Mistborn: Secret History Continuity Notes

[Brandon Sanderson he/him]

Hey, all. Brandon here. With the release of this book, there have been some minor updates to continuity that I think some of you will find relevant.

The big one has to do with Hoid's visit to Terris in The Well of Ascension. For those unfamiliar with the backstory, this little behind-the-scenes action has been a source of some consistent problems. The outline, and original draft, of Well had Vin and Elend traveling up to Terris, then into the mountains, to find the Well itself.

This was a huge momentum killer in the story. Having your cityscape-focused book suddenly turn into a traveling quest fantasy for a few chapters felt very out of place, and required too much strange time-jumping to make it work. In revisions, I set about finding a way to repair this, and to overlap the Well of Ascension discovery with Vin's return to Luthadel.

The end result worked much better, but I was forced to cut Hoid's cameo. (In the form of footsteps in the snow and frost leading to the Well, hinting that someone had been there just before her.) I knew where Hoid was, and added in the cameo of him with the Terris people—with the plan still being that he visited the Well sometime during the days after Vin's return to the city.

Well, in working on Secret History, I found that this had a problem with it. Hoid had to already know where the Well is, because after the destruction of the Pits, he'd need to use the Well to return to Scadrial after leaving in the middle of book one to attend to certain other events.

If you've read the story, you know this is how I proceeded. Official continuity is that Hoid went up to Terris after visiting the Well, as he had things to do there. He did not go looking for the Well. This doesn't change continuity for any of the books, though it does render one of the annotations for Well obsolete.

Otherwise, I'm quite pleased about this novella. I wasn't certain how it would go, writing something using threads I'd left dangling ten years ago. (You should thank the beta readers, who are all Sharders I believe, for their continuity help. They made me aware pf several things I needed to make much more clear from the original draft, so that canon would be more crisp.)

I know there has been a lot of discussion regarding which times when someone appears to hear Kelsier's voice were actually Kelsier. The story offers the official canon for this as well.

It's nice to finally be able to give the answers to some longtime fan questions, such as what spooked Vin during her inspection of Hoid and what was up with Preservation and the Mist Spirit. It's entirely possible that, despite our efforts, we slipped up and made some continuity error here or there. If so, I'm terribly sorry! This one has been particularly challenging to do.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

[PeterAhlstrom he/him]

Please note: This post does NOT mean that Brandon is sticking around to answer questions. Sharders' questions are just too good, and he risks giving too much away if he answers. So he's avoiding that for now.

[Orlion Blight he/him]

Thanks for the clarification! I was wondering about the timing of Hoid's visit to the Well.

[FirstSelector]

... and frost leading to the Well...

 

Is this another cameo?  Is Brandon trying to tell us something more about this enigmatic character?  What more is hidden in this post!?

Just kidding.  Thanks for the story, it was an absolute delight to read.

[TheOneKEA]

Thanks for coming here and posting this info Brandon! I am always intrigued to learn more about this type of continuity work. It adds a lot of depth to the original story without changing it.

[Voidus]

I did get a bit confused by Hoid arriving at the Well

Good to know that it was planned. Although now I really want to know what he was up to in Terris when all the action was happening in Luthadel. 

[Ryshadium she/her]

I don't post around these parts often, but on the off chance Brandon is reading some posts, I have to say that this novella was such a wonderful surprise, and I think it is my favorite piece that he has written. So, thank you kindly for this beautiful and haunting work.

[Ari he/him]

Please note: This post does NOT mean that Brandon is sticking around to answer questions. Sharders' questions are just too good, and he risks giving too much away if he answers. So he's avoiding that for now.

 

This book answered so many questions anyway that I think he's probably earned a break!

[ParadoxicalZen he/him]

I did get a bit confused by Hoid arriving at the Well

Good to know that it was planned. Although now I really want to know what he was up to in Terris when all the action was happening in Luthadel. 

Possibly hacking feruchemy, providing he didn't have it before

[The Invested Beard]

This book has left me so satisfied. Thank you again Brandon and I can't wait to see how crazy it gets next.

[Curious Anamaximder he/him]

Thanks Brandon. But most importantly, thanks for that scene with Vin.

[Landis963 he/him]

This book answered so many questions anyway that I think he's probably earned a break!

And a long one, too. With the intimate understanding of Cognitive physics we've received from this book, he should be exempt from Cosmere questions for at least 6 months.

[natc]

So we ask questions about Calamity for now?

[Wubdor he/him]

Not having footprints in the snow was solved by having them in the dust in Kredik Shaw, though, weren't they?

[Landis963 he/him]

I'm wondering what could have called his attention away from Scadrial?  Spring Cleaning his hideout?  

[vineyarddawg]

So we ask questions about Calamity for now?

 

Wait, I thought we were giving him a break from Cosmere questions!

 

/ducks

//runs

[Young Bard he/him]

Wait, I thought we were giving him a break from Cosmere questions!

 

/ducks

//runs

 

We are. Reckoners isn't Cosmere...

[Ward]

We are. Reckoners isn't Cosmere...

Vineyarddawg is ducking and running because he's daring to suggest that Calamity Earth is part of the Cosmere.

[Young Bard he/him]

I know. I was continuing the joke...