Wit End of Book WaT - Question

[KalKel]

I have been looking for explanations on how he did what he did at the end of WaT.  Particularly the ability to get vaporized and then wind up back in his “room”.  It is implied he is in Scadrial with the broadsheets and since we know Ghostbloods are the next book.  Is this related somehow to the skips that Sigzal does and tied to being a holder of the Dawnshard at some point?  

Any leading theories on how he both survives, maintains all his memories, and skips across universe in an instant?

[Yaganim he/him]

We actually know how he survive. WaT ch 147:

Quote

His body regenerated from the largest piece of flesh he had remaining. He’d always known this, but had never found opportunity to, well, weaponize it.

Odium completely vaporize him, so his largest piece remaining is the cell culture maintain by Ulaam. Thus his entire body regrow from this cells.

[RedBlue]

1 hour ago, KalKel said:

Any leading theories on how he both survives, maintains all his memories, and skips across universe in an instant?

As @Yaganim said, Wit’s healing ability caused him to regrow his entire body from the largest remaining piece, which happened to be a cell culture on Scadrial.

It’s not clear where this healing ability comes from, but the Dawnshard is a fair guess. It’s certainly a more powerful form of supernatural healing than the others we’ve seen so far.

As for his memories, I have to assume that his entire spirit web and all the Breath attached to it will automatically hone in on his physical body wherever it ends up. If things are tethered together with Connection, distance isn’t really an issue. 

[Nitpicking]

1 hour ago, RedBlue said:

As @Yaganim said, Wit’s healing ability caused him to regrow his entire body from the largest remaining piece, which happened to be a cell culture on Scadrial.

It’s not clear where this healing ability comes from, but the Dawnshard is a fair guess. It’s certainly a more powerful form of supernatural healing than the others we’ve seen so far.

As for his memories, I have to assume that his entire spirit web and all the Breath attached to it will automatically hone in on his physical body wherever it ends up. If things are tethered together with Connection, distance isn’t really an issue. 

It's the Dawnshard. I don't think I'll spoiler here, but read Dragonsteel Prime (free!) and you get to meet Hoid pre-Shattering.

[elihaun]

13 hours ago, KalKel said:

  It is implied he is in Scadrial with the broadsheets and since we know Ghostbloods are the next book.

So, I know this is off topic, but does this imply that WaT is set just before Shadows of Self?  isn't wit a landrian carriage driver in one of those? That would mean that the red mist that Harmony showed Wax is probably Retribution, not 'trell' (autonomy), or maybe Autonomy is working WITH retribution.  Also, we know that Iyatil's brother is still in elendell, so he probably didn't start a civil war with the ghost bloods

[KalKel]

19 minutes ago, elihaun said:

So, I know this is off topic, but does this imply that WaT is set just before Shadows of Self?  isn't wit a landrian carriage driver in one of those? That would mean that the red mist that Harmony showed Wax is probably Retribution, not 'trell' (autonomy), or maybe Autonomy is working WITH retribution.  Also, we know that Iyatil's brother is still in elendell, so he probably didn't start a civil war with the ghost bloods

I think you are right. The general theory I saw was Mistborn Era 2 was right after Stormlight, I guess I need to do a reread after WaT now.  
 

Brings up another Cosmere timeline question.  Will Ghostbloods occur immediately after Era 2 and before Era 3?  Will Stormline Arc 2 happen at the same time or after Era 2/before Era 3?

[Argenti he/him]

22 minutes ago, elihaun said:

So, I know this is off topic, but does this imply that WaT is set just before Shadows of Self?  isn't wit a landrian carriage driver in one of those? That would mean that the red mist that Harmony showed Wax is probably Retribution, not 'trell' (autonomy), or maybe Autonomy is working WITH retribution.  Also, we know that Iyatil's brother is still in elendell, so he probably didn't start a civil war with the ghost bloods

Why would it not be Autonomy? 

[elihaun]

6 minutes ago, Argenti said:

Why would it not be Autonomy? 

Bands of mourning is what, 3-5 years after shadows of self?  It just seems that Harmony would be more worried about Retribution than Autonomy, or Autonomy would be more hesitant to attack 

[Nitpicking]

33 minutes ago, elihaun said:

So, I know this is off topic, but does this imply that WaT is set just before Shadows of Self?  isn't wit a landrian carriage driver in one of those? That would mean that the red mist that Harmony showed Wax is probably Retribution, not 'trell' (autonomy), or maybe Autonomy is working WITH retribution.  Also, we know that Iyatil's brother is still in elendell, so he probably didn't start a civil war with the ghost bloods

We just saw Hoid turned into red mist in WaT, so clearly he's the one investing Scadrial.

 

 

 

 

[Isilel]

1 hour ago, elihaun said:

So, I know this is off topic, but does this imply that WaT is set just before Shadows of Self? 

 

Era 2 series, start of AoL excepted, happens between Hoid's vaporization and Shallan's talk with Kelsier. Time dilation is not constant - it was extreme closest to the Odium/Honor merge - according to Ulaam "hours for them, months for us", and is gradually diminishing. Shallan spent a couple of months wandering Shadesmar prior to her arrival at the site of former Cultivation's Perpendicularity. During their talk Kel mentioned a recent crisis on Scadrial, which can only be Autonomy's incursion. And his close circle still doesn't know about Iyatil's death at the end of TLM, according to Twinsoul's PoV.

[DSCrankshaw]

4 hours ago, Isilel said:

 

Era 2 series, start of AoL excepted, happens between Hoid's vaporization and Shallan's talk with Kelsier. Time dilation is not constant - it was extreme closest to the Odium/Honor merge - according to Ulaam "hours for them, months for us", and is gradually diminishing. Shallan spent a couple of months wandering Shadesmar prior to her arrival at the site of former Cultivation's Perpendicularity. During their talk Kel mentioned a recent crisis on Scadrial, which can only be Autonomy's incursion. And his close circle still doesn't know about Iyatil's death at the end of TLM, according to Twinsoul's PoV.

Agreed. Though it's possible AoL occurred after Hoid's evaporation and before the Epilogue (note that by this theory, Shallan's conversation with Kelsier occurs after the epilogue).

Since Brandon has said that Era 3 occurs 50 years after Era 2, it sounds like it will happen before Stormlight Book 6.

[KalKel]

On 1/3/2025 at 1:48 PM, DSCrankshaw said:

Agreed. Though it's possible AoL occurred after Hoid's evaporation and before the Epilogue (note that by this theory, Shallan's conversation with Kelsier occurs after the epilogue).

Since Brandon has said that Era 3 occurs 50 years after Era 2, it sounds like it will happen before Stormlight Book 6.

So that is how he makes it back in time for Era 2.  I guess Ghostbloods is immediately after Era 2 with potential flashbacks to how it started and dealings with Roshar. I don’t see how this will be a standalone trilogy that doesn’t require context. 

[Windborn_bolder]

On 1/3/2025 at 6:01 AM, KalKel said:

Will Ghostbloods occur immediately after Era 2 and before Era 3?

You might know this already but era 3 is ghost bloods

[DSCrankshaw]

So, to clarify, and make sure we're all on the same page, here's a timeline.

1. Mistborn Era 1 - The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, The Hero of Ages; Secret History is concurrent with all three
2. Stormlight Arc 1
3. Mistborn Era 2 - Alloy of Law, Shadows of Self, The Bands of Mourning, The Lost Metal
4. Mistborn Era 3 - Ghostbloods
5. Stormlight Arc 2

 

We're a little less sure about where various events at the end of Wind and Truth mesh with the timeline, but here's my guess:

1. Wind and Truth, Chapter 146 (Wit Vaporized)
2. Wind and Truth, Chapter 147 (Wit Arrives on Scadrial)
3. Alloy of Law
4. Wind and Truth, Epilogue (Wit interviews to become Waxillium Ladrian's driver)
5. Shadows of Self
6. The Bands of Mourning
7. The Lost Metal
8. Wind and Truth, Chapter 147 (Shallan speaks to Kelsier)

 

Note that this places the events in the Epilogue before Shallan's conversation with Kelsier, which fits, as Hoid is Wax's driver in Shadows of Self, but Kelsier seems to think that Iyatil is alive in The Lost Metal. (Also, subjectively, the length of time for Shallan between Chapters 146 and 147 is shorter than the length of time for Wit between Chapters 146 and the Epilogue.) That said, Alloy of Law could be before Chapter 146 rather than after--I don't think there's enough evidence to nail it down.

 

Edited January 5, 2025 by DSCrankshaw
Added numbers to lists.