Preservation planned the Final Empire and Ruin's release

[AleStaar he/him]

Rust and Ruin…. I just realized a lot more things were part of Preservation's plan than the story let on.

Rashek’s Ascension, Empire, and his death. Vin releasing Ruin. The Mists appearing every night. And the advent of publicly aware Allomancy during the Final Empire. These were all part of Leras’ plan…

Ruin’s body at the Pits of Hathsin existed for several millennia, but every bit of atium needed to be burned at the right moment. Leras needed an Allomancer to take up Preservation then kill Ruin. He needed a rebellious Feruchemist to tap all the memories in their copperminds, and take up both Preservation and Ruin.

Sanderson confirmed in the annotation of HoA chapter 70 that Preservation, before imprisoning Ruin, set up the Mists to appear every time the Well of Ascension was nearly full. And then, I presume, the Mists disappear. The Mists appearing every night during the Final Empire is an anomaly.

None of the aforementioned steps could happen without a consistent force attuning the Allomancer to Preservation, or an army that knows the existence of Allomancy, or the setup of a system that prevents Ruin from immediately reabsorbing the atium at the Pits. There needed to be a Feruchemist with reason to be rebellious and fill their copperminds with so much information. And they couldn’t have been the Hero with half of the hybrid Shard “locked away” and weakened.

Leras trusted that Rashek live and die so the final stops towards the Hero of Ages could be accomplished. He predicted the burning of all atium, and the apotheosis of his immediate successor, should manifest during the Final Empire. He also needed Vin to release Ruin, so Sazed could get its full power. Even if Leras no longer remembered by the time of Secret History.

I would also postulate that, among other things, he trusted Kelsier to destroy all the atium at the Pits of Hathsin. A freed Ruin would immediately go there, reabsorb the atium, and destroy Scadrial. But because Kelsier destroyed the Pits, Ruin was forced to follow Rashek’s tricky trail.

[Treamayne]

3 hours ago, Ale the Metallic Conjurer said:

Preservation, before imprisoning Ruin, set up the Mists to appear every time the Well of Ascension was nearly full. And then, I presume, the Mists disappear. The Mists appearing every night during the Final Empire is an anomaly.

<snip>

he trusted Kelsier to destroy all the atium at the Pits of Hathsin.

Small quibbles - Everything we have indicates Nighttime mists are normal and would always be there (Secret History Spoilers):

Spoiler

After all, they are so much a part of the Identity of Scadrial, they entire Shadesmar is made of Mist - and the soulds of Objects appear as misty balls.

It's only the stronger, Daytime mists that begin Snapping people that are tied to the Well. It's the change from normal to Daytime Mists that is meant to signal that the Well is almost full.

Also, Kelsier didn't destroy any Atium at the Pits - he destroyed the Geodes - disrupting Ruin's Well and preventing more Atium from forming - same result but slightly different execution.

All in all, great summary.

[AleStaar he/him]

21 hours ago, Treamayne said:

Small quibbles - Everything we have indicates Nighttime mists are normal and would always be there (Secret History Spoilers):

That's a fair conclusion. I'm going off Scadrial's history. As far as I can tell, everything about Scadrial's history indicates that in previous cycles the Mists only appeared once the Well was nearly full. They would persist during the day, every day. Then disappear once someone used the Well's power. 

I know Ruin's intervention is somewhere inside the cycles' timeline. My personal interpretation of the Deepness is that while Preservation programmed the Mista to persist and Snap during the daytime AND nighttime, Ruin intervened to expand how fast and wide the Mists expand across the world. Blocking sunlight and killing crops. And my personal theory is that Ruin discovered that option very late into the plan, during Alendi's cycle, courtesy of his poor mindset and future sight.

Just bringing that up. Because I think the nonexistent mention of Mists during Alendi's logbook is a big green flag that nighttime Mists are unorthodox across the entire history of Scadrial. Unlike the Final Empire's Scadrians, Alendi never wrote something along the lines of "The peaceful Mists have turned violent and hateful." Then when Rashek Ascends, he tries to burn the Mists instead of transforming them back into their docile form. Alendi treats the Mists as if they are an entirely foreign concept. And sure, Rashek was "yada yada knowledge comes slow" but still... 

And personally, I don't think the Mists of Shadesmar are enough to say the Physical Realm Mists have existed for all of Scadrial's history. For a few reasons

• If Shadesmar is where thoughts and perception gather, could it be possible that it's changed throughout history? We've only seen the Shadesmar for Rashek's continent in its very desolate era. I think it's pausible Shadesmar was different for the Southern Continent in Era 1, or all of Scadrial before Rashek's Ascension. Heck it might be slightly different in Era 2, because of the Physical Realm's new state. The sun shines and Mists don't appear as often.
• The Well of Ascension has warped Scadrial and its people several times throughout history, which is the same Investiture that makes up the Mists. Perhaps the actions of Rashek, and the users that came before it, influences the Identity of Scadrial.
• The very building blocks of Scadrial and its people are partly of Preservation's Investiture. And that same god is far more involved with the planet and humanity than Ruin.

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Also, Kelsier didn't destroy any Atium at the Pits - he destroyed the Geodes - disrupting Ruin's Well and preventing more Atium from forming - same result but slightly different execution.

Small quibble. Sazed said that Kelsier didn't prevent the reformation of atium. The atium and Well would've reformed after around three centuries.

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Atium, then, was an object that was one-sided. Instead of being composed of half Ruin and half Preservation—as, say, a rock would be—atium was completely of Ruin. The Pits of Hathsin were crafted by Preservation as a place to hide the chunk of Ruin's body that he had stolen away during the betrayal and imprisonment. Kelsier didn't truly destroy this place by shattering those crystals, for they would have regrown eventually—in a few hundred years—and continued to deposit atium, as the place was a natural outlet for Ruin's trapped power.

 

Edited February 2, 2025 by Ale the Metallic Conjurer
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[Treamayne]

50 minutes ago, Ale the Metallic Conjurer said:

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Also, Kelsier didn't destroy any Atium at the Pits - he destroyed the Geodes - disrupting Ruin's Well and preventing more Atium from forming - same result but slightly different execution.

Small quibble. Sazed said that Kelsier didn't prevent the reformation of atium. The atium and Well would've reformed after around three centuries.

Yes, that's what I said. Sorry I did not mention the timeframe, I was only responding to "Kelsier to destroy all the atium at the Pits" and pointing out he destroyed geodes, that create Atium which is the same result, but slightly different execution (because A-Steel and A-Iron would not destroy a Godmetal). Hence, "quibble" - not a huge difference but a detail that may be important to further theorizing. Sorry, I was just trying to help.

 

 

[AleStaar he/him]

23 hours ago, Treamayne said:

Yes, that's what I said. Sorry I did not mention the timeframe, I was only responding to "Kelsier to destroy all the atium at the Pits" and pointing out he destroyed geodes, that create Atium which is the same result, but slightly different execution (because A-Steel and A-Iron would not destroy a Godmetal). Hence, "quibble" - not a huge difference but a detail that may be important to further theorizing. Sorry, I was just trying to help.

 

 

It’s no problem! That’s a pretty good thing to know! I completely forgot there were crystals that produce the geodes… which had atium beads at the center. And that Kelsier destroyed the crystals.

Okay wow Pits atium truly was a unique metal. And I gotta say Preservation created the Pits in such a brilliant way. Now if only we knew where the electrum in the Pits atium comes from.

[Treamayne]

1 hour ago, Ale the Metallic Conjurer said:

Now if only we knew where the electrum in the Pits atium comes from.

No evidence other than science - but I would presume that because Electrum is a naturally occuring alloy that Preservation placed the Geodes in igneous rock with naturally occuring Electrum content. The pooling liquid investiture would naturally pick up impurities from the process of collecting along the rock and crystal to eventually form the E1Atium beads we know and love.

Edited February 4, 2025 by Treamayne
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