So, as I said, I felt that I needed to wait to make Elend a viewpoint character. There are several reasons for this. The primary one is that this book is really about Vin. Kelsier has some time, but really everything in this book is focused around its effect on Vin.
Elend couldn’t come in as a viewpoint character earlier because I think he would have been distracting. I like him a lot as a character. However, by leaving his viewpoints out, I allow readers to wonder whether or not he’s playing Vin. My writing groups responded quite well to Elend, having constant discussions about whether or not his motivations were pure. They could do this because they didn’t know his mind, and I think that by letting them do this, they could grow more attached to Vin. After all, whether or not Elend’s viewpoints were pure only mattered in relation to her.
But, finally, I decided to ease that tension and let the readers know that he really was the person they thought. This should come as a relief, which relief will quickly be destroyed by the worry I create in this chapter. (In short, I couldn’t bring Elend in as a viewpoint until doing so twisted the plot more, rather than simply untwisting it.)
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