king of nowhere Posted August 20, 2019 Report Share Posted August 20, 2019 I'm rereading mistborn secret history, and I noticed that kelsier, upon ascending, can hear the thoughts of everyone. it's long been known that ruin can speak in minds but not read them, and preservation can hear but not speak. However, ruin can only speak to the spiked (and the insane), while preservation can hear the thoughts of everyone without distinctions. why this disparity? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RShara she/her Posted August 20, 2019 Report Share Posted August 20, 2019 Quote kilomtrs So in the trilogy, we see that when someone has a Hemalurgic spike implanted in them, they can hear Ruin talking to them, both as a vision and in their head. However, we learn in the Hero of Ages that Ruin cannot hear a person's thoughts no matter how much under Ruin's influence they are. In Alloy of Law, we see that Wax (and other Pathians) uses an earring to "pray" to Harmony, and we see that Harmony can hear his thoughts and respond. So I guess this leads to three questions: How does Harmony hear the thoughts of Wax, when it's explicitly pointed put that Ruin cannot? Are the earrings that the Pathians use Hemalurgically charged, as otherwise they would be of no use to Ruin, and therefore Harmony? Or did Harmony completely change how that aspect of Hemalugy works? Brandon Sanderson How this all works dates back to the original design of the magic system. I wanted Ruin and Preservation to be complementary opposites, like many things in the Mistborn world. Allomancy, for example, has Pushes and Pulls were are less "negate one another" opposites, but instead two sides to the same proverbial coin. Ruin is invasive. The power is more "Yell" than "Listen." The philosopher would probably have some interesting things to say about the masculine symbolism of Hemalurgy and its spikes. Ruin can insert thoughts. That power, however, can't HEAR the reactions. It's about invasion. Preservation, however, is the opposite. Preservation listens, Preservation protects. (Perhaps to a fault--if there were no Ruin, there would be no change to the world, and life could not exist.) Because of this, Preservation can hear what is inside people's minds. It cannot, however, INSERT thoughts. (This is important to the plot of Hero of Ages.) Harmony is both, the two complementary opposites combined. And so, he inserts thoughts with Ruin and still uses Hemalurgy. He can also listen. Yes, Wax's earring is Invested. (Or, in other terms, it's a Hemalurgic spike.) bettse Doesn't that imply it was shoved through someone's heart at one point (ala Steel Inquisitor creation process)? Brandon Sanderson Yes, the metal would have to have been part of a spike that at one point was used to kill someone and rip off a piece of their soul. General Reddit 2012 (July 4, 2012) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king of nowhere Posted August 20, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2019 i'm aware of that wob, and it doesn't answer my question. yes, preservation listen and ruin speak, but why ruin only speak to spiked and preservation listens to everyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wandering Investor Posted August 20, 2019 Report Share Posted August 20, 2019 (edited) @king of nowhere While I'm not 100% sure, I believe it is due to the extra bit of Preservation that makes up the souls of humans on Sel. Due to this extra bit of power, there's also an extra bit of connection. That, or listening to thoughts is easier than invading a mind. This would also make sense, as the mind would naturally attempt to reject foreign thoughts, but might have no ability to hide thoughts. Edited August 21, 2019 by Wandering Investor Correction 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weltall Posted August 20, 2019 Report Share Posted August 20, 2019 (edited) 4 hours ago, king of nowhere said: i'm aware of that wob, and it doesn't answer my question. yes, preservation listen and ruin speak, but why ruin only speak to spiked and preservation listens to everyone? Ruin can influence people without spikes, it's just easier if they've got them and opens them up to more direct control depending on how many spikes they have. Quoting from the HoA epigraphs: Quote The point, however, is that people with unstable personalities were more susceptible to Ruin's influence, even if they didn't have a spike in them. That, indeed, is likely how Zane got his spike. Edited August 20, 2019 by Weltall 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts