Hoid Uses Allomancy in RoW

[Thanatos]

Im not sure if anyone picked this up, i have not seen it mentioned here, or i just missed the post.

But earliet this morning i finished my reread of RoW and noticed Hoid using allomancy.

Right at the end of the book just before Hoid speaks with Odium it says...

Quote

Wit sighed. He bounced his coin off the ground with a metallic pling, then caught it.

Metal coins dont bounce this way, maybe bounce an inch no more, but to bounce a coin off the ground... and catch it. Not happening.

Whats the general thought here?

Allomancy?

[alder24]

Yes, he has Allomancy, he used it a few times already, once in Shallan's flashback, when they met, he used emotional Allomancy to soothe her (WoR ch 45). He could use Allomancy in the way you suggest, I've never thought of it that way.

[Trusk'our]

2 hours ago, alder24 said:

Yes, he has Allomancy, he used it a few times already, once in Shallan's flashback, when they met, he used emotional Allomancy to soothe her (WoR ch 45). He could use Allomancy in the way you suggest, I've never thought of it that way.

Same here, I hadn't thought of him using an Ironpull, though I'd be willing to bet on him using Emotional Allomancy to goad Ruthar into dueling Jasnah in RoW.

[Cash67]

Iron/Steel Allomancy is 'louder' in terms of Investiture if I remember correctly. It's like how Kaladin uses Gravitation and gets called out by secret spren, but when Shallan uses Lightweaving she can get away with it. Maybe this is how he alerted TOdium to his actual nature while on the planet?

 

[Thanatos]

Agree he used allomancy with young Shallon, but...

Quote

using Emotional Allomancy to goad Ruthar into dueling Jasnah in RoW.

I dont agree here, this takes away Jasnahs intellectual ability and her diplomatic manipulation. She knew what she was doing and how to trigger Ruthar. It was an intentional move.

What ive now learned is that BS can write a mere 14 words an run away quickly, (nothing to see here, dont know what your talking about, RAFO) 

Quote

He bounced his coin off the ground with a metallic pling, then caught it.

Run... run far far away, didnt happen.

Now im keen to reread all the Cosmere again and take real notice of small references. That would normally be passed by. Cause your reading how many words per minute?

I picked this up whilst eating a bacon and egg toasted sandwich. Which is me reading slower than normal. 

How many times have we definitely seen Hoid use allomancy? 

1. Shallon.

2. Iron pull on the coin.

Any other times?

[Trusk'our]

5 hours ago, Thanatos said:

I dont agree here, this takes away Jasnahs intellectual ability and her diplomatic manipulation. She knew what she was doing and how to trigger Ruthar. It was an intentional move.

Personally, I don't think that Hoid's use of Emotional Allomancy detracts from Jasnah outmaneuvering Ruthar. As Hoid himself mentioned, there are no fair fights, and the smartest thing to do is to use the tools you have at your disposal.

Plus, you'd have to ask why he wouldn't use that ability when he had the opportunity to so and aid Jasnah's cause.

I can see where you're coming from though, and I can respect your opinion 

[Treamayne]

From Rhythm of War Ch 50:

Spoiler

Jasnah nodded to him, then returned to her exaggerated discussion of the maps. Yes, she was acting a role here.

Dalinar glanced at Ruthar, whose face was steadily growing redder. Perhaps he’d had a few drinks too many while waiting for the monarchs to finish their planning, but plainly he did not like how Jasnah was blatantly interjecting herself into the war plans. It was a masculine art, and Ruthar had been forbidden from participating in the planning today.

Looking at him, it was hard not to agree with what Jasnah had said about Alethkar. Gavilar’s grand unification of the kingdom hadn’t lasted ten years past his death before essentially breaking into civil war. Alethi squabbling had ended up favoring men like Ruthar. Oily, belligerent, aggressive. The last representation of old Alethkar.

Jasnah was making herself into bait. And Ruthar bit. Hard.

“Am I the only one seeing this?” Ruthar asked a little too loudly to his attendants.

If Allomancy was used, it was likely here; and it was likely a soothing to remove any blocks on his anger (could have been both a rioting and soothing, I guess - but just a rioting probably wouldn't have made him ignore his oily caution and the advice of friends unless it was blatantly strong).

[Lockheart]

On 4/5/2023 at 7:31 AM, Thanatos said:

What ive now learned is that BS can write a mere 14 words an run away quickly, (nothing to see here, dont know what your talking about, RAFO) 

 

I see your 14 words, raise you 88 precepts, and will be sending DM after submitting this reply.

[+robardin]

On 4/5/2023 at 7:31 AM, Thanatos said:

Agree he used allomancy with young Shallon, but...

How many times have we definitely seen Hoid use allomancy? 

1. [Shallan].

2. Iron pull on the coin.

Any other times?

”The prime battle metals” are flashy and usually unsuited to Hoid’s modus operandi.

I wouldn't be surprised if Hoid's most frequently used metal was copper, given how much he wants to “avoid detection” by Shards and other powerful Cosmere forces/agencies, and we'd never know it as a reader unless we had a POV from him.

Second most would be bronze, to detect unshielded use of Investiture, as part of his being alert.

And finally, if he’s become practiced enough with it to be really subtle, the use of emotional Allomancy. The risk there is that it takes practice to become subtle. Even after 350 years, Marsh is pretty raw with them and still refers to Breeze as his master model in Alloy of Law - and people tend to be really annoyed when they discover someone pulling or pushing on their emotions.

As for the example in the OP, unnaturally bouncing a coin like it was a basketball while on Roshar (waiting in Elhokar’s abandoned “palace” at the former Alethi warcamps on the Shattered Plains for Odium to come and confront him), that was definitely done for Rayse’s sake. The very notion of a coin is foreign to Rosharans; didn’t he have to explain it to Kaladin for one of his parables to him, when his CAM unit (Connection-based Autotranslation Module) didn’t convert it to “sphere” due to his referencing its shape? (I forget where exactly this happens, though.)

So if he was doing Allomantic Yo-Yo Tricks with it, that would also basically be for Rayse’s benefit, I think. Hoid certainly intended that interaction to be private between the two of them.