The Hero of Ages

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, suicidal ideation and self-harm, death by suicide, and child death.

Vin is the primary protagonist of Sanderson’s original Mistborn trilogy and a powerful Allomancer, and her journey throughout the novels has always been one of identity. In The Final Empire, she struggles to trust others and accept love. In The Well of Ascension, she grapples with the moral ambiguities of leadership and violence. In The Hero of Ages, however, her conflict is whether she is merely a weapon forged by Kelsier and fate, or someone with her own will and meaning. She begins the novel in a position of immense power as a full Mistborn married to the emperor of the New Empire. She is both a political figure and a feared assassin, worshiped by the people and targeted by Ruin. But with all that power comes doubt. As she confronts Inquisitors, koloss, and the overwhelming manipulations of Ruin, Vin begins to question what it means to fight and who she truly is.

Vin’s role in the novel’s climax cements her as the savior of Scadrial, but not in the way everyone thought she was meant to be.