Reen's obsidian

[darxbane]

The earring is much more important than it appears.  The clues are there, especially when you add in the annotations.  EUOL makes sure to mention it in several key scenes.  The most important two in my opinion are when she draws on the mist only after the earring is ripped out of her ear by TLR (add in the fact that she has the earring on whenever she tries to draw upon them again and can't), and when Elend notices that the mists are being repelled by her at the end of book 2, which we all know is a telltale sign of Hemallurgy (Inquisitors, Zane). Reen's little block of obsidian, however, gets less than one sentence and is never seen nor heard from again.  It could still have some significance, but it would come from out of nowhere. 

[Miyabi]

The earring is much more important than it appears.  The clues are there, especially when you add in the annotations.  EUOL makes sure to mention it in several key scenes.  The most important two in my opinion are when she draws on the mist only after the earring is ripped out of her ear by TLR (add in the fact that she has the earring on whenever she tries to draw upon them again and can't), and when Elend notices that the mists are being repelled by her at the end of book 2, which we all know is a telltale sign of Hemallurgy (Inquisitors, Zane). Reen's little block of obsidian, however, gets less than one sentence and is never seen nor heard from again.  It could still have some significance, but it would come from out of nowhere. 

I still think it was something he had a plan for, then it just never happened.  Then again remember in Elantris. . the only mentioned like once how the city was laid out until like the very end of the book when suddenly it was important.

[darxbane]

Yes but the chasm is mentioned all the time, along with the fact that Elantrians only come from that area.  There are several references to how the powers are tied to the land.  The importance of the city's layout would have given the whole ending away if it was mentioned any sooner.  Anyway, it would be cool if there is some hidden message or whatnot that is on the obsidian, but I think it's done.  Maybe EUOL originally had Vin killing an Inq with it, like poetic justice or something.

[Comatose]

Soory, I was away all week, so I'm backtracking a bit.
Wow you guys have been busy all the way, and Ookla, just so you know, I'm ignoring your posts from now on, they are just too much for me (although I did enjoy you muhahaha).  No hard feelings I hope.

Someone mentioned Reen being an allomancer, I don't think he can be, otherwise the inquisitors could have used him to expose Tevidan, the fact that he was an allomancer born of Tevidan's skaa mistress would have been enough to condemn him, that and his uncertainty.  But they continued after Vin, thus Reen has no allomancy.
I'm game for thinking he's the mist spirit though .  Or am I?  Maybe I'll just play BOTH SIDES of  this one.
Seriously, you guys crack me up, I've missed TWG.  And Sarah, your Princess Bride reference (it was Princess Bride wasn't it?  I'd feel very stupid if it wasn't.) was hysterical, I loved it.  Thank-you for making my day.

Back to the thread's topic (boy has this been a tangent) if it's not important, why does Reen carry it around??  He doesn't seem like the sentimental type, he's rather practical to the extreme, it's Vin who carries pebbles from every city she visits with her, so why would ever pragmatic Reen, carry a mere token with him.  I'm grasping a straws, of course, but I think I have a point.

[happyman]

Soory, I was away all week, so I'm backtracking a bit.
Wow you guys have been busy all the way, and Ookla, just so you know, I'm ignoring your posts from now on, they are just too much for me (although I did enjoy you muhahaha).  No hard feelings I hope.

Someone mentioned Reen being an allomancer, I don't think he can be, otherwise the inquisitors could have used him to expose Tevidan, the fact that he was an allomancer born of Tevidan's skaa mistress would have been enough to condemn him, that and his uncertainty.  But they continued after Vin, thus Reen has no allomancy.
I'm game for thinking he's the mist spirit though .  Or am I?  Maybe I'll just play BOTH SIDES of  this one.
Seriously, you guys crack me up, I've missed TWG.  And Sarah, your Princess Bride reference (it was Princess Bride wasn't it?  I'd feel very stupid if it wasn't.) was hysterical, I loved it.  Thank-you for making my day.

Back to the thread's topic (boy has this been a tangent) if it's not important, why does Reen carry it around??  He doesn't seem like the sentimental type, he's rather practical to the extreme, it's Vin who carries pebbles from every city she visits with her, so why would ever pragmatic Reen, carry a mere token with him.  I'm grasping a straws, of course, but I think I have a point.

You may well have a point.  Reen knowing something about Allomancy would be interesting.  It just seems unlikely that its a magical piece of obsidian when all other magic has focused on metals.

[SarahG]

And Sarah, your Princess Bride reference (it was Princess Bride wasn't it?  I'd feel very stupid if it wasn't.) was hysterical, I loved it.  Thank-you for making my day.

Princess Bride quotes are always hysterical.  It's one of the laws of the universe.  However, to give credit where credit is due, VegasDev and Reaves started that particular quote-fest.

[Miyabi]

I also agree that Reen MUST have known something about allomancy, otherwise, why would he have kept Vin around?  Now before you get all mushy on me. . . he does NOT seem like the type that would let emotions put him in danger.

[Andrew the Great]

I also agree that Reen MUST have known something about allomancy, otherwise, why would he have kept Vin around?  Now before you get all mushy on me. . . he does NOT seem like the type that would let emotions put him in danger.

Cannibalism is rather fashionable these days....

No, seriously, you can usually find a use for another person. And if he didn't know about Vin's allomancy, he wouldn't know that she would be putting him in danger. Any problems, he would most likely assume stemmed from him.

[VegasDev]

However, to give credit where credit is due, VegasDev and Reaves started that particular quote-fest.

Thank you for the props, SarahG. I'll most likely kill you in the morning.

[SarahG]

I also agree that Reen MUST have known something about allomancy, otherwise, why would he have kept Vin around?  Now before you get all mushy on me. . . he does NOT seem like the type that would let emotions put him in danger.

Well, whether it was emotions or something else, keeping the Inquisitors away from Vin was at least important enough to Reen to be worth lying about and thus prolonging his torture.  You can call me mushy, but I believe he actually did love her.  (And death cannot stop true love, all it can do is delay it for a little while.)

[Andrew the Great]

That's true. Hadn't thought of that.

We'll probably get through all of this to find that Reen isn't actually dead, he's been mostly dead for the last ten years or so.

[darxbane]

Does this mean the the obsidian is both important and unimportant?  It has been tough to comment lately.  After all, you must use different tactics when theorizing with half a dozen people than when you only have to theorize with one. <passes out>

[GreenMonsta]

I think this is generally leading to people thinking the obsidian has some importanct. It seems that Reen probably wouldn't carry something of no value around for sentimentality. Not that he's incapable he just seems to practical to the point of coldness sometimes. I also agree that in the end Reen loved Vin. I think he beat her and treated her the way he did to prepair her for the type of world he thought she would grow up in. I'm not sure if I beleive that he was aware of her Allomantic abilities but I can beleive that he knew she was special in a way he might not have understood.

[Miyabi]

Yeah, but it was HER powers that got them into thieving groups and kept them there for the times they were there.  He would have seen her be used as a tool and would have likely tried to figure out WHY she was so useful to the groups, even if he hadn't figured it out at first I think he eventually would have.

[Reaves]

You may well have a point.  Reen knowing something about Allomancy would be interesting.  It just seems unlikely that its a magical piece of obsidian when all other magic has focused on metals.

well was Reen Vin's full brother? Perhaps were they twins? If so he could easily have been an allomancer as well.