Scadrial Movement

[CarbonDiam he/him]

So, as I understand it, the mists were Preservation's power attempting to Snap people, until Ruin changed them so people started dying, thus creating the "Deepness". In Secret History, Kelsier is able to recognize the nature of the power when he holds it; why didn't the Lord Ruler re-alter the mists so they wouldn't kill, or try and put the mists somewhere where Ruin's meddling wouldn't affect people instead of trying to burn them away? I understand he was new to the power but it seems a little strange that his first thought would be "move it closer to the sun to burn it away".

[Karger he/him]

Preservation's power can't be used to destroy so getting rid of the mists would not have been possible using it.  In fact I don't think we have seen preservation's power do anything other then give or create.  Finally the LR was a pack man not a scholar or philosopher he was probably not used to thinking about the consequences of world changing actions.

[RShara she/her]

The Mists weren't ever trying to kill people. They were trying to Snap people, but the amount of trauma needed to get that to happen ended up killing people, mostly the very young/old/ill. The deaths were a standard bell distribution.

The Mists were basically ramping up and Snapping as many Allomancers as they could, in order to get ready to fight Ruin, if he were released by the holder of the Well. Once the Well is used, the Mists go back to a more neutral state.

Unless, of course, someone ends up releasing Ruin. Then the Mists kick into high gear and start Snapping anyone with a hint of potential, even those who normally didn't have enough to Snap (this last part is my theory).

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Andrew The Great [PENDING REVIEW] (paraphrased)

Why did the mist sickness only happen after the Lord Ruler's Death?

Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW] (paraphrased)

It didn't. It just happened on a much smaller scale. As you remember, the Lord Ruler basically =stagnation. Because it seemed the Lord Ruler would be taking the power again (as was intended, and as apparently had been done many times before), and because of the extreme stability of the Final Empire, Preservation (though it really only had a shadow of it's mind left) wasn't as freaked out. After the LR died, Preservation began to attempt to create more allomancers for the reasons mentioned in question 7. It also left clues, such as the number 16 everywhere, so that people would know it was preservation doing it, and not just random chance, or ruin. Turns out that that didn't work so well.

Idaho Falls Signing (June 20, 2009)

 

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Andrew The Great [PENDING REVIEW] (paraphrased)

Before the Ascension, why did the mists appear just as the well was gaining power? Did they come out at other times?

Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW] (paraphrased)

This one is trickier. From what I got out of it, it's because the mists are a manifestaion of preservation, and physical manifestations of preservation (including allomancers) are intended to do two things - stop Ruin, and Protect the Well of Ascension. Which are kind of the same thing. So, when the Well was dormant, the mists didn't really have much to do. The deepness form of the mists is a result of the concious part of Preservation freaking out and trying to produce a way to protect the well, mostly by producing more allomancers. That's why the mists do all the funky things in the Well of Ascension and Hero of Ages - they're trying to produce more allomancers to combat Ruin.

Idaho Falls Signing (June 20, 2009)

 

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Brandon Sanderson

Chapter Seventeen

The Mists Strike Down Demoux

I knew we needed a meaningful casualty from the mistsickness, somebody who we knew and cared about. I don't know if readers care about Demoux, but he's the only one among the crew who could be susceptible to the mists. My intention is that striking him down here impacts the reader directly, making the danger of the mists more concrete.

I maintain a paranoid worry that somewhere in this book, or the previous one, Demoux went out into the mists and should have fallen sick then. I can't think of an instance, and I do believe I could reasonably make this the first time he's exposed to them. But still I worry that I've missed something. I'm sure my loyal—and very meticulous—fans will let me know if I did.

(Note that Demoux would have had to go out in the mists after the time when they started killing people. This happened while Vin approached the Well of Ascension—by way of trivia, the mists changed the very moment the full power of the Well returned to be drawn again. Anyway, any times Demoux went into the mists before then would not have inoculated him.)

The Hero of Ages Annotations (Aug. 18, 2009)

Edited March 14, 2019 by RShara