WhiteEmporer Posted August 23, 2019 Report Share Posted August 23, 2019 Now in one sense this is a dumb question. Obviously, you can burn Aluminum for an allomantic effect. But is it one of the 16 metals? We already know of two metals (and their alloys) that are not part of the standard sixteen: atium and lerasium. These are in a different category of godmetals (and their alloys). Removing Atium and its known alloy, malatium, from the chart made space for another two metals. Come era 2, where we thought there were only two metals left to discover, there were actually four! I dont personally think aluminum is a godmetal. However, it does seem to be in a different class. It doesnt just interact with the metallic arts, it interacts with all kinds of investiture, implying it has a more fundamental nature to the cosmere as a whole. And since it interacts with all investiture, of course is interacts with the metallic arts. If this is the case, and aluminum and duralumin are "bonus" metals, could there still be two enhancement metals we dont know about? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karger he/him Posted August 23, 2019 Report Share Posted August 23, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, WhiteEmporer said: Now in one sense this is a dumb question. Obviously, you can burn Aluminum for an allomantic effect. But is it one of the 16 metals? Yes or at least Khriss says so and as she is the Cosmere magical expert I am inclined to believe her. Also I think a seeker could tell if they were a different class of metals somehow. Aluminum is almost certainly not a godmetal. As to it being a different class of metal I am going to say that Occam's razor recommends against that. Edited August 23, 2019 by Karger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteEmporer Posted August 23, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2019 1 hour ago, Karger said: Yes or at least Khriss says so and as she is the Cosmere magical expert I am inclined to believe her. Also I think a seeker could tell if they were a different class of metals somehow. Aluminum is almost certainly not a godmetal. As to it being a different class of metal I am going to say that Occam's razor recommends against that. I'm pretty sure Occam's razor sometimes is dull when it comes to epic fantasy. The precedent of Atium is compelling. That WAS listed in the Ars Arcanum of the mistborn trilogy as one of the 16, even though we now know it doesn't belong in that spot. So we know that just because we see something on an allomantic table (or another metallic art) doesn't mean it actually belongs there, at least in that specific spot. Actually, the way Aluminum interacts with other investitures seems to indicate that it is different from other allomantic metals. The other allomantic metals only have investiture significance because of their interaction with Ruin and Preservation (Brandon has even indicated that the metal does not glow in the CR because it has power, but because of the power seeking to come through it). Simply put, unless you're a worldhopper using preservation's investiture, pewter is just pewter on Roshar. Tin doesn't do anything on Sel. Brass doesn't have any effect on Nalthis, etc. BUT: Aluminum has an effect wherever you go. That sets it apart, and makes it not quite fit with the rest of the metals. Quote Also I think a seeker could tell if they were a different class of metals somehow. Seekers could sense atium being burned in the final empire days. Despite that fact, the Steel Ministry still placed Atium (and Malatium) as one of the temporal metals, where Bendalloy and Cadmium actually should have been. Bronze can identify the metal, but can't tell you everything about how it fits into the magic system. P.S.: Is there a place, other than the Ars Arcanums, where Khriss is actually quoted as saying Aluminum is one of the 16 metals? I don't recall, but if there is one, please provide the quote. That would certainly put a hole in my theory. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karger he/him Posted August 23, 2019 Report Share Posted August 23, 2019 29 minutes ago, WhiteEmporer said: Seekers could sense atium being burned in the final empire days. Despite that fact, the Steel Ministry still placed Atium (and Malatium) as one of the temporal metals, where Bendalloy and Cadmium actually should have been. Bronze can identify the metal, but can't tell you everything about how it fits into the magic system. The steel ministry was often tasked by TLR to spread misinformation. 30 minutes ago, WhiteEmporer said: P.S.: Is there a place, other than the Ars Arcanums, where Khriss is actually quoted as saying Aluminum is one of the 16 metals? I don't recall, but if there is one, please provide the quote. That would certainly put a hole in my theory. Not that I know of but unlike atium Aluminum has a full group of four metal pattern. It has a internal counterpart and and external one. Atium never had that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weltall Posted August 23, 2019 Report Share Posted August 23, 2019 24 minutes ago, WhiteEmporer said: The precedent of Atium is compelling. That WAS listed in the Ars Arcanum of the mistborn trilogy as one of the 16, even though we now know it doesn't belong in that spot. So we know that just because we see something on an allomantic table (or another metallic art) doesn't mean it actually belongs there, at least in that specific spot. Rashek knew that atium didn't belong there and deliberately obfuscated things in order to 'hide' metals so only trusted servants knew about them. It didn't completely hide the fact that there could be other viable metals (given that Shezler was investigating their existence) but Ruin had a hand in arranging for that experimentation in order to put Kelsier where he wanted him. Point being, Rashek knew of aluminum as an allomantic metal, knew that there were sixteen and the only reason that more people didn't know this and the TFE charts were wrong is because he spread misinformation on purpose. Quote Simply put, unless you're a worldhopper using preservation's investiture, pewter is just pewter on Roshar. Tin doesn't do anything on Sel. Brass doesn't have any effect on Nalthis, etc. BUT: Aluminum has an effect wherever you go. That sets it apart, and makes it not quite fit with the rest of the metals. Yeah, we know this. That doesn't mean that aluminum can't also be an allomantic metal, especially since two Shards played a more active role in developing the Metallic Arts. Preservation deliberately used the number sixteen as his signature, which only works if there are exactly that many non-godmetals. We know that Preservation tweaked things to make the numbers work (meaning he bumped one of the metals out in order to make atium mistings a thing) and it seems aluminum was the one. In other words, both Brandon the God Beyond and the local god of the setting treat aluminum as one of the sixteen allomantic metals. Quote P.S.: Is there a place, other than the Ars Arcanums, where Khriss is actually quoted as saying Aluminum is one of the 16 metals? I don't recall, but if there is one, please provide the quote. That would certainly put a hole in my theory. The only times Khriss speaks outside of the Ars Arcana is when she's talking with Kelsier or grilling Wax on his Twinborn mechanics, so no, there's no point at which it would make sense for her to discuss aluminum. Given that we know those documents are written from her best knowledge and she's consistent in identifying aluminum as one of the sixteen (and literally every post-TFE source does so as well) Occam's Razor really should make the answer to your question obvious. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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