Spoilers for all of Mistborn Era 1 below. If you haven’t finished it, I’d stop here.
First time ever posting on Reddit (I believe?), so bear with me if I’m doing anything wrong.
If you haven’t heard the song, I’d recommend listening to it first and forming your own take before reading mine.
I’ve been listening to Hozier's music for a while, and a lot of his music I initially listened to had an ethereal, almost Fae quality. “Empire Now” hit me differently. It’s cinematic, with huge drums and a dark industrial kind of feel, but it still has that western-style twang behind it all. That blend alone feels like the two eras meeting.
The song itself is about a revolution against an empire: its martyrs, and the sun finally rising on the new world, the dream they made possible. Which to me feels much like the end of Era 1. The Final Empire falls, the ash clears, and Harmony remakes the world, with the Elendel Basin becoming a lush paradise. (It’s widely read/speculated as being about Irish independence from Britain, though I haven’t seen that confirmed.)
I can picture it over a montage: focusing initially on Spook, then widening out to the people and the land and civilization changing and growing over the centuries until we arrive at Elendel.
There’s also an undertone I love. To me, the song’s optimism feels almost too confident, and there is a subtle sadness to his voice. At least to my ears. Elendel, a world that's "easy" compared to the Final Empire. A beautiful, prettied-up place that believes everything will be fine now, with an unease underneath.
I say "Almost" only because the mention of 100 years, When 300 years has passed between the two eras, but I feel that can be forgiven or explained away as a passage of time.
I could break down the lyrics and how they connect in more depth, and may do that later in a comment if no one beats me to it. Let me know what you think though.
