Mistborn in Future Eras

[AnthonyC4]

In my various friend groups, I find myself the only one thinking that there will be more Mistborn in future eras. People keep saying that Mistborn would be too powerful for other magic systems and would upset the balance. So I'd like to take this time to pull up some ideas on how exactly new Mistborn might be made in the future.

For the sake of discussion, Lerasium is a boring answer, even if we've already had multiple Mistborns born this way.

1) Hemalurgy 

Sure, Sazed made Scadrian souls weaker to Hemalurgy, but who said anything about a Scadrian Mistborn? It would be cool to see a native of another planet become a Mistborn through the piecemeal collection of Misting spikes.

2) Connection shenanigans

So my little pet theory is that Godmetals forge a connection between you and the Shard the godmetal is of. So if you ingest Lerasium, you become a Mistborn because a connection forms between you and Preservation. You'd become a Feruchemist if you burned Harmonium, and you might potentially be able to get other magic systems this way, like burning the Dor's godmetal to become an Elantrian (provided you had the correct connection to the land). But that doesn't mean ingesting godmetals is the only way to form that connection. A bondsmith could possibly turn someone into a Mistborn if they figured out how to connect someone to Preservation in the same way lerasium does.

3) Discord

If Discord wants to stir things up on Scadrial, the easiest way to do that is to start poofing people into Mistborns like he did with Spook.

4) Bands of Mourning mass production

If it could be made once before, it could happen repeatedly. It also fits right on in with Kelsier's objectives.

Of these options, I feel the Hemalurgy and Connection shenanigans are most interesting, and Bands of Mourning the most likely option.

[Nitpicking]

16 hemalurgic spikes would probably destroy a soul. Even old Inquisitors seem to have had far fewer.

 

(Now, medallions ....)

[Through the Living Hopper He/Him]

1 hour ago, AnthonyC4 said:

So my little pet theory is that Godmetals forge a connection between you and the Shard the godmetal is of. So if you ingest Lerasium, you become a Mistborn because a connection forms between you and Preservation.

Yes. That is how Lerasium works

[Schizoposting]

I agree—a sufficiently technologically advanced Scadrian civilization will invariably figure out how to safely split Harmonium (which they have plenty of) to get Lerasium. So, by era 4, we might see the Malwish mass produce Mistborn. Although, with medallions, they might end up being superfluous, anyways.

Edited May 17 by Schizoposting

[AnthonyC4]

2 hours ago, Nitpicking said:

16 hemalurgic spikes would probably destroy a soul. Even old Inquisitors seem to have had far fewer.

 

(Now, medallions ....)

I mean Marsh is almost basically a Fullborn as is. Surely you could get away with 16 for a stronger soul. Maybe a Returned.

1 hour ago, Through the Living Hopper said:

Yes. That is how Lerasium works

Oh is it? I didn't know if that was confirmed or not. Neat.

35 minutes ago, Schizoposting said:

I agree—a sufficiently technologically advanced Scadrian civilization will invariably figure out how to safely split Harmonium (which they have plenty of) to get Lerasium. So, by era 4, we might see the Malwish mass produce Mistborn. Although, with medallions, they might end up being superfluous, anyways.

I think Mistborn will still have a use, it removes a reliance on supplies of medallions, which might be hard to source, or maintain sufficient stores of, especially in a protracted war with Roshar.

[Trusk'our he/him]

2 hours ago, Nitpicking said:

16 hemalurgic spikes would probably destroy a soul. Even old Inquisitors seem to have had far fewer.

TLR equipped his Inquisitors with fewer, but Marsh has a minimum of 22 by AoL, assuming he didn't remove any (11 in TFE, +10 in HoA, +1 after the Catecendre for Feruchemical Atium).

Spoiler

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/192-rfantasy_bookclub-alloy-of-law-qa/#e4142

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.

Though yes, this many will effectively shred your Spiritweb, which is not inconsequential. 

[Schizoposting]

51 minutes ago, AnthonyC4 said:

I think Mistborn will still have a use, it removes a reliance on supplies of medallions, which might be hard to source, or maintain sufficient stores of, especially in a protracted war with Roshar.

The main theme of Mistborn is technological progress, and the transition from mythology to modernity. The disappearance of the Mistborn, and the development of Allomantic technology to replace them is an integral part of this. So, even if they return, it's highly unlikely that they will play the same outsized role, especially with things like aluminum being an effective counter. Maybe they will still have a use, all things considered, but it's likely to be a rather minor one.

[AnthonyC4]

50 minutes ago, Schizoposting said:

The main theme of Mistborn is technological progress, and the transition from mythology to modernity. The disappearance of the Mistborn, and the development of Allomantic technology to replace them is an integral part of this. So, even if they return, it's highly unlikely that they will play the same outsized role, especially with things like aluminum being an effective counter. Maybe they will still have a use, all things considered, but it's likely to be a rather minor one.

I don't feel this runs counter to anything. The return of Mistborn doesn't erase that technological progress. In fact, it appears that Awakened metalminds are how they go about creating computers and likely a form of general artificial intelligence. That will still remain an entirely viable source of advancement. This also isn't accounting for the use case of using both Mistborn and medallions as a sort of double amplifier, kinda like another duralumin boost. I don't expect it to be something like every soldier being a Mistborn, but I can see them being a specialized class of generalists.

[Schizoposting]

1 hour ago, AnthonyC4 said:

I don't feel this runs counter to anything. The return of Mistborn doesn't erase that technological progress. In fact, it appears that Awakened metalminds are how they go about creating computers and likely a form of general artificial intelligence. That will still remain an entirely viable source of advancement. This also isn't accounting for the use case of using both Mistborn and medallions as a sort of double amplifier, kinda like another duralumin boost. I don't expect it to be something like every soldier being a Mistborn, but I can see them being a specialized class of generalists.

Mistborn represent the mythological ideal of the hero. The point is, even if they're resurrected, they'll be just another soldier/assassin, a powerful one, to be sure, but nothing particularly extraordinary. So, it won't mean a glorious return to a legendary past, but rather a banal continuation of modernity.

[AnthonyC4]

28 minutes ago, Schizoposting said:

Mistborn represent the mythological ideal of the hero. The point is, even if they're resurrected, they'll be just another soldier/assassin, a powerful one, to be sure, but nothing particularly extraordinary. So, it won't mean a glorious return to a legendary past, but rather a banal continuation of modernity.

Well yeah. Everybody having access to allomantic and feruchemic powers would lessen the importance of Mistborn. But they certainly wouldn't be banal, just an exception. Not warrior of legend, but a more down to earth Commander/Captain/Person of Moderate Influence.

[Frustration]

16 hours ago, AnthonyC4 said:

 People keep saying that Mistborn would be too powerful for other magic systems and would upset the balance.

Wow.

I would like to speak with your friends, as that's kind of a wild take to me.

 

Brandon has already confirmed that there will be more mistborn, and that Era 2 is as diluted as the metalic arts will become.

Spoiler

Brandon Sanderson

Hey, all! I thought I'd stop by and post an update to your new book, which I've been working on diligently these last few months.

If you've been following along on the Weekly Updates, you'll know that I've been making slow and steady progress. Well, last week I passed the 50% mark, and hit the "midpoint" of the first book. It's been a blast to be back on Scadrial, working on the modern era of Mistborn--something I began outlining in 2005! (Wax and Wayne was not part of the plan back then. I'm glad I did it though, as it would have been too long a wait otherwise. Twenty years!)

The story is following a new recruit into the Ghostbloods, and...well, I don't want to say too much. We've got three years until the book comes out. As a reminder, my plan is to write all three before the first one is out. There are some things I can tell you, though, so I'll put those in the spoiler tag below.

I had originally talked about this being about a nicroburst who helped with an apparent Mistborn serial killer. I've moved away from this as the central plot for a couple of reasons. First, I feel the story with Bleeder covered this serial killer angle in era two, and I don't want to do something similar. Second, era two was able to establish some of the things I wanted this story to introduce, and I feel I can move ahead a little. So, while the lead is one of the same characters I've been planning a while, she's going to be involved in something else, originally planned for the second book. Note that the lead is not the nicroburst character, whom I'll make use of a little later. But yes, the space race is still very much the central plot of the trilogy as a whole. If you want more clues as to where I'm going with this, Isles of the Emberdark might have them for you...

I am going to take a break to do some revisions on the book and work on something else you might find exciting: the comprehensive document explaining Malwish medallions, airships, and the very complicated details of how that all works. (The things that are too granular to go in the books.) I would like to have this done pretty soon, as I promised to release these mechanics once Lost Metal was out--but I haven't been able to find my original notes document about this, and have to reproduce it from scratch. (I've been putting off doing this, as I'm sure the notes file is hiding on my hard drive somewhere. Usually, I don't have trouble finding these things, but this one has eluded me. So I'm just going to remake it, let editorial/arcanists look it over, and get all the fundamental cosmere science explanations in place before this book is ready for beta reads.)

I'm traveling extensively next month (for my anniversary, then a trip to Spain, then probably a drop by to tour the Avengers set in London, since I've got some friends working on the film.) So expect the percentage bar to stay static for a little while, but don't be concerned. I'll be using that time to work on the notes document, and probably to work a little on the Mistborn screenplay. (Don't get too excited; it's not anywhere close to being made. I haven't even resold the rights yet. I merely want to have it ready in case something does happen.)

Ghostbloods Updates (June 24, 2025)

Spoiler

Yoonseo Chang

Looking at Allomancy, you've mentioned that over time the power dilutes and each ability becomes less powerful. (for example a Tineye in Era 2 will generally be less powerful than one in Era 1) Does the same effect happen in Feruchemy as well? How would Feruchemy become less pure or diluted (other than Ferrings appearing)?

Brandon Sanderson

I have not gone as far with Feruchemy in that regard. I would say that if you're going to get a weakening of Feruchemy, which you're asking about, is the amount of stored attribute you get for lost attribute. There is decay there, you don't get a 1:1. Feruchemy generally I would say is not much weaker than it was before, a little bit but not much. This was done partially for narrative reasons. I wanted Allomancy... I wanted to back off a little on Allomancy and tell stories with it a little bit weaker. Again, mostly narrative reasons at this point. At this point on Scadrial, it's weakened about as much as it's going to because by this point people are having children that are more powerful because of the certain mixing. I'm not saying it's going up, I'm saying they have hit an equilibrium on Scadrial for the most part, at least in the Basin.

YouTube Spoiler Stream 2 (June 3, 2021)

 

17 hours ago, AnthonyC4 said:

Sure, Sazed made Scadrian souls weaker to Hemalurgy, but who said anything about a Scadrian Mistborn? It would be cool to see a native of another planet become a Mistborn through the piecemeal collection of Misting spikes.

It's not just Scadrian souls, he did something with Hemalurgy itself, though Marsh kind of got grandfathered into the new system

[Isilel]

19 hours ago, AnthonyC4 said:

 

1) Hemalurgy 

Sure, Sazed made Scadrian souls weaker to Hemalurgy, but who said anything about a Scadrian Mistborn? It would be cool to see a native of another planet become a Mistborn through the piecemeal collection of Misting spikes.

 

Hemalurgy is Ruin's art everywhere, not just on Scadrial. And Scadrians have most Ruin in their make-up of all cosmere humans, so they probably could get the most out of hemalurgy to begin with. Even they could only take that many spikes back in the day due to Ruin's active influence due to him constantly pushing on his prison and then breaking out, though. So, trying it on  another planet isn't going to make it more effective.

 

19 hours ago, AnthonyC4 said:

You'd become a Feruchemist if you burned Harmonium, 

 

We don't actually know this. Since harmonium explodes when coming in contact with water, it is likely that nobody has successfully burned it yet. 

[AnthonyC4]

54 minutes ago, Isilel said:

 

We don't actually know this. Since harmonium explodes when coming in contact with water, it is likely that nobody has successfully burned it yet. 

Well yeah, but that's mostly just the consequence of my pet theory that Godmetals connect you to the corresponding Shard. Since Feruchemy is the mixture of Ruin and Preservation, then it stands to reason that burning harmonium makes you a Feruchemist. I'd be shocked if that turned out wrong.

[Qianweilian He/him]

23 hours ago, Frustration said:

Wow.

I would like to speak with your friends, as that's kind of a wild take to me.

I wonder if the OP's friends are talking about fullborn. @AnthonyC4, have you read Elantris? or the Stormlight Archive? Relative to other invested individuals, mistborn aren't exceptional.

On 5/16/2026 at 6:38 PM, AnthonyC4 said:

Sure, Sazed made Scadrian souls weaker to Hemalurgy, but who said anything about a Scadrian Mistborn? It would be cool to see a native of another planet become a Mistborn through the piecemeal collection of Misting spikes.

It's less Sazed made Scadrians less able to retain hemalurgic abilities than Ruin was constantly pushing on spiritwebs and the fabric of Scadrial. The current situation is the natural state of affairs.

On 5/16/2026 at 6:38 PM, AnthonyC4 said:

You'd become a Feruchemist if you burned Harmonium

We do not know this. You can make a Feruchemist with the Scadrian god metals, but the actual method is unknown.

Quote

Yoitsthew

Would a lerasium/atium alloy create a Feruchemist, rather than an atium misting?? What with the way that it’s an alloy of god metals, and the way that lerasium can be used to acquire other magics? As far as I know there is no lerasium left currently, so this one is also just for my curiosity!!

Brandon Sanderson

You can use the god metals from Scadrial to make a Feruchemist, but I have to RAFO the actual means.

General Reddit 2020 (Sept. 30, 2020)

 

On 5/16/2026 at 6:38 PM, AnthonyC4 said:

If Discord wants to stir things up on Scadrial, the easiest way to do that is to start poofing people into Mistborns like he did with Spook.

Personally, I think that there are much easier ways to cause chaos.

On 5/16/2026 at 6:38 PM, AnthonyC4 said:

4) Bands of Mourning mass production

If it could be made once before, it could happen repeatedly. It also fits right on in with Kelsier's objectives.

This is not happening. At least not without some kind of nerf to compounding. (I do not think) Brandon is not going to let the cat out of the bag with Fullborn, who are, as we now understand them, only really defeatable by Elantrians at maximum potential with prep time, Bondsmiths with surprise, and Heralds, who have the experience of millenia fighting superpowered foes.