Atium-Lerasium imbalance

[IndigoAjah]

This is a stretch, and I think the complete picture will be wrong but I hope I've picked up on some small things that might end up being part of the truth when Brandon explains it all...

 

One of the mysteries of the Lost Metal is exactly what happens when Wax splits Ettmetal, and when Harmony and others try to do the same thing with different results.

 

The biggest inconsistency between results was that almost all the explosions from such experiments resulted in reasonable amounts of Atium being formed but no Lerasium. Except Wax's.

 

There are a few theories floating around about this. One involves Intent, and Wax's specific intent to split the Godmetals rather than get an explosion. But surely Harmony or Kelsier, if not the Set, would have the same Intent?

Another I have come up with is that Lerasium formed generally vaporises and binds with other metals to form alloys that the likes of Wax absorbed. I think this is happening. But again this doesn't directly explain how Wax alone ends up with pure Lerasium.

 

But Harmonium isn't necessarily currently in balance as equal parts Atium and Lerasium, is it? Indeed maybe Discordium would be a better name.

 

I think it's fair to assume that the Godmetal represents the Shard attached to it, so Harmonium was could have originally been equal parts A and L, depending whether we think Harmony was originally in true balance or not (what the burnt Atium in HoA Vs the Preservation in humanity ends up meaning is unclear, but the fact that Vin and Ati were equal in Power when it was burnt away implies that this did in some way balance their powers. And we know that Atium would, if Ruin had remained separate, be building up again at approximately the time of this book, given the original trilogy said it would take 300 years for the Pits of Hathsin to form Atium again). But there have been heavy hints dropped that Harmony is not in balance at all, not just struggling with two Shards that reject each other but a slight excess of Ruin, and that Discord is a "shadow" behind him that is threatening to take over (and may have by the end of the book).

Logically, the same applies to current Harmonium, which must have an excess of A compared to L. If A and L neutralise each other as exact opposites (when in a volatile enough state to interact, as in this explosion), then you'd lose all L and end up with trace A (and a lot of annihilation energy, explaining the supernuclear forces we see in Harmonium Bombs). That's why nobody else can find any L.

 

So why Wax? Well it's possible that when interacting with Wax we see a shift in HARMONY'S Intent. Certainly symbolically, in him using him to Preserve, and also in counterbalance - if he is Saze's Sword then he takes on some of Saze's Ruin. And thus, in that moment, Saze has an excess of Preservation and so Lerasium is saved.

 

Maybe even in making that Lerasium, or Wayne using it, or Wax stepping down as his Sword, is what pushes Saze into possible Discord in the final scene?

 

What do we think? Is the imbalance of Ruin and Preservation part of why spitting Harmonium doesn't typically form Lerasium but does form Atium?

[Returned]

Interesting theory! I could see it being true; it's very straightforward and doesn't require a ton of speculation beyond what we know. My thinking on the godmetal(s) is a bit different, but I haven't spent much time considering your suggestion so I may need to revise.

As to why Wax was able to produce lerasium, my best guess is that most of the people who were trying to split harmonium were much more strongly aligned with Ruin than Preservation, and not really with Harmony at all. The splitting of harmonium is itself inherently Ruinous (splitting Harmony's body into its constituent Shardic manifestations is destructive towards Harmony himself/itself). These two things combined make it unlikely that there is much Preservation-esque character to the splitting process in its nature or in the Intent of the people carrying it out-- it's all drawing on and manifesting Ruin.

Wax, on the other hand, is more balanced in his relationship with Harmony. He's Ruinous for sure, especially when he embraces that aspect of himself (the stairwell scene in Lost Metal!), but I'd wager he's a lot more aligned with Preservation than the Set's weapons researchers.