Mist, Messiahs and Mortal Gods: Religious Trauma and Self-Actualization in Brandon Sanderson's The Hero of Ages (2008) by Asya Yılmaz

 

Mist, Messiahs and Mortal Gods: Religious Trauma and Self-Actualization in Brandon Sanderson's The Hero of Ages (2008)

Brandon Sanderson is one of the most prolific and popular writers of the contemporary epic fantasy genre, and a creative writing professor at the Brigham Young University. Born in Nebraska, USA, he gained global recognition by concluding Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time (1990-2013) series, which was regarded as one of the most influential works of the fantasy genre. With this work and the fame it brought, Sanderson became a significant figure in the fantasy genre early on in his career. He is known for his vast and diverse fictional universe, "The Cosmere," which hosts over seventy books, interconnected through series and standalone novels. His world-building skills and motives are shaped not only by innovative and creative magic systems and narratives, but also by profound theological (multi)layers, and the theological background in his books encompasses the teachings, rituals, and history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or commonly known as The Mormon Church. Sanderson himself stated that he is an active and, liberal member of the LDS Church. When asked whether his books have a religious missionary mindset, he said:

I don’t set out to put anything specifically Mormon into my books, but who I am definitely influences what I write and how I write it. (...) I’m not trying to make a point consciously ever in my writing–though I do think that good stories should raise questions and make readers think. Who I am as a person heavily influences what I write, and I draw from everything I can find–whether it be LDS, Buddhist, Islamic, or Atheist. It’s all jumbled up there in that head of mine, and comes out in different characters who are seeking different things (Sanderson).

To understand Sanderson's narrative world, it is essential to examine the Mormonist origins that inspired it. Founded in New York in the 1830s by Joseph Smith, this belief system reinterprets the Judeo-Christian tradition and canon with an ideal and radical restoration of the system. Smith claimed that at the age of 14, he received the "First Vision" in which he was warned by God and Jesus Christ that the existing churches and sects were corrupt and that the legitimacy of true Christianity had passed. He then found The Book of Mormon, the holy scripture of Mormons on gold plates on Cumorah Hill in 1827, which later was translated into English "by the power of God,". This new holy book not only laid the new grounds for Mormon Christianity, but also positioned the American continent as the "newly promised land" – the sacred land where Jesus Christ will return. During the 1830s, The Mormon community grew to thousands; however, it was perceived as a major threat by opposing groups (mainly being Puritan and Protestant members of the New England churches in general). The escalating conflict eventually led to Smith being declared a "heretic", and in 1844, he was lynched by an angry mob in an Illinois. Following this event, Brigham Young became the second president of the Mormon Church, and along with his followers, settled in a desolate area on the Mexican border (today Salt Lake City, Utah). The city was constructed as a modern "Jerusalem" and for Mormon groups it remains a center to this day. 

Mormonism has many radical teachings that diverge from traditional (Protestant) Christianity; however, the belief I am primarily interested in is that humans can reach a state of divinity through spiritual development. According to Mormonism, humans choose suffering and tragedy in Earth life as a result of their free-willed creation. The main belief is that before human beings are born, they are in a perfect but inexperienced state alongside God. Then, using their free will, they choose to live the earthly life – and the pain, tragedy and suffering that comes with earthly life. In this way, by truly living life, they hope to rereturn to God's presence, this time with meaning, understanding and experience. This concept, called "Eternal Progression," argues that a mortal, imperfect being, a human, can "become God" by becoming privy to the secrets of the universe – for God himself progresses in his eternality, human beings should always try to get to this perfect state by experiencing life. 

All organized existence is in progress, either to an endless advancement in eternal perfections, or back to dissolution… Nothing less than the privilege of increasing eternally, in every sense of the word, can satisfy the immortal spirit. If the endless stream of knowledge from the eternal fountain could all be drunk in by organized intelligences, so sure immortality would come to an end, and all eternity be thrown upon the retrograde path (Young).

This philosophical perspective also constantly appears in Sanderson's texts, in the conflicts within the characters' inner journeys. However, before examining the relationship between this belief and the concepts of religious trauma and self-actualization through the character of Sazed in the Mistborn trilogy, I would like to briefly discuss the Mistborn universe in general and the third book in particular: The original Mistborn trilogy, tells the story of a multi-layered power struggle on the planet Scadrial. The Lord Ruler, a god-king who rules the realm known as the Final Empire, has ruled this realm with oppression, tyranny, and dictatorship for a thousand years. He is both the head of state and a religious figure, possessing an unchallengeable and unshakeable authority. Classes are sharply divided in society, and the hierarchical order is unshakable. The "Skas"—slaves, laborers, and merchants—form the lower class of people, while the nobles are wealthy families living above them. They control the cities and many of the villages and towns scattered around the land (which are feudal settlements based on farming and animal husbandry). Despite these economic conditions, The Final Empire is a nearly dead realm of barren and unproductive lands covered in a mysterious and magical mist. The mist is feared by the Skas, and it is the source of the world's three great magic systems: Allomancy, Feruchemy, and Hemalurgy. These systems rely on the powers of metals; for example, those known as "Mistborn" or "Mistings" can conjure the powers of certain metals by digesting and burning them. This allows them to acquire supernatural abilities such as flight, mind reading, and emotion manipulation. For instance, iron/steel metals, when burned, act like a magnet, allowing Mistborns or Mistings to attract and repel surrounding metals, interacting with them. 

The first book in the series, set in this semi-dystopic atmosphere, The Final Empire (2006), is a story of revolution. The main characters, Vin and Kelsier, are members of a gang of thieves who have come together to overthrow the Lord Ruler. However, throughout the trilogy, this revolution would come to unleash a far more ancient and dark threat: Ruin, a god of annihilation. Eventually, characters will have to fight against Ruin and uncover secrets of how to defeat him. One of the key characters of this victory is Sazed, who is a Terrisman, a Keeper, dedicated to learning and preserving history, tradition and knowledge of the world before Lord Ruler’s rule. He mentors Vin in Kelsier's gang of thieves, educating her about her mission and identity. At the same time, as a Keeper, his duty is to study and store all the ancient religions, cultures, and knowledge destroyed by the Lord Ruler in his "metal minds" using his Feruchemical abilities, and to preserve and safeguard them for humankind. In the first book, Sazed has a unique faith regarding all the religions he has the knowledge of – he doesn't believe in any particular religion. He believes that every religion contains a fragment of truth, and they are all sacred; and he respects them. However, throughout the narrative, Sazed's character development will be tested by severe religious traumas and ontological crises.

The first fracture begins when his friend Kelsier sacrifices himself as part of a plan to overthrow the Lord Ruler, transforming himself into a messiah figure, or even a god figure. After Kelsier’s sacrifice helps overthrow the Lord Ruler, a new religion emerges known as the “Church of the Survivor”. During the second book, The Well of Ascension (2007), even Kelsier’s close friends seem to accept his godhood and sanctity: 

"But you knew Kelsier," she (Vin) said. "You were with us from near the beginning. You know he's no god." Demoux looked up, a bit of a challenge in his eyes. "He died to overthrow the Lord Ruler." "That doesn't make him divine." "He taught us how to survive, to have hope." "You survived before," Vin said. "People had hope before Kelsier got thrown in those pits." "Not like we do now," Demoux said. "Besides. . . he had power, my lady. I felt it.” Vin paused. She knew the story; Kelsier had used Demoux as an example to the rest of the army in a fight with a skeptic, directing his blows with Allomancy, making Demoux seem as if he had supernatural powers (Sanderson, 469).

This dialogue between Vin and General Demoux (one of the members of the gang of thieves established by Kelsier himself) can be interpreted as a direct reflection of the "human-god" image in Mormonism; as, Kelsier essentially represents the role undertaken by Joseph Smith. Properly, both challenged the existing order -which was based on religious oppression or the idea of “corruptness”- constructed a new religion for their followers, and grounded their belief system through "martyrdom." Throughout the second book, Sazed observes this new religion and church with a keen eye, and compares the idea of Kelsier’s transformation with the religions he has knowledge of. But more importantly, he first hand witnesses the birth of a religion and how a human being becomes "sacred." As previously mentioned, Mormons believe in the existence of human prophets or living gods; accordingly, it can be said that in Mormonism, God is not an abstract concept or an unattainable being; but rather, it is a concrete figure with human attributes, and of soul and mind. Kelsier's deification and his reception by people demonstrates that; divinity is not a mystery, but rather a status attainable through virtuous actions. 

In the second book, Sazed also falls into a deep abyss of meaninglessness and emptiness after losing the woman he loves and this becomes the trigger for his main (religious) trauma. He begins to question the existence of the afterlife, with a goal to find a perfect answer that can satisfy his hunger for justice. For this reason, he begins to examine hundreds of religions in his archive one by one; however, he cannot find the perfection he seeks because, in his opinion, all spiritual knowledge on earth has been corrupted by the Lord Ruler, and pure truth, or reality, has been erased from the face of the earth:

Sazed—so far— had found only contradictions and hypocrisy in each religion he studied. Divinity was supposed to be perfect. Divinity didn't let its followers get slaughtered, and certainly didn't allow the world to be destroyed by good men who were just trying to save it. One of the remaining ones would provide an answer. There had to be truth he could discover. As his feelings of dark suffocation threatened to overwhelm him, he fell to his studies, taking out the next sheet in line and strapping it to the outside of the portfolio. He would study it as he walked, carrying the portfolio with the sheet on the bottom when he wasn't reading, thereby keeping the ash off of it. He'd find the answers. He dared not think what he would do if there weren't any (Sanderson, 112).

It can be gathered that, this state of questioning that Sazed is in takes him further and further away from the perfection he seeks, knowledge no longer satisfies him, on the contrary, it makes him even more angry and drives him to despair. This quest is again similar to Joseph Smith's quest and the state of pain and suffering he preached. Sazed has now taken the first steps necessary for Eternal Progression, which is living the life he deliberately chose to undergo change. 

The act he was waiting on will come along in In The Hero of the Ages (2008), the finale of the trilogy, as he will transform through his traumas and begin an act of "self-realization." As the other characters journey to stop Ruin from destruction, Sazed goes on his own journey to make meaning of all he knows. He will re-examine the religions and will visit every sacred land to see what truths they contain to enlighten the questions he has. This very journey will make him will realize that, all of the ancient religious knowledge he had previously dismissed as "flawed" is in fact, essential to the physical and spiritual restoration of the world:

The religions in my portfolio weren't useless after all, he thought, the power flowing from him and remaking the world. None of them were. They weren't all true. But they all had truth. Sazed hovered over the world, changing things as he felt he must. He cradled the hiding places of mankind, keeping the caverns safe—even if he did move them about —as he reworked the world's tectonics. Finally, he exhaled softly, his work finished. And yet, the power did not evaporate from him, as he had expected it to. (...) Ruin and Preservation were dead, and their powers had been joined together. (...) It wasn't until that moment that Sazed understood the term Hero of Ages. Not a Hero that came once in the ages. But a Hero who would span the ages. A Hero who would preserve mankind throughout all its lives and times. Neither Preservation nor Ruin, but both. God (Sanderson, 465).

As he reaches the final level of the Eternal Progression, he accordingly, becomes the god, naming himself "Harmony". Based on all his accumulated knowledge, he restores the order of the world as he learned through pain and suffering. In a sense, Sazed completes the lack of his own faith by becoming the faith himself, answers his questions about life and meaning, and embraces all answers as he embraces himself. This ascension and deification is not a rejection of religion and tradition, but rather a reconstruction and a rejoicing of them through an individual point of view, which is the most fundamental teaching of the Mormon faith.

In the final analysis, I would love to return to the beginning and remember Sanderson's identity as a "liberal member" within the church. It can be undoubtedly seen that, especially in The Hero of the Ages, Sanderson presents his theological ideal through a character who, instead of blindly following predetermined teachings, reconstructs faith on a rational basis. Sazed's story is a reflection of a human being who progresses hand in hand with trauma, pain and suffering – also shaped by doubt, self-questioning and self-containment; and ultimately becomes divine by constructing their own truth. Consequently, through the character of Sazed, Sanderson reconstructs the most radical claims of Mormonism—the potential divinity of humanity—as a narrative of religious trauma, and healing. Sazed's journey in The Hero of Ages is, in essence, a story of self-realization, even self-transcendence, a process of personally embracing divinity. Through this story and character development process, Sanderson presents us with images and narratives influenced by his own faith, explains them, shows how the construction of truth takes shape, and what roles humans play in this process of creation.

Works Cited

Sanderson, Brandon. Mistborn: The Hero of Ages. Tor Books, 2008.

---. Mistborn: The Well of Ascension. Tor Books, 2007.

---. “Tell Me More About Religion and Your Writing.” Brandon Sanderson, 14 Oct. 2018, faq.brandonsanderson.com/knowledge-base/tell-me-more-about-religion-and-your-writing.

Young, Brigham. “Life and Death, or Organization and Disorganization.” Journal of Discourses: Public Sermons by Mormon Leaders From 1851-1886, vol. 1, July 1853, pp. 349–53. jod.mrm.org/1/349#350.