Ruin and Preservation Were Human

Ruin was human once. Vin implies it, and I’ll just come out and say it. Ruin and Preservation were both people, unconnected to the powers they eventually took upon themselves. I can’t say any more on that at this point, however.

Ruin Helps Destruction Along

Ruin makes an interesting comment here. He says that he couldn’t refuse to help the Lord Ruler, since the Lord Ruler was destroying so beautifully. Ruin will help an enemy if there is destruction in it.

That’s something to remember when thinking about this book. Some of the things Ruin does, he does to set up his plans. Others are just about destruction. He’s convinced that he’s won—even before Vin’s capture, Ruin knows that there is nothing that can be done to stop him.

In his mind, he’s just playing with people, biding his time as most of his power is focused on bringing earthquakes, ash, and lava upon the world. Yes, he wants the atium to complete his power, but he doesn’t need it. Or so he thinks.

Vin Figures It Out

And, reading here, I realize that I eventually did have Vin figure out that Yomen was an atium misting. That wasn’t in the first draft of the book, and it was added late enough in the process that I’d forgotten that I put it there. I’m glad I did, though. I just couldn’t go on pretending that Vin and Elend wouldn’t notice this, and it wasn’t a big enough reveal to keep hiding it. So, Yomen’s an atium misting. Not that big of a deal compared to the other revelations coming out in this book.