Niteshado he/him Posted April 4, 2018 Posted April 4, 2018 So what all do we have on aluminum? Reading thru oathbringer and this pops up: "There are legends of metal that can block a Shardblade. A metal that falls from the sky. Silver, but somehow lighter. I should like to see that, but for now we can use these" are there any WoB involving this?
0 RShara she/her Posted April 4, 2018 Posted April 4, 2018 Quote Questioner [PENDING REVIEW] The meteorite metal that they talk about that blocks Shards, is that aluminum? Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW] Uh, so-- yes. Footnote: Referencing OB Ch 100, "There are legends of metal that can block a Shardblade. A metal that falls from the sky. Silver, but somehow lighter." It is a point of contention, however, whether or not aluminum can actually block a Shardblade.source
0 Gancho Libre he/him Posted April 4, 2018 Posted April 4, 2018 to respond to the footnote, aluminum can block a Shardblade well, we've seen aluminum block Nightblood, which is, in my opinion, more powerful than a Shardblade. So I think it can.
0 RShara she/her Posted April 4, 2018 Posted April 4, 2018 Yeah that was resolved in another WoB. The general consensus was yes, but the Shardblade would still cut like a normal sword. Quote Yata Hi, the community has a [question], we have two WoBs: Shardblades can cut aluminum and Shardblades can't cut it. Which one is true? Brandon Sanderson (Part 1/Part 2/Part 3) Hm. Yes, I wondered last night if I'd ever answered this before. Truth is, the answer is contentious at Team Sanderson. I've been pushing for one answer, but Peter (whom I trust) is pushing back. We will see what ends up in the books as canon. Problem with magic like I do is sometimes you have to wait for the scientific consensus... Err on "no" for now. Peter Ahlstrom (Part 1/Part 2/Part 3) Oh, I think aluminum would stop Shardblades from magical cutting. But if it's too thin like foil, a sword... ...would cut it anyway. What I'm arguing is that something else that Shardblades don't cut doesn't need... ...to necessarily be made of aluminum, for various reasons. Yata For example Invested objects (metalmind,spike,etc) or polestones (from some SA's Quote) ? Peter Ahlstrom RAFO Footnote: The two conflicting WoBs can be found here and here. Also the "something else" that Peter was referring to is likely the Shardblade guards, which have since been confirmed to not be aluminum.source
0 Weltall Posted April 4, 2018 Posted April 4, 2018 (edited) Yeah, it seems like aluminum is immune to Shardblades having the power to magically cut through nonliving material but would still be affected by the whole 'sharp bit of heavy metal swung with some force' aspect, so a tinfoil hat will not protect you from a Shardblade but a sufficient mass of it (say, a sturdy shield) would. Other things we know with regards to aluminum and Roshar specifically: It supposedly doesn't occur naturally on the planet and must be found per the legend Taravangian refers to or it must be Soulcast. Brandon said that the 'Soulcasted only' thing from WoR isn't 100% truth but it's possible he was thinking of Taravangian's legend as the key exception. Soulcasting indeed seems to be the most common source of it on Roshar. Taravangian has either not made the connection between this Soulcast metal and the 'legendary' one or he's deliberately hiding the fact from Dalinar. We also know that aluminum cannot be affected by direct Surgebinding (Brandon was specifically asked there about Gravitation and Adhesion but it's safe to assume it would also apply to other things like Division and we know separately that it's immune to Transformation) and from Oathbringer we see that it can be used to prevent Spanreed communication and prevents the 'Screamers' from detecting various forms of Investiture. Edited April 4, 2018 by Weltall
0 Apollyon he/him Posted April 4, 2018 Posted April 4, 2018 Just to tack another question on here... Is aluminum actually invested? If not, why is it so resistant to investiture?
0 Calderis he/him Posted April 4, 2018 Posted April 4, 2018 8 minutes ago, Apollyon said: Just to tack another question on here... Is aluminum actually invested? If not, why is it so resistant to investiture? It occurs naturally, the same as in our world, so I would have to assume it's not any more invested than anything else mundane. As to why it blocks/resists investiture, we have no cue. Though I'm sure it's part of why R&P chose metal as Scadrial's focus.
0 Weltall Posted April 5, 2018 Posted April 5, 2018 39 minutes ago, Apollyon said: Is aluminum actually invested? If not, why is it so resistant to investiture? As mentioned, it's not Invested and we don't know why it has the property it does in-universe yet. Out of universe, Brandon has mentioned that he wanted something in the Cosmere to have its properties and aluminum happened to be it. That it allowed him to make tinfoil hats a functional item was a happy accident. There's probably also the factor that aluminum was historically hard to come by and consequently valuable, meaning that it's something whose use in the Cosmere he can reasonably limit for the time being. Relatedly, he's mentioned that there will be dramatic effects on the Scadrian economy from the ability to acquire aluminum cheaply, even moreso than the impact on Earth when the same thing happened.
0 Niteshado he/him Posted April 5, 2018 Author Posted April 5, 2018 13 hours ago, Gancho Libre said: to respond to the footnote, aluminum can block a Shardblade well, we've seen aluminum block Nightblood, which is, in my opinion, more powerful than a Shardblade. So I think it can. When was this?
0 Yata he/him Posted April 5, 2018 Posted April 5, 2018 14 minutes ago, Niteshado said: When was this? it's what the NB's shelter is made of. Every time NB is "sealed" by his cover...It's the Aluminium at work, the simple fact NB doesn't disintegrate the cover is the proof of the aluminium ability to stop NB's power
0 Niteshado he/him Posted April 5, 2018 Author Posted April 5, 2018 1 hour ago, Yata said: it's what the NB's shelter is made of oh, duh i knew that, im an idiot -.-
0 Rage_Fortress he/him Posted April 5, 2018 Posted April 5, 2018 12 hours ago, Weltall said: Relatedly, he's mentioned that there will be dramatic effects on the Scadrian economy from the ability to acquire aluminum cheaply, even moreso than the impact on Earth when the same thing happened. I am picturing Wakanda from the new Black Panther movie.
0 Yata he/him Posted April 5, 2018 Posted April 5, 2018 34 minutes ago, Niteshado said: oh, duh i knew that, im an idiot -.- There is also a specific instance when a Fused stops NB with the shelther itself (I avoided to cite that as I didn't see the OB tag to the question)
Question
Niteshado he/him
So what all do we have on aluminum?
Reading thru oathbringer and this pops up:
"There are legends of metal that can block a Shardblade. A metal that falls from the sky. Silver, but somehow lighter. I should like to see that, but for now we can use these"
are there any WoB involving this?
12 answers to this question
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