Kelsier

Lore & Background

Kelsier's philosophy is rooted in the belief that the skaa can rise against the Lord Ruler. He spreads rumors of his own 'supernatural' powers to inspire his followers. However, many of those soldiers are deliberately sacrificed when they attack the garrison at Holstep, a strategic target, to make Kelsier a martyr. Kelsier is captured and executed with a single blow, not killed in a dramatic confrontation. His death sparks the skaa uprising, which begins before the Lord Ruler's death; Vin kills the Lord Ruler during the uprising, fulfilling Kelsier's plan to become a martyr.

Reader's Guide

Kelsier is the half-skaa Mistborn who leads the rebellion against the Final Empire. As a Mistborn, he can burn any metal, granting him all Allomantic powers including enhanced strength from pewter, enhanced senses from tin, and telekinesis over metal from steel and iron. His plan involves stealing the Lord Ruler's hoard of atium, the cornerstone of the Final Empire's economy. He recruits Vin and trains her in Allomancy. He orchestrates a house war by assassinating nobles and recruits about seven thousand skaa soldiers. After most of his soldiers are killed attacking a garrison, he smuggles the rest into Luthadel. He is killed by the Lord Ruler, but his death sparks the skaa uprising that overthrows the city. Before his death, he acquired the Eleventh Metal, rumored to be the Lord Ruler's weakness, and left it to Vin to finish the job.

Origins and Escape

Three years prior to the start of the novel, Kelsier discovered that he is Mistborn and escaped the Pits of Hathsin, a brutal prison camp of the Lord Ruler. He returned to Luthadel, the capital city of the Final Empire, where he rounded up his old thieving crew for a new job: to overthrow the Final Empire by stealing its treasury and collapsing its economy.

The Heist and Recruitment

At the beginning of the novel, Vin, a wary and abused street urchin, is recruited by Kelsier's crew after Kelsier is notified by his brother, Marsh, that she is a Mistborn. Vin is trained by Kelsier's crew to develop her Allomantic powers, which include burning pewter to strengthen the body, burning tin to enhance the senses, and burning steel and iron to gain a limited form of telekinesis over metal. She is also given the duty of spying on the nobility by attending opulent balls in Luthadel, where she poses as Valette Renoux, niece to Lord Renoux, a nobleman working with Kelsier's crew.

Kelsier hopes to conquer the city by destabilizing it with a house war between the nobility and then invading with a skaa army. Once in control, he hopes to overthrow the Final Empire by stealing the Lord Ruler's hoard of atium, a precious metal which is the cornerstone of the Final Empire's economy. The crew succeeds in starting a house war by assassinating several powerful nobles and recruiting about seven thousand soldiers to join their cause.

The Martyrdom

About three quarters of the soldiers are slaughtered when they foolishly attack an unimportant Final Empire garrison with the hopes of divine protection from Kelsier, who has spread rumors of his 'supernatural' powers. The remaining soldiers are smuggled into Luthadel by Kelsier, who intends to continue the plan. However, Marsh is discovered and seemingly killed, and Lord Renoux and his estate are seized and he is brought to be executed by the Canton of Inquisition.

Though Kelsier's crew manage to free most of Renoux's group and kill an Inquisitor, Kelsier is killed by the Lord Ruler himself in a dramatic confrontation in Luthadel's city square. Though these events appear to leave Kelsier's plan in shambles, it is revealed that his real plan was to become a martyred symbol of hope for Luthadel's superstitious skaa population. The skaa population reacts to his death by rising up and overthrowing the city with the help of Kelsier's army.

Legacy and Unfinished Business

Before his death, Kelsier had attempted to unlock the potential of the 'Eleventh Metal' that he had acquired, which was rumored to be the Lord Ruler's weakness. He was unable to do so before his death, and left it to Vin to finish the job. With the Eleventh Metal, Vin goes to the imperial palace to kill the Lord Ruler. She fights the Lord Ruler, whom she recognizes as not the Hero of Ages, but his Terrisman advisor Rashek, who had killed the Hero and taken his place. Vin is almost destroyed by the Lord Ruler, but with hints from the Eleventh Metal and the unexpected magical aid of the mists, she manages to separate the Lord Ruler from his Feruchemical bracelets that provide him with constant youth, causing him to age rapidly. Vin uses a spear to execute the Lord Ruler, who with his last words ominously warns her of a great doom.