Smye Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 Bear with me: I'm thinking there's a connection between 'shadows of self' and the 'approximations of identity' that seem to be possible through aluminum feruchemy. After all, if aluminum can store identity, wouldn't that potentially leave one only a shadow of themselves or - perhaps more curiously - able to become a shadow of another (such as by storing all of their ID, 'downloading' the sDNA of another, etc) and then use his/her metalminds? I'm surprised not to have heard more discussion of this connection on the boards - especially with what seems to be the reappearance of TLR's metalminds in Bands of Mourning. Any thoughts? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plaeggs he/him Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 Interesting theory. Before I comment more, how would one "download" the ID of another? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IAmTheBeard Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 We're not really sure at all how feruchemical aluminum works because it literally hasn't been in the books at all. We do know from a hint from Brandon in the MAG that one could access someone else's metalminds. The current conjecture is that you could store identity until you have virtually no identity, then store an attribute in a "generic" metalmind. Then, depending on what you believe, either anyone could tap from that metalmind or another feruchemist who had stored all their identity could tap from it. The next question, at least to me, is whether the metalmind that you filled up with your identity is, itself, "generic." If it is, couldn't someone else, at least another feruchemist, tap it? That would be downloading the identity of another. This is, obviously, wholly unconfirmed and it could be that Brandon has something else in mind entirely. But it might fit. I did immediately think of Feruchemical aluminum tricks when I heard about TLR's metalminds potentiallly showing up. I see two interesting possibilities. First, maybe he intentionally left a "generic" coppermind full of information. That fits with his actions in making the storehouses, that he did want to communicate whatever he knew about Ruin, etc., to whoever followed him. Second, what if he intentionally left a "generic" aluminummind full of his identity. Then, a Trueself (aluminum ferring) can take on enough of the identity of TLR to... potentially do some amazing things. Honestly, if there is any truth to the rumors of how much power the Bands of Mourning have, this possibility seems really likely to me. If the rumors are false, then this doesn't really make much sense, of course. But, then, the story would be going in a whole different direction and I'm fine with that. Think about what having TLR's identity would mean! We don't really know what relates to your identity that can be stored in an aluminummind. However, we do know that a lot relates to your identity in the Cosmere. Kaladin's brands and the appearance of a Returned come to mind. However, perhaps more importantly, it is hinted by this whole theory that the part of your sDNA that determines what kind of magic user you are can be stored. If you'd need to store connection in duralumin to use Selish systems, then maybe you'd have to store identity to use Scadrian systems, since they're genetic. So imagine tapping TLR's allomancy, feruchemy, and possibly hemalurgy... It also seems in line with TLR's character to have stored a great deal of his original identity after stepping out of the well, before he spiked himself. That way, if he ever felt that he was too corrupted by Ruin, he could "reboot" himself and start over. Maybe he even left the identity in a "generic" metalmind so that if he fell to Ruin, someone else would have the power to keep Ruin in check until the next Ascension. Personally, I am looking forward to BoM mostly because I love the character of TLR and would love to hear more about him, even if it's just myth. He really was a fascinating villain, and one whose story arc we really only got to see after he died. But I could totally see something like this happening in the next-to-last book of a sub-series. Brandon has been known to give his characters incredible power, at least for a short time. Maybe the Trueself that pops up could become a Mistborn Keeper for the third book ala Elend the Lerasium Mistborn. It's not out of the question. I'm not saying this is going to happen, but I see some tantalizing possibilities. Oh, and I wonder if Steris is an aluminum ferring by any chance... 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smye Posted June 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 Feeling pretty good about this one: Thank you so much for responding to one of my pet theories. I have a second thought I've been pondering lately I'd love to get your thoughts on - as well as one that I'll be posting once I get it worded properly about the sparkflickers in particular. I'm thinking there's a connection between 'shadows of self' and the 'approximations of identity' that seem to be possible through aluminum feruchemy. After all, if aluminum can store identity, wouldn't that potentially leave one only a shadow of themselves or - perhaps more curiously - able to become a shadow of another (such as by storing all of their ID, 'downloading' the sDNA of another, etc) and then use his/her metalminds? TLR's metalminds? [–]mistborn[S] 5 points 3 days ago Good theory. And IAmTheBeard - I love your thought re: Steris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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