Hero of Ages Prophecy Origin

[WhiteEmporer]

(Mistborn Spoilers)

So we know that the prophecy of the Hero of Ages (from the original Terris religion) were corrupted by Ruin, but in their uncorrupted version they made true predictions. In HoA we find that they predict Sazed, and his taking the fate of the world "on his arms" by taking up the powers of ruin and preservation, using his copperminds to give him the knowledge he needed.

The question is, if the prophecy is actually a real prediction of an event over a millenia before it happens, where did it come from? Did preservation use fortune? I doubt it was Ruin, he wouldn't make a prophecy just to corrupt it. 

Possibility #1: Preservation saw the future, and passed it to the Terris. But I got the impression that Preservation wasn't as good, as Shards go, at future sight. The future sight he demonstrates in Secret History seems limited, and I believe he even mentions that it isn't as useful as it should be (I don't have the text with me, so I can't provide a quote). Over 1000 years in advance, that kind of prophecy seems difficult to do for him.

#2: It's possible that it was a self fulfilling prophecy: that is, preservation planned it to happen and set events in motion in order to cause it. This also seems unlikely. Too many people involved (people are unpredictable) and Leras' mind was fading during some of the crucial moments.

#3: (this one is from my wife, and I think it's the most likely) Connection. Spiritual Connection transcends time, as we see with Kaladin's connection to Syl. I suspect that Leras is better at Connection (just like other Shards are better with Fortune and future sight), due to the fact that his godmetal creates connection. Sazed, the future holder of preservation, has a spiritual connection with Leras. Through this connection Leras had with the future Sazed, Leras was able to gain the knowledge that resulted in the Hero of Ages prophecy.

Let me know what you guys think! Or if you have any additional theories  

 

[Calderis]

The prophecies themselves were created by Preservation. 

Quote

Chaos

How were the Terris Prophecies created in the first place? Every other magic related thing is quite logically explained in terms of Ruin and Preservation, except that one.

Brandon Sanderson

The Terris prophecies were created by Preservation before he attempted his imprisonment. He knew that he wouldn't be able to do much for the world after he did what he did, and he foresaw a LOT of what was to come.

Hero of Ages Q&A - Time Waster's Guide (Oct. 15, 2008)

The problem in trying to judge this by what we see in Secret History is that at that point, Leras was already dead. That death was just a long and protracted process. What we saw of Fuzz was not anything close to what he had been originally. I believe this line that you were thinking of... 

Quote

“I can’t stop him,” Kelsier whispered.

  “I know,” Preservation said.

  “I could see thousands upon thousands of possibilities. In none of them did I defeat that thing.”

  “The ribbons of the future are never as useful as . . . as they should be,” Preservation said. “I rode them much, in the past. It’s too hard to see what is actually likely, and what is just a fragile . . . fragile, distant maybe. . . .”

Is him speaking about the difficulty, yes... But his "distant maybe" is the plan he set in motion. One that he says multiple times through the book that he can't even remember in his current state. 

I would not be surprised if that involves elements of option number three... But even that would simply be a method of increasing the likelihood of him see the possibility, and not actually making it happen. The future in the Cosmere is not predetermined. 

The plan could have failed. 

[WhiteEmporer]

Thanks for the quote @Calderis. Preservation may have been better at fortune than I thought. 

[Karger]

On 5/11/2019 at 1:27 AM, WhiteEmporer said:

Thanks for the quote @Calderis. Preservation may have been better at fortune than I thought. 

Or he may have just been extremely lucky.

 

[Bigmikey357]

One may say he was...fortunate.

[Karger]

14 minutes ago, Bigmikey357 said:

One may say he was...fortunate.

Alternatively the only person who could hold both power had to be a person who might be described as a living contradiction.  He would have to be able to kill yet not be a warrior he would have to rule despite not realy fitting in with the job.

[Wander89]

If that was a Millenia event and a new hero was chosen every time, that would be a bit too Wheel of Time for me. I'm happy with Era 1 ending how it did and pushing forward to the larger Cosmere. I'm not saying it's going to happen, I just hope it doesn't because we've had that story before.

[Talmanes]

On 5/13/2019 at 4:07 AM, Wander89 said:

If that was a Millenia event and a new hero was chosen every time, that would be a bit too Wheel of Time for me. I'm happy with Era 1 ending how it did and pushing forward to the larger Cosmere. I'm not saying it's going to happen, I just hope it doesn't because we've had that story before.

The power of the Well regenerated every 1024 years and then needed to be used in order to keep Ruin locked up and it was assumed that the person taking the power would be the Hero of Ages, but that was wrong.

When Sazed takes the power he figures out that it's not a new Hero every age, it's one Hero for all the Ages. It was always Sazed as the Hero, though Vin's part was very important was the one who was needed to actually kill Ruin.