WorldCon Ghostbloods reading discussion (spoilers!)

[Isilel]

So, this was interesting. 

 

 

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/546/#e16903

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/546/#e16904

 

Spoilers:

 

 

 

Spoiler

I like that they have flying cars! And it makes perfect sense that they would - but it also implies that the Basin has a steady supply of harmonium, which is interesting, given the tensions between them and the Mawlish at the end of TLM.

Discordants... hm. A cult? Scadrian version of violent anarchists, or garden variety mass shooters?

Playful mist fills me with foreboding - is Sazed's mind going?

So what is Ayven's Metallic Art? There was a recent WoB that the main protagonist is no longer a Nicroburst.  My hopes that she would be a Connector Ferring are now dashed by her difficulties of getting into convention too.

Dlavil is out in the open, Mawlish are now an Empire and possibly a theocracy of yet another religion dedicated to Kelsier, since their leader is titled Sovereign's regent (on Scadrial?).

 

Edited August 19, 2025 by Isilel

[JustQuestin2004 he/him]

15 minutes ago, Isilel said:

So, this was interesting. 

 

 

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/546/#e16903

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/546/#e16904

 

Spoilers:

 

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

I like that they have flying cars! And it makes perfect sense that they would - but it also implies that the Basin has a steady supply of harmonium, which is interesting, given the tensions between them and the Mawlish at the end of TLM.

Discordants... hm. A cult? Scadrian version of violent anarchists, or garden variety mass shooters?

Playful mist fills me with foreboding - is Sazed's mind going?

So what is Ayven's Metallic Art? There was a recent WoB that the main protagonist is no longer a Nicroburst.  My hopes that she would be a Connector Ferring are now dashed by her difficulties of getting into convention too.

Dlavil is out in the open, Mawlish are now an Empire and possibly a theocracy of yet another religion dedicated to Kelsier, since their leader is titled Sovereign's regent (on Scadrial?).

 

The fact that...

Spoiler

Only a puff of Mist was there, technically in the daytime but in shadows, makes me wonder if this is actually a Splinter of Harmony/Discord?

Dlavil's appearance, along with the mention of a growing cult around him, make me wonder if he's already broken off from Kelsier and the Ghostblood already? 

The mention of the Sovereign still being worshipped along with a 'regent', so maybe Kelsier really does have more of a hand in their government than I thought. Could he be why all the Southern Scadrians united so quickly? But now the Malwish Consortium is now said to be an Empire? But doesn't Kel still hate Empires and Imperial stuff? Unless he's lost control over the Malwish and this 'regent' is doing their own thing?

As for the protagonist no longer being a Nicroburst, the Terris girl probably still is, she's the 'Brown Terris Geek Girl' mentioned by Brandon, I think it's just that she's no longer meant to be the main protagonist. And this Southern Scadrian guy is, but it was also said that the main Protagonist is meant to be someone joining the Ghostbloods, so this SoScad MC is being recruited? So Dlavil isn't off on his own just yet?

So many questions are raised, just a tiny, tiny glimpse of Era 3 and I already dearly want more.

It's going to be a long 3 years.

[Trusk'our he/him]

6 hours ago, Isilel said:

So, this was interesting. 

 

 

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/546/#e16903

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/546/#e16904

 

Spoilers:

 

 

 

  Hide contents

I like that they have flying cars! And it makes perfect sense that they would - but it also implies that the Basin has a steady supply of harmonium, which is interesting, given the tensions between them and the Mawlish at the end of TLM.

Discordants... hm. A cult? Scadrian version of violent anarchists, or garden variety mass shooters?

Playful mist fills me with foreboding - is Sazed's mind going?

So what is Ayven's Metallic Art? There was a recent WoB that the main protagonist is no longer a Nicroburst.  My hopes that she would be a Connector Ferring are now dashed by her difficulties of getting into convention too.

Dlavil is out in the open, Mawlish are now an Empire and possibly a theocracy of yet another religion dedicated to Kelsier, since their leader is titled Sovereign's regent (on Scadrial?).

 

Whoa. Just. . . awesome. I forgot that Sanderson will often give us tidbits of books long before they're released, and I was practically frothing at the mouth when I saw this was a thing.

Anyways, my thoughts:

Spoiler

Hover cars are the norm? Given how Harmonium was necessary to flight for Malwish airships, it makes me wonder how something so valuable and volatile (but also I had assumed to be somewhat rare-ish, like Atium in Era 1) became so, so common.

Or, maybe they're using pure Unsealed Metalminds, making cars function as Coinshots and running off steel flakes? That bypasses Harmonium limitations on supply, I think.

OR, maybe they're using Mist to power the Unsealed Metalmind vehicles? It would be about two Eras earlier than I'd expected, but I guess it's a possible explanation for powering magitech.

Even assuming the "Steelfield" is something embedded in the ground that's powering them and it's not an individual batteries or motors, the level of power needed to levitate that many cars. . . it's got to be way more than the Malwish had for all their airships. It just goes against my previous (completely unfounded) assumptions about Harmonium's supply.

 

A Mist cloud, only a foot in diameter. . . that almost sounds like a Spren to me. Maybe a little piece of Preservation or Ruin? Or, it's just Sazed saying hello to a descendant of Tindwyl (which I assume is Ayven's great-great something grandmother), after a fashion.

But, overall, just really interesting. I don't think I've ever heard of Mist actively being playful before, nor actively moving around a person with such conscious intent. I always envisioned the Mists swirling around Allomancers as being fairly aimless, more a physics quirk than an individual, living piece of Investiture like a Spren playing with a person (though all things considered I should have seen that, what with it being Sazed's power and all and having a real mind attached to it).

 

Also, just want to say, I know Sanderson said that there'd be some cyberpunk themes in this series, but I kinda imagined Northern Scadrial as being fairly Earth-like in its vibe. If flying cars are any indicator, it looks like I will be very- pleasantly- wrong.

 

[Cosmer]

Any thoughts on identity of the famous person she is hoping to see at SpacerCon? Would be pretty funny if it's Allomancer Jak, but the "distance travelled" comment makes me think it's an elderly person we know (Wax by this point?) or someone off world...

[Trusk'our he/him]

59 minutes ago, Cosmer said:

Any thoughts on identity of the famous person she is hoping to see at SpacerCon? Would be pretty funny if it's Allomancer Jak, but the "distance travelled" comment makes me think it's an elderly person we know (Wax by this point?) or someone off world...

It's supposed to be something like fifty years past Era 2, and most of the protagonists are gonna be buried or burned by that point.

I'd think it could be one of Wax's kids, someone familiar with the Dawnshot himself. Alternatively, it could be some other, slightly more modern lawkeeper- they're seen as something of superheroes by Era 3.

[Isilel]

1 hour ago, Trusk'our said:

it could be some other, slightly more modern lawkeeper

 

Why a lawkeeper, though? Isn't it a SF convention? I thought that it was a writer's signing that she wanted to get into. Apparently someone who doesn't live in Elendel too, and even if centenarian Wax is still alive, he lived in the city when last seen. Also, "the distances he has to travel", hm... With access to flying cars the Basin is not _that_ large. So, that's interesting. It could be that Max became a writer, of course and relocated to somewhere distant. Or maybe it is Hoid under an alias?

@Cosmer: But wasn't Jak around Wax's age? 

And speaking of cars, I like how they are on a completely different level and above the foot traffic.  Sadly, there was no evidence of anyone casually using Metallic Arts in public, nor of any bicycles...

I  note that apparently the type of mask that Dlavil wears had been unknown on "contemporary" Scadrial until he started popularizing it. Doesn't appear like it was a part of the Hunter culture, as seemed likely when we only knew Iyatil. Also, there is a cut-out for the mouth, but what about facial hair growth? Or is it like a Batman mask? Which still doesn't completely solve the problem. And all that dead skin gathering underneath - ugh.

Edited August 22, 2025 by Isilel

[Trusk'our he/him]

2 minutes ago, Isilel said:

Why a lawkeeper, though? Isn't it a SF convention? I thought that it was a writer's signing that she wanted to get into. Apparently someone who doesn't live in Elendel too, and even if centenarian Wax is still alive, he lived in the city when last seen. Also, "the distances he has to travel", hm... With access to flying cars the Basin is not _that_ large. So, that's interesting. It could be that Max became a writer, of course and relocated to somewhere distant. Or maybe it is Hoid under an alias?

Hmm, valid. 

I had been thinking it would be a lawkeeper since the comics/superheroes of Scadrian nerd culture are supposed to revolve around lawkeepers and cowboys. Fitting in one of Wax's kids to the story would be a reasonable way to bring a bit of his influence in from Era 2.

Spoiler

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/181-stormlight-three-update-4/#e3767

Orang3dragon612

In the 1900's world of Mistborn, what would a comic book super hero look like? I'm guessing at some point someone will come up with the medium, but in a world full of super powers (that seem "normal" to the people), what would a super hero look like? A full Mistborn? Someone who could fly without metals? Maybe someone who could only be killed by someone who didn't fear them?

Brandon Sanderson

Westerns took off as comics, instead of superheroes, on Scadrial as the dominant graphic story form. The idea of "Superhero" doesn't really exist to them, though you could find analogues in their storytelling--it's just not a distinct genre.

BeskarKomrk

This reminds me a lot of Watchmen, and how pirate comics were very popular in that world instead of superhero comics. Are you a fan of that graphic novel by chance?

Brandon Sanderson

I'm a big fan, and the Black Freighter is an unabashed influence here. It sent me into reading the backstory of comics, superheros, the strong man, and things like the comic code--which I found fascinating. As Mistborn Era Three has a protagonist who is a code monkey involved in Scadrial's nerd culture, I knew I'd need to have some foundation in this sort of thing in order to do it in an authentic way.

Instead of broadsheets or sketchbook pages, the Era Three art inserts will be pages of in-world comics.

 

[Isilel]

16 hours ago, Trusk'our said:

comics/superheroes of Scadrian nerd culture are supposed to revolve around lawkeepers and cowboys.

 

Sure, but the setting of the "Ghostbloods" is the equivalent of the eighties. The time of _actual_ lawmen  should be long over. Just like the heyday of westerns in film and TV iRL was decades after Wild West era had ended. 

Since lawmen comics (about Wax and Wayne?) are going to replace "Allomancer Jak" stories in the new trilogy, I assume that the signing could be by a popular writer of them.

But it also a _Spacer_con, so perhaps it is a science fiction author. If he is Max, I'd honestly prefer this to him mythologizing his own father and quasi-uncle. Would be a nice foreshadowing for Ayven being eventually recruited into  a secret worldhopper organisation, too.p

[Nitpicking]

Brandon's sense of humor alert: the eagerly-awaited guest will be Brandon Sanderson's in-world (pardon the expression) avatar.

Or not, but that would be fun.

[Cosmer]

23 hours ago, Isilel said:

 

@Cosmer: But wasn't Jak around Wax's age? 

Jak being still around would be another point for the Spook-is-alive theorists! 

[Isilel]

@Cosmer:

But Spook was a Mistborn. He could have theoretically burned cadmium to stretch his life. 

The same is true of Wax, although he is very weak. And I don't think that this is something that he would have gone for. 

But Jak was just a Tineye. I don't see how him having a very long life, or not,  has any bearing on Spook's fate. 

 

[Nitpicking]

Hell, Spook (or Jak) could have used hemalurgy to get the power to compound Atium, just like the Lord Ruler and Marsh. I don't think they did, but they surely could--especially Spook, who actually knew about hemalurgy.

[JustQuestin2004 he/him]

2 hours ago, Nitpicking said:

Hell, Spook (or Jak) could have used hemalurgy to get the power to compound Atium, just like the Lord Ruler and Marsh. I don't think they did, but they surely could--especially Spook, who actually knew about hemalurgy.

Long winded word vomit, spoiled for posterities sake

Spoiler

I don't think Compounding would do Spook any good if there wasn't any Atium around to Compound with, for centuries only Marsh had any and only a small bags worth of the stuff so sharing would have been a bad idea.

Still, he did rule Elendel for 100 years straight and simply vanished with no mention of his death. However, Marsh does talk about how only three members of the crew remain, being himself, Kelsier and Sazed. So, biggest possibilities are either Spook is just dead, or he's off-world permanently.

Actually, here's a real crackpot theory, what if Spook got replaced by a Kandra on Harmony's orders? Think about it, he lived for over a hundred years and simply vanished. He was an advocate about Hemalurgy and even considered implementing policies like spiking old or sick Metalborn to preserve their abilities, and yet never actually implemented them for whatever reason. He wrote a very detailed book on Hemalurgy and it ended up in Marsh's hands and given to Marasi, likely on Harmony's orders so that the Wax and co would be aware of Hemalurgy.

Harmony himself was very much against Hemalurgy, but mentioned he couldn't stop Spook from writing the Book. But what if he could have him killed and replaced so he wouldn't make Hemalurgy public or introduce policies based on it? What if it was by his most loyal and skilled Kandra at the time? One who would later on be very adamant that Harmony is a cruel manipulator who controls everyone and that all of Elendel are just his puppets? 

What if Paalm ate Spook on Harmony's orders?

...

...

Nah, too crackpot, even for me.

 

Something I'm wondering is what Basterix (The SouthScad protag) did in the past and how he knows Dlavil? Is he already a member of the Ghostbloods? Part of some proto-Ghostbloods recruitment group who aren't told anything world-shaking like Tyn from Stormlight? And what kind of work did he do I wonder? Assassination? Something pretty important if he's being visited by either the big cheese's right hand or the new big cheese of his own little group.

[Elite01]

Very interesting stuff 

my thoughts 

-why is the mists more playful? What has changed with Harmony? 
-how are the cars flying is it something like (emberdark spoiler)

Spoiler

A steel field? They mention that’s how scadrian ships work. Does Elendel have devices installed on every block that pushes vehicles up? That or each car has an ettmetal cube and a coinshot to start it.

-could the author be a Kandra? Or what about that slow swift in mistborn 3? That would be a deep cut.

-who are the discordant? Are they Kandra who follow bleeders philosophy? 

[Cosmer]

On 8/23/2025 at 3:41 PM, Isilel said:

@Cosmer:

But Spook was a Mistborn. He could have theoretically burned cadmium to stretch his life. 

The same is true of Wax, although he is very weak. And I don't think that this is something that he would have gone for. 

But Jak was just a Tineye. I don't see how him having a very long life, or not,  has any bearing on Spook's fate. 

 

The theory is more that Jak is actually Spook in disguise

[Clarkmon22 He/Him]

What if it's Hoid with an alias? it's SpacerCon, why not someone who has visited a butt-ton of the Cosmere?

[Nitpicking]

On 8/24/2025 at 12:40 PM, Elite01 said:

Very interesting stuff 

my thoughts 

-why is the mists more playful? What has changed with Harmony? 
-how are the cars flying is it something like (emberdark spoiler)

  Hide contents

A steel field? They mention that’s how scadrian ships work. Does Elendel have devices installed on every block that pushes vehicles up? That or each car has an ettmetal cube and a coinshot to start it.

-could the author be a Kandra? Or what about that slow swift in mistborn 3? That would be a deep cut.

-who are the discordant? Are they Kandra who follow bleeders philosophy? 

Brandon actually said "steelfield" at the reading. (I was there.)

[TacoBellChoutaMeal]

So Ayven is 1000% a lurcher, right? 

-Brandon briefly mentioned showcasing lurcher capabilities in the WaT Shardcast interview

-Ayven observes the cars above on the steel line and wonders if she "can get up there." A coin shot can drop any bit of metal anywhere and have an anchor, but a lurcher needs to have something to latch onto and can't jump from some place into the sky. They have to think about traversal more. They need an anchor to latch onto that will get them close to their destination, they can't just push and keep pushing. Also, if Ayven went straight up, she'd probably get hit by a car on the steelfield, and we don't even know how that works yet. But the fact that she thinks about "getting up there" leads me to believe that she thought it was possible, and that she feasibly could. 

-Both the security clerk and the gal working the ticket booth point out and make assumptions about Ayven's heritage during her first chapter. They also then say something to the effect of "well, you Terris people are all so docile" and Ayven makes a point to correct them. This leads me to believe that a part of Ayven's arc will be about overcoming some form of stereotypes--what you see isn't what you get. If Ayven was a Terris presenting person with Allomantic abilities, that would give her character an interesting level of depth. If this is the case, I bet that the person that Brandon made sure not to name was Vin, and not Tindwyl. Tindwyl had many children, and Vin had absolutely none. Vin was an Allomancer, and Tindwyl was not. Tindwyl's name doesn't exactly "lace legend, myth, and history with distinguished tenacity" like Vin's did. I'm willing to be that Ayven is just wishing Vin was related to her, because she idolizes Vin, and looks up to her as an Allomancer. Is that a reach? Yes. Do I care? Only if you say something mean to me about it. 

-Would Mistborn really be Mistborn if a character wasn't flying through the mists? You know Brandon loves his flying. Both Wax and Vin flew through the mists, and I think those moments where the protagonist interacts with the unique setting of Scadrial is what really gives Mistborn its identity as a series. 

If I'm right about this, I really doubt that Ayven will be a Twinborn. As cool as Twinborn are, I think it would be more interesting to write a character who outwardly appears to be one ethnicity while possessing the talents of the other, and not any of the ones people assume she has. I also think writing another Twinborn as a lead character after coming off of four books where two Twinborn are leads would be a little stale. This isn't to say that Ayven won't likely acquire more abilities through updated Scadrian magitech. But I think if she started with just the one power she would be a lot more interesting. 

That's my aluminum-lined-hat theory for you. Gotta suck being a Brass or Zinc misting in 3rd era Scadrial where everyone can afford a nice little aluminum tiara or laurel or whatever. 

On 8/22/2025 at 12:59 PM, Cosmer said:

Any thoughts on identity of the famous person she is hoping to see at SpacerCon? Would be pretty funny if it's Allomancer Jak, but the "distance travelled" comment makes me think it's an elderly person we know (Wax by this point?) or someone off world...

Brandon's self-insert. Or Dan's as another Wellen descendant.  Or Robert Jordan, who knows. 

Edited August 28, 2025 by TacoBellChoutaMeal

[+Oltux72 he/him]

On 8/22/2025 at 6:59 PM, Cosmer said:

Any thoughts on identity of the famous person she is hoping to see at SpacerCon? Would be pretty funny if it's Allomancer Jak, but the "distance travelled" comment makes me think it's an elderly person we know (Wax by this point?) or someone off world...

Elderly and writing:

1. Henderwym
2. Nicelle Sauvage

I'd say Henderwym.

[Cosmer]

11 hours ago, Oltux72 said:

Elderly and writing:

1. Henderwym
2. Nicelle Sauvage

I'd say Henderwym.

It’s a “he” so not Sauvage. 

[iceblade44 he/him]

Finally caved and listened to the reading. Very gun stutter, was not expecting flying cars. I wonder how much medallion tech will be available for our protagonists.

 

Something to note is that neither of these chapters are the prologue. I wonder what will be used to hook us into the book. Will it be Kelsier's perspective again like it was in Final Empire? I would love that

[Nitpicking]

Hey.

That whole chapter about removing pest beetles from an orchard ... it's almost as if it's about ... Cultivation or something.

[JustQuestin2004 he/him]

Just now, Nitpicking said:

Hey.

That whole chapter about removing pest beetles from an orchard ... it's almost as if it's about ... Cultivation or something.

Well, practically speaking Harmony and his inability to act would probably make him the safest Shard for her to hang around, for now anyway.

[+Oltux72 he/him]

On 9/19/2025 at 2:12 PM, Nitpicking said:

Hey.

That whole chapter about removing pest beetles from an orchard ... it's almost as if it's about ... Cultivation or something.

There is that air. But, to ask the obvious question, what would she gain from risking that obvious point of friction?