It was extremely important that Elend reject Vin in this chapter. I worry that I got a little bit into convenient motivations in this chapter—I always hate it when men and women have relationship problems in book simply because it’s the place in the story for things to go wrong. Weak conflict—something a friend of mine calls “Deus Ex Wrench”—is a problem with most romantic comedies.
Better to have realistic, rather than feigned, tension. I hope that I was able to manage that in this chapter. Elend is being almost completely honest with his emotions here—he has just discovered that Vin was lying to him all along. Rather than feeling bitter, however, he feels like a fool. He’s realized that the game was playing him all along, and he’s disappointed to find that Vin is part of it. That, in turn, persuades him that he should just give in and do his duty to his house.
And so, he turns her away. The vital part of this all, of course, is that it gives Vin the chance to love him—and protect him—even though he’s rejected her. This is perhaps the most important step for Vin in the entire book. She’s learning the things that Kelsier talked about, the truth that she needed. With this in hand, she can trust people, even knowing that they might betray her.
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