Summary of Mr. S and the prophecies (Pt. 1)

[AleStaar he/him]

Hi all! This was originally part of a series of posts that analyze each line of the Terris Prophecies, and match them to Sazed, Vin, Alendi, Rashek, and occasionally Kwaan.

But since we know from in-text and WoBs that Sazed was always Preservation's intended Hero of Ages, much of my points were moot.

So instead, I'm revamping and reviving this. I will be making a series of posts that look into how each excerpt matches with Sazed. And how they tie into predictions made by the characters within the story.

This series will include spoilers for The Lost Metal. This first post will be looking at the excerpts from The Final Empire.

ALENDI - Sometimes I worry that I'm not the hero everyone thinks I am. The philosophers assure me that this is the time, that the signs have been met. But I still wonder if they have the wrong man. So many people depend on me. They say I will hold the future of the entire world on my arms. What would they think if they knew that their champion - the Hero of Ages, their savior - doubted himself? Perhaps they wouldn't be shocked at all. In a way, this is what worries me most. Maybe, in their hearts, they wonder - just as I do. When they see me, do they see a liar? 

HoA chapter 82 - “I am no Hero,” he whispered, still reaching to the sky. 
His arms twinkled, golden. His copperminds, worn on his forearms, reflected the light of the sun. They had been with him for so long, his companions. His knowledge. 
Knowledge… 
The words of the prophecy were very precise, he thought suddenly. They say… they say that the Hero will bear the future of the world on his arms. 
Not on his shoulders. Not in his hands. On his arms. 
By the Forgotten Gods! 

This is the iconic epigraph that started it all. Bearing the future of the entire world on their arms is a core that Ruin missed, and it only fits Sazed. It was the key to make him realize only he was the Hero of Ages. A Feruchemist who would tap all the memories from their copperminds, in order to save the world from burning down. Or at least, to save the world from a cataclysm.

We see in chapters 71 and 82 of The Hero of Ages, that more than 1000 years ago Preservation hid gems (clues) from Ruin in all of Scadrial's religions. The clash between Ruin and Preservation, the martyr god, the story of Preservation giving too much of himself to create humanity etc. Presumably with the knowledge and foresight Ruin would manipulate the Terris and the rest of humanity, and alter any other text he wants. And, we can assume, with the hope that the Feruchemist would use the world's religions to save it.

Sazed bore his coppermind bracers on his arms, and used their 1000 year-old knowledge to save the world from burning down. And to restore the world to what it once was. But I'm not sure Preservation specifically knew that would be the cataclysm.

ALENDI - If men read these words, let them know that power is a heavy burden. Seek not to be bound by its chains. The Terris prophecies say that I will have the power to save the world. They hint, however, that I will have the power to destroy it as well. 

The Hero will have the power to save the world. But he will also have the power to destroy it. We never understood. He wouldn’t simply bear the power of Preservation. He needed the power of Ruin as well 

At first glance, the prophecies vaguely talk about how a person will go to the Well of Ascension.

The Hero of Ages would bear both Preservation and Ruin. Granted, this line doesn't capture the broadness and nuance of their Intents. Preservation isn't a holy force of good, and is so much more than protection. Ruin isn't necessarily evil, and is so much more than destruction.

However, I think not capturing the broadness and nuance works here. When Leras gifted the original prophecies, he didn't yet hold the Shard as long as trilogy-era Ati would. And he didn't sacrifice his mind yet, so the slow mental decline wasn't there. HOWEVER, Leras was still a Vessel holding the Shard of stagnation isolated from the context of the other Shards. And while we see in The Plan that Leras was capable of knowing why Ruin is important... I think the Final Empire's existence, the Elendel Basin's flaws, Era 2's themes, and Secret History present enough info about how Leras might've been without Ati there to counter him.

So with this line, I think it might've been capturing a slice of Leras knowing that Ruin is important, but not necessarily liking this fact. And that he might've only made The Plan because Ruin combined with Preservation was a better outcome than Ruin by itself.

ALENDI - "He shall defend their ways, yet shall violate them. He will be their savior, yet they shall call him heretic. His name shall be Discord, yet they shall love him for it."

The Lost Metal heavily hinted that Sazed's Shard is becoming Discord. Hell, one of my theories is that Harmony became Discord once Wayne detonated the bomb.

My relevant theory is that the other parts of this verse were a major plot point of Era 2, and will be major again in Era 3. I think a big part of Era 2 was the people of Scadrial hating Sazed for being inactive, and yet all the books showed him subtly planning/acting without anyone suspecting a thing.

The Southerners thought Sazed was angry at them; instead, he gave them harmonium and a perpendicularity. We know that Preservation deliberately put the Well at the Terris mountains, and made small amounts of lerasium. What if Sazed did a similar ploy with massive amounts of harmonium and the South's perpendicularity? Which the Southerners put to amazing use. Hell, he might've directly or subtly sent Kelsier to help them survive.

Wax thought Sazed never helped defeat each book's threat, but Wax didn't know he subtly arranged pieces for the enemy's defeat. In book 4 he knew about Edwarn's projects, so he sent Wax to defeat the Vanishers and put his trunk of guns at the right place at the right time.

In book 5, he saw only one future where Wax would be willing to kill Paalm if he knew he was Lessie, and that a disaster would occur if that happened. So he precognitively decided to withhold it. Book 5 also said he has maneuvered Marasi into a position where she can do good in Elendel. Which is hinted in TLM to be her position as the Governor of Elendel.

In book 6 he knew about the Set's plot to find the Bands, find the Hunters' ettmetal bomb, and use the ettmetal bomb to destroy Elendel. So, he sent Wax's group to foil the plans in that book and predicted in advance that Marasi would use the Bands but give them away to Wax. We can presume the only pieces Sazed used to get the group into position were VenDell, VenDell's notes, MeLaan, ReLuur's wounds, and ReLuur's two-century-long journey to find the Bands.

The Ghostbloods think Sazed dislikes them, unaware HE was responsible for their mobilization in The Lost Metal. Kelsier thinks he distrusts him. And yet Sanderson implied in a WoB that Sazed trusts and believes in Kelsier. Kelsier's epilogue also implies Sazed put a plan into motion before he was blinded, if not during the blinding.

He defended Wax's desire for freedom and Marasi's love for criminal justice. But violated them by winding down their old mindsets, then cultivating them into the people they were by Lost Metal's end. He saved the Southerners by giving harmonium, a perpendicularity, and possibly Kelsier. But they seem to call him a false god.

TFE Chapter 21 - “The Hero of Ages shall be not a man, but a force. No nation may claim him, no woman shall keep him, and no king may slay him. He shall belong to none, not even himself." 

The Hero of Ages is not a human, but a force of pure Investiture. No nation can claim him, because he's known and worshipped in all nations. No woman shall keep him, for no mortal can do that to a Shard. And no king may slay him, as that's currently impossible for Scadrians. I'm afraid of the last line. I don't want Sazed to be overtaken by Intent. I don't want him to be like the other Shards... I want him to keep the nuanced viewpoint seen in SoS and BoM.

TFE Chapter 21 - “What proof do we have? The words of men long dead, only now deemed divinatory? Even if we accept the prophecies, only tenuous interpretation links them to me. Is my defense of the Summer Hill really the “Burden by which the Hero shall be dubbed"?” 

Taking up the powers of Preservation and Ruin, and tapping all the memories stored in his copperminds. All for the burden of ending the Shardic conflict.

TFE Chapter 21 “My several marriages could give me a “Bloodless bond to the world’s kings,” if you look at it the right way. There are dozens of similar phrases that could refer to events in my life. But, then again, they could all just be coincidences.”

Harmony/Discord has Connections - Spiritual bonds/relationships - to everyone and everything that was, is, and will be on Scadrial.

TFE Chapter 27 - I think I've finally discovered why Rashek resents me so very much. He does not believe that an outsider such as myself - a foreigner - could possibly be the Hero of Ages. He believes that I have somehow tricked the philosophers, that I wear the piercings of the Hero unjustly. 

The many earrings that are part of Terris fashion.

TFE Chapter 29 - I will have the ability to fulfill any wish of my heart. 

Can do anything he wants, so long as the ultimate goal falls under his Shard's Intent. Difficult to do so with Harmony. I hope Discord makes it easy.

TFE Chapter 29 - “He will take upon himself authority that no mortal should hold.”

Not even a Well of Ascension user is as knowledgeable or powerful as a Vessel of two Shards.

Judging from The Lost Metal, it seems that no other Vessel has taken up two Shards. Yet. This line and Preservation's Plan make me wonder... if Leras ever regretted taking part in the Shattering. Maybe his Plan was partly made from seeing or foreseeing the Shattering's consequences. Especially with someone as shortsighted as Ati-Ruin, or as considerate of the long-term as Bavadin, being active. Or whatever Odium is doing.

Most of the Terrismen are not as bad as Rashek. However, I can see that they believe him, to an extent. These are simple men, not philosophers or scholars, and they don’t understand that their own prophecies say the Hero of Ages will be an outsider. They only see what Rashek points out - that they are an ostensibly superior people, and should be “dominant” rather than subservient. Before such passion and hatred, even good men can be deceived.

An outsider to his era's dislike of open rebellion. Sazed was the only Keeper to openly rebel against the Lord Ruler, while the others stayed in their secret organization.