DeadFencer Posted November 12, 2016 Report Share Posted November 12, 2016 So Ruin's whole plan is book 1 is to have the crew kill Rashek, preventing him from using the well's power again and keeping Ruin trapped. The way Ruin goes about this is pretty poor though, especially considering his abilities. Ruin decides to make the crew figure out Rashek is a Fullborn, and therefore removing his bracers will kill him. To have the crew figure this out, Ruin influences the creation of the eleventh metal, which is then found by Kelsier. Why doesn't Ruin just write down how to kill Rashek? Kelsier mentions "old legends" about the eleventh metal, which are later revealed to be fabricated by Ruin. Why not just fabricate some legends about a way to kill Rashek? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savanorn he/him Posted November 12, 2016 Report Share Posted November 12, 2016 32 minutes ago, DeadFencer said: So Ruin's whole plan is book 1 is to have the crew kill Rashek, preventing him from using the well's power again and keeping Ruin trapped. The way Ruin goes about this is pretty poor though, especially considering his abilities. Ruin decides to make the crew figure out Rashek is a Fullborn, and therefore removing his bracers will kill him. To have the crew figure this out, Ruin influences the creation of the eleventh metal, which is then found by Kelsier. Why doesn't Ruin just write down how to kill Rashek? Kelsier mentions "old legends" about the eleventh metal, which are later revealed to be fabricated by Ruin. Why not just fabricate some legends about a way to kill Rashek? I think it is pretty clever. Think about it. If Kel had just found a" kill the lord ruler plan" a few things would have happened. Firstly, and most importantly, the Eleventh Metal mysticism might not have taken place and this was a key part of the early skaa mythos around Kelsier. This myth inspired the skaa to rebel after Kel died and this was important for the overthrow of the Lord Ruler. Further, this plays into Ruin's hands by fracturing the Final Empire which could potentially have been reincarnated in some stable form. Secondly, a vague promise about a metal is a myth that can be believed by Kelsier and others. But a legend about how to kill Rashek? The crew would expect it wouldn't work, because the Lord Ruler is still alive, so whatever the method it was either ineffective or untested. Worse, if the crew know that TLR can be killed by removing his bracers and circulate that as their plan (or tell anyone) this is far far more likely to wake Rashek from his depression and inattention. Knowing the skaa are rebelling again is one thing, knowing they know he stays alive through atium compounding is quite another. Considering a lot of the early successes of the rebellion are due to the Lord Ruler simply not caring about them, this is quite the opposite. I'd imagine it'd bring all Rashek's attention right down. As a note, it'd probably be hard for Ruin to communicate this idea. He tends to take things that already exist and alter them, not completely write them anew. Remember, words like Fullborn don't exist on Scadrial, and at the time communications about things like compounding or hemalurgy would be strictly controlled and hard for Kelsier to obtain. Ruin can see the future, the approach he took was likely enough to inspire the crew and skaa, but subtle enough to leave them unaware of manipulation. Finally it made things much more chaotic. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tortankum Posted November 22, 2016 Report Share Posted November 22, 2016 Ruin needed to be absolutely sure that nobody knew he was pulling the strings. If there was any suspicion and Vin didn't release him as a result then all that planning would be wasted. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyman he/him Posted November 23, 2016 Report Share Posted November 23, 2016 Don't forget that Preservation was still around, in various forms. I'm not just talking about the cognitive remains of Leras (a.k.a the mist spirit), either; both Ruin and Preservation literally made up most of Scadrial. When Ruin pushed, Preservation pushed back instinctively. I think he had to be subtle; it was probably like writing with your foot because both hands are tied behind your back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savanorn he/him Posted November 23, 2016 Report Share Posted November 23, 2016 2 minutes ago, happyman said: Don't forget that Preservation was still around, in various forms. I'm not just talking about the cognitive remains of Leras (a.k.a the mist spirit), either; both Ruin and Preservation literally made up most of Scadrial. When Ruin pushed, Preservation pushed back instinctively. I think he had to be subtle; it was probably like writing with your foot because both hands are tied behind your back. Have you read SH? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyman he/him Posted November 23, 2016 Report Share Posted November 23, 2016 Just now, Savanorn said: Have you read SH? Yes, but that forum is still separate, so I'm leaving the conversation here vague. I don't think it changes my conclusions, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savanorn he/him Posted November 23, 2016 Report Share Posted November 23, 2016 1 hour ago, happyman said: Yes, but that forum is still separate, so I'm leaving the conversation here vague. I don't think it changes my conclusions, though. Ah excellent. Suffice it to say then that I don't think Ruin's changing of existing words was constrained by Preservation to that extent. As Spoiler he explicitly mentions he knows what Ruin is doing. We also see this in WoA where the mist spirit can remove the paper that was altered, but couldn't stop Ruin from altering it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts