Lost Metal Is.......

[Pandora's shard]

Once we have read the book, one thing still remains unanswered (At least directly)... And that is THE TITLE ITSELF!!!!! 

Several people have had their interpretations.. 

Here is my interpretation.. 

 

The title refers to LERASIUM. 

Since the first trilogy, this is one metal that has gone missing. Full mistborn has become a myth. But this book found a way to reintroduce it in the Storyline, and now, there could be full mistborns again. In fact, the climax depends totally on Wayne using the lerasium and becoming a mistborn. 

 

So, that is the lost metal. LERASIUM. 

 

What do u think guys?? 

Edited November 28, 2022 by Pandora's shard

[Mraize's Lost Aviar]

I think your spot on

[SpinningSky]

 

 

I think that many actual in-universe metals are valid options for being "the lost metal", but I can see how you would pick out of those Lerasium at it is indeed crucial to the ending of the book.

However as you could also make the arguement for other metals, if I had to pick one interpretation, I say Wayne is the lost metal I explained my reasoning in another post if you're curious

 

 

[StormingTexan]

I agree is was not explicitly mentioned from what I recall but this is what I assumed as well. 

[+robardin]

What else could it be other than lerasium?

Perhaps trellium? With Autonomy's departure, ain't gonna be no more of that to be had on Scadrial, eh? Which apparently was a key component of Wax's technique to split harmonium.

And it could still be atium. Since technically lerasium was never "lost", as it was not known at all to the people of TFE the way that atium was - you can't lose what you never knew existed, right? Not until Elend ingested the last bit in nearly 1,000 years without knowingly doing so... And as of the end of TLM, nobody alive on Scadrial knows that Wax's little experiment succeeded.

[Returned]

The only counterargument I can think of is that in one of the other era 2 books atium is titled "the lost metal". There are displays of all of the metals used in the Metallic Arts, and one of the display cases is empty and labeled as atium with the "lost metal" description. Atium is also what the Set was initially trying to produce with their harmonium experiments.

But I like lerasium as the lost metal more. It's more thematic, it was always more rare, and there was still atium around just about to the end of era 2 (even if Marsh was the only one that knew about it or had any).

[Frustration]

Atium is still being produced, so following TLM Atium is once again in circulation, whereas Lerasium is not.

[StormingTexan]

On 11/28/2022 at 10:17 AM, Returned said:

The only counterargument I can think of is that in one of the other era 2 books atium is titled "the lost metal". There are displays of all of the metals used in the Metallic Arts, and one of the display cases is empty and labeled as atium with the "lost metal" description. Atium is also what the Set was initially trying to produce with their harmonium experiments.

Ah yes I remember this now! My problem with it being Atium is it pretty much had nothing to do with the story beside Marsh being able to live longer. I love Marsh do not get me wrong but besides playing Death to intimidate a few people he really didn't do anything of consequence that I can remember. Versus Lerasium which pretty much saved Elendel. I do see the connection to Atium and it may be a much bigger part going forward but not worth the namesake in my opinion. Brandon should have just called the book The Lost Metals. 

[Werewolff Studios]

Lerasium makes the most sense, as its reemergence means that Mistborn are possible again. The fact that we see Wax using the other metals throughout the book also amplifies that 'what is lost has been found' vibe. 

Still, I also like @SpinningSky's suggestion that Wayne is the Lost Metal, since Wax and Wayne were the real Alloy of Law. 

[Zapata]

On 11/28/2022 at 11:17 AM, Returned said:

The only counterargument I can think of is that in one of the other era 2 books atium is titled "the lost metal". There are displays of all of the metals used in the Metallic Arts, and one of the display cases is empty and labeled as atium with the "lost metal" description. Atium is also what the Set was initially trying to produce with their harmonium experiments.

But I like lerasium as the lost metal more. It's more thematic, it was always more rare, and there was still atium around just about to the end of era 2 (even if Marsh was the only one that knew about it or had any).

The Atium 'the lost metal" thing feels like an intentional red herring. Remember how people were talking about how the Pits of Hathsin were said to regenerate 300 years after Kelsier destroyed them? That made it seem like atium would be more central. I suppose it is a kind of parallel since new atium was being made 300-ish years after the destruction of the Pits, which is what we thought would happen anyway, even though the mechanics are different. But storywise, the title does probably refer to either lerasium or Wayne.