Two New Covers! The Lost Metal UK edition + Alcatraz 2 revamp

I'm not sure I love the new Alcatraz covers. I get that they are trying to market to younger kids, but I feel like it's going to turn off a lot of readers, especially teenagers and adults. And that's really sad, 'cause Alcatraz.

Lost Metal Cover is good though.

Always a fan of Gollancz covers. Especially liking the harmonium crest on this one

Both covers look awesome! Especially Lost Metal! I love the detail of the shield with the Harmonium crest on it! It is perfect! The UK covers always looks fire though!

I always read too much into covers. Wax is meant to become Harmony's sword, but...is someone else destined to become his shield?

That would fit with the Ruin/Preservation duality. 

Right, but also it's a literal sword that he's holding

I think we are in complete agreement. I fully assume Wax will in some way assume the mantle as Harmony's Sword. It is the addition of a shield to the iconography I find so intriguing, particularly since it is the shield that is bearing the symbol of Harmony. Harmony has explicitly mentioned preparing Wax to become his Sword. That has always troubled me as being too unbalanced (i.e. too much of Ruin), and a possible path towards Discord. But...if he has secretly been preparing someone else to become the Shield of Harmony, that would maintain balance. Alternatively, perhaps Harmony himself (Himself?) acting as the Shield for all of Scadrial against the external threat from another Shard forced him to manifest a Sword in some fashion, in order to maintain a balance to continue to be Harmony.

As I said, I always read too much into cover art; in any case, I'll continue to ponder the fascinating implications over the coming months, until publication day.