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I'm rereading Mistborn: The Final Empire and I came across a passage that I hadn't taken note of before between Kelsier and Vin: K: I've started being more careful since you trailed me last week- at first I assumed you were a Venture Mistborn V: They have some? K: I'm sure they do. Most of the Great Houses do- but you friend Elend isn't one of them. He's not even a Misting. V: How do you know? He could be hiding it. K: He nearly died in a raid a couple of years ago- if there was ever a time to show your powers, it would have been then. -Mistborn: The Final Empire chapter 13 So, Elend almost died in this raid. Do.we know what the raid was? Was it as minor as skaa rushing the keep, or another House? What I want it to be is a skaa raid, that most definitely ended in the skaa's death. Because I think that answers one huge question: Why did Elend start to study about the treatment of Skaa? Imagine this raid. A group of Skaa men and women, let's say 40 or so want to get into keep Venture because of some grudge with Straff. Maybe he was careless at a brothel with skaa girls, and he had the place destroyed with everyone inside, or maybe he's just the most accessible nobleman to them, and they want to take someone down. So they rush Keep Venture, or maybe they sneak in, maybe even with help from the inside (after all, guards for the Keeps are many times also Skaa looking for money) Now, thier goal is Straff, but they don't get him. Maybe Straff escaped, or has a safe room that he can hide in, but Elend was not so lucky. Elend is the only Venture there facing the ire of these skaa, and he's terrified, and his father has left him behind. What if this neat death experience with a group of Skaa instead of spurring him towards hatred of them like his father and the majority of noble society, jolts his curious mind to wonder what happened to make these Skaa hate him, when he had done nothing to harm them. It also illustrates an earlier example of Strafford treatment towards Elend. Anyway, I wanted to share that because I think it's an interesting little hole in Elend's story. What do you think? Am I missing something? Has Brandon already spoken about this? -Benn

So, before I write this, I would like you to know that I have only read book one of the second Era, The Alloy of Law. So, this being said, some events that could occur are not feasible due to my lack of information. (Please don't nerd shame me.) I read somewhere that Brandon was going to write a Mistborn, and my mind was suddenly sent whirling in a series of thoughts about what a Modern Era for the Mistborn world might be. Now, this theory is barring any larger Cosmere related events, staying with Scandrial only. Now, as of the Alloy of Law, there are two main religions of which I know, namely being Pathism and the Church of the Survivor. While all people currently have knowledge of Vin and Elend as the Final Emperor and the Ascendant Warrior, and Spook as the Lord Mistborn, I believe that such facts will fade away with time. By the time that Scandrial reaches modernization, the religions will become almost Abrahamic. Each religion will have common aspects, such as the belief that Vin, Kelsier, Elend and Spook were religious figures, either negative or positive. The Path The modern incarnation of the Path, which we be a modern analogue of Christianity, stating that Harmony is the God above who watches over the people with a specific design for each of them. In order to show the one true "path", the Lord Mistborn emerged as the chosen of Harmony, their analogue to Jesus. Now, as a Jesus-like figure, the Lord Mistborn is credited with being a legendary character who committed intense acts of heroism and helped save Scandrial from the chaotic aftermath of the rule of the Final Emperor, who shall be remembered as one who rejected the Path and Harmony, having restricted the people's ability to follow the Path. Elend and Vin will be turned into chaotic evildoers who sought to bring forth evil machinations and enslave the people. They, alongside those who follow the Church of the Survivor, will be said to have disobeyed the rulings of Harmony, bringing discontent into the lives of those who sought to follow the Path. The Church of the Survivor The Church of the Survivor will have evolved into something similar to Judaism, with the belief that there are some who were chosen by the Survivor, and are descendants of those who are born to survive. However, it is not limited to those who possess the blood of the "chosen". People who wish to join the Church must prove themselves worthy of being a part of the establishment, either by paying a great amount of money, as proof of their "survival capabilities in the modern world", or being a "chosen by the mists"(an allomancer).The Church of the Survivor is based around religious offerings to Kelsier, leaving animals and money within the mist, as "proof of survival". The leaders of the Church will have become corrupt, dealing among themselves the funds for joining the Church, and taking bribes to bless things in the name of the Survivor. Although the Church will have become corrupt, it remains one of the largest religions on Scandrial, due to the high number who had been members of the Church for many generations.To the Church, Harmony is considered a demonic being who represents constrictions against survival, who attempts to sway those from the way of survival and onto the Path of doom. The Order of the Sliver The above name I chose due to not knowing the real name of those who follow the Sliver(Lord Ruler). By the time when the Third Age series begins, the Order of the Sliver has evolved along the lines of Islam, being a largely new and powerful religion, having been suppressed for centuries. Those who believe in the Sliver all agree that their god, the Sliver, had stayed among them for many generations, ruling men and Preserving order. After many generations, however, the Sliver was banished from Scandrial by the Survivor, a false god who sought to usurp the Sliver's place as god of the people. A demonic man who used the powers granted by Sliver to turn the people against him, the Survivor banished the Sliver using evil and Ruinous powers. However, the Sliver raised up two prophets to restore Preservation and end the Survivor. After killing the Survivor, the Final Emperor and the Ascendant Warrior raised the Sliver's empire to new heights, and after dying to defend the Empire, the Lord Mistborn, a second incarnation of the Survivor, used his powers to sway the Empire to his control, and slowly dismantled the Empire. Those who are among the Order of the Sliver do not possess any serious form of liturgy and format for rituals, with each person being called to restore the Empire in the name of the Sliver.

On page 385 of Hero of Ages, I found an interesting quote: The Stormfather gives Kaladin some interesting information as well: Doesn't this sound like an interesting coincidence of words? Maybe I'm missing something entirely, but do you think there's an in-Cosmere connection to what Elend is saying and what's happening on Roshar, or do you think this is just Brandon introducing this foreshadowing as an easter egg into the Stormlight Archive?

Alright guys, I've been absent from the shard for a long time, so maybe this has been pointed out before and I missed it...but... I'm rereading mistborn (again...of course) and I noticed something I didn't before (again).When Elend goes to the koloss camp and randomly decides to pick a fight with one...he gets a little inspiration from out of nowhere "Only one way to win a knife fight against a guy with a sword... The thought, oddly, hadn't come from one of his trainers, or from Vin. He wasn't sure where it came from, but he trusted it. Close in tight, as fast as possible, and kill quickly." It never jumped out at me before, and maybe this comes up in secret history and I forgot, but could this be Kel or Leras giving a little timely advice to Elend in a time of need? My first thought was Leras, after all, even his divine avatar carries around a shank. But unless I'm mistaken, that's not how preservation works. Then I remembered that Kel gets in a few words from beyond the grave, but I don't remember this happening in secret history...also...if my memory of the time line is right, Kel was all bound up at the well during these events. So...did I make a good find...or am I just making stuff up? Thoughts?

Vin and Elend are currently in the Final Four of a "March Madness" style cage match against Legolas and Gimli. If they win this match they will most likely go to the finals against Sevro and Darrow from the Red Rising trilogy. (Which should be an interesting match up, if you ask me.) However...they are currently losing by a minuscule amount, and today is the last day to vote! Everyone who is a fan of Brandon Sanderson, I believe that it is YOUR DUTY to defend Vin and Elend's honor! We all know that in a real fight Legolas and Gimli have nothing on our beloved duo. So please, get out and vote. It's your 17th Shard civic duty!!!! (PS - You can only vote once per device, so if you can: vote on your phone, your computer, and your tablet!)

I'm reading Alloy of Law and I just thought of something. We know that Preservation tried to help Vin several times, but couldn't because of her earring, right? But why didn't the mists reach out to Elend like they did to Vin at the end of THoA? I mean.... Vin was using Hemalurgy, so I get why the mists couldn't help her. But they could have helped Elend in THoA, right?

So in Elends final moments, he burns duralumin with atium. What happened? He couldn't see more than Marsh? Why did he die? What did he see? So my theory is that he saw the whole future at least until Sazeds ascension. He knew that if he survived and killed Marsh, then Vin and Ruin would just be fighting for eternity, but if Elend died, then like Vin said, there was no one else for her to stay alive for, and then she would indeed sacrifice herself to destroy Ruin. Elend saw that Sazed would pick up the powers after and create peace. He even let Marsh live because he knew he would be good in the future, and since it was too late to stop the blow he just changed it course a tad to not kill Marsh. That's why he wasn't surprised to see Sazed as Harmony. Plus he knew that this was the only way he and Vin would be together again. This my theory. Any thoughts?

I just made playlists on Spotify for Vin and Elend (together), Marsh, and Kelsier The Last Emperor and The Ascendant Warrior ( VinXElend some are couple songs, some are for one of them) 1. Take Me to Church - Hozier (when I first heard this I immeadiately thought of Elend joining the Church of the Survivor so he is literally worshiping his wife) 2. Not Gonna Die - Skillet (for the final battle with Ruin to defend the Atium pits) 3. Indestructible - Disturbed (I hear this everytime I read the battle of Vin vs 13 Inquisitors) 4. Sweet Sacrifice - Evansecence [because they both have to sacrifice themselves in the end (Elend's was unwilling but he needed to die so that Vin could sacrifice herself to defeat Ruin )] 5. All That I'm Living For - Evanescence (Elend is Vin's only reason to live, which she states in her final words) 6. Like You - Evanescence [they both die in the end (and she dies to join him in the afterlife)] 7. Weight of the World - Evanescence (because they take over the world) 8. Viva la Vida - Coldplay (this song makes me think of Elend after he was deposed, also "Revolutionaries wait for my head on a silver plate" as his cause of death was decapitation, "Just a puppet on a lonely string" he is basically Vin's political puppet in WOA) 9. I Will Not Bow - Breaking Benjamin (Vin will not let Ruin defeat her) 10. Iridescent - Linkin Park [the final battle (Vin to Elend)] 11. Final Masquerade - Linkin Park (their dance at Yomen's Ball) 12. All Around Me - Flyleaf (the chorus for the final battle, all of the song just for them as a couple) 13. Good Enough - Evanescence (this fits them really well because she didn't think she was good enough for him at first but as time goes on she accepts that they are meant to be) 14. Human - Christina Perri (this one is really good for Vin in general) The Survivor (Kelsier) 1. Centuries - Fall Out Boy (I think "You will remember me for centuries" is pretty self explanatory) 2. Lanterns - Rise Against (this song is like a call to arms for the rebellion) 3. Prayer of the Refugee - Rise Against (I see this as Kell accepting Vin into his group) 4. The Music of the Night - Andrew Lloyd Weber's The Phantom of the Opera (the night is his paradise) 5. Warriors - Imagine Dragons (I see this representing his letter to Vin) 6. From Heads Unworthy - Rise Against (he would overthrow TLR no matter what) Ironeyes (Marsh) 1. Monster - Skillet (he has to control his dark side) 2. Animal I Have Become - Three Days Grace (he has become a monster) 3. What I've Done - Linkin Park (he has to forgive himself for killing Elend) 4. Until It's Gone - Linkin Park (this works for him about Mare and Kell) 5. Nothing Left to Say - Imagine Dragons 6. Monster - Imagine Dragons (there is no one else like him as of AOL, he has to fight the evil of Ruin through HOA) 7. The Becoming - Nine Inch Nails (he is no longer who he was before) 8. Papercut - Linkin Park (he has Ruin's voice in his mind throughout HOA) 9. Broken Crown - Mumford and Sons (Marsh nearly committing suicide and fighting Ruin's influence on his mind) Let me know what you guys think! Edit: Added songs, added reasons for song choices

So, originally, Brandon had planned for Vin to be a guy. I've been wondering how that would affect the gender of some other characters, or even if it would affect the gender of other characters.

This might be crazy, but is it somehow possible that Vin is Cultivation? From WoB: Also: Also:

Here's a sample of the first page. But, over the course of a few different installments, I've written over a thousand pages, and now...maybe after a bit more editing, I'm going to start trying to query agents, so opinions and critiques would be welcome. The heavens shimmered with the light of a thousand suns, refusing to dim or diminish for even a single instant—unwavering in its effortless majesty. This was the Zenith, the top of the world, a place seemingly free of a single tangible defect for the cruel and fickle whim of the naked eye to hone in upon. The Zenith was a glorious place, more splendid than anything a mortal could ever hope to imagine—its grand temples and palaces, hoisted up by towering ornately carved columns—hanging tranquilly above the shimmering canopy of the sky, perimeters encircled by lush foliage bearing delectable otherworldly fruit. But, for the denizens of this realm, the loyal angels of the Zenith, the trappings of paradise were a motif that they were well acquainted with. These Angels were no strangers to fear, and, ironically enough, no strangers to vice. They lived like you or I. Myria was no different from any other angel, at least in that respect. She was an average angel, who possessed no truly exceptional qualities amongst her kin, but she was, nonetheless, a dutiful servant to the heavens--honest, diligent, and perhaps most important of all, forever in the earnest. That said, even an average angel was bound to outshine an exceptional mortal in regard to strength and beauty, so perhaps words such as average do a poor job in portraying the true majesty of an angel. But, this fact was irrelevant to Myria, who had never so much as laid an eye on a mortal or the mortal world. All Myria knew of life was an undying reverence to her Master, Lord Actrius—the infallible god king of the universe. All angels in the Zenith possessed a nigh incalculable degree of admiration for Lord Actrius. He was their creator, a beacon of undying light that stood in sharp contrast to the evil they had been created to combat, and that was why angels, by the hundreds, had amassed today in front of Lord Actrius's palace. A dense crowd of angels stood in a tightly huddled mass in the palace courtyard, anxious gazes piercing past the palace’s ascending steps and into the darkened entrance hall, a web of gently sauntering shadows streaking across the floor beneath, thick towering columns casting long dark streaks across the sun-drenched marble. Deeply ensconced within the thick crowd, Myria stood giddy, overcome with a mix of excitement and fear. Today Lord Actrius himself was to address his angels. The thought that Lord Actrius would be in such close proximity in mere moments caused Myria's heart to flutter in excitement, a rush of exhilaration coursing through her. Such was the level of anticipation that the massive crowd of angels had gathered hours in advance and the much anticipated moment was rapidly approaching. But, despite the apparently joyous nature of this occasion, an uncomfortable feeling was beginning to well up inside Myria--an impending sense of dread that she could not seem to shake off. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't stop asking herself a single terrifying question—will I live to see another day?