Summary
- A Mistborn movie needs to make Vin and Elend's age gap smaller for their romance to work on-screen.
- Lowering Elend's age in the adaptation would fit his character arc better and make his journey more believable.
- Casting young actors for Vin and Elend is necessary to ensure they don't age out of their roles before the series is finished.
A Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn books are set in a world ruled by a tyrant, and romance is far from the first thing on most characters' minds. However, Vin's relationship with Elend plays a significant role in the original Mistborn trilogy — both in of individual character development and the story overall.
When Vin agrees to help Kelsier and his crew overthrow the Lord Ruler, she's tasked with stirring chaos among the wealthy families of the Final Empire. Vin attends balls disguised as a young noblewoman, using her position to spy on Luthadel's elite and wreak havoc from the inside. While attending these affairs, Vin gets close to Elend Venture, the son of the wealthiest and most influential noble in Luthadel. Their relationship leads to Elend taking on a leadership role in the new Final Empire, but there's one thing a Mistborn movie must fix during the jump from page to screen.
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Vin & Elend's Age Gap In The Mistborn Books Won't Work On-Screen
Vin and Elend's romance subplot will likely be a compelling aspect of the Mistborn movie, but the adaptation needs to get rid of the books' age gap for their relationship to work. Sanderson's first novel opens with Vin as a 16-year-old street urchin, and she begins to develop feelings for Elend when he's 21. This five-year age gap wouldn't be that egregious when dealing with adult characters. However, the fact that Elend and Vin get together when the latter is underage is uncomfortable in the source material — and it'd likely be more noticeable on-screen and in a modern light.
Casting a Mistborn adaptation would necessitate finding a young actor to portray Vin, especially if the filmmakers want to go beyond the first novel. Bringing a teen star on-board would ensure Vin's actor doesn't age out of the role before the series is finished. It would also require an equally young star to bring Elend to life on-screen. And making Elend younger is probably the best approach an adaptation can take when it comes to closing the age gap from the source material.
A Mistborn Movie Needs To Make Elend Younger For Its Romance To Work
The obvious solution for a Mistborn movie looking to close Vin and Elend's age gap is to make the latter younger — perhaps 17. While a movie could push Vin's age slightly higher, her being a teenager is important to her circumstances at the beginning of the story. Vin's character arc serves as a coming-of-age tale of sorts. While Kelsier's gang could recruit her as a young adult, it's fitting that she's a teenager when the series opens. It explains why she stays with Camon's crew, and it makes sense of her naivety, barely blossoming Mistborn abilities, and the fact that she evades the Inquisitors as long as she does.
Meanwhile, lowering Elend's age doesn't make much of a difference to Mistborn's main storyline. Although making him too young would rule him out as the Final Empire's leader, having Elend go from 17 to 18 years old between the first two movies wouldn't affect this development. In fact, it may actually benefit the character's journey on-screen. After all, Elend also undergoes development that sees him maturing from a boy to a man.
A Younger Elend Venture Fits His Book Storyline Better Anyway
Making Elend younger in a Mistborn movie wouldn't just fix his relationship with Vin; it would also fit his storyline better, as much of Elend's character arc revolves around maturing enough to become an effective leader. Elend is portrayed as an idealist throughout Mistborn: The Final Empire and The Well of Ascension. Unfortunately, his naive optimism often gets him into trouble. While this isn't necessarily unheard of for someone in their young 20s, such a flaw is even more believable for a teen who's taken on such a hefty responsibility.
Elend's struggle to fully embrace his role as the Final Empire's king makes even more sense if he's still in his teens, especially after growing up extremely privileged. While it still works for a young adult, there's a feeling that the book version of Elend should have grown up slightly more before the events of Mistborn unfolded — especially given his constant learning. Elend being 17 allows him to embark on a journey similar to Vin's during the Mistborn movie while making his development seem more realistic.
