Vin's switch from glass to obsidian daggers in WoA

[fuzzyairplant]

In The Final Empire, Vin is described as using glass daggers (like most Mistborn, apparently), while the Inquisitors have obsidian weapons (axes mostly). In The Well of Ascension, Vin has obsidian daggers and no mention is made of the change. Any thoughts on why she switched to obsidian?

[That1Cellist he/him]

I think obsidian is a glass. It is possible they were obsidian all along.

[king of nowhere]

obsidian is a kind of glass, so there is little distinction

[Quantus he/him]

Adding to the Obsidian is a type of Glass, there's a YouTuber that tried to cast an obsidian blade (long dagger or short sword) and found that re-heating the obsidian more than once or twice during the casting process removed a lot of the impurities and left a mostly clear glass. So even if it started as natural Obsidian (likely since they had so much volcanic activity in the area) it might have become indistinguishable by the end of the manufacturing process. 

[cometaryorbit]

1 hour ago, That1Cellist said:

I think obsidian is a glass. It is possible they were obsidian all along.

That was my take (that obsidian dagger/glass dagger were being used interchangeably) - obsidian is a volcanic glass. That might be influence from the Mistborn RPG though.

Obsidian can be made into incredibly sharp edges, much sharper than steel etc. - edges just a few nanometers wide. It has some specialized surgical applications because of that.

Edited August 16, 2022 by cometaryorbit

[fuzzyairplant]

On 8/16/2022 at 0:30 PM, That1Cellist said:

I think obsidian is a glass. It is possible they were obsidian all along.

That makes sense! I forgot that obsidian was technically a glass, as well as a rock.

On 8/16/2022 at 1:29 PM, Quantus said:

Adding to the Obsidian is a type of Glass, there's a YouTuber that tried to cast an obsidian blade (long dagger or short sword) and found that re-heating the obsidian more than once or twice during the casting process removed a lot of the impurities and left a mostly clear glass. So even if it started as natural Obsidian (likely since they had so much volcanic activity in the area) it might have become indistinguishable by the end of the manufacturing process. 

Wow, that's really cool! I bet the casting method would make a stronger blade than just chipping it like a stone arrowhead.

On 8/16/2022 at 1:50 PM, cometaryorbit said:

Obsidian can be made into incredibly sharp edges, much sharper than steel etc. - edges just a few nanometers wide. It has some specialized surgical applications because of that.

Cool, I didn't know that!

[Through the Living Hopper He/Him]

There is a moment in WoA, when Elend is attacked at the Assembly meeting, where it says that she pulled out an obsidian dagger. On the next page, the Pewterarm died with a glass dagger through the neck. That's all the change we get, though I think she fights with obsidian daggers after that fight.

 

No idea if Brandon did that on purpose, or if it was just a slip.

[Windcaller-16]

Maybe because obsidian is harder to find and more expensive and due to her elevated position, she has a higher budget?