What happened to the mouse?

[ChocolateRob]

Anyone else wanting to know what happened to the missing women from Alloy of Law?

 

Whether they are dead, rescued or still missing I would expect some kind of reference to them, or having fulfilled their purpose of showing how evil The Set are do they no longer matter?

 

If Harmony started talking to me their location would have been my first question. Considering Marasi's hypothesis of why they were taken the passing of months would not make their chances of still being alive any less but their situation would be increasingly desperate. There is reference to Wax causing The Set plenty of trouble but mostly from a financial and personnel perspective, no reference to rescues.

 

Assuming the location of Wax's sister comes up in the next book maybe the other women will at least get a mention but from all the attention they get in SoS they may as well not exist. Is this an example of the disposable woman trope or will it be followed up later?

 

(PS. For those confused, the phrase 'what happened to the mouse' is a trope about smaller plots that are just forgotten once bigger things start happening. Brave TVTropes at your peril.)

[Numuhuku]

I've been sort of wondering about this ever since I finished Alloy of Law. I figured part of Wax's actions against the Set were trying to look into this (particularly since the two other kidnapped women are inlaws), but I can see how the short length of time for Shadows of Self, and the relative urgency of dealing with Bleeder demanded everyone's attention.

 

The description for Bands of Mourning seemed to put more emphasis on the Set, so I figure that will be dealt with then.

[vineyarddawg]

This is the biggest thing that's been bothering me throughout the entire book. What happened to the women that were kidnapped in AoL?

 

I always figured that the Set was trying to breed a full Mistborn, since they were gathering women who directly descended from Spook. Of course, you don't just pop out a Mistborn... logic says it would likely take a generation or two, or perhaps even several.  Maybe that's something that will become a plot line in the next era of Mistborn books?

 

At the very least, though, they might be able to succeed in breeding some Twinborn, if they know they have allomancers and they are breeding them with feruchemists. It's all rather disconcerting and disgusting to even think about, really.

[Tarion]

Wax seems pretty sure that they're trying to create a Hemalurgic supply, from what he says when discussing the book Marsh gave him. 

So yeah, not breeding a Mistborn.  Farming Mistings so that they can create their own Mistborn. 

 

Of course, I don't imagine Harmony would be too happy with that, so when they start combining the spikes, they might get an unpleasant shock (Unless they get access to the metal Bleeder was using, perhaps?)

[Numuhuku]

Well since we know the set was working with Bleeder, it's actually possible they might have *some* idea about what's going on with hemalurgy and harmony. So they might have *some* notion about how to possibly counter Harmony's influence/wrath.

[vineyarddawg]

Wax seems pretty sure that they're trying to create a Hemalurgic supply, from what he says when discussing the book Marsh gave him. 

So yeah, not breeding a Mistborn.  Farming Mistings so that they can create their own Mistborn. 

 

Of course, I don't imagine Harmony would be too happy with that, so when they start combining the spikes, they might get an unpleasant shock (Unless they get access to the metal Bleeder was using, perhaps?)

 

/light goes on

 

Oooooooooooohhhhhhhhhh!  That makes perfect sense.  I can't believe I didn't realize that... if they've figured out hemalurgy, then yeah they actually could create someone who at least has multiple allomantic and feruchemical abilities. And they could elude Harmony's control by using the "Trell" spikes.

[Moogle]

We know that one of the Blessings allowed for increased resistance to Hemalurgic control - it is possible that the Set might be making such spikes for their members to resist Harmony.

[ChocolateRob]

Whether they are for breeding a full mistborn or mistings for harvesting (somehow even creepier) those women really need to be found (or at the absolute least - remembered).

[Oudeis]

those women really need to be found (or at the absolute least - remembered).

SA

This is a job for Lift!

[PeterAhlstrom]

The topic might come up again in the next book...

[happyman]

I've been sort of wondering about this ever since I finished Alloy of Law. I figured part of Wax's actions against the Set were trying to look into this (particularly since the two other kidnapped women are inlaws), but I can see how the short length of time for Shadows of Self, and the relative urgency of dealing with Bleeder demanded everyone's attention.

 

The description for Bands of Mourning seemed to put more emphasis on the Set, so I figure that will be dealt with then.

 

It's this, mostly.  He was trying to look into it---Wax's first actions in the book proper were trying to track down one of his last leads on the Set so that he could presumably rescue the women, etc.  It's just the whole Bleeder situation kind of came up and distracted him.  And absolutely everybody else, as well.

[FidesFortuna]

The Trell spike didn't grant any immunity from Harmony unless I'm missing something. As soon as a second spike entered her harmony had her.

[FidesFortuna]

However....good point where in the heck did the women go!! Haha

[AerionBFII]

Cant wait for the set to spike themselves in their attempt to become Mistborn....Then Harmony makes them do the Hokey Pokey and jump off a cliff~~~

[ArchonTremaine]

Wax seems pretty sure that they're trying to create a Hemalurgic supply, from what he says when discussing the book Marsh gave him. 

So yeah, not breeding a Mistborn.  Farming Mistings so that they can create their own Mistborn. 

 

Of course, I don't imagine Harmony would be too happy with that, so when they start combining the spikes, they might get an unpleasant shock (Unless they get access to the metal Bleeder was using, perhaps?)

Why wouldn't he be? Sazed would not, but Harmony? New tools for him.

[Elbereth]

My problem is, if they are trying to spike themselves into Mistborn, they could only pick one (or at most 2-3) to spike, but the Set is presumably more than that. Wouldn't they not want only a couple of their number to become all-powerful.

If they are doing so, it's worth noting that in theory they could spike themselves a full Feruchemist Mistborn, potentially. That's a scary thought.

Counter to that, if they are actually trying to breed themselves a Mistborn (which I find slightly more likely, given that they could raise this Mistborn exactly how they wanted), they might not know to be carefull not to get any Feruchemist blood into the bloodline. They do have Wax's sister, after all.

[Tarion]

My problem is, if they are trying to spike themselves into Mistborn, they could only pick one (or at most 2-3) to spike, but the Set is presumably more than that. Wouldn't they not want only a couple of their number to become all-powerful.

If they are doing so, it's worth noting that in theory they could spike themselves a full Feruchemist Mistborn, potentially. That's a scary thought.

Counter to that, if they are actually trying to breed themselves a Mistborn (which I find slightly more likely, given that they could raise this Mistborn exactly how they wanted), they might not know to be carefull not to get any Feruchemist blood into the bloodline. They do have Wax's sister, after all.

You're making a bit of a weird assumption here that I'm not sure I get.

 

If they're capable of raising a Mistborn child to be loyal enough that they trust them, surely they could just raise a child to be loyal and then spike them?  That way they don't have to win the lottery of raising the hundreds, if not thousands of kids necessary to create a Mistborn, raise them through adolescence and hope they Snap into a Mistborn.  

Can you imagine if the one child that ends up Mistborn was rebellious?  Literally more than a decade wasted.  

 

Instead, they raise some kids, pick the most loyal and spike them, using the powers of their siblings to do it.  

[Oudeis]

(which I find slightly more likely, given that they could raise this Mistborn exactly how they wanted

 

Respectfully, Edwarn would know from Wax how difficult it is to raise a child to be pliant. Also, what would a single Mistborn do for them? What tasks do they want to accomplish that one Mistborn could perform?

 

If they're capable of raising a Mistborn child to be loyal enough that they trust them, surely they could just raise a child to be loyal and then spike them? 

 

Also, this.

[Elbereth]

You're making a bit of a weird assumption here that I'm not sure I get. If they're capable of raising a Mistborn child to be loyal enough that they trust them, surely they could just raise a child to be loyal and then spike them?  That way they don't have to win the lottery of raising the hundreds, if not thousands of kids necessary to create a Mistborn, raise them through adolescence and hope they Snap into a Mistborn.  Can you imagine if the one child that ends up Mistborn was rebellious?  Literally more than a decade wasted.   Instead, they raise some kids, pick the most loyal and spike them, using the powers of their siblings to do it.

That makes a lot more sense. I feel a bit dumb for not thinking of that.

Of course, it depends on their eventual goal (which I am quite confused about), but it seems very likely that Hemalurgy will be a primary component. Excuse me while I dump the memory of that post into a Coppermind, which I will then throw away with great force.

The only part of my previous post that seems at all relevant anymore is the notion that this could result in a full Mistborn Feruchemist, not only a Mistborn. I don't know that that's likely, though, given that all of the hostages were picked for Allomancy rather than a Feruchemist background.

However. If they do want to spike themselves a Mistborn, why do they have to go to the trouble of breeding Allomancers? There are enough Metalborn around that they could just spike people currently living and confirmed Allomancers and get a Mistborn now, rather than in a decade or more.

[Iarwainiel I]

I find  comfort in Peter's reply above - - I was a little afraid that the spiked monstrosities that Wax and TenSoon fought and escaped from in the tunnels were these women. But now it sounds like we'll meet them in BoM, at least a little more intact than those creatures were.