Oh, Wax has always been solemn, but when he's at his best, there's a smirk underneath.

I've seen Steelheart bleed

...A man can only stumble for so long before he either falls or stands up straight.

It seems that the rebels found the chaos of transition more difficult to accept than the tyranny they had known before. They joyfully welcomed back authority-even oppressive authority-for it was less painful for them than uncertainty.

Those candle flames were like the lives of men. So fragile. So deadly. Left alone, they lit and warmed. Let run rampant, they would destroy the very things they were meant to illuminate. Embryonic bonfires, each bearing a seed of destruction so potent it could tumble cities and dash kings to their knees.

The hallmark of insecurity is bravado.

Ah, the outdoors,' Shallan said. 'I visited that mythical place once.