I finally understand what Elend saw.

[Ale the Metallic Conjurer he/him]

One of the things that bothered me about The Hero of Ages was Elend’s duralumin-atium burst. It’s iconic but it always annoyed me why Elend could do what Ruin couldn’t - foresee Preservation’s plan and Ruin’s death. However, now that Secret History has given insight into precognition I finally understand Elend’s sacrifice.

Elend never knew for certain if his sacrifice would be guaranteed to drive Vin to murder-suicide Ruin. But he aimed to protect the world and trusted Vin, so he sacrificed himself to help her. This is something Ruin - an unaware Vessel filled with the contextless embodiment of decay - was unwilling to do.

Before heading west to the Ire’s fortress, Preservation showed Kelsier a future vision that starts from him heading west. The future vision held Connections between Kelsier and his soul to Preservation, Kelsier to everything and everyone on Scadrial, Preservation to the ground and air and metals. And in the vision, it held a path of future possibilities - many, thousands upon thousands, infinite, tangled with each other. Kelsier could only glean vague, general impressions because his mind isn’t expanded to sort through or understand the sensation, the information, or the individual possibilities.

Elend saw into the future the same way Kelsier did - through glimpsing Connections. But he could understand all the possibilities because Atium expands the mind. When burning duralumin+atium, Elend became temporarily Connected to Kelsier, Vin, Ruin’s essence, the future, the past, everything and everyone in the battlefield. Those Connections are the blue lines pointing from his chest in the Physical Realm and the white lines in the Cognitive Realm. 

Seeing the future possibilities within those Connections, but understanding them all because of Atium’s mind expansion. Judging from regular Atium and Kelsier’s vision, he probably saw the ”thousands upon thousands” of possibilities that could result from his current action - the fight against Marsh. 

“I see now” is when Elend liked the general implication of the future vision - that he could drive Vin to sacrifice her life if it meant defeating Ruin. So he let Marsh kill him and hoped it would come true. But even the Shards of Adonalsium - those who foresee infinite possibilities and infinite actions - can be wrong about the possibilities they see as unlikely, likely, or thread towards. 

All he could do was trust Vin and hope for the best outcome.

But where does this fit into the futures seen by the Shards surrounding these events - Ruin and Preservation? Ruin, the essence which fuels Elend’s future vision and the God whom foresaw what Elend saw. Preservation, the God Sanderson implies incorporated Elend’s death into his plan.

I believe for Ruin, his inability to acknowledge Elend’s future vision was not a matter of seeing the possibilities. But rather, it was a matter of seeing them as likely possibilities. Ati the Vessel basically didn’t exist anymore. Ati didn't even remember what planet he was working on, virtually a shell filled with Ruin's Investiture. Ruin the God foresaw the possibilities within Elend's future vision, but either saw them as unlikely or dismissed them entirely. You could even say he was a god that no longer understood or acknowledged the loving sacrifice that existed within his foreseen future possibilities.

Ruin the God didn’t embrace life or acknowledge that life needs to persist. Ruin didn’t sacrifice. He said he was life, and yet Leras/Fuzz comforted life when Ruin did not. And for this, he dismissed Elend’s futures and paid the price. 

Preservation protects. Preservation listens to the hearts of men, for it hears all thoughts of all Scadrians. Leras understands sacrifice, for the divinity sacrificed his mind and equal pedestal to Ruin. This was for the sake of protecting in the long run. This is why he wanted Elend to have the lerasium bead. Leras chose a successor who could live a life highly Connected to Preservation’s attributes, and might sacrifice her life for the greater good. He foresaw someone might use one lerasium bead for the pieces of the plan to fall together. And when the time came, He saw Vin’s lover as someone who might sacrifice his life for the greater good. Someone who could use the bead. Leras bet those possibilities would come into play at the last moment, did whatever he could to thread towards them, and hoped it paid off. 

[+hwiles]

Things like this is why I always tell people to read secret history before Era 2. Blend was a bit of an annoying know it all, but he's the only mortal to see what he saw, and it's good to understand how he did what he did and why it worked perfectly.

[Treamayne]

4 hours ago, hwiles said:

Things like this is why I always tell people to read secret history before Era 2. Blend was a bit of an annoying know it all, but he's the only mortal to see what he saw, and it's good to understand how he did what he did and why it worked perfectly.

It is fine if you or they make that decision, just please make sure that you are warning them that Secret History has Spoilers for Bands of Mourning, so that they can make an informed decision.

 

[Ale the Metallic Conjurer he/him]

On 4/14/2024 at 8:05 AM, hwiles said:

Things like this is why I always tell people to read secret history before Era 2. Blend was a bit of an annoying know it all, but he's the only mortal to see what he saw, and it's good to understand how he did what he did and why it worked perfectly.

I don’t know about that fam. If I didn’t already read Era 2 up till Bands of Mourning, I would’ve been totally lost on Secret History’s core ideas of Connection and the brief mention of Identity. 

Also now I have a theory on the Bands of Mourning, about potential ties to Ascension and the Cognitive Realm.

I don’t get the complaint about Elend lol. I always thought he was one of the most humble characters in the whole series.

Edited April 16 by Ale the Metallic Conjurer
Fixed typos

[+hwiles]

15 minutes ago, Ale the Metallic Conjurer said:

I don’t know about that fam. If I didn’t already read Era 2 up till Bands of Mourning, I would’ve been totally lost on Secret History’s core ideas of Connection and the brief mention of Identity. 

Also now I have a theory on the Bands of Mourning, about potential ties to Ascension and the Cognitive Realm.

I don’t get the complaint about Elend lol. I always thought he was one of the most humble characters in the whole series.

This is the literal kindest and coolest response back to my post as is possible. Elend is my favorite character, I just also am hyper aware of how annoying other people can think him to be for...reasons that can be self evident if or when needed...totally agree with you.

[Ale the Metallic Conjurer he/him]

On 4/16/2024 at 6:24 PM, hwiles said:

This is the literal kindest and coolest response back to my post as is possible. Elend is my favorite character, I just also am hyper aware of how annoying other people can think him to be for...reasons that can be self evident if or when needed...totally agree with you.

That's how conversations should be. Kind and cool! Hope to see you around the Shard more often! Hopefully I can post more often after finishing TLM.

I totally get you about Elend