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I’ll admit that this is simply something I did not see coming when reading the book, even if there are signs to it once you know. I knew Mistborn was the first installment in a trilogy, and so I thought Kelsier would be there throughout, likely until closer to the end of the third novel (and, to be fair, I thought the same of the Lord Ruler). And yet, Kelsier’s death is a big trope: the hero’s mentor dying at the end of a story, in order to advance their own journey and ability to defeat the Big Bad.
This has, of course, long been around in storytelling and mythology in a way that pre-dates modern literature, and the mentor archetype formed part of Joseph Campbell’s The Hero of a Thousand Faces, but in terms of modern fantasy, it largely (as most things do) traces back to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, and in this case, Gandalf.
Kelsier In Mistborn Was A Different Kind Of Mentor Death
Gandalf ostensibly died facing the Balrog at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring, and while he returned, he was changed, and his death still served the same function. We’ve seen this throughout works of fantasy and Sci-Fi since, with some of the most notable being Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars, and Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. This has led the archetype to so often be associated with the old wizard-type character, so much so that, in Kelsier’s case, I didn’t spot the signs.
Mistborn quite cleverly flips between Kelsier and Vin as its viewpoint characters, to the degree that they seem like co-protagonists. While it’s undoubtedly Vin’s hero’s journey that we’re going on, the presentation does make it seem as though they’ll be together for a much longer time. And more specifically, in Kelsier’s case, is the fact that he isn’t an old man. Perhaps he is to Vin, but he’s not really old; he’s 38, and, given the way he defeats the Steel Inquisitor in the moments before his death, is only beginning to reach the true peak of his powers.
