Kelsier the Ja

[Rane]

I'm rereading The Final Empire right now, and I noticed an interesting tidbit of information.  Kelsier asks Sazed to tell him about another religion, and Sazed tells him about Jaism, where the leader, the Ja, gained more influence than he had ever had by being executed.  I noticed that this is extremely similar to how Kelsier ends up getting the army they need.  Could he have been inspired by the Ja, or was it coincidence?

[Peter Ahlstrom]

He was probably planning it before then, but this is excellent foreshadowing.

[Reaves]

yeah, i think thats exactly what Sanderson was saying, Kelsier got his inspiration for the final part of his plan from other religions. I remember him asking Sazed something along the lines of "what made this religion strong? how did they hold on?" and Sazed explains how the leaders had been martyred.

[SarahG]

He was probably planning it before then, but this is excellent foreshadowing.

Another foreshadowing of this event is on page 32:

It seemed that the Steel Ministry caught up to everyone eventually.  Sometimes, Kelsier felt that a skaa Misting's life wasn't so much about surviving as it was about picking the right time to die.

Ironically, in light of that last sentence, Kelsier was known as the Survivor.  By picking the right time to die, he also, in a sense, survived.

[Rane]

I was also reading about when Kelsier asked Sazed about the Valla, and how the religion lasted so long because their leaders had been martyred, and he didn't ask about anything else.  Brandon confirmed my theory in the annotations, when he basically said that Kelsier was trying to get historical proof that his plan would work.