Betrayal and Trust

Sazed’s discussion on betrayal and trust here is very important. It harks back to Vin’s conflicts in the first book, as well as one of the major interactions between her and Kelsier.

Kelsier believed that it was better to trust people and be betrayed than to never trust at all. He loved his wife, but worried that she’d betrayed him. It was a major source of pain and conflict for him. Yet, in the end, he decided that even if she had betrayed him, he preferred having loved her and trusted her. He treated his crew the same, not letting a worry about traitors ruin the companionship of his team.

I wanted to work this into Sazed’s scenes here because, to me, this entire series uses trust as a theme. Whom do we trust and why? Do they deserve it?

It’s about being betrayed, but taking the time to understand why we were betrayed. Kelsier forgives Mare, Vin forgives TenSoon. Sazed has to forgive God.

The First Noblemen Weren’t Rashek’s Friends

I’m curious to know if anyone figured out the logical problem with the Terrismen becoming nobility. It’s what everyone assumed, and it’s been mentioned in the previous books. Everyone knows that the Lord Ruler made his friends into Allomancers.

Only, he didn’t. That’s simply a fabrication he allowed to continue as rumor, then become fact, so that he could cover up the origins of the kandra. The men who became the first Allomancers were actually foreign kings. Rashek knew that he could conquer the world if he needed to—but he also knew that it would be a lot easier to rule that conquered world if he had allies and kingdoms who joined him out of desire, not out of fear. So, he offered Allomancy to the royal families who would give their allegiance to him. Once he showed off his own power as a Mistborn, he managed to get several important monarchs to throw their weight behind him. They got to be Allomancers.