Creation of mistwraiths (The Hero of Ages)

[Xutullus]

So, I just finished the first Mistborn trilogy and there's one thing I don't understand and can't make any sense of. How could Rashek use the powers of Preservation to turn humans into mistwraiths? Especially considering they apparently lost their spark of humanity, their little piece of Preservation, during the process. That's not exactly an act of preservation, is it? It seems odd and ironic that they regained consciousness after the hemalurgic blessing. And why did they lose their feruchemical powers? Was it somehow transformed into the abilities mistwraiths had, or what? Why did they lose their souls then, so to speak?

[Treamayne]

Welcome to the Shard. Please consider an Intro Post to let us know what you have or have-not read (whichever list is shorter) so that we can avoid spoilers, should that be necessary. Please also consider checking out the Sharder FAQ for some tips, tricks and resources.

1 hour ago, Xutullus said:

So, I just finished the first Mistborn trilogy and there's one thing I don't understand and can't make any sense of. How could Rashek use the powers of Preservation to turn humans into mistwraiths? Especially considering they apparently lost their spark of humanity, their little piece of Preservation, during the process. That's not exactly an act of preservation, is it? It seems odd and ironic that they regained consciousness after the hemalurgic blessing. And why did they lose their feruchemical powers? Was it somehow transformed into the abilities mistwraiths had, or what? Why did they lose their souls then, so to speak?

It's Preservation, partially because he "preserved" their lives (but could not destroy with the power of the Well, which he attempted to do with Kwaan), and partially because he used the mechanic of a "bargain" to facilitate the change. It is unlikely that Rashek could have done what was done without their "permission" (in the form of the bargain). He did "sneak" around it a bit by making the representatives accept the bargain on behalf of all then-living Feruchemists (which is what implies the bargain was required, since Kwaan specifically rejected the bargain and was therefore unaffected). 

Stormlight Archive Spoilers:

Spoiler

Because as Dalinar and Odium Show (and Wit implies when discussing with Jasnah), the Shards have more leeway in what can be done with their power when a Bargain is being used to facilitate the Investiture

WoBs:

Spoiler

Quote

Tyran Amiros

What happened to Kwaan? I was half expecting to see him amongst the kandra First Generation.

Brandon Sanderson

Kwaan went into hiding, and he was eventually discovered and executed by Rashek. He wasn't among the First Generation, though he would have been if he hadn't turned against Rashek. Rashek kept the plate, however, just as he kept Alendi's logbook. Partially because even then, Rashek was going a little mad, but partially because of the reminders about his old life they contained.

Vegasdev

I'm assuming you meant Alendi hunted him down because he turned against Alendi. Or did Kwaan also turn against Rashek?

Brandon Sanderson

No, I meant that he turned against Rashek. Remember, the members of the First Generation were offered immortality in exchange for their Hemalurgy Feruchemy. They had to make this choice for all of the world's Feruchemists. Because his uncle had been the one who gave Rashek the chance to become the Lord Ruler in the first place, Rashek blessed him and included him in the decision. (Speaking directly into his mind along with the others during Rashek's moment of ascension.)

Kwaan was the only one who turned down this offer, calling it a betrayal of who they were as a people. Rashek could have just made him one anyway, but in a moment of anger, he tried to destroy Kwaan—which he couldn't do, not with Preservation's power. As the other Feruchemists changed, Kwaan remained the same. Rashek eventually hunted him down and killed him.

Footnote: Brandon likely means Feruchemy, here in place of Hemalurgy.
Hero of Ages Q&A - Time Waster's Guide (Oct. 15, 2008)

 

Hope that helps.

[Xutullus]

5 hours ago, Treamayne said:

Welcome to the Shard. Please consider an Intro Post to let us know what you have or have-not read (whichever list is shorter) so that we can avoid spoilers, should that be necessary. Please also consider checking out the Sharder FAQ for some tips, tricks and resources.

Thanks. I don't mind general information about the universe.

5 hours ago, Treamayne said:

It's Preservation, partially because he "preserved" their lives (but could not destroy with the power of the Well, which he attempted to do with Kwaan), and partially because he used the mechanic of a "bargain" to facilitate the change. It is unlikely that Rashek could have done what was done without their "permission" (in the form of the bargain). He did "sneak" around it a bit by making the representatives accept the bargain on behalf of all then-living Feruchemists (which is what implies the bargain was required, since Kwaan specifically rejected the bargain and was therefore unaffected). 

I see. I mean, yeah, he preserved their lives in a vastly twisted form, but got rid of their souls, so to speak? They lost their identities, their sentience, everything important. Wasn't Preservation's greatest ambition not to create life per se, but people with souls and whatnot? Preserving life but losing that key aspect seems quite weird.

And the majority of the feruchemists weren't consulted regarding the bargain, so they did not have a choice to accept or reject it? Dunno how a handful of people should be eligible to decide something like that. Especially considering how everyone else remained a mistwraith after the first generation was created. It would make more sense that Rashek asked everyone individually and later tracked down everyone who declined.

Another thing that doesn't make sense to me is that mistwraiths have short lifespans, but kandra are immortal. Mistwraiths can breed, but kandra can not? Why would a hemalurgic blessing cause these changes, when the general function of the spikes is something quite different?

[JustQuestin2004 he/him]

1 hour ago, Xutullus said:

I see. I mean, yeah, he preserved their lives in a vastly twisted form, but got rid of their souls, so to speak? They lost their identities, their sentience, everything important. Wasn't Preservation's greatest ambition not to create life per se, but people with souls and whatnot? Preserving life but losing that key aspect seems quite weird.

Their souls are intact, the change was to their bodies and minds. They were mutated and have a 'Cogntive Blockage', as per WOB.

Plus, it wasn't Preservation doing this, it was Rashek using some of Preservation's power.

1 hour ago, Xutullus said:

And the majority of the feruchemists weren't consulted regarding the bargain, so they did not have a choice to accept or reject it? Dunno how a handful of people should be eligible to decide something like that. Especially considering how everyone else remained a mistwraith after the first generation was created. It would make more sense that Rashek asked everyone individually and later tracked down everyone who declined.

He was probably using some kind of loophole to make this 'Bargain' work, he also definitely wouldn't have the time to ask individually, since the Well of Ascension's power only lasted for five minutes, less even. And hunting all the decliners would have been an incredibly difficult task compared to just morphing them with the Well's power and the slightest justification.

1 hour ago, Xutullus said:

Another thing that doesn't make sense to me is that mistwraiths have short lifespans, but kandra are immortal. Mistwraiths can breed, but kandra can not? Why would a hemalurgic blessing cause these changes, when the general function of the spikes is something quite different?

My personal theory is that all Mistwraiths could become near-ageless like Kandra, it's just that they lack the mental capacity to utilize their shapeshifting like that.

Also Kandra can breed just like Mistwraiths, the spikes wouldn't have taken that capability from them, it would just result in Mistwraith children without Blessings to make them into Kandra.

[Xutullus]

4 hours ago, JustQuestin2004 said:

Their souls are intact, the change was to their bodies and minds. They were mutated and have a 'Cogntive Blockage', as per WOB.

Ah, that sort of thing.

4 hours ago, JustQuestin2004 said:

Plus, it wasn't Preservation doing this, it was Rashek using some of Preservation's power.

 Yeah, but he couldn't destroy Kwaan using Preservation's power. I'd argue this was a fate far worse than death.

4 hours ago, JustQuestin2004 said:

He was probably using some kind of loophole to make this 'Bargain' work, he also definitely wouldn't have the time to ask individually, since the Well of Ascension's power only lasted for five minutes, less even. And hunting all the decliners would have been an incredibly difficult task compared to just morphing them with the Well's power and the slightest justification.

Didn't he ask everyone at the same time, speaking directly to their minds? If he was about to do magic to every single one of them, surely he could've spoken directly to each of their minds as well.

4 hours ago, JustQuestin2004 said:

Also Kandra can breed just like Mistwraiths, the spikes wouldn't have taken that capability from them, it would just result in Mistwraith children without Blessings to make them into Kandra.

Well, that what my, eh, intuition as well, but the coppermind seems to say this about that:

Spoiler

Quote

Kandra cannot naturally reproduce, but if they replicated human organs, it would be possible for them to have a child that is part kandra and human.

Now, what a child that's part kandra and part human would be like I have trouble comprehending, but it kind of suggests it'd have at least some of kandra's powers without needing hemalurgy.

 

[Treamayne]

5 hours ago, Xutullus said:

Wasn't Preservation's greatest ambition not to create life per se, but people with souls and whatnot?

That was Leras' plan, yes. But it is important not to confuse the Vessel and the Shard. They do not always agree. However, Vessels can take action that alignes with the Shard's Intent without friction. Rashek had Connection to Kwaan and his fellow Packmen, but not to every living Feruchemist.

Stormlight Archive Spoilers:

Spoiler

As seen with Rayse and Odium, increasingly over books 1-4. The longer a vessel holds the Shard, the more the Shard changes them (Ruin), but the Vessel can sometimes still dissent, but that makes their ability to weild the power lessen. RoW Interlude 2:

Quote

Odium wasn’t simply the mind that controlled the power: the Vessel. Nor was he merely that power alone: the Shard. He was both, and at times it seemed the power had desires that were counter to the purposes of the Vessel.

<snip>

You question? Do not question.

“I will not question.” However, she felt a surging to the power that moved within him. The mind did not like being questioned, but the power … It liked questions. It liked arguments. It was passion.

There was a weakness here. In the division between the Vessel and the Shard.

“I will go wherever you demand,” she said, “my god.”

 

 

5 hours ago, JustQuestin2004 said:

My personal theory is that all Mistwraiths could become near-ageless like Kandra, it's just that they lack the mental capacity to utilize their shapeshifting like that.

No. Mistwraiths are a created race with their own lifecycle. Lifespan is about 50 years, unless they receive Blessings. WoB:

Spoiler

Brandon Sanderson

Chapter Eighty - Part Two

Sazed Sees Mistwraiths

I worry that I didn't get to show mistwraiths very much in this book. It's not that big of an issue—they're only a minor world feature, and are only tangentially important. Still, they're a part of the kandra past and culture, and I want readers to understand what they are and what they have to do with the kandra life cycle.

Remember, all of the kandra save for the First Generation were born first as mistwraiths. That race of creatures breeds true, and has only a fifty-year lifespan. They die off, but birth new members. Taking one of those new members and adding spikes to them, however, awakens them and brings them sentience. They're part human, just like the koloss who remember having once been human.

The Hero of Ages Annotations (May 27, 2010)

And their lifecycle is tied to the Kandra.

1 minute ago, Xutullus said:

Didn't he ask everyone at the same time, speaking directly to their minds? If he was about to do magic to every single one of them, surely he could've spoken directly to each of their minds as well.

No. Preservation's power can only receive thoughts. It requires Connection for Preservation's Vessel to send thoughts (Like Kelsier to Spook, while Kelsier was the Vessel).

SoS Ch 7:

Spoiler

“You can hear my thoughts?” Wax asked.

When you have the earring in, yes. I gain the ability to hear you from Preservation, and the ability to speak to you from Ruin. Each had only one half. I always found it puzzling.

Note Sazed's white lie here - he implies both require the earring, but only sending thoughts requires the earring spike.

M:SH

Spoiler

P6-Ch4:
 

Quote

Surely among these he could find one who could deliver a message to Vin.

Yet they didn’t seem to be able to hear him, no matter how he whispered to them. It was frustrating and baffling. He held the powers of eternity. How could he have lost the ability he’d had before, the ability to communicate with his people?

Around him, Ruin laughed.

“You think your predecessor didn’t try that?” Ruin asked. “Your power cannot leak through those cracks, Preservation. It tries too hard to shore them up, to protect them. Only I can widen cracks.”

Whether his reasoning was correct or not, Kelsier couldn’t tell. But he did confirm time and time again that madmen could no longer hear him.

However, now he could hear people.

Everyone, not just the mad. He could hear their thoughts like voices—their hopes, their worries, their terrors. If he focused too long on them, directed his attention to a city, the multitude of thoughts threatened to overwhelm him. It was a buzz, a rush, and he found it difficult to separate individuals from the mess.

P6-Ch5:

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It didn’t notice Kelsier as he drew back from the power, exposing his own soul and drawing it close to Spook. Those lines were there, the lines of familiarity, family, and Connection. Strangely, they were even stronger for Spook than they’d been for Marsh and Vin. Why would that be?

 

WoB:

Spoiler

kilomtrs

So in the trilogy, we see that when someone has a Hemalurgic spike implanted in them, they can hear Ruin talking to them, both as a vision and in their head. However, we learn in the Hero of Ages that Ruin cannot hear a person's thoughts no matter how much under Ruin's influence they are.

In Alloy of Law, we see that Wax (and other Pathians) uses an earring to "pray" to Harmony, and we see that Harmony can hear his thoughts and respond.

So I guess this leads to three questions: How does Harmony hear the thoughts of Wax, when it's explicitly pointed put that Ruin cannot?

Are the earrings that the Pathians use Hemalurgically charged, as otherwise they would be of no use to Ruin, and therefore Harmony?

Or did Harmony completely change how that aspect of Hemalugy works?

Brandon Sanderson

How this all works dates back to the original design of the magic system.

I wanted Ruin and Preservation to be complementary opposites, like many things in the Mistborn world. Allomancy, for example, has Pushes and Pulls were are less "negate one another" opposites, but instead two sides to the same proverbial coin.

Ruin is invasive. The power is more "Yell" than "Listen." The philosopher would probably have some interesting things to say about the masculine symbolism of Hemalurgy and its spikes.

Ruin can insert thoughts. That power, however, can't HEAR the reactions. It's about invasion.

Preservation, however, is the opposite. Preservation listens, Preservation protects. (Perhaps to a fault--if there were no Ruin, there would be no change to the world, and life could not exist.) Because of this, Preservation can hear what is inside people's minds. It cannot, however, INSERT thoughts. (This is important to the plot of Hero of Ages.)

Harmony is both, the two complementary opposites combined. And so, he inserts thoughts with Ruin and still uses Hemalurgy. He can also listen.

Yes, Wax's earring is Invested. (Or, in other terms, it's a Hemalurgic spike.)

bettse

Doesn't that imply it was shoved through someone's heart at one point (ala Steel Inquisitor creation process)?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, the metal would have to have been part of a spike that at one point was used to kill someone and rip off a piece of their soul.

General Reddit 2012 (July 4, 2012)

Hope that helps

[JustQuestin2004 he/him]

49 minutes ago, Xutullus said:

Yeah, but he couldn't destroy Kwaan using Preservation's power. I'd argue this was a fate far worse than death.

Unless you frame it as forever preventing the species of Mstwraiths from ever being willing to fight and kill others, even for food. Mistwraiths are purely scavengers who stay away from humans. So you could also argue they are better preserved and more likely to live to old age than a normal human, especially back in the Final Empire. 

 

13 minutes ago, Treamayne said:

No. Mistwraiths are a created race with their own lifecycle. Lifespan is about 50 years, unless they receive Blessings. WoB:

  Reveal hidden contents

Brandon Sanderson

Chapter Eighty - Part Two

Sazed Sees Mistwraiths

I worry that I didn't get to show mistwraiths very much in this book. It's not that big of an issue—they're only a minor world feature, and are only tangentially important. Still, they're a part of the kandra past and culture, and I want readers to understand what they are and what they have to do with the kandra life cycle.

Remember, all of the kandra save for the First Generation were born first as mistwraiths. That race of creatures breeds true, and has only a fifty-year lifespan. They die off, but birth new members. Taking one of those new members and adding spikes to them, however, awakens them and brings them sentience. They're part human, just like the koloss who remember having once been human.

The Hero of Ages Annotations (May 27, 2010)

And their lifecycle is tied to the Kandra.

It wouldn't make sense how Blessings allow a Mistwraith to surpass their 50-year lifespan, even one's that don't directly affect their bodies like Zinc and Copper Blessings.

The only universal effect the Blessings have is giving the Mistwraith sentience, letting a Mistwraith become a Kandra with just two bits of metal with a chunk of a soul attached to them. It doesn't make sense for the spikes alone to grant agelessness to Mistwraiths unless that is part of their shapeshifting abilities, just one that is too advanced for their limited Mental Capacity to let them utilize. The only true difference between Mistwraiths and Kandra is their intelligence. That is my viewpoint on this.

Edited November 17, 2024 by JustQuestin2004

[alder24]

14 hours ago, Xutullus said:

So, I just finished the first Mistborn trilogy and there's one thing I don't understand and can't make any sense of. How could Rashek use the powers of Preservation to turn humans into mistwraiths? Especially considering they apparently lost their spark of humanity, their little piece of Preservation, during the process. That's not exactly an act of preservation, is it? It seems odd and ironic that they regained consciousness after the hemalurgic blessing. And why did they lose their feruchemical powers? Was it somehow transformed into the abilities mistwraiths had, or what? Why did they lose their souls then, so to speak?

Kandra and Misthwraiths were Rashek's back up plan. He created a race capable of surviving underground if the planet were to be suffocated by Mists, baked by the sun or buried under the ash. This was his way of Preserving some form of humanity in case of his failure. He didn't take away their soul, he didn't take away their spark of life, or thier Identity, he changed them so that they lost only their Feruchemical abilities (In the same way Sazed directly gave Spook Mistborn powers).

Spoiler

Brandon Sanderson

Why the Lord Ruler Created the Kandra as They Are

You may have noticed something in this chapter. TenSoon mentions the food pits that the kandra people cultivate, a mixture of algae and fungus that they grow in holes in the ground. Yes, they can survive on this. No, it doesn't taste very good. However, it doesn't need light to grow.

Humankind couldn't survive on this mixture, unfortunately. However, one thing that is never brought up in the text is something that not even the kandra know. There are several reasons that the Lord Ruler created them as he did. One of those reasons was so that there would be a people who could survive beneath the ground, should the world above be destroyed by the mists. In other words, he created a race of subterranean dwellers to outlast humankind, should that become necessary. He was the one who gave them the Homeland as their inheritance and taught them to begin growing food that would survive underground.

Then, of course, he decided to add the Resolution to their code of law. That was a precaution in case Ruin decided to claim them as his own. A bit self-defeating, true, but the Lord Ruler felt it was better for them to die than to become pawns of his most dangerous enemy.

The Hero of Ages Annotations (Aug. 27, 2009)

 

7 hours ago, Xutullus said:

Another thing that doesn't make sense to me is that mistwraiths have short lifespans, but kandra are immortal. Mistwraiths can breed, but kandra can not? Why would a hemalurgic blessing cause these changes, when the general function of the spikes is something quite different?

Because Hemalurgic spikes always change your spirit web and that changes the body. Look at Inquisitors or Koloss, their spirit web was so messed up by spikes that their bodies changed and no longer resemble or work like a human body. Kandra are also changed by their Blessings. Mistwraiths are people with a blockade between the Physical Realm and the Cognitive Realm, Blessings allow them to overcome that blockade and make them sapient. And apparently they cannot reproduce anymore like Mistwraiths can, unless they try to replicate human reproductive organs (although Brandon is still on edge if they can do even that). Kandra aren't truly immortal, they age very slowly. This comes not just from their Blessings, but also from their shapeshifting abilities - they have control over a lot of processes happening in their body so aging doesn't affect them this much. HoA ch 41 epigraphs:

Quote

Hemalurgic spikes change people physically, depending on which powers are granted, where the spike is placed, and how many spikes someone has. Inquisitors, for instance, are changed drastically from the humans they used to be. Their hearts are in different places from those of humans, and their brains rearrange to accommodate the lengths of metal jabbed through their eyes. Koloss are changed in even more drastic ways.

One might think that kandra are changed most of all. However, one must remember that new kandra are made from mistwraiths, and not humans. The spikes worn by the kandra cause only a small transformation in their hosts—leaving their bodies mostly like that of a mistwraith, but allowing their minds to begin working. Ironically, while the spikes dehumanize the koloss, they give a measure of humanity to the kandra.

 

Spoiler

NinjaMeTimbers

How intelligent is a mistwraith? Could you raise and train mistwraiths like dogs or horses, controlling what forms they take by the bones you give them? Would you be able to train yourself a horsewraith steed by giving it only the bones of a horse?

Brandon Sanderson

This is feasible. One thing to keep in mind is that mistwraiths are people who have a blockage between the Physical and the Cognitive Realm, messing with their ability to think. Think of them as mentally-stunted people. There's enough there to train, but then you have to dig into the ethics of it...

17th Shard Forum Q&A (Sept. 27, 2012)

 

Spoiler

Questioner

Given that kandra can replicate human organs, is it possible for a human and a kandra to have a child? And if so, would that child be purely human, or some kind of combination?

Brandon Sanderson

That's a yes, and it would be some kind of combination.

Dragonsteel 2023 (Nov. 21, 2023)

 

Spoiler

Questioner

Could a kandra imitating a human have a child with the human?

Brandon Sanderson

So, I kinda go back and forth on this. So-- 'Cause I think about it, then I tweak the magic, and I think "no this isn't possible," and then I go back, and I'm like, "but..." So it kinda comes down to a lot of things, such as, would I want a DNA test to be able to determine if a kandra is real or not. And I haven't canonized that yet, so your answer is, Read And Find Out, once I decide. I go back and forth on that one so much.

Oathbringer release party (Nov. 13, 2017)

 

Spoiler

Reilly Russell

Are kandra/mistwraiths naturally immortal? If so, is it magically sustained, or natural, like the immortal jellyfish? If not, what is the natural lifespan of a kandra/mistwraith?

Brandon Sanderson

No, they are not immortal, but they are very, very long lived. If you look at the First Generation, you'll see an example of aging happening. They will eventually die of old age. They don't suffer from some of the ailments that, say, humans do, and it takes a bit longer, and there is some magical sustaining of them going on.

Read For Pixels 2018 (Sept. 1, 2018)

 

 

[Xutullus]

1 hour ago, JustQuestin2004 said:

Unless you frame it as forever preventing the species of Mstwraiths from ever being willing to fight and kill others, even for food. Mistwraiths are purely scavengers who stay away from humans. So you could also argue they are better preserved and more likely to live to old age than a normal human, especially back in the Final Empire. 

If that were the case, surely they would've created mistwraiths instead of humans to begin with. Didn't Preservation specifically insist on creating humans with extra bit of Preservation in them? Surely, if Rashek intuitively understands mistwraiths in mere moments with the power, Preservation had aeons to think about them and decide against creating them. The "blockade between the Physical Realm and the Cognitive Realm" clearly was something Preservation didn't prefer, despite their peaceful nature.

1 hour ago, JustQuestin2004 said:

It doesn't make sense for the spikes alone to grant agelessness to Mistwraiths unless that is part of their shapeshifting abilities, just one that is too advanced for their limited Mental Capacity to let them utilize.

I'd argue if agelessness comes from abilities that mistwraiths possess, then they should learn to use them intuitively over time, and that time wouldn't probably be that long even. There are real animals that are more or less biologically immortal and they have no mental capacity to speak of.

20 minutes ago, alder24 said:

He didn't take away their soul, he didn't take away their spark of life, or thier Identity, he changed them so that they lost only their Feruchemical abilities

Well, he took away their humanity and their sentience, and reduced them to mere animals.

24 minutes ago, alder24 said:

And apparently they cannot reproduce anymore like Mistwraiths can, unless they try to replicate human reproductive organs (although Brandon is still on edge if they can do even that).

The first part makes least sense in all of this. How would a Blessing prevent normal reproduction, but potentially allow reproducing with another species? Surely, if they can transform their bodies to have functional human reproductive systems, then they also can transform their bodies to have functional mistwraith reproductive systems.

28 minutes ago, alder24 said:

This comes not just from their Blessings, but also from their shapeshifting abilities - they have control over a lot of processes happening in their body so aging doesn't affect them this much.

I'd argue if it's the same shapeshifting abilities, then mistwraiths should be able to use them as well, at least over time (like I replied to JustQuestin2004 earlier in this post). But your last quote kind of suggests it's the Blessings sustaining them magically. Blessings providing such magic I can get, but I didn't see anything about the spikes having such effect on anything else, which confuses me.

[alder24]

19 minutes ago, Xutullus said:

I'd argue if agelessness comes from abilities that mistwraiths possess, then they should learn to use them intuitively over time, and that time wouldn't probably be that long even. There are real animals that are more or less biologically immortal and they have no mental capacity to speak of.

Mistwraiths aren't sapient, they don't have big enough control over their bodies to use their abilities to such an extent. Sapience and magic is also a partial reason for why Kandra are nearly ageless (look at WoB provided earlier).

19 minutes ago, Xutullus said:

Well, he took away their humanity and their sentience, and reduced them to mere animals.

He changed them. He didn't take away their humanity or sentience, he blocked it. It's still there, but they have to first overcome that blockade, which can be done with Blessings. But this was an exchange - this and Feruchemy for immortality. Not all Mistwraiths get to become immortal, but all can.

20 minutes ago, Xutullus said:

The first part makes least sense in all of this. How would a Blessing prevent normal reproduction, but potentially allow reproducing with another species? Surely, if they can transform their bodies to have functional human reproductive systems, then they also can transform their bodies to have functional mistwraith reproductive systems.

Are Koloss capable of reproduction in Era 1? No, because they aren't human anymore. Kandra aren't Mistwraiths anymore. Spikes always change you. Sometimes it's a big change, sometimes it's a smaller change - but spikes always change you. Kandra can shapeshift to a human form and in that form they can potentially reproduce (which would have an effect on their child). Can they recreate Mistwraith's reproductive organs? Possibly and in that way they could possibly have Mistwraith-like kids, but Kandra can't create Kandra kids and Kandra aren't Mistwraiths anymore because Hemalurgy changed them. 

Their ability to crossbreed is dependent on Brandon's decision if Kandra can replicate DNA. If they can then they can reproduce with other species, if they can't then all forms of reproduction are off the table. 

21 minutes ago, Xutullus said:

I'd argue if it's the same shapeshifting abilities, then mistwraiths should be able to use them as well, at least over time (like I replied to JustQuestin2004 earlier in this post). But your last quote kind of suggests it's the Blessings sustaining them magically. Blessings providing such magic I can get, but I didn't see anything about the spikes having such effect on anything else, which confuses me.

You have Inquisitors, you have Koloss - they are different because of spikes. Kandra also are different from Mistwraiths mainly because they regain their sapience, but also their body and spirit changes so they are no longer Mistwraiths - just like Inquisitors are no longer humans.

HoA ch 41 epigraphs:

Quote

The spikes worn by the kandra cause only a small transformation in their hosts

 

Spoiler

Brandon Sanderson

Chapter Forty

The Creation of New Inquisitors

It was very convenient for the system I built into Hemalurgy that the Inquisitors were designed and commanded to hunt down skaa Mistings. There were always enough of those that they could create new Inquisitors to replace the ones who eventually died of old age.

The Inquisitors were always so determined to catch the skaa. So passionate. With good reason, for that was the only means by which their race—and Inquisitors are a separate race, just like the koloss and the kandra—could perpetuate itself.

The Hero of Ages Annotations (Nov. 19, 2009)

 

Spoiler

Axies (paraphrased)

Is Hoid human?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes... but. Hoid is... you can say that he is still human, but his DNA have changed. Now he is human but you wouldn't call him Homo sapiens anymore. It happens something similar with the Steel Inquisitors

Barcelona signing (Nov. 3, 2016)

 

[Treamayne]

31 minutes ago, Xutullus said:

How would a Blessing prevent normal reproduction, but potentially allow reproducing with another species?

Possibly because Mistwriths reproduce by an asexual method, like budding? Having a Blessing holding your Cognitive and Physical together may prevent whatever budding process allows a portion of one being to separate and gain a separate identity.

Note: This is not a Canon menthod of Mistwraith reproduction. We have no canon method mentioned in books or WoB - I'm mearly speculating on what process would fit the question's requisites.

[Xutullus]

10 minutes ago, alder24 said:

Mistwraiths aren't sapient, they don't have big enough control over their bodies to use their abilities to such an extent.

Your earlier quote described them as

Spoiler

trainable, and as mentally-stunted people.

To me, that kind of level should obviously be sufficient for intuitive use of their innate abilities. Kandra do it intuitively, don't they? They don't take a moment every once in a while to think about how exactly to alter the processes by which their cells age, involving complex calculations and estimations and stuff that requires sapience. If they're smart enough to be trainable, they should be able to train themselves in the art of shapeshifting. The mentioned 50 year lifespan is plenty of time to intuitively learn a lot.

Claims to the contrary sound to me like claiming birds shouldn't be able to fly without Blessings.

[alder24]

2 minutes ago, Xutullus said:

Your earlier quote described them as

  Hide contents

trainable, and as mentally-stunted people.

To me, that kind of level should obviously be sufficient for intuitive use of their innate abilities. Kandra do it intuitively, don't they? They don't take a moment every once in a while to think about how exactly to alter the processes by which their cells age, involving complex calculations and estimations and stuff that requires sapience. If they're smart enough to be trainable, they should be able to train themselves in the art of shapeshifting. The mentioned 50 year lifespan is plenty of time to intuitively learn a lot.

Claims to the contrary sound to me like claiming birds shouldn't be able to fly without Blessings.

But magic and spikes are a part of Kandra agelessness. This can't be done with Mistwraiths. While you can somewhat train them, this is simply beyond their capabilities because they lack the magic and they lack sapience. To learn that Intent might be needed and without sapience Mistwraiths won't have it. 

Some birds can't fly  

[Isilel]

I have to say that it always bothered me and seemed like something that demanded an explanation, that Sazed neither changed the kandra so that they didn't need hemalurgy for sentience anymore and could replenish their numbers naturally, nor restored them to their humanity.

Sanderson's argument that Harmony didn't want to destroy their unique culture falls flat for me, given that his absolute ban on hemalurgy, combined with granting them freedom to die at will,  condemns the kandra to being a dying people. 

Re: kandra reproduction, since they revert to being mistwraiths when their spikes are removed, doesn't it mean that they could do it that way, if the hemalurgic sentience bottleneck got solved to make transforming the resultant offspring into kandra possible?

I also wonder if kandra Feruchemy was completely removed, or if it was blocked in some way. And if a very special set of circumstances couldn't re-activate it. I am thinking of Kelsier and his copper medallions here, as well as the fact that creation of the Bands probably required a full Feruchemist, as well as a Mistborn.