Mistborn 2 Chapter Forty-nine Annotation

[Wielder]

SPOILERS FOR BOOK TWO ARE FOUND BELOW. (Who'd have thunk?)

Straff Plot Climax with the Poison

And, finally, we get back to Straff. His cycle is filled with quite a few short little scenes, and I suspect that many readers won't pay attention to them. Still, if I'm going to give someone a viewpoint, I like to give them conflicts and problems unrelated to the other characters. It makes the characters and their lives more real. In this case, Straff's problems with a former mistress surface in a revenge ploy.

As I said, it's a small thing, rather unrelated to the overall plot of the novel. When Tor was pushing for me to cut the book (which I didn't end up doing) I left these scenes because I felt that they 1) Worked quite well and 2) I think they gave a little more depth to the story, showing that characters have lives other than the main plot.

The mistress lies here, by the way. Going cold turkey on that drug probably wouldn't have killed Straff. It might have, but probably not. Still, being under her power probably wouldn't have been very fun for him. He didn't kill her intentionally--he really was just losing control of his anger under the influence of panic and poison. This is one of those little twists that I hope feels very realistic under the circumstances, but is also unexpected. 

Brandon, I just have to say that I am glad that you fought to keep the Straff sections in.  I indeed thought it added another level to the book.  I think Straff was an excellent villain, and getting to see stuff from their end makes the story more dynamic.  He had reasons to do the things he was doing, he was also a bastard while doing them--it made him 'human.'


What did other people think?

[Peter Ahlstrom]

I have to agree. If I were to cut anything from the book, it wouldn't be substantive plot lines like this. If Straff were never allowed to show his human side, he would have been a very boring character and the tension of the book would have suffered. By allowing the reader to make these personal connections with Straff, it allowed us to yearn for his defeat as much as the other characters and to cheer Vin on when she came in for the kill.

[Dount Cooku]

By allowing the reader to make these personal connections with Straff, it allowed us to yearn for his defeat as much as the other characters and to cheer Vin on when she came in for the kill.

Indeed.  I heard that Staff had a splitting headache after his final encounter with Vin.

[CthulhuKefka]

By allowing the reader to make these personal connections with Straff, it allowed us to yearn for his defeat as much as the other characters and to cheer Vin on when she came in for the kill.

Indeed.  I heard that Staff had a splitting headache after his final encounter with Vin.

They need an emoticon to portray the obligatory drum roll/cymbal crash that usually follows a statement like that. 

[Dount Cooku]

Yes indeed.  I had a friend in college that said I needed someone to follow me around with a drum set.

[Wielder]

By allowing the reader to make these personal connections with Straff, it allowed us to yearn for his defeat as much as the other characters and to cheer Vin on when she came in for the kill.

Indeed.  I heard that Staff had a splitting headache after his final encounter with Vin.

They need an emoticon to portray the obligatory drum roll/cymbal crash that usually follows a statement like that. 

Well, there are some fantastic artists in the fan art thread...I say we make a request.