Secret History Reactions [Secret History Spoilers]

[Normad20 he/him]

Did anyone make a note of the name Leras mentioned, as if she was a friend or lover or something? I was all excited about everything the story was revealing and breezed through without doing so, and now I'm regretting it. I even forgot what I'm pretty sure is Hoid's original name, but I managed to find that (and, yes, I have read the sample chapters for Liar of Partinel; I'm just assuming that Brandon wasn't married to the name in there).

'"Oh, Senna..." Preservation whispered. "I'm losing this place. Losing them all..."' 

Is this the part you're talking about?

[Scriptorian he/him]

OMG I'M FAN GIRLING SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH RIGHT NOW! OH BRANDON YOU MAGNIFICENT CREATURE. HOW DO YOU PRODUCE SUCH PERFECTION??????

 

Now onto ramblings:

That first part wasn't ramblings? 

 

 

 

• I can't believe Docks would curse Kelsier though. Was that Fuzz being mean?

In WoA we do see Dox cursing, somewhat ironically, from his PoV

 

“You know, Kell, he thought. I almost started to believe that they were right, that you were watching over us. That you were some sort of god.”

 

 

Cephandrius is not Hoid's original name, just an early pseudonym (it's the name he uses in Dragonsteel Prime).

HA! I knew I'd seen that name somewhere before!

[DSC01 he/him]

'"Oh, Senna..." Preservation whispered. "I'm losing this place. Losing them all..."' 

Is this the part you're talking about?

 

That's it exactly. I guess that could be something other than a name, like saying, "Oh, Lord," or something, but I'm hoping that it's another Shardholder (or Vessel, if you will).

[natc]

As for misty Shadesmar instead of glass beads, well I do believe Scadrial is presumed to be in the direction of the Expanse of Vapors on the Rosharian Shadesmar map, right?

Or was it a different one?

[TheOneKEA]

As for misty Shadesmar instead of glass beads, well I do believe Scadrial is presumed to be in the direction of the Expanse of Vapors on the Rosharian Shadesmar map, right?

Or was it a different one?

No, that's it; we have a WoB that the Expanse of the Vapors is Scadrial.

Someone should ask if the fortress in the novella would be able to be plotted on the Rosharan map.

[Comatose he/him]

Sorry to change the topic, but reading the continuity thread and Brandon's comments about Kelsier's voice got me thinking.  

 

I'm still curious about the voice that Elend heard telling him to kill him how to fight the koloss.  Presrving Elend fits with Preservation's intent, so it makes sense.  Reading this book made me wonder if Elend and Leras had some sort of connection, since they interact almost as much as Leras interacts with Vin.  

 

I was also thinking more about Leras's death and his final appearance to Elend.  Do you think he appeared to Elend as a sort of apology for Kelsier's force stabbing?  

[Kelsier's Boxing Glove]

In unrelated news,

 

"Kelsier saw it change, sending forward spines like the spindly legs of a spider. On their end, dangling like a puppet, was a humanoid figure."

"And that boiling mass of writhing serpents in the sky . . . that had been the result."

"Kelsier looked at that hand, which undulated with the pinprick pressing of the spiders inside."

 

...I didn't expect the ATI FHTAGN.

 

ATI FHTAGN wasn't something I expected to see when starting on this book.

 

Never thought BS would ATI FTAGN us in cosmere, no matter how slightly.

[Landis963 he/him]

Ah, Kelsier. I have missed you. That's basically my main reaction here. Also, I didn't think how much of a hassle it would be for him to take up Preservation's power. I assumed that if it was free-floating, the power would just snap on to anyone in the right place and time, like Shardplate.

[KidWayne he/him]

I'm looking forward to Kelsier punching every other Shard in the face too. Gotta punchemall.

OK, you got to join with a great username. I'm officially jealous.

[KidWayne he/him]

Did anyone else feel like Kelsier's exchange with Spook at the end seemed off? He came across as pushy and overtly agenda-focused. That wasn't his style in the 1st Mistborn novel. In TFE he carefully layered his plans and let his associates put his plans into action all the while thinking that doing so was their idea.

Also, why can Kelsier communicate with Spook through a spike? He held Preservation's power (not Ruin's) why would he gain Ruin's abilities?

Next, did anyone pick up any hints about the Southern Scadrians? A part of me thinks that the blue lights the IRE folks were using corresponded with the blue lights in the BoM temple. A part of me also wonders about their "arcane sphere device" that has the power to "briefly Connect you to Preservation."

Finally, I've seen several theories talking about Harmony giving Kelsier "excess" Ruin... Where in the world did that come from?

[Ryshadium she/her]

Post death Kelsier is a different beast than pre death Kelsier. His journey was lovely to watch, but I also imagine that may be at least part of the reason for any differences in communication.

I also felt that he and Spook reached a good place together on that field, and Kelsier gave him the accolades he so desperately needed...so maybe it altered their interactions as well.

[Maya she/her]

I was actually concerned about that one.

First i thought it will be sort of random behind-the-curtain kind of scenes with maor infordumps disguised as a story. And i was wrong. The story was surprisingly cohesive and balanced, going from known to unknown and back in good rhythm, keeping the pace. In fact the only part that left me somewhat confused was with the IRE for i couldn't quite place them out of hand in the general cosmere space/time.

Also, i was worried about Kelsier. Bringing a character back from the dead almost always ends up badly, especially when it was his very death that ump started a chain of events leading to the major convergency in the whole trilogy.

Well, I was wrong again (got to get used to that). It was obvious that Brandon thought this through and carefully avoided all the usual traps that comes with resurrection. He was back but not quite back, he was Kelsier yet not exactly the same as we last saw him prior to his death. Actually his image was lamost perfectly lined up to what i pictured the man Kelsier used to be for most of his life, before Mare and the Pits, before his Awakening and his grandest plan. Daring, resourceful, loving the game and ready to take any chance yet capable of being smart about it, overly confident and single-minded (even ruthless in his methods), eceptionally strong will. All came out logical considering his state of being, deprived of his Allomancy, of his physical body even, but at the same time it wasn't full regression since he had to witness the consequences his actions triggered and deal with the bigger picture, one he never knew existed. And to discover a much bigger game as well

 

Loved reading it all.

[Mestiv he/him]

Well, the story starts out with a punch, that's for sure

 

To be honest I think I enjoyed this book more than BoM! So much new informations about Cosmere, so many new leads and hints...

 

Fuzz slowly dying, yet fighting till the very end to preserve humanity... I've hardly ever felt so much emotions while reading a book.

 

And finally we know why Kelsier and Hoid don't like each other

[Blaze1616 he/him]

Holy Cosmere Information Batman! That novella is a treasure trove!

 

I liked it. I didn't love it, but then I'm not a giant fan of the first Mistborn trilogy anyways. It was nice to see some of the more annoying mysteries of the first trilogy finally get answered.

 

I officially will be looking for extremely white hair as a tell for Hoid now, in addition to the sharp face and nose bit.

 

I'm not sold on the Elantrians being bad guys. Nothing in the novella points to such. If nothing else, they felt more like scientists, wanting to record what it's like to Ascend, and gather all the additional knowledge that being a Shard grants you. I'm really hoping we get to see more of this elder council of Elantrians. Until next time, Alonoe, Elrao, and Riina.

 

Vax popped up again, thank you Ati. Though his short question "Vax?" almost makes it seem like Vax is a person, in context. Perhaps We've got another name for a Shardholder, and his/her planet named the planet after the being?

 

And speaking of that scene, dang it Kelsier don't just go punching people! I really wanted to know if Ati was still feeling Ruin's Intent, or if he was back to his original self. Who knows if we'll ever get this chance again!?

 

The revelation that all the original Shardholders conspired together to kill Adonalsium is truly frightening. All these beings that we originally presumed to be upstanding individuals, are murderers. The question remains if any of them are Snape-like, and partook in the killing because Adonalsium asked them to. But it really colors my impressions of Cultivation, Honor, Preservation, and Endowment, which is saddening. Really brings to question who is really, truly, trustable.

 

Who was it Hoid is talking about here: "You need some help, friend. I know a guy. Tall, bald, wears lots of earrings. Have a chat with him next--"

Is this him talking about Sazed as he is at that time, Sazed as he will be the Shard (meaning futuresight for Hoid!), or someone else entirely?

 

And finally, Spanky. Oh Spanky, you were great. May we meet again some day. Hopefully Hoid turning you into a boat wasn't particularly painful, considering it seems like he hijacked your "soul's" movement into the Beyond.

 

Edit: Oh! And though Scadrial's land was swampy in the Cognitive Realm, why wasn't it just water, like in Shadesmar? The novella shows that Scadrial's water is land, but Scadrial's land isn't just water....why did it have substance for Kelsier and others to stand on? Then again, Hoid had to use Spanky as a boat, so perhaps it's due to Kelsier's dead state, caught between physical and spiritual?

Edited January 29, 2016 by Blaze1616

[Zmann966 he/him]

I saw Fuzz clarifying "IRE" (Brilliant way of getting pronunciation across to the readers too, start with Eyeree, then have it clarified off-offhandedly in dialogue) and thought "No way... No..."

Went and grabbed my copy of Elantris and went "You brilliant mother f..."

Yeah, Ire is Elantrian for "age," as it later stated in the novella. 

I got giddy and excited sooo many times during that novella, as different pieces of the cosmere (and our speculation of such) clicked into place or made guest-appearances.

See, here I thought Scadrial was one of the more technologically advanced worlds, even 1,000 years after Elantris and Warbreaker, I've always gotten that vibe from the cosmere interactions.
(Including the Sixth of Dust spoiler ahead:

spaceships and space-faring race in Sixth of Dust.)

Yet here we see Khriss with what is clearly a gun, 300 years before Scadrial develops them. I know we didn't get a lot of info about the night-side tech/culture on Taldain, but... damnation!


I dunno, I just fan-girl squeed a lot during the whole thing. My wife had to ask if I was okay multiple times, XD

Edited January 29, 2016 by Zmann966

[The Invested Beard]

So my reaction.

 

Is that..no it can't...omg I can't...did they really...oh crap its...bu...wha...ARE WE REALLY GETTING THIS MUCH INFORMATION???!!! ZOOOOMMMGGGG!!!!

 

And that about sums it up. So, so good.

[Kaymyth she/her]

Egads.

 

Read this last night.  Brandon cracked open a giant monolith stuffed full of Answers.  I think this is going to take a while to percolate.

 

Oh, and while yeah, Vin's farewell to Kelsier was sweet, I got a lot more feels off of Sazed's earnest, "Here, I fixed your bodies for you!  You can come back now..." 

[Kinolee]

Does the Ire fortress remind anyone else of the fortress in the middle of the Purelake in one of Dalinar's visions?  A random fortress in the middle of a giant body of water?  They could be related, but then again the Ire all seem to be from Sel, not from Roshar.

 

Though Kelsier did explicitly say that the bricks to build the fortress all must have come from somewhere else. Maybe the Elantrians picked that fortress up from Roshar and plopped it down in the ocean on Scadrial because part of those bricks' "identities" involves them being in a giant body of water?  Might make the fortress more solid.

Edited January 29, 2016 by Kinolee

[Curious Anamaximder he/him]

Okay. I cried along with Preservation. I cried when Vin and Kelsier talked. I cried at Spook's heroics. Fine, I was crying a lot.

 

 

But so much info!

[+Slowswift]

What

 

what are Elantrians

 

doing on Scadrial

 

with a Rosharan fabrial

 

what 

[MomSpren]

I just finished the Secret History. And my partner in crime (aka HonorSpen) didn't know we had it already and hasn't read it, so I have to come here and glean all your observations myself.   (She usually keeps me up to date on all Cosmere theories, so I can spend my time researching other Very Important Things).  I haven't read any threads yet (including this one) yet. I want to know what Kelsier is going to spend the next 300 years doing!! And how did he come across the people on the south pole? Although I suppose he didn't hang around for 300 years... And was that Hoid? It had to be Hoid...right? I was just giddy watching all the little tidbits of what we know about the cosmere come together in one story.

 

Oh dang...she knows I'm here and is too distracted to finish her Spanish homework. Does Brandon have any idea how much his books distract young students from their homework? And can y'all maybe continue this conversation in Spanish??

 

ETA: Oh...and I also really want to know if the people with spaceships in 6th of Dusk are from Scadrial...

Edited January 30, 2016 by MomSpren

[MomSpren]

Assuming HonorSpren won't mind... Every few minutes I hear...

 

"Hoid!!! It's Hoid!!!"

"It's Nazh!! And Khriss!!"

"Did you get who the glowing people are?!?" <Bouncing up and down> 

 

This is too exciting

[The Invested Beard]

I feel like we're all kids at Christmas at this point.

[MomSpren]

And she's done with the book! handing the computer over...

[ricree]

Did anyone else feel at least a little sorry for Ati?

 

From the sources we have available, he seems almost as much a victim as anyone else was, and he did his best for as long as he could before the shard overwhelmed him.

 

Then, when he's finally freed, his last moment before passing on consists of getting punched in the face.