Sazed’s Second Time in Prison

The other time Sazed was imprisoned was, of course, when he was thrown in jail in an attempt to get close to Vin and rescue her. That was way back at the end of book one. It strikes me as very amusing that the kandra have trouble adapting to what to do with a prisoner like Sazed. They eventually just lock him in one of their standard kandra prison cells and come by pouring water on him like they would one of their own.

Fantasy Stereotypes

Sazed makes an interesting note. “There is a kandra who fits in with his people as poorly as I do with my own,” he thinks. Why is it that I tend to create a culture, then build characters who are in direct opposition to the way that the rest of their people act? I think there are a couple of reasons.

First off, as I’ve said, I feel that characters are driven by conflict. The person who is a perfect example of what his people revere just doesn’t have as much conflict as the person who is in opposition to his own social mores. A Terrisman rebel, a kandra with wanderlust, a Dula who is depressed—these types of people just seem more interesting to me.

In addition, fantasy has a reputation for defining an entire culture based on a single individual. If you meet a dwarf, then you know how all dwarves act because each and every dwarf is just like this dwarf. It’s common in fantasy books to let race or nationality be the same as personality. I react against this, and so intentionally create characters who don’t fit in with their own people as a means of showing that any culture can create a multitude of different types of people.

I have to be careful not to let this be a crutch, of course.

TenSoon to the Rescue

This chapter is also for all you TenSoon lovers out there. He finally gets to show up and lay some smack down. This short action sequence lets TenSoon be a hero, which he deserves, and Sazed once again shows that he’s a far better soldier than he thinks. After reading his part in the siege of Luthadel, the reader should have no problem accepting that Sazed—with two metalminds—can take down four surprised kandra. He is a much better warrior than he lets on.

However, he should never have thought that last line of the chapter. The one that reads, “What harm could they possibly do?” I probably should have cut the line, as it feels like a cliché, but it really was what Sazed was thinking.

Foolish, foolish Sazed.