Why were the Bands of Mourning drained?

[Berlyn]

I am not sure if I missed this part as I binged the entire book over 2 days, but was it ever explained how the Bands of Mourning were drained?

[Frustration]

Nope, unfortunately not.

[Berlyn]

2 minutes ago, Frustration said:

Nope, unfortunately not.

Thanks for the quick reply!

Well, bummer, I guess we all have to wait and hopefully find out in future Cosmere novels.

[Brgst13]

Crazy theory (SP4 and SA5 spoilers):

Spoiler

Sigzil drew put their Investiture when he took up the Dawnshard and used it to do wtf ever happened on Roshar during SA5.  The discovery of this will serve as the genesis of the Roshar-Scadrial conflict.

 

Edited November 24, 2022 by Brgst13
Added spoiled series

[Frustration]

1 hour ago, Brgst13 said:

Crazy theory:

  Reveal hidden contents

Sigzil drew put their Investiture when he took up the Dawnshard and used it to do wtf ever happened on Roshar during SA5.  The discovery of this will serve as the genesis of the Roshar-Scadrial conflict.

 

You have to mention what series is being spoiled. 

Abd that wouldn't work SA 5 takes place before AoL.

[Brgst13]

Fixed.  And good point.

[Zanarkand]

This idea might be a bit thin, but where did the investiture come from to open the perpendicularity which Autonomy's army was planning to use? Could it have come from the Bands?

[Isilel]

I very much doubt that they were actually drained, i.e. turned into a useless lump of metal. Introducing such an artefact just to destroy it with so little pay-off seems like a complete waste and frankly bad writing. IMHO, they were either replaced with a fake because somebody  figured out where Tensoon, who is a creature of habit, has hidden them, or some kind of supressor, like those seen in RoW, was employed to make it seem that they were drained.

Personally, I think that it was a tragically mis-timed heist of Kelsier's. He had been in the south immediately prior to Daal's arrival in Elendel and might have been the force behind  southern unification. If he built that temple and spread rumors about the Bands both in the Basin and in the south in order to provoke contact between the 2 civilizations, to spur on technological progress and  to jump-start magi-tech development in the north, as seems likely, he must have been rather disappointed by kandra swooping in and confiscating them. So, since he had completely misjudged the timing that Set was operating under, he hatched a plot to get them back. Daal and maybe  Adathwyn are likely  associated with the Ghostbloods in some way, though not full members, and were acting on his instructions.

[King-A-Train]

3 hours ago, Isilel said:

I very much doubt that they were actually drained, i.e. turned into a useless lump of metal. Introducing such an artefact just to destroy it with so little pay-off seems like a complete waste and frankly bad writing. IMHO, they were either replaced with a fake because somebody  figured out where Tensoon, who is a creature of habit, has hidden them, or some kind of supressor, like those seen in RoW, was employed to make it seem that they were drained.

Agreed, Steris believes that Daal was in some way expecting them to be drained.
 

Whether that’s because he has ghost blood connections or as a southern Scadrian has some knowledge (possibly just part of a story or rumour). 

[teknopathetic]

I wonder if maybe the Kandra had actually been using them for something and had dtrained them entirely. That would be an interesting twist. 

Edited November 30, 2022 by teknopathetic

[duladen]

Discovering them drained fuels the conflict between the north and south. Stoking the Cold War could lead to great leaps forward militarily and technologically for Scadrial. Perhaps Harmony is gambling - told his Kandra to drain the bands to hopefully force Scadrial into arming against Autonomy’s attack.

[Ati16]

This idea might be a little far fetched, but could Daal be spiked to make him a leecher. He could not drain the bands but he might be able to block the person using them. The sovereign might have also given the southern scadrians knowledge of hemalurgy that only the Malwish upper class know about.

[BinarySecond]

On 11/27/2022 at 8:46 AM, Ati16 said:

This idea might be a little far fetched, but could Daal be spiked to make him a leecher. He could not drain the bands but he might be able to block the person using them. The sovereign might have also given the southern scadrians knowledge of hemalurgy that only the Malwish upper class know about.

I'm wondering if they have someone spiked with Brass and Duralumin and have been controlling Kandra while Harmony is blind.

[Okishok]

My off the wall prediction is that Daal is an Aluminum Misting and had a grenade (or more likely some new device) that was charged with Allomantic Aluminum.

[StormingTexan]

I think the one we see onscreen is a fake. Kelsier had them swapped and he just happens to have one of the best forgers alive on staff. 

[Ati16]

1 hour ago, Okishok said:

My off the wall prediction is that Daal is an Aluminum Misting and had a grenade (or more likely some new device) that was charged with Allomantic Aluminum.

Daal can't be an allomancer unless he is spiked or by some miracle has noble ancestry. The Aluminum primer cube idea is good, but would probably work the same without the cube if Daal would be a leecher.

Here is my theory: Daal was involved in a plot to steal the Bands of Mourning, but that plot wouldn't have been by the Malwish. The Ghostbloods could have scammed Daal to think he was taking the Bands to the Malwish, but was actually giving them to the Ghostbloods, because Kelsier wouldn't want the Bands in circulation. Adawathwyn could have been a Ghostblood and a ferring with the ability to manipulate connection and with that ability could control TenSoon. Daal wouldn't know that Adawathwyn was in on the plan and would just think that TenSoon was eager to save Elendel. Daal could be spiked into making him a leecher and would block anyone who tried the Bands. When Daal leaves he would give the Bands to his "Superiors" who are actually the Ghostbloods in disguise, who give the Bands to Kelsier.

[teknopathetic]

6 hours ago, StormingTexan said:

I think the one we see onscreen is a fake. Kelsier had them swapped and he just happens to have one of the best forgers alive on staff. 

OOOOOOOH. Moonlight and Hoid rematch to steal the bands! 

Edited November 30, 2022 by teknopathetic

[JStormD]

Brandon has said that Hoid is happiest "when getting away with something" and stated this was during the Bands of Mourning. Could he possibly have drained the bands

[Trusk'our]

5 hours ago, JStormD said:

Brandon has said that Hoid is happiest "when getting away with something" and stated this was during the Bands of Mourning. Could he possibly have drained the bands

Welcome to the Shard!

You know, I hadn't really considered the possibility of Hoid so directly interfering with the Bands in that way, but I could certainly see it happening; Kelsier would almost certainly have wanted the Bands (as he is so desperate to see a growth of the Metallic Arts in society), and we know that Hoid loves to meddle with such things and to mess up Kel's plans and his Fortune could have warned him of the Bands causing problems in the future.

[alder24]

15 hours ago, JStormD said:

Brandon has said that Hoid is happiest "when getting away with something" and stated this was during the Bands of Mourning. Could he possibly have drained the bands

Interesting but I find this unlikely. I think this was about Hoid giving Kelsier's copper medallion to Wax, as Kel didn't want this information to get out. Hoid getting one of them and giving it to Wax, without getting caught, fits this WoB. Moreover draining the Bands didn't happen during the events of BoM - the Bands were given to Kandra and the book ended almost at the same moment, there was not enough time for Hoid to somehow drain the Bands within the timeline of the book (not to mention that he was at New Seran and even he might have troubles to get to Elendel on time).

Spoiler

Viridian

Why did Hoid give the memory coin to Wax? What was his intention?

Brandon Sanderson

He thought that certain information was being kept, and certain lies were being perpetuated. And Hoid was a fan of that information being out.

Viridian

I'm still suspicious.

Brandon Sanderson

Oh, you should be suspicious of Hoid's motive. He and Kelsier do not get along. Let's just say... Kelsier did not want that information to get out.

Arcanum Unbounded release party (Nov. 22, 2016)

 

[Stigmadiabolicum]

In BoM Wax says "The Bands are drained, mostly, but we could probably recharge them by compounding" 

So they were already at like 5%, he mainly used steel and a blend of the other physical traits but never really used soothing or the other emotional ones, or a few F powers. 

What's weird is they shouldn't be able to "drain", the unkeyed F powers you'd just start a new recharge cycle, store some health/speed/weight, swallow that metalminds and burn it, flare it and so on. They're not single use haha. 

But in that intense moment they weren't thinking, and the admiral/Kelsier were definitely making a play there. 

Honestly for years now I've just been itching to finally get the full scoop on the south, I know them, Kel and the tech was basically seeds planted for era 3 but waiting til era 3 sucks haha, I want secret history 2

[alder24]

6 hours ago, Stigmadiabolicum said:

In BoM Wax says "The Bands are drained, mostly, but we could probably recharge them by compounding" 

So they were already at like 5%, he mainly used steel and a blend of the other physical traits but never really used soothing or the other emotional ones, or a few F powers. 

Yeah, he didn't use most of the Bands powers, there are 32 of them, they should still be functional in TLM.

6 hours ago, Stigmadiabolicum said:

What's weird is they shouldn't be able to "drain", the unkeyed F powers you'd just start a new recharge cycle, store some health/speed/weight, swallow that metalminds and burn it, flare it and so on. They're not single use haha. 

They seem to not work like medallions. The nicrosil part of metallions work like a coppermind, but there are no medallions with Allomantic powers. It seems to me that normal Feruchemical nicrosil works like any other metalmind - you store your Allomancy for an hour, you can tap it for an hour and be twice as strong. So the Bands have 16 metalminds and those powers might work like medallions  - off and on switch - but all Allomantic powers stored in the nicrosilmind are on a timer, like in normal Feruchemy, just how ironminds work. You can recharge that nicrosilmind with compounding, but if the power of A-steel (for example) is completely used up, you need to give it to a Coinshot, so they can store their power in them for some time. So they were drained not only of all Allomantic powers stored in the nicrosilmind, but also of every other Feruchemical attribute stored in any other metalminds. The Bands probably still make you a Feruchemist, but they are empty, they have no use unless you recharge them.

Spoiler

Pagerunner

When you tap the nicrosil portion of a medallion, will it run out over time? Or is it like a coppermind, where something discrete is taken, used, and returned?

Brandon Sanderson

Good question! Like a coppermind.

General Signed Books 2018 (Oct. 15, 2018)

 

6 hours ago, Stigmadiabolicum said:

Honestly for years now I've just been itching to finally get the full scoop on the south, I know them, Kel and the tech was basically seeds planted for era 3 but waiting til era 3 sucks haha, I want secret history 2

Brandon currently has no plans to write SH2 in the nearest 6-8 years. He will write the full Era 3 during that time. Just 8 more years and we will start getting some answers.

[listerfeend]

6 hours ago, alder24 said:

Brandon currently has no plans to write SH2 in the nearest 6-8 years. He will write the full Era 3 during that time. Just 8 more years and we will start getting some answers.

this...murders my happiness in ways that I don't know how to cope with

[RustyToaster]

On 1/17/2024 at 2:22 PM, listerfeend said:

this...murders my happiness in ways that I don't know how to cope with

If memory serves, the last secret histories was written as Sanderson realized he needed to expand on specific elements between Era 2 books. So that book wouldn't have been on the plan then either.

[listerfeend]

On 4/12/2024 at 11:52 PM, RustyToaster said:

If memory serves, the last secret histories was written as Sanderson realized he needed to expand on specific elements between Era 2 books. So that book wouldn't have been on the plan then either.

This Awakens my happiness slightly.