The Hero of Ages: A Crisis of Faith

What is the point of faith in a world hopeless world?

Hey guys, it’s Jim Wilbourne, author of The Continua Chronicles, and today I wanted to talk to you about The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson.

This video is an analysis and has spoilers for the third Mistborn novel, The Hero of Ages. So if you haven’t read the novel and you don’t want it spoiled for you, add this video to your watch later list and circle back when you’re done.

But if you’ve read the novel, and you want to chat about it on a deeper level, this video is for you.

In the final book of era one of Mistborn, Brandon Sanderson wraps up the trilogy with a thrilling ride of reveals and character growth. As the rebels struggle to piece their world back together after the fall of the Lord Ruler, they learn the true consequences of what a world without his regime really means. Their actions come with unintended consequences, and the road to victory is hard-won.

It’s a fantastic finale, but there is an element of the story that really stands out to me as its true gem of narrative beauty: Sazed’s story.

During the first two novels, Sazed is primarily a side character, functioning as a mentor and a well of information because of his metalminds. As a Terrisman, he’s spent his life studying and protecting the lost cultures of the people in his world.

But as the series draws to a close, Sazed suffers from a crisis of faith when the woman he loves dies. It’s not unnatural for the loss of someone held dear to push a person into searching for something to bring comfort, some sort of truth to alleviate the burden of a heavy heart. Moreover, as Elend Venture’s chief ambassador, he finds that he can’t properly lead without faith, without a belief in something.

In his search for meaning, Sazed has lost his identity. He has even discarded his metalminds—his most valuable possession and his previous reason for being. But after losing someone so close to him, so precious, everything else seems… meaningless.

In Sazed’s search, he finds little that might explain the reasons behind the pain and suffering he observes in the world. Every religion he sifts through is either contradictory or hypocritical or both. 

Sazed struggles with the cognitive dissonance of faith, truth, and logic. He concludes that everything that he and the other Keepers have done has no value—that people don’t even care. 

At one point, he says to Breeze: 

 “This is not an era for scholars and philosophers. Scholars and philosophers do not help feed starving children.”

Sazed refuses to wear his metalminds because he believes to do so would be hypocritical—one of the primary reasons he’s having trouble finding a religion that stands the test of reason.

When Sazed meets Quellion, he tries to warn the man of danger. But Quellion rejects the warnings because he believes in the Survivor. He continues on, fearless because he has something to believe in.

Even Spook, another character experiencing his own powerful story, tells Sazed that he has faith—faith that Kelsier is with them, watching over them. And when Sazed has doubts about whether or not their plans will work, Spook tells him that he does have doubts, but that’s the purpose of faith.

Sanderson uses Breeze and Spook as reflection characters for Sazed. A reflection character is a character whose purpose is to motivate the protagonist in his journey of change. Breeze is a fun choice since Sazed served the same purpose for Breeze once in the past.

“Faith,” Spook said, “means that it doesn’t matter what happens. You can trust that somebody is watching. Trust that somebody will make it all right.” … “It means that there will always be a way.”

Slowly, Sazed comes to understand that he needs faith to continue and reviews every religion he has preserved for one that satisfies his criteria. But when finishes, he finds that every single one fails his tests. They all fail to prove their validity. 

This leads him to a deeper question: How does one rationalize belief without proof? 

To Sazed, it would seem that it’s better to not believe in anything because belief would mean that his faith would fail him. Maybe it’s better to believe that all that is wrong with the world is up to chance rather than the failings of a higher power.

Depending on you, the reader, this can be either reassuring or terribly bleak. But Sanderson doesn’t leave us there.

Eventually, Sazed finds that the Terris religion isn’t dead. He’s given one final hope of discovering a religion that holds truth. However, it’s not that simple. When he visits the kandra’s first generation—the keepers of the Terris beliefs—Sazed is told that he’s searching for something that doesn’t exist because faith is not about logic. 

To quote Sazed himself from the first novel, The Final Empire:

“Belief isn't simply a thing for fair times and bright days… What is belief—what is faith—if you don't continue in it after failure? Anyone can believe in someone or something that always succeeds… But failure… ah, now, that is hard to believe in, certainly and truly.

When Tindwel died, Sazed wanted so desperately to find solace in what he knew, something that would rekindle his will to go on, to fight, to live.

He knew that faith—often faith in religion—is what people lean on for that inner fire, and he knew many religions.

It seems simple. Just find one that works for you and what you know. But that also seems to be where he failed because the solace and hope that comes from faith don’t spring forth from what you know. It comes from what you don’t. 

All around him, Sazed saw a situation with no known solution. Because of that, he was logically bound to assume that the situation that faced Elend, Vin, and himself was hopeless. 

But to experience hope, you not only need a desired outcome, but you also need to believe that outcome is possible.

In The Hero of Ages, through Sazed’s story—and, really, other characters too—Brandon Sanderson wanted to explore how faith and hope are important and powerful forces when the world is darkest.

Faith doesn’t mean you don’t have to fight on because things will be okay. Faith is a reason to fight so that things will be okay.

But what do you think? What do you think The Hero of Ages has to say about hope, faith, and logic? Do you think that faith has a role to play in our lives, or do you think it’s a flawed human construct?

Let me know in the comments. I’d love to know what you think and discuss it further with you.

If you’d like to support me and this channel outside of liking, subscribing, and hitting the notification bell, you can buy my book. If you enjoy Brandon Sanderson’s books, there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy mine as well.

And until next time, err on the side of awesome.