Skaa's Revised God Metal Theory

[skaa]

This theory is a sort of Version 2.0 of an earlier theory of mine about the god metals. Here I will start from similar premises as before, but will have significantly (though not completely) different conclusions. You may find the old theory thread here.

 

Table of Contents

Introduction

Part I: Atium

Part II: Lerasium

Part III: Harmonium???

Appendix A: Possible Flaws in the Theory

Appendix B: TL;DR

(Possible future Appendix C: God Metal Alloys)

 

Introduction

 

The basic premise of my big theory is this: The two god metals Atium and Lerasium have physical patterns identical to real world metals.

 

My main evidence for it is this WoB:

 

Quote

People ask about getting the power from metals and things, but that's not actually how it works. The power's not coming from metal. I talked a little about this before, but you are drawing power from some source, and the metal is actually just a gateway. It's actually the molecular structure of the metal... what's going on there, the pattern, the resonance of that metal works in the same way as an Aon does in Elantris. It filters the power. So it is just a sign of "this is what power this energy is going to be shaped into and give you."

 

 

 

The Allomantic effect of burning a specific metal depends on both its molecular structure and the source of Invested power. Therefore I think it's easy to conclude that atium as well as lerasium, being Allomantic metals themselves, both have molecular structure. Even if they are, in Brandon's words, "fragments of a god".

 

You can also think of it this way: Since Atium and Lerasium can be alloyed with real world metals, they should be present enough in the Physical Realm for the alloying process to occur. This implies that they have apparent physical properties like being metallic, being able to melt at a certain temperature, etc., properties that can be analyzed scientifically and compared to real world substances. It should therefore be possible for a Scadrian with sufficient scientific knowledge and resources to determine which elements, compounds, or alloys these god metals most closely resemble in terms of molecular structure.

 

What will our hypothetical Scadrian scientist discover after analyzing the god metals? Obviously, only Brandon can answer that question definitively (someone should try asking him that one of these days). But what else is a Cosmere theorist like me to do but to speculate? So, let us speculate, shall we?

 

I believe our scientist will find atium and lerasium to have molecular structures that are very similar (if not virtually identical) to two particular metals that we've already encountered in the Mistborn series. Through the following posts I'll show what I believe those two metals are.

Edited May 10, 2017 by skaa

[skaa]

Part I: Atium

 

Have you ever wondered about the strange similarity between Electrum Allomancy and Atium Allomancy? Both show "shadows" of the very near future. The only difference is that Electrum shows the user's own future-shadows while Atium shows the future-shadows of everything other than the user. Atium shows the shadows of others, Electrum shows the shadows of self.

 

The Allomantic power of the Atium-Gold alloy ("Malatium") also has this same Self-Others inversion with Gold Allomancy. Gold shows the "past shadow" of the user, while Malatium shows the past shadow of other people.

 

As we all know, electrum is the regular Allomantic alloy of gold. If the pattern suggested by Atium-Gold Allomancy holds for Atium-Electrum, then the Atium-Electrum alloy should also exhibit this Self-Others inversion. Do you see the problem, yet? Yes, the problem is that Electrum Allomancy with a Self-Others inversion sounds exactly the same thing as Atium Allomancy.

 

So, in order to fit the pattern, we'll have to conclude that burning the Atium-Electrum alloy should show the future shadows of others. In other words, atium-electrum and pure atium behave identically. The implication is clear: Atium has the same molecular structure as electrum, with Ruin as its source of Investiture. That explains how mixing atium with electrum and burning the result would be the same as burning just atium.

 

This is the Atium Theory I upheld in my old thread, though now my interpretation has changed slightly. Back then I believed that a bead of atium is simply a bead of electrum with a modified spiritual aspect aligned to Ruin. Now I realize that this isn't necessarily the case. Atium is a byproduct of Shardic interactions that affected the Physical aspect of the Shard Ruin, producing a solid substance with a specific molecular structure that just so happens to be the same as electrum's. Therefore, I now prefer to describe atium as "pseudo-electrum", instead of insisting that it is actually electrum.

Edited December 28, 2014 by skaa

[skaa]

Part II: Lerasium

In my old theory, I went from saying Atium is Ruin's Electrum to saying Lerasium is Preservation's Nicrosil. I no longer think this is the case.

Let me first explain the train of thought that lead me to the nicrosil conclusion. I had interpreted the Self-Others inversion of electrum and atium to be the same as the Internal-External division in the Allomantic chart. Basically, I assumed that Atium Allomancy was an External version of Electrum Allomancy. This fits the pre-Harmony Scadrian understanding of atium as the External-Temporal-Pulling metal (source: the Well of Ascension Ars Arcanum), so it made sense to me at the time. From there, I reasoned that since Lerasium is obviously an Internal Allomantic metal, its "normal" equivalent should be an External Allomantic metal. And since Lerasium enhances the person burning it, allowing him to burn any Allomantic metal, the obvious "normal" candidate would be nicrosil (External-Enhancement-Pushing), the metal that boosts the power of other people's Allomantic metals.

But there was a flaw in my reasoning. I trusted too much in the old Pre-Harmony Allomantic chart, even though Brandon himself has said numerous times that the chart was an in-world artifact that reflected the imperfect understanding of Scadrians during that time. The thing is, the pre-Harmony Scadrians were wrong about atium. Not only because cadmium should be in its spot in the chart, but also because atium isn't even External in the first place.

Think about it. The main characteristic of all other External Allomantic metals is that they change something outside of the user. Atium does not do this. It merely alters the user's own perception of other things. This is similar to how Bronze Allomancy (Internal-Mental-Pushing) allows its user to perceive the Allomantic pulses of others, while remaining Internal. In other words, atium and its gold-alloy malatium are Internal-Temporal Allomantic metals, exactly like electrum and gold (their "normal" equivalents).

NOW BACK TO LERASIUM!

Because of this, I realized that just as lerasium is an Internal Allomantic metal, so must its normal equivalent be. Lerasium's normal equivalent, the metal that Lerasium's physical structure mimics, has to be the Internal-Enhancement-Pushing metal. Lerasium is pseudo-duralumin.

Note the symmetry: Both electrum and duralumin are the Internal-Pushing metal of their quadrant.

Note also that there is a Self-Others Inversion between duralumin and lerasium. Duralumin Allomancy targets metals being burned. The metals being targetted are inside the user (hence the Internal label) and yet they can, in a way, still be considered "Other" since they are still separate entities from the user. Lerasium, on the other hand, targets the user himself. Lerasium is a "Self" kind of Allomancy, while Duralumin is an "Other" kind.

Edit: There's a thread posted earlier today by another person about what happens when duralumin and lerasium are burned at the same time. The obvious answer is that it would be the same thing as burning lerasium alone, since the duralumin would simply burn the whole lerasium at once, which would still lead to Mistborn powers. Funnily enough, under my god metal model, burning a lerasium-duralumin alloy would also have the exact same effect as burning lerasium alone, for the same reason atium-electrum has the same effect as atium: Lerasium and duralumin have the same molecular structure.

In other words, alloying duralumin with lerasium and burning it doesn't create a Duralumin Gnat (which would suck). Rather, it creates a Mistborn.

Edited January 4, 2016 by skaa

[skaa]

Part III: Harmonium???


During this year's Salt Lake City Comic-Con, Brandon gave an exciting reveal about the Metallic Arts:

The base 16 are basically it. But the interactions between them and things-- and there is one more metal, there is harmonium, so you will hear about that later on.

Last year I speculated that Sazed/Harmony will not create his own god metal, as there are already two existing metals that I believed reflect his harmonious Intent perfectly: aluminum and gold.

As you can imagine, when I read what Brandon said about harmonium my first reaction was, "Damnation! So much for my theory!" It looked like harmonium is a third god metal, the Physical fragment of the new Shard Harmony. At least, that's what all of us who commented in that news article seemed to believe.

Believe me when I say that I was ready and prepared to discard my "harmonious metals" theory. After all, I'm not the kind of person who sticks stubbornly to disproved theories, as you could see in the "Abandoned theories created by me" section of my About Me page. But the more I thought about it, the more I was convinced that I made an incorrect interpretation of Brandon's words. Here are two reasons why:

• Brandon did not say that harmonium was a god metal. That may not mean much, but it's important to acknowledge that "harmonium is a god metal" is an assumption I made, not something that Brandon actually said.
   
• The name "harmonium" breaks the naming pattern of the god metals. Atium and lerasium were named after the original Shard holders of Ruin and Preservation, Ati and Leras. But harmonium's root is "harmony", which just so happens to be the name of Sazed's Intent. This is something people noticed because most of us here expected Sazed's god metal to be called "sazedium". Some people tried explaining this away by saying that "harmonium" sounds better, but that doesn't change the fact that the pattern was broken.

I do not like broken patterns. They irritate me. So instead of continuing with the "harmonium is a god metal" assumption, I'm going to keep my "harmonious metals" theory... with modifications.

*starts new baseless theorizing adventure*

We know from Alloy of Law that aluminum does not need to be burned by an Allomancer to exhibit special traits related to Allomancy. For example, you cannot Ironpull or Steelpush on aluminum, and you cannot Riot or Soothe someone whose head is covered in aluminum.

I now propose that harmonium is the Scadrian name for another real life metal that exhibits an Allomantic function without being burned, and that this function is the opposite of aluminum's.

To incorporate my old theory, I further propose that harmonium contains aluminum and gold. I'm not talking about a mere alloy, by the way, but rather an intermetallic compound of gold and aluminum. The most stable gold-aluminum intermetallic appears to be AuAl₂, also called "purple gold" or "amethyst gold"; I'd say that's a good candidate for my proposed harmonium.

So, how would my proposed harmonium work? It would act as an Metallurgic catalyst, something that, while not being Allomantic in itself, causes Allomantic metals as well as Feruchemical metalminds to activate (but not be consumed) upon contact. This allows for the creation of machines that can harness the powers of the Metallic Arts without the help of a human Allomancer and without needing to replenish the metals used.

Hello, Metallurgic Technology!

NEPENE
You've said you want to write a book set in the southern continent. I did enjoy The Emperor's Soul a lot, so I am curious about you writing that future book. How do they use magic differently, and why should we be excited about reading a book set there?BRANDON SANDERSON

The southern continent is where people have discovered how to harness the metallurgic arts in a more mechanical method. (I've hinted several places that this is possible. I've been holding off doing it until we go here.)

CHAOS2651
About the southern continent, would it be possible for other Scadrians to discover this method of using the Metallic Arts, or is it unique to the southern Scadrians?

BRANDON SANDERSON
It is technology-based rather than genetics based.

I believe that harmonium was known on Scadrial pre-Harmony, that it was named after the concept of harmony (perhaps because metals aren't destroyed when using it), that it was discovered by the Southern Scadrians, and that they use it to power their Metallurgic machines.


Edit: In my mind, my proposed harmonium isn't something Allomancers can burn safely. It's something that Kelsier might call a "bad alloy", and is fatal when burned. Incidentally, purple gold is also called "purple death" in real life (due to far more boring reasons).

Edit: Here's one neat coincidence that ties Parts I, II, and III together: electrum contains gold, duralumin contains aluminum, and my proposed harmonium contains gold and aluminum.

Edited November 15, 2015 by skaa

[skaa]

Appendix A: Possible Flaws in the Theory

 

Like all of my previous bouts of speculation (see my signature), my god metal theory is not without issues. I don't think they are fatal issues, but they are nonetheless stuff that undermine my conclusions, stuff that I cannot answer right now because I just don't have enough information.

 

The first issue is the color of the god metals. For example, Phantom Monstrosity once told me that lerasium is green. I am still in the process of verifying that claim right now, but if it's true then it is a an issue because duralumin doesn't look green. If lerasium isn't green, but is instead the color given to it by the latest Allomantic chart on Brandon's website, then that's also an issue because the color still doesn't match duralumin. That chart also has differing colors for electrum and atium.

 

I could say that the color doesn't matter since the god metals are not exactly the metals they mimic, but that doesn't change the fact that matching colors would have been a huge evidence in favor of my theory. So, well, I'm a bit disappointed about this.

 

Another issue is that none of my reasoning above disproves the possibility that the god metals mimic the molecular structure of substances outside of the 16 metals of the Metallic Arts. But if they're outside of the sixteen, then it wouldn't be possible to even guess what those substances might be. They could be any metallic element, compound, or alloy imaginable. That would be sad for a Cosmere theorist like me, and so I chose to ignore that possibility, even though it might turn out to be true.

 

As for my musings on harmonium, they are admittedly quite flimsy. One problem is that Brandon already said the 16 base metals of the Metallic Arts are "basically it". But from the transcript, he did seem to have suddenly remembered about harmonium after making that "basically it" statement. Also, my proposed harmonium isn't technically an Allomantic metal; it's not something you can burn, it's just something that affects Allomantic metals.

 

Still, most of what I said about my proposed harmonium could easily be disproved by a future WoB saying that harmonium is Sazed's god metal. But that's okay. I will accept defeat if such a WoB appears, but for now, I gotta say, I really like my harmonium theory.

Edited December 28, 2014 by skaa

[skaa]

TL;DR: Atium is pseudo-electrum, lerasium is pseudo-duralumin, and harmonium is the normal (non-god) intermetallic compound AuAl₂ or purple gold.

Edited December 28, 2014 by skaa

[WeiryWriter]

To be quite honest I'm fairly skeptical of this, though I don't know of anything that definitively disproves it.  It's interesting though.

 

On harmonium, I personally believe it is technically an alloy of atium and lerasium, in much the same way Harmony is a composite of Ruin and Preservation.  With an emphasis on technically.  There is a WoB floating around somewhere that I'll try to find that says that atium/lerasium alloys are incredibly complex and require an understanding of Realmatics that you need to be either a Shard or a (either Sliver or Splinter, I can't recall which) to attain.  So while harmonium can be produced by mixing atium and lerasium, Sazed is the only one who can do it.  So to the Scadrians harmonium is effectively a new metal.  Does that make sense?  (I've been thinking about this for months so I'm not exactly unbiased...)

 

Also, why break this over so many posts?  It definitely would have fit in one?

[skaa]

On harmonium, I personally believe it is technically an alloy of atium and lerasium, in much the same way Harmony is a composite of Ruin and Preservation.  With an emphasis on technically.  There is a WoB floating around somewhere that I'll try to find that says that atium/lerasium alloys are incredibly complex and require an understanding of Realmatics that you need to be either a Shard or a (either Sliver or Splinter, I can't recall which) to attain.  So while harmonium can be produced by mixing atium and lerasium, Sazed is the only one who can do it.  So to the Scadrians harmonium is effectively a new metal.  Does that make sense?  (I've been thinking about this for months so I'm not exactly unbiased...)

 

Yeah, that is definitely a valid theory, Weiry! Is this the WoB you were referring to? It's an answer to the question of what a lerasium atium alloy does:

 

Ah, I've been asked this before. There are a number of theories, but nobody's really sure, since there haven't really been any opportunities to alloy lerasium with atium. You can choose which one to believe. Most require an understanding of realmatic theory to comprehend, which you need to be a Shard or Splinter to even begin to understand.

What Lerasium is, is essentially a hack for something like your spiritual DNA. It rewrites what your spiritual self is capable of. So, combined with atium, which allows you a glimpse into the vision of everything - past, present, future - the theories say it could do one of two things. It could either create a substance so volatile that it would have world-ending repercussions, or rewrite your "spiritual DNA" (his phrase, not mine) with atium's power. Is that a vague enough answer?

 

 

My understanding of the part I emphasized is that the effect of alloying atium and lerasium is hard to understand for normal humans. It doesn't necessarily mean that normal humans can't alloy atium and lerasium together. Unfortunately, Brandon says nobody has done it yet.

 

The thing I like about my proposed harmonium theory is that it's a possible explanation for how Southern Scadrian Allomantic technology works. If we assume that harmonium is what they use to power Allomantic technology, then a real life metal would be a more likely candidate for harmonium than an atium-lerasium alloy. I think it's quite feasible for the (presumably) more technologically-advanced Southern Scadrians to have alloyed gold and aluminum at some point in their thousand-year history, whereas we're not even sure if they have any access to atium and lerasium (since the Shardpools are both up north).

 

Of course, it's all just speculative assumption, which is all we can do for now pending another related WoB.

 

 

Also, why break this over so many posts?  It definitely would have fit in one?

 

Sorry. It's been a habit of mine since last year, and nobody's told me off for it until now. I hope it's not something against forum rules. I sometimes break things up in cases where there are multiple main ideas in a single mega-theory, like this one. I feel that it would increase readability if each main idea had their own post. Also, it allows people to upvote only the ideas they particularly like; that's a good way to get feedback on how well I've presented each idea.

Edited December 29, 2014 by skaa

[Oudeis]

A few concerns with your theory.

 

 

Part I: Atium

 

...

 

So, in order to fit the pattern...

 

 

You speak here of a pattern, when there's exactly one extant example. I'm simply pointing out the flimsiness of the speculation right at this point, which the rest of your theory sorta rests on. Basically, it's like saying, "We've got this one point somewhere along a circle's circumference, so I'm postulating that this is the radius and orientation." You might be right, but you have to admit this is a big leap.

 

Part III: Harmonium???

...

 

The name "harmonium" breaks the naming pattern of the god metals...

 

Keep in mind that, much like the allomantic chart, this was simply a local convention. In fact, we never hear anyone in the book refer to the metal as lerasium. The name of a metal is not one of it's physical constants. Just to offer one example, it seems like people didn't know about atium until Rashek's ascension. Rashek spoke with Ruin himself. Rashek presented the metal to the people, knew it was part of Ruin's power and that it was held by a man named Ati, and dubbed it atium for lack of a better word. It doesn't change the properties of the metal that Scadrians in Alloy of Law era refer to it as the Lost Metal, nor does it break a pattern. And lerasium is simply Mr. Sanderson's word for it, not that of anyone in world. That we know of, only a handful of people in history have ever known that lerasium existed. Even people in the Final Empire simply assumed Elend Snapped late, or had been hiding his powers all this time.

 

Looking forward, not everyone seems to know that Harmony was once a person, let alone that it is Sazed. He stays quiet. We know there are multiple religions, which would be tricky if everyone simply acknowledged, "Sazed is God." I believe Marasi makes a comment about the Fields of Rebirth saying something about how it's a Gift of the Survivor. She believes the Survivor is God, so even if she believes in Harmony, she prolly thinks that Kelsier Ascended, or perhaps Vin (she is, after all, called the Ascendant Warrior, I believe). The point is, people seem to universally accept Harmony. Not many people (not even Wax, I don't think) realize that this and Sazed are the same person.

[Curiosity]

But Spook knew who Harmony was...

 

I think that harmonium as a catalyst for Allomancy is a fascinating idea. Also, I like your reasoning for the chemical structures of the god metals. We know that atium alloys produce various Allomantic temporal and mental effects*. Lerasium alloys have Allomantic enhancement and physical effects*. Both of these facts contribute to those arguments spectacularly. 

[Oudeis]

But Spook knew who Harmony was... 

 

...So? Rashek knew what lerasium did. All of the Canton of Inquisition knew what aluminum did. Things happen, facts are known, and then information gets hidden, lost, or confused amongst false information. You don't seem to be directly addressing my points. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem to be saying, "Spook knew, therefore it should be common knowledge." Is that what you're saying? If not, my apologies for misunderstanding you.

[Curiosity]

Sorry! I wrote that down as an immediate reaction to a first glance at your post, and then wrote the rest and checked all of that against the previous discussion, but I never did edit out that line. Sorry! Spook knowing doesn't make a difference in the long run of things. It's my fault for not proofreading myself well enough.

 

Now that I think about it...

Shadows of Self preview chapters

Perhaps my train of thought was that if what Wax reads in Spook's diary becomes widespread ("Saze is both sides now, so Hemalurgy must be good, right?"), then that might be an avenue for Sazed as Harmony to become a well known concept. So that's probably what I was thinking when I wrote "But Spook knew...", but I abandoned that thought for some reason and wrote about metal structure instead. 

Edited December 30, 2014 by Curiosity

[Oudeis]

Aaaaah, I see I see I see. Sorry for the confusion!

[Fallen Rope]

Purple gold made me think of the men of red and gold. But red and purple are different colours. Maybe investiture makes it change to red.

[skaa]

Purple gold made me think of the men of red and gold. But red and purple are different colours. Maybe investiture makes it change to red.

While I was researching on metals with gold and aluminum I was also hoping to find a reddish-colored one, but had no such luck. Red suggests copper, and there are gold and copper alloys out there so I guess that's another candidate for harmonium, but we'll see.

@Oudeis: Thanks for the feedback. Rather than thinking of the harmonium problem as "Why would local Scadrians name it this way?", I think of it as "Why would Brandon name it this way?" It's a fictional world, created to tell fantasy stories, which are meant to entertain and give pleasure. With the goal of making good stories in mind, things like consistency and cohesion take center stage. So, yes, it's my opinion that patterns are important in this case, even though in the end I have no idea if I'm seeing the right patterns or not.

But yeah, I really can't deny that none of my evidence are conclusive. Unfortunately, only a more awesome alternative theory or a definite disproof via WoB will make me give up this theory now. So, agree to disagree?

Edited December 31, 2014 by skaa

[skaa]

And with just one small sentence, Brandon may have invalidated my theory that harmonium existed before Sazed's Ascension.

 

Oh well. Back to the drawing board!

[The Sovereign]

And with just one small sentence, Brandon may have invalidated my theory that harmonium existed before Sazed's Ascension.

 

Oh well. Back to the drawing board!

Oh, there is an established pattern for naming god metals? "Whatever, I do what I want [provided it is within my intent]" -Sazed

Edit: damnation typos...

Edited July 21, 2015 by Iron Eyes

[yurisses]

I've been intrigued for some time by the relationship between Electrum and Atium. I'm very interested by the possibility that God metals each have the molecular structure of an existing base metal rather than a new molecular structure. So, I'm bumping this thread with a fact that supports your theory, if you haven't made the connection yet: there are 16 base metals, coincidentally also the number of Shards of Adonalsium.

Edited January 3, 2016 by yurisses

[skaa]

I've been intrigued for some time by the relationship between Electrum and Atium. I'm very interested by the possibility that God metals each have the molecular structure of an existing base metal rather than a new molecular structure. So, I'm bumping this thread with a fact that supports your theory, if you haven't made the connection yet: there are 16 base metals, coincidentally also the number of Shards of Adonalsium.

 

Thanks for the interest! Yes, I am aware of that coincidence and possible connection. Back in early 2014, Tempus speculated on how each of the known Shards could be mapped onto Allomantic metals. Note that this was before my epiphany about the difference between the Internal-External and Self-Others categories, so I now consider my own post in Tempus' thread already obsolete.

[happyman]

I've been intrigued for some time by the relationship between Electrum and Atium. I'm very interested by the possibility that God metals each have the molecular structure of an existing base metal rather than a new molecular structure. So, I'm bumping this thread with a fact that supports your theory, if you haven't made the connection yet: there are 16 base metals, coincidentally also the number of Shards of Adonalsium.

 

Heh, that brings me back.  When we were first speculating on how many shards there were (and note that this was back when about all we knew about the Cosmere was the name "Hoid"; this website had begun to exist, but only under the name "Hoid's compendium"), I personally guessed that there were 16 shards, for the same underlying reason there were 16 allomantic metals and the reason why Preservation chose the number 16 as his "give the humans some vital hints" signal.

 

We still don't know what that reason is, but in Alloy of Law, Wax mentions that the "Law of Sixteen" is seen to often in nature to be ignored.  So 16 is important.  Dunno about speculation beyond that, though.

[Stormgate]

For a while now, I've thought there was a connection between the Shards and the Allomantic metals, as shown in my 16 shards, 16 metals thread. Sorry, no link. I am on a tablet.

In any case, I think your theory with Atium is spot on, but I am slightly cautious about supporting your lerasium bit, due to my own opinions on the subject.