the city.

 

Ruin did actually manage to get a spike into Yomen, once. Yomen, however, removed the spike before Ruin got a firm grip on him. It was much easier for Ruin to get a hold on people who were passionate and impulsive than it was for him to hold on to people who were logical and prone to working through their actions in their minds.}}

 

 

Ruin gloats to Vin about his pending victory. Vin listens to his ramblings, looking for clues to defeat him.

 

He tried to spike Yomen, failed, and by that time, Elend's army had arrived. So, he used a different pawn to investigate the cache for him and discover if the atium really was there or not. He didn't commit too many resources to the city at first, fearing a deception on the Lord Ruler's part. Like him, I still wonder if the caches were, in part, intended for just that purpose—to distract Ruin and keep him occupied.}}

 

 

 

=== Chapter 65 ===

He could have, I suppose, kept Allomancy secret and used Feruchemists as his primary warriors and assassins. However, I think he was wise to choose as he did. Feruchemists, by the nature of their powers, have a tendency toward scholarship. With their incredible memories, they would have been very difficult to control over the centuries. Indeed, they were difficult to control, even when he suppressed them. Allomancy not only provided a spectacular new ability without that drawback, it offered a mystical power he could use to bribe kings to his side.}}

 

 

Elend asks Hammond if attacking the city with his koloss is the right thing to do, and Hammond replies that it isn't. Elend orders the camp packed up, and for them to return to Luthadel.

 

Yes, it would have taken a man of supreme will to resist Ruin even slightly while bearing the spikes of an Inquisitor.}}

 

 

Sazed rides TenSoon, who has taken the form of a very muscular horse, to the kandra homeland. TenSoon tells about the creation and abilities of kandra, and about other creatures of Ruin. TenSoon tells Sazed that Vin will lead an army of allomancers to the homeland, and that Sazed is to convince the First Generation how dire the situation is, since they have a task to do. They arrive at their destination, which turns out to be a cave complex at the Pits of Hathsin, where the homeland is located. TenSoon leaves and Sazed enters the kandra tunnel complex, and encounters a couple of kandra guards, who escort him forward.

 

Four spikes also made them easier for Allomancers to control. In our time, it required a duralumin Push to take control of a kandra. Koloss, however, could be taken by a determined regular Push, particularly when they were afraid.}}

 

 

Elend and Vin and Yomen watch from inside Fadrex as an enormous army of koloss gathers outside. A gigantic earthquake hits, doing great damage to the city. Vin is again unable to use the mists, and she is wearing her earring. She ponders trying to bluff Ruin, and how to make the mists help her again. She tells Elend that she has to get the atium cache and bring it there, and leaves for Luthadel, hoping to make Ruin tip his hand.

 

This oversight cost him much, but gained the world so much more.}}

 

 

Sazed is escorted through the kandra tunnels, and notices the kandra displaying fear toward him. He inquires about the status of the First Contract, now that the Lord Ruler is dead, but the kandra who answers doesn't know. He is led to the Trustwarren, and proclaims himself the Announcer, and that he is Terris as are the kandra, and that he discovered the Hero and has watched her and tells them the end is here. He is given a table to write at, and a crowd of kandra gathers, but they are only the Second Generation.

 

And who decided to use the neutral pronoun, so that we wouldn't know if the Hero was a woman or a man?}}

 

 

 

=== Chapter 70 ===

The point, however, is that people with unstable personalities were more susceptible to Ruin's influence, even if they didn't have a spike in them. That, indeed, is likely how Zane got his spike.}}

 

 

Elend and Yomen tour the city of Fadrex. Elend lectures Yomen on the fact that leading soldiers is about more than tactical knowledge and that emotion and courage are important. They travel to the infirmary in the Canton building. A boy with a case of mistsickness is brought in. Elend asks Yomen if he knew anything about the mistsickness and mentions the statistical anomaly, which Yomen didn't know about but which he doesn't seem excited about, since he says that sixteen is a sacred number in the Lord Ruler's religious doctrine. Yomen states there must be sixteen allomantic metals, including two undiscovered ones, to fit in with the pattern of sixteen. Elend watches the boy in pain and realizes that his experience is similar to the beatings used to snap allomancers. He goes to the infirmary to find someone who is mistfallen and has him drink an allomantic vial. After a few moments, the soldier feels odd, and Elend tells him to burn his metal, and Elend senses an allomantic pulse. He explains the mists were snapping allomancers, not harming them. Ruin sends his koloss to attack. Elend has Yomen gather every bit of physical allomancy powder he can find and have the mistfallen inbibe it since they will be able to burn it allomantically to fight the koloss.

 

As for the other aspects of the number . . . well, even I am still investigating that. Suffice it to say that it has great ramifications regarding how the world, and the universe itself, works.}}

 

 

 

TenSoon finds a large river of lava blocking his path to Fadrex, and feels despair that he won't be able to reach his destination in time due to the required detour.

Of course, this did give us a slight advantage, at the end. Ruin had a lot of trouble giving duralumin to his Inquisitors, since they'd need an Allomancer who could burn it to kill before they could use it. And, since none of the duralumin Mistings in the world knew about their power, they didn't burn it and reveal themselves to Ruin. That left most Inquisitors without the power of duralumin, save in a few important cases—such as Marsh—where they got it from a Mistborn. This was usually considered a waste, for if one killed a Mistborn with Hemalurgy, one could draw out only one of their sixteen powers and lost the rest. Ruin considered it much better to try to subvert them and gain access to all of their power.}}

 

 

Vin reaches Luthadel, sensing that a dozen mistborn are chasing her. She goes to Kredik Shaw, and Ruin questions her, saying his minions already search the Lord Ruler's palace for the atium. Vin says she will never reveal the location of the atium cache, and Ruin orders his Inquisitors, thirteen in all, to attack her as Marsh watches. She sees one of them use feruchemical speed from extra spikes that it has. She fights well but is eventually overpowered, and pleads for the mists to aid her in her moment of desperation but nothing happens. Marsh tortures her, breaking her arms and one of her legs, telling her to reveal the location of the atium.

 

There is at least one other case of a person who could pierce copperclouds. In her case, however, the situation was slightly different. She was a Mistborn from birth, and her sister was the Seeker. The death of that sister–and subsequent inheritance of power via the Hemalurgic spike used to kill that sister–left her twice as good at burning bronze as a typical Mistborn. And that let her see through the copperclouds of lesser Allomancers.}}

 

 

TenSoon senses a change in the mists, and notices that instead of swirling chaotically, they seem to be all flowing toward Luthadel. He feels invigorated by this and heads toward the capital.

 

There were other reasons, of course. But even Ruin didn't know them.}}

 

 

Elend and Yomen discuss the disappearance of the mists and the unusual heat. Elend orders everyone gather inside the caverns. Yomen gives his bead of atium to Elend, and reveals that he is a [[Atium|Seer]], an atium misting. Elend leaves to find Vin.

 

In most cases—depending on the size of the spike and the length of time it had been worn—a single spike gave Ruin only minimal powers over a person. He could appear to them, and could warp their thoughts slightly, making them overlook certain oddities—for instance, their compulsion for keeping and wearing a simple earring.}}

 

 

Sazed learns a great deal about the kandra, their god Terr which translates into "to preserve" and the Terris prophecies which speak of the Hero of Ages being Preservation's successor. Other tenets of the religion focus on scholarship and building over destroying, aspects that seem mundane to Sazed. He then reviews his metalminds for information about the followers of the religions that he studied, and finds that their religious beliefs had more to do with their perception of the world than with the tenets and rules of the religions themselves. Sazed realizes that he has to decide whether or not to accept that the sign he witnessed was divine or simple chance. He realizes that as Breeze said that he is not meant to be an atheist. Having come to a decision, he goes to seek out the First Generation to learn about the First Contract.

 

This, then, should have been our first clue. Allomancers could see through the mists because the mists were, indeed, composed of the very same power as Allomancy. Once attuned by burning tin, the Allomancer was almost part of the mists. And therefore, they became more translucent to him.}}

 

 

 

Vin is floating above Luthadel, full of power, and encounters Ruin in the form of a cloud of shifting smoke. He says welcome to godhood. Vin's awareness and understanding expand greatly and she sees that the planet is rapidly dying, though many people have sought shelter in the storage caverns. She intervenes to block up the Ashmounts and clean the air, and instantly the world heats up from the release of the obstructions to the sunlight. She starts making changes which cause other macro problems as Ruin laughs at her futile efforts and blocks her from keeping a tidal wave from hitting some cities. Ruin speaks of his frustration at the balance between their two forces, like allomancy pushes and pulls having consequences. Ruin speaks of Preservation's desire to create humanity which was intentionally imbalanced. Vin realizes that she and Ruin are currently balanced but won't be if Ruin finds the hidden part of his self. Vin sees Elend heading to Luthadel.

More telling, perhaps, was the fact that when a Hemalurgist used his abilities, it drove the mists away. The closer one came to Ruin, the more under his influence, and the longer one bore his spikes, the more the mists were repelled.}}

 

 

Elend finds the ruins of Kredik Shaw, and searches throughout Luthadel for Vin. He finds Penrod's corpse at Keep Venture, and tries to figure out where the people of Luthadel went. He hears the wind whisper to him west, pits and heads that way.

 

When people burned atium, then, they were drawing upon the power of Ruin—which is, perhaps, why atium turned people into such efficient killing machines. They didn't use up this power, however, but simply made use of it. Once a nugget of atium was expended, the power would return to the Pits and begin to coalesce again—just as the power at the Well of Ascension would return there again after it had been used.}}

 

 

 

=== Chapter 79 ===

The three times she drew upon their power, then, were the three times when her earring had been removed from her body. When she had fought the Lord Ruler, his Allomancy had ripped it free. When fighting Marsh in Fadrex, she had used the earring as a weapon. And, at the end, Marsh ripped it out, freeing her and allowing the mists—which were now desperate for a host, since Preservation's last wisp was gone—to finally pour themselves into her.}}

 

 

Vin senses a change, and follows Ruin to the Pits of Hathsin, where she sees a refugee camp where Terris people are helping out. She sees something shining brightly, and hears KanPaar order some atium to be sold so that they could become rich and rule instead of serve. Vin feels a new appreciation for the lengths the Lord Ruler went to in concealing the atium. Ruin seizes control of KanPaar and demands to know where the atium is.

 

Elend arrives at the Pits of Hathsin, and sees some of his soldiers there, the mistfallen he had sent away with Demoux.

 

 

=== Chapter 80 ===

They were of Preservation all along.}}

 

 

Demoux tells Elend that there are several hundred thousand refugees at the Pits. Elend is concerned since an army of koloss is heading toward them, with no city walls or defenses for protection. Demoux tells Elend that the refugees came to the Pits because Kelsier told them to. Elend asks to speak to the men who saw Kelsier, and to have the mistfallen consume allomantic metals.

 

Ruin, subtle as ever, knew that he couldn't stop the mists from doing their work. However, he could do the unexpected and encourage them. And so, he helped make them stronger. That brought death to the plants of the world, and created the threat that became known as the Deepness.}}

 

 

Vin watches as the refugees flee to the kandra caverns. Ruin continues to taunt her. She sees the approaching doom, and grows angry and attacks Ruin. This surprises Ruin as he did not think attacking was possible due to Preservation's [[Intent]]. She is not able to defeat Ruin since they are too evenly matched.

 

{{epigraph|Once Vin died, the end came quickly. We were not prepared for it—but even all of the Lord Ruler's planning could not have prepared us for this. How did one prepare for the end of the world itself?}}

 

 

 

== Epilogue ==

Of all of us who touched it, I feel she was the most worthy.}}

 

 

 

 

 

== Ars Arcanum ==