Marsh circumventing identity contamination

[TacoBellChoutaMeal]

Hey there. At the end of TLM, Marsh is able to walk around the middle of Elendel without attracting any attention. I had assumed that he was able to do this by either filling aluminum, duralumin, or both at the same time. I’m not certain if this was the case, as I remember seeing somewhere on the forums that Marsh only has 22 spikes we know about.  Because of the limited number, I’m not certain that F-aluminum would be super useful to steal, so please correct me if I’m wrong. 
All of that being said, could filling aluminum or duralumin or both be how Marsh is able to compound atium? Compounding via hemalurgy normally doesn’t work due to identity contamination, but if Marsh had no identity at any given point, could he get around this quirk of the magic system? Is that how he’s doing it? I’m sure other people have theorized on this at this point, so could you point me in the right direction, please? I know I ask a lot of questions and make probably too many posts, but I think about this stuff a lot. I’m sure you all think about it more than I have, though. 

[CoderDrag0n8 He/Him]

1 hour ago, TacoBellChoutaMeal said:

Hey there. At the end of TLM, Marsh is able to walk around the middle of Elendel without attracting any attention. I had assumed that he was able to do this by either filling aluminum, duralumin, or both at the same time. I’m not certain if this was the case, as I remember seeing somewhere on the forums that Marsh only has 22 spikes we know about.  Because of the limited number, I’m not certain that F-aluminum would be super useful to steal, so please correct me if I’m wrong. 
All of that being said, could filling aluminum or duralumin or both be how Marsh is able to compound atium? Compounding via hemalurgy normally doesn’t work due to identity contamination, but if Marsh had no identity at any given point, could he get around this quirk of the magic system? Is that how he’s doing it? I’m sure other people have theorized on this at this point, so could you point me in the right direction, please? I know I ask a lot of questions and make probably too many posts, but I think about this stuff a lot. I’m sure you all think about it more than I have, though. 

I have no idea

I know someone who has an idea, though

@Treamayne

[Denissimo He/him]

4 hours ago, TacoBellChoutaMeal said:

Hey there. At the end of TLM, Marsh is able to walk around the middle of Elendel without attracting any attention. I had assumed that he was able to do this by either filling aluminum, duralumin, or both at the same time. I’m not certain if this was the case, as I remember seeing somewhere on the forums that Marsh only has 22 spikes we know about.  Because of the limited number, I’m not certain that F-aluminum would be super useful to steal, so please correct me if I’m wrong. 
All of that being said, could filling aluminum or duralumin or both be how Marsh is able to compound atium? Compounding via hemalurgy normally doesn’t work due to identity contamination, but if Marsh had no identity at any given point, could he get around this quirk of the magic system? Is that how he’s doing it? I’m sure other people have theorized on this at this point, so could you point me in the right direction, please? I know I ask a lot of questions and make probably too many posts, but I think about this stuff a lot. I’m sure you all think about it more than I have, though. 

I think Marsh CLAIMS that he just uses emotional allomancy, but Wax thinks it's somehting else.
You may very well be right. It hasn't been revealed as of Era 2 and 1, but probably going to have some light shed on it by Era 3.
So, unfortunatly, you may have to wait 'til 2028.

[Treamayne]

6 hours ago, TacoBellChoutaMeal said:

Hey there. At the end of TLM, Marsh is able to walk around the middle of Elendel without attracting any attention. I had assumed that he was able to do this by either filling aluminum, duralumin, or both at the same time. I’m not certain if this was the case, 

1 hour ago, Denisimo said:

I think Marsh CLAIMS that he just uses emotional allomancy, but Wax thinks it's somehting else.
You may very well be right. It hasn't been revealed as of Era 2 and 1, but probably going to have some light shed on it by Era 3.
So, unfortunatly, you may have to wait 'til 2028.

Yes, Marsh claims to use Zinc and Brass to encourage people to ignore him - but Wax, Marasi and many fans suspect something else is happening.

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I remember seeing somewhere on the forums that Marsh only has 22 spikes we know about.  Because of the limited number, I’m not certain that F-aluminum would be super useful to steal, so please correct me if I’m wrong. 
All of that being said, could filling aluminum or duralumin or both be how Marsh is able to compound atium? Compounding via hemalurgy normally doesn’t work due to identity contamination, but if Marsh had no identity at any given point, could he get around this quirk of the magic system? Is that how he’s doing it? I’m sure other people have theorized on this at this point, so could you point me in the right direction, please? I know I ask a lot of questions and make probably too many posts, but I think about this stuff a lot. I’m sure you all think about it more than I have, though. 

Marsh is able to Compound with Hemalurgy because he is from Era 1 - when Ruin was pushing Hemalurgy to do more than it should in order to make pawns. It was explained in The Lost Metal Ars Arcanum - but Harmony reverted Hemalurgy to it's unaltered form when he also "fixed" Allomantic Snapping during the Catacendre. 

Spoiler

TLM-AA:

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I have, after lengthy questing, obtained an interview with Marsh, the one known as Ironeyes on Scadrial. (As a side note, it is curious how news of his nature is spreading to other worlds. Is this natural rumormongering, or something more supernatural?)

I can confirm, as best as it can be attested, that he is fully capable of Compounding to expand his life. He speaks of things of the past, like Hemalurgic decay and the toll that holding so many spikes takes upon the body. Inquisitors during his day slept for many hours; the Words of Founding say this was due to the need for storing health, but Marsh indicates there may be more subtlety to it than first understood. I’d postulate that it was in part a side effect of the incredible burden placed upon their souls by the nature of their horrific transformations.

Modern souls, however, seem to simply reject spikes of this magnitude. Further research is required, but I believe that this has something to do with the nature of Ruin’s subservience to Preservation in the current dual vessel known as Harmony. The level of corruption of a soul that was possible in ancient days is no longer viable; if too many spikes are added, souls stop gaining powers. Marsh doesn’t think this is a conscious decision on Harmony’s part. Indeed, I think this is beyond the conscious abilities of even a Shard.

Instead, I believe this is the nature of souls (read: the Invested portion of a person’s nature) and their balance with the cosmere. In the ancient days, Ruin was pushing hard on the fabric of Scadrial, leaking into spiritwebs through any method possible. Causing souls to decay faster, to accept more spikes than they should have been able to, and leaving the resulting person burdened beyond what was reasonable.

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zas678

Why on earth does Marsh have a Feruchemical atium spike? You've said that Ironeyes is in fact Marsh. Did Ruin spike someone for him? Or did Sazed grant him the power?

Brandon Sanderson

Dead Inquisitors Vin killed. Some were granted the spike for reasons I haven't spoken of yet.

/r/Fantasy_Bookclub Alloy of Law Q&A (Jan. 17, 2012)

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Questioner

Did Harmony give Ironeyes full Mistborn powers, or anything other than what he has with his spikes...

Brandon Sanderson

Just what he has with the spikes, I believe. No-- okay let's say this: Harmony did not do anything... That doesn't mean that Marsh hasn't done things himself.

Orem signing (Dec. 21, 2017)

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Fyodor

In Alloy of Law are people still Snapping?

Brandon Sanderson

Sazed chose to alter the way Snapping works. It bothered him. It does happen, but differently.

Tor Twitter Chat (Nov. 14, 2011)

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KChan

How does Snapping work after Sazed changed it? If you don't want to reveal it all right now, are there any hints you can give us?

Brandon Sanderson

He couldn't get rid of this entirely. I don't want to spoil things, but Snapping was built into Allomancy primarily because of larger-scale magical issues. This is getting deep into the issue, but it has to do with a person's spiritual makeup and a 'wounded' spirit being easier to fill with something else, kind of like a cut would let something into the bloodstream. Sazed made this threshold on Scadrial much easier to obtain.

17th Shard Forum Q&A (Sept. 25, 2012)

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Kirrin

Marsh? The book doesn't mention him after he fights with Elend.

Brandon Sanderson

Marsh is alive. I changed this from when I talked to [Peter]. I realized some things about his use of Allomancy that would allow him to survive. Actually, he is immortal. He can pull off the same Allomancy/Feruchemy trick that the Lord Ruler did. (And he knows it too, since he was there when Sazed explained how it was done in Book One.) He's actually the only living person who actually knows this trick for certain. (Though there's a chance that Spook, Ham and Breeze heard about it from Vin and the others.) So yes, if there were another series, Marsh would make an appearance.

Douglas

I thought that trick required atium and involved burning the atium. With all the atium gone and Sazed not making any more, it would therefore not be possible even for a full mistborn/feruchemist. Am I wrong, is Sazed providing atium specifically for Marsh to allow a friend and valuable servant to survive, or what?

Brandon Sanderson

Marsh has the bag of atium that KanPaar sent to be sold, as well as several nuggets in his stomach. So, I guess 'immortal' is the wrong phrase. He's got the only remaining atium in the world and can keep himself around for a long, long while—but he WILL eventually run out. Unless Sazed does something.

Footnote: Brandon had earlier told Peter that in his mind, Marsh was dead having been "burned out by the sun"
Hero of Ages Q&A - Time Waster's Guide (Oct. 15, 2008)

 

Marsh used the Spikes from the Inquisitors that Vin killed to give himself the powers he wanted but lacked; so his spikes should all be things seen and understaood in Era 1. 

Hope that helps

[Denissimo He/him]

Yes, thank you.

4 minutes ago, Treamayne said:

Yes, Marsh claims to use Zinc and Brass to encourage people to ignore him - but Wax, Marasi and many fans suspect something else is happening.

Marsh is able to Compound with Hemalurgy because he is from Era 1 - when Ruin was pushing Hemalurgy to do more than it should in order to make pawns. It was explained in The Lost Metal Ars Arcanum - but Harmony reverted Hemalurgy to it's unaltered form when he also "fixed" Allomantic Snapping during the Catacendre. 

  Reveal hidden contents

TLM-AA:

 

Marsh used the Spikes from the Inquisitors that Vin killed to give himself the powers he wanted but lacked; so his spikes should all be things seen and understaood in Era 1. 

Hope that helps