Adapting Mistborn: The Final Empire for Film

[Yezrien]

I've thought of another problem that the adaptation might have to tackle.

Spoiler

 

The Lord Ruler's death. It's obviously a huge moment -- the great triumph of hero over villain. But victories like this need to feel earned. We have to get a sense that the hero, either by cleverness, inner strength, or virtue, really beat the bad guy. If that doesn't come across, then the sense is that the hero didn't really earn the win. It was given to them. A divine handout. A deus ex machina.

On one hand, Vin wins because she was clever enough to figure out the Lord Ruler's secret identity, and his weakness (the metalminds).

On the other hand, she was only able to win because of the mists -- a force she neither controls nor understands. It wasn't set up. It doesn't pay off any earlier hints or questions. It's divine intervention, plain and simple. And it feels a bit like cheating. 

The book actually tricks you into accepting it, though. In her thoughts after the fight, Vin doesn't attribute her success to the mists. She's aware of their involvement, but she thinks she won because she's some kind of unusual super-allomancer, like the Lord Ruler himself, which was set up, vis-a-vis her ability to pierce copperclouds. 

But, as we now know, the coppercloud-thing and the mists-thing are completely separate issues. Mutually exclusive ones, in fact.

It's all explained in the later books, of course, but I don't think that Vindicates the matter. (Pun intended.) A story needs internal consistency and logic. It's fine to leave certain mysteries open for future installments, this is the resolution of the entire book movie. It's important that the audience actually understands what happened. We don't want people leaving the theater confused.

 

I've also thought of a couple potential solutions:

Spoiler

 

1) Have Vin lose her earring (or take it off) and channel the mists earlier in the story. (Neither Vin nor the audience needs to understand the connection with the earring -- indeed, the movie should not draw attention to it.) We just need to establish that she can use mist-powered hyper-allomancy when she's backed into a corner. It could happen when they steal the Logbook, for instance.

2) Forget the mists. Just establish that Vin is an abnormally powerful mistborn, excelling in every metal, so a lot of rules don't apply to her. (She's Preservation's champion. It's a whole 'chosen one' thing.) She can pierce copperclouds with bronze, brass, and zinc, and she can see the blue lines to metals inside someone's body. So once she identifies the Lord Ruler's bracelets as metalminds, pulling them off is just a matter of willpower -- or emotion, as the case may be. He killed Kelsier, after all. 

 

 

Edited February 5, 2017 by Belzedar

[Spoolofwhool]

I think the first solution is better. The second feels a bit too much like an asspull and would undermine the strength Elend would exhibit in HoA because of the lerasium, if they try to make that come across, even in undertones.

[The One Who Connects he/him]

I agree with Spool. Option one is the better of the two. I don't like having it be the stealing the logbook scene, because that would undermine Sazed rescuing her and her subsequently becoming curious about his powers.
On the other hand, while the mists are literal ex machina, her usage of them is a matter of willpower, she reached with an inner strength she didn't know she had. The strength to pull on the power of the gods themselves. If there was some way to get the audience to understand that mists=power of a god without outright saying it, then that could all work out without too much trouble

[Jofwu he/him]

Act 1

I like this idea about a scene with Reen and Vin that sets up the basics of the world. Then cut to Kelsier arriving in Luthadel; introduce him and Dockson. Dockson leads him to Vin... We skip the Steel Ministry bit. When Vin and Camon are trying to get their meeting in the first place, the Obligator is already on to them. People come in to arrest them, including an Inquisitor (hooded for dramatic effect?). Kel and Dox show up in time to help Vin (and Camon, inadvertently) escape.

We introduce Allomancy and head straight to the hideout to meet the crew and start planning. Vin can't be quite as defensive and skeptical in the movie. She joins the crew because she wants to train, and that's that until she becomes more invested. We get some Allomancy training that night, and the next day Vin heads out to become Valet. We're introduced to mysterious Sazed as Vin is preparing for balls. Meanwhile, we see Kelsier working to get the house war started. Need to start seeing that he's not a simple "good guy" here.

Act 2

First ball happens. Less political shenanigans. First ball is about establishing Elend, Shan, noble society, and getting Vin comfortable with her persona.

More Mistborn training. Eleventh metal hints. Heart to heart between Vin and Kelsier. He wants her to train with other crew members.

Next day, Vin trains with Ham on using Pewter. Maybe something brief with Clubs as well, on Copper?

Another crew meeting with updates on how their plan is going. They need Vin to pull out something useful.

Vin goes with Breeze to learn emotional allomancy. Meet with Marsh, and find out Camon and crew are dead.

Second ball. We don't get a lot of time here. Just some brief build up on Elend, Shan, and Sazed. Vin spies on Elend and meets Kelsier. Introduction to atium. They infiltrate Kredik Shaw and are caught. Vin finds journal. Sazed saves Vin.

Act 3.5?

Vin wakes up in bed. Ham teachers her to use Bronze to get up and moving sooner. Kelsier feels guilty, acts hardened. Sazed has started translating the journal, and we get a few snippets. Elend shows up and Vin acts like she's sick; need to develop their relationship here.

Skip the whole thing where they go to check on the army. Kelsier does that offscreen. Maybe a mention from Ham about what Kelsier did there. (would be nice to see Demoux sometime)

More bits from journal come up. In another conversation with Sazed about Kelsier and Feruchemy perhaps?

Third ball, again, time at the actual ball is fairly brief. House war is starting  Vin discovers early that Elend is in trouble. Fight with Shan. Vin draws on the Mists here (ear ring subtlely gets taken off somehow), as @Belzedar suggests.

Act 4

The crew gets caught the next day. Big fight. Kelsier fights and dies.

Brief sadness during the aftermath. Then the kandra shows up and rebellion gets started. Vin goes to Kredik Shaw. Marches straight in on TLR talking to Obligators and Inquisitors. Find out about her father and Reen. Burns 11th metal. Doesn't last long.

Brief scene of Elend surrendering to Dockson?

Wakes up when Sazed is thrown into prison. They bust out. Fighting through when Elend shows up. Kiss kiss, gotta go.

Final battle with TLR.

Notes:

I'm missing a few important plot points... Marsh's "death" comes to mind. I think I hit the biggest stuff though, so that the rest can be squeezed in naturally and breifly.

Agreed with those saying epigraphs can't really be done properly. Just got to throw in what you can from the journal and leave it at that. I think that's enough for the first book.