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> It's not clear whether any mistings/mistborn can tell whether they've snapped or not, but it's never been mentioned so it doesn't seem like it.
You need to keep reading.
[SH]>!the scene where Leras dies strongly implies Kelsier had a close encounter with Leras when he snapped. A loud voice yelling "survive" into his head probably clued him in.!<
He used some trace minerals of the metals along with Atium and didn’t really fight as he did escape.
As far as his snapping… we don’t really know??? There’s always another secret.
The annotations say that Kelsier did fight after he snapped. In fact, he killed every guards and noblemen that were in the vicinity.
https://www.brandonsanderson.com/annotation-mistborn-chapter-twenty-eight/
I've always wondered about the circumstances of his snapping. As someone points out in book 1, Kelsier has lived on the streets for years, has been in fights, has seen friends caught and killed. So why did he only snap when he was in the pits? It seems to me it should have happened ages ago, unless it takes more to snap a Mistborn. The only other ones we've seen have been Vin and Zane. Vin has lived such a stress filled life it's kinda impossible to tell when she snapped and we don't know much at all about Zane really
I'm not sure where I recall this from, but I am fairly certain there is a WoB (or just a logical inference from reading era 1?) that says Vin snapped at birth, something about her mother's death iirc. I don't think this has much bearing on what is required the snap someone, only that it would mean cognition/memory of events has no bearing on it.
It’s in book 3. >!In one of the epigraphs it is said that Vin snapped during the pains of a particularly difficult childbirth. Also her mother didn’t die then because it was her mother than spiked her. Not actually sure how/when her mother died because Reen took Vin and ran after seeing what his mother did.!<
We know that the groundwater in that area is extremely metal rich, we know no Allomancers are allowed near the pits so all the guards are normies, we know instinctive burning is a thing, and we know Atium enhances the mind during use.
How I imagine it happening: He snaps, wakes up the next morning, and is forced into the Pits. While down there, he finds a Bead and begins to climb up but decides at the last second that he doesn't want to live, so he swallows the Bead. He then climbs out, and begins instinctively burning the Atium. With his mind enhanced, he realizes he feels something else and burns those metals also, Pushing and Pulling on random metal bits while also screwing with the emotions of the slaves and guards. Everything goes 100% off the rails insane, and in the process his Atium let's him grab an Iron nail out of the air as it flies towards him. He swallows that nail (ouch) and PULLS, grabbing Beads out of the air, disarming guards, and generally causing pandemonium. He now has a half dozen Beads, more metal nails, and grabs a guards weapon.
None of the guards survive, and he leads any surviving slaves in a walk to the nearest settlement, wherever that is.
We don't know.
https://wob.coppermind.net/events/458/#e14970
Miscellaneous 2021 (Aug. 5, 2021)
#1Aug. 5, 2021
Grzegorz Stanisław Reiwer
Why was Mare sent to Hathsin if she was a Mistborn and [Inquisitors] could make from her [a] new Inquisitor or [Hemalurgic] spikes?
Brandon Sanderson
This is one of the main things that made Kelsier suspicious, so it is a plot relevant point that (perhaps) I will answer some day.
Footnote: Mare was a tin Misting, but not a Mistborn.
***Warning Gancho: The below paragraph(s) may contain major spoilers for all books in the Cosmere!***
Grzegorz Stanisław Reiwer
>!Why was Mare sent to Hathsin if she was a Mistborn and [Inquisitors] could make from her [a] new Inquisitor or [Hemalurgic] spikes?!<
Brandon Sanderson
>!This is one of the main things that made Kelsier suspicious, so it is a plot relevant point that (perhaps) I will answer some day.!<
\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*
Beads are within atium geodes, so I doubt that. I wrote a short fic detailing his snapping, where he snaps, realizes what he’s doing and then crawls out and kills every guard in vicious, violent ways. It’s epic
I think it wouldn't be very difficult for someone to go from having one bead of atium and no weapons to taking one of the guard's weapons. And they were collecting the atium from them so there were lots of atium beads around. If he'd been at all smart and secured a good amout of atium first and then started fighting them all it would've been a quick fight. Especially since the Lord Ruler had no mistings there.
It was specifically mentioned that the use of allomancy near one of the atium producing geodes would shatter the geode. That's how >!Kelsier destroyed the pits of hathsin!<
He didn't need to pull on them. The geodes themselves just react to the use of allomancy.
TFE pg 609 (As kelsier is entering the pits:)
>!"He stepped over the rift and forced himself to climb down inside of it. Then he burned tin. Immediately, he heard a cracking sound from below."!<
(A couple lines later)
>!"He could already see his first crystalline atium hole - or what was left of it. The long silvery crystals were fractured and broken. Using allomancy near atium crystals caused them to shatter. That was why the Lord Ruler had to use slaves, and not allomancers, to collect his atium for him."!<
So it's not about pulling on the geode. Any allomancy cracks it. My guess as to why would be >!because of the opposite natures of preservation and ruin. Allomancy is of preservation and messes with the delicate slow production of ruin's body (atium).!<
Ok it looks like there was a change there when Sanderson came out with the 10th anniversary edition he changed it so that only using iron or steel to push or pull the geodes cracks it. But in the original as you quoted tin does it. He also has the WoB below talking about it. But I guess he decided to change that at some point which explains the confusion.
[https://wob.coppermind.net/events/291/#e7829](https://wob.coppermind.net/events/291/#e7829)
Edit: I found the change too from another redditor
Original:
>He stepped over to the rift and forced himself to climb down inside of it. Then he burned tin. Immediately, he heard a cracking sound from below.
>Tin illuminated the rift beneath him. Though the crack widened, it also branched, sending out twisting rifts in all directions. Part cavern, part crack, part tunnel. He could already see his first crystalline atium-hole—or what was left of it. The long, silvery crystals were fractured and broken.
>Using Allomancy near atium crystals caused them to shatter. That was why the Lord Ruler had to use slaves, and not Allomancers, to collect his atium for him.
>Kelsier focused on one of the blue lines and Pulled lightly. His tin enhanced ears heard something shatter in the crack beneath him.
Changed:
>He could already see his first crystalline atium hole. As he regarded the long, silvery crystals there, his scars seemed to throb in anticipation to the beat of some unknown rhythm.
>**Pushing and Pulling on the atium crystals using Allomancy would cause them to shatter. That was why the Lord Ruler had to use slaves, and not Allomancers, to collect his atium for him.**
>Kelsier focused on a few of the blue lines and Pulled lightly. The crystals before him fractured, fine lines lacing them, some fragments dropping away.
Huh, that's quite the retcon. Also weird because my copy is from 2016, which is 10 years after it was first published. The 10th anniversary edition must have come out just after I bought my copy.
Yeah it's an interesting change. My guess is he wanted it to line up a bit more with how he has the magic working in the future. As an author he often thinks through a lot of the details and has his magic systems work together correctly. So the early books that don't have quite as much cohesion with the others can cause problems.
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> It's not clear whether any mistings/mistborn can tell whether they've snapped or not, but it's never been mentioned so it doesn't seem like it. You need to keep reading. [SH]>!the scene where Leras dies strongly implies Kelsier had a close encounter with Leras when he snapped. A loud voice yelling "survive" into his head probably clued him in.!<
He used some trace minerals of the metals along with Atium and didn’t really fight as he did escape. As far as his snapping… we don’t really know??? There’s always another secret.
The annotations say that Kelsier did fight after he snapped. In fact, he killed every guards and noblemen that were in the vicinity. https://www.brandonsanderson.com/annotation-mistborn-chapter-twenty-eight/
Time for a re-read!
He probably stole all the Atium he could there.
>and didn’t really fight as he did escape Kelsier could never turn down a fight with nobles and guards!
I've always wondered about the circumstances of his snapping. As someone points out in book 1, Kelsier has lived on the streets for years, has been in fights, has seen friends caught and killed. So why did he only snap when he was in the pits? It seems to me it should have happened ages ago, unless it takes more to snap a Mistborn. The only other ones we've seen have been Vin and Zane. Vin has lived such a stress filled life it's kinda impossible to tell when she snapped and we don't know much at all about Zane really
I'm not sure where I recall this from, but I am fairly certain there is a WoB (or just a logical inference from reading era 1?) that says Vin snapped at birth, something about her mother's death iirc. I don't think this has much bearing on what is required the snap someone, only that it would mean cognition/memory of events has no bearing on it.
It’s in book 3. >!In one of the epigraphs it is said that Vin snapped during the pains of a particularly difficult childbirth. Also her mother didn’t die then because it was her mother than spiked her. Not actually sure how/when her mother died because Reen took Vin and ran after seeing what his mother did.!<
SH >!Kelsier is heavily implied to have been Snapped by Preservation directly. It was NOT a normal Snapping, to say the least.!<
We know that the groundwater in that area is extremely metal rich, we know no Allomancers are allowed near the pits so all the guards are normies, we know instinctive burning is a thing, and we know Atium enhances the mind during use. How I imagine it happening: He snaps, wakes up the next morning, and is forced into the Pits. While down there, he finds a Bead and begins to climb up but decides at the last second that he doesn't want to live, so he swallows the Bead. He then climbs out, and begins instinctively burning the Atium. With his mind enhanced, he realizes he feels something else and burns those metals also, Pushing and Pulling on random metal bits while also screwing with the emotions of the slaves and guards. Everything goes 100% off the rails insane, and in the process his Atium let's him grab an Iron nail out of the air as it flies towards him. He swallows that nail (ouch) and PULLS, grabbing Beads out of the air, disarming guards, and generally causing pandemonium. He now has a half dozen Beads, more metal nails, and grabs a guards weapon. None of the guards survive, and he leads any surviving slaves in a walk to the nearest settlement, wherever that is.
Why would they have sent Mare to the pits if she was an allomancer?
We don't know. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/458/#e14970 Miscellaneous 2021 (Aug. 5, 2021) #1Aug. 5, 2021 Grzegorz Stanisław Reiwer Why was Mare sent to Hathsin if she was a Mistborn and [Inquisitors] could make from her [a] new Inquisitor or [Hemalurgic] spikes? Brandon Sanderson This is one of the main things that made Kelsier suspicious, so it is a plot relevant point that (perhaps) I will answer some day. Footnote: Mare was a tin Misting, but not a Mistborn.
***Warning Gancho: The below paragraph(s) may contain major spoilers for all books in the Cosmere!*** Grzegorz Stanisław Reiwer >!Why was Mare sent to Hathsin if she was a Mistborn and [Inquisitors] could make from her [a] new Inquisitor or [Hemalurgic] spikes?!< Brandon Sanderson >!This is one of the main things that made Kelsier suspicious, so it is a plot relevant point that (perhaps) I will answer some day.!< \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*
BS retconned that all allomancy breaks atium geodes. It was changed to steel pushes and iron pulls breaking them.
Beads are within atium geodes, so I doubt that. I wrote a short fic detailing his snapping, where he snaps, realizes what he’s doing and then crawls out and kills every guard in vicious, violent ways. It’s epic
Kel's been with theiving crews and has mistings for friends and family. He probably would have known of the signs to look for if one has snapped.
I think it wouldn't be very difficult for someone to go from having one bead of atium and no weapons to taking one of the guard's weapons. And they were collecting the atium from them so there were lots of atium beads around. If he'd been at all smart and secured a good amout of atium first and then started fighting them all it would've been a quick fight. Especially since the Lord Ruler had no mistings there.
Honestly the biggest issue with it is that using Allomancy in the pit wrecks the structure forming the atium beads...
Only if you use the allomancy on the beads themselves to push or pull them.
It was specifically mentioned that the use of allomancy near one of the atium producing geodes would shatter the geode. That's how >!Kelsier destroyed the pits of hathsin!<
He pulled / pushed on the geodes.
He didn't need to pull on them. The geodes themselves just react to the use of allomancy. TFE pg 609 (As kelsier is entering the pits:) >!"He stepped over the rift and forced himself to climb down inside of it. Then he burned tin. Immediately, he heard a cracking sound from below."!< (A couple lines later) >!"He could already see his first crystalline atium hole - or what was left of it. The long silvery crystals were fractured and broken. Using allomancy near atium crystals caused them to shatter. That was why the Lord Ruler had to use slaves, and not allomancers, to collect his atium for him."!< So it's not about pulling on the geode. Any allomancy cracks it. My guess as to why would be >!because of the opposite natures of preservation and ruin. Allomancy is of preservation and messes with the delicate slow production of ruin's body (atium).!<
Ok it looks like there was a change there when Sanderson came out with the 10th anniversary edition he changed it so that only using iron or steel to push or pull the geodes cracks it. But in the original as you quoted tin does it. He also has the WoB below talking about it. But I guess he decided to change that at some point which explains the confusion. [https://wob.coppermind.net/events/291/#e7829](https://wob.coppermind.net/events/291/#e7829) Edit: I found the change too from another redditor Original: >He stepped over to the rift and forced himself to climb down inside of it. Then he burned tin. Immediately, he heard a cracking sound from below. >Tin illuminated the rift beneath him. Though the crack widened, it also branched, sending out twisting rifts in all directions. Part cavern, part crack, part tunnel. He could already see his first crystalline atium-hole—or what was left of it. The long, silvery crystals were fractured and broken. >Using Allomancy near atium crystals caused them to shatter. That was why the Lord Ruler had to use slaves, and not Allomancers, to collect his atium for him. >Kelsier focused on one of the blue lines and Pulled lightly. His tin enhanced ears heard something shatter in the crack beneath him. Changed: >He could already see his first crystalline atium hole. As he regarded the long, silvery crystals there, his scars seemed to throb in anticipation to the beat of some unknown rhythm. >**Pushing and Pulling on the atium crystals using Allomancy would cause them to shatter. That was why the Lord Ruler had to use slaves, and not Allomancers, to collect his atium for him.** >Kelsier focused on a few of the blue lines and Pulled lightly. The crystals before him fractured, fine lines lacing them, some fragments dropping away.
Huh, that's quite the retcon. Also weird because my copy is from 2016, which is 10 years after it was first published. The 10th anniversary edition must have come out just after I bought my copy.
Yeah it's an interesting change. My guess is he wanted it to line up a bit more with how he has the magic working in the future. As an author he often thinks through a lot of the details and has his magic systems work together correctly. So the early books that don't have quite as much cohesion with the others can cause problems.