killersquirrel59

Not really. It's like Wax says in Alloy of Law when he's talking about alloys. When you make an alloy, you aren't just mixing the two metals together. You are making a new metal with different properties than a simple combination of the component elements. I know a little bit about metallurgy (not an expert though so any actual experts please feel free to correct me) and this is largely true. An alloy that is then alloyed itself with something new isn't the same as alloying the base components together. For example, alloying certain types of modern steels are not done in one process, alloying the iron, carbon, and other components. First they make steel, then alloy the other components into the steel through secondary smelting processes. You could make the case that in allomantic framework, each metal only has one alloy, but the god metals are supposed to break the normal rules, so I see this as simply a reflection of that point.

Ok, now I'm genuinely astounded. I started this 11 years ago on a random whim. I haven't even been back to these forums in years. How is this still going? But in the spirit of continuing on anyway... Granted: You know everything about anything you want to know forever. You see as Cultivation does each and every branching possibility. The limitless options override your mind and leave you in a state of helpless confusion, unable to make any decision simply because you lack...capacity. I wish for the ability to communicate perfectly with any entity, communicating my exact intent and emotional conditions beyond the crude limitations of language.

My pet theory was that it represents an alliance of Autonomy and Odium, Autonomy being red as reflected in the red flakes on Trellium (Bavadinium), the red eyes of the corrupted kandra, and the red glow of her Shard form when Sazed showed Wax the vision, and Odium being gold as reflected in his appearance as a gold-skinned singer, the golden appearance of Raysium, and his light being described as golden when he appeared in Shard form. But given what happened to Odium in Stormlight 4 that would have to assume that the colour-coding was somehow intrinsic to the shard rather than a preference of the holder and that seems very odd to me.

Yes exactly. That is my point. The dissolved carbon atoms are being trapped in specific patterns, but by the very nature of those patterns, the distribution, while close enough to be considered even in even a small steel object, will not be chemically perfectly even in every minuscule flake.

I think there's a miscommunication. Assuming even late medieval blast furnace technology, the iron could be fully liquefied and thus have all of its impurities adequately removed, and I could even buy that they had access to something like the Bessemer process given their more advanced metallurgic technology. But the carbon is another matter. Carbon will not liquefy in anything remotely close to ordinary steel forges. Carbon has a melting point of 3550 degrees Centigrade, and even then it doesn't really melt, it sublimes (turning directly from solid to gas). As such, its distribution within the iron, no matter how well purified the iron has been through the Bessemer process or whatever means are being used, will not be perfectly even as would be the case when alloying two metals reduced to liquid state.

That is a good answer to be getting on with. I was preoccupied with the physical nature of the metal and didn't fully consider the cognitive aspect of whether or not the steel flake still saw itself as part fo the steel bar it was shaved from. It's not a fully satisfactory answer and feels a bit like a cop out, but it is enough that I can live with it if no other revelations present themselves.

So, completely unrelated to Cosmere work, I was doing some research into the nature of metallurgy, specifically carbon structures in steel, and came up with a problem that I haven't seen answered before. It has been well established that allomantic alloys must have precise percentages in order to be effective. For true metallic alloys such as bronze, pewter, and brass, this is not a problem, as the alloy process involves combining the elements involved by heating the components to liquid form. But steel is a problem. Carbon does not liquefy, and often neither does the iron (depending on furnace technology) during the steel forging process. As such, carbon is not evenly distributed through the steel. In larger products, this is mostly irrelevant, as the distribution of the carbon crystal structures in the iron is even enough function. However, this idea falls apart when considering something as small as the metal flakes consumed by allomancers. Because steel is not fully liquefied like other alloys, these flakes cannot possibly have even distribution of carbon in them, and thus will not match the perfect ratio necessary for allomantic efficacy, or even safety as it is strongly implied and in some places stated outright that a bad alloy can kill an allomancer when they burn it. Has this issue been addressed before and I just missed it? What are your thoughts on it? It seems a pretty large hole in one of the key rules of allomancy to have gone completely unnoticed, and I was quite surprised to not find anything on the topic.

There is a major problem with the idea on the surface that the breeding program was meant to breed Feruchemy out of the Terris population. I fully accept that this is what was presented to the Obligators running the program (those who knew about Feruchemy in the first place at least), but there is a very important reason why the Lord Ruler needed to maintain at least a small number of Feruchemists. Inquisitors Each new Inquisitor the Lord Ruler wished to make required not only the sacrifice of 8 mistings and 1 mistborn or (less likely) Seer, but also 1 Feruchemist for the use of Feruchemical gold. Inquisitors are not immortal, and thus must periodically be replaced, and those pewter spikes needed to come from somewhere. As such, it follows that buried somewhere in the breeding program, there must have been some desire to create a small number of Feruchemists specifically to be sacrificed to make Inquisitors. A particularly morbid part of me actually wonders if infiltrations like Tindwyl's of the breeding program were known about all along and secretly allowed to happen, her offspring tracked and watched for any manifestation of Feruchemy so they could be taken for sacrifice.

It's been a while since I've been on, but I had a thought while rereading Hero of Ages that is worth some consideration. Allomantic Savants are created by constantly flaring an allomantic metal long enough that it causes physical changes to the body. This prompted a 2 part question. 1) Can someone who gained their allomantic ability via a hemalurgic spike become an Allomantic Savant? 2) If so, what would happen if the spike was subsequently removed? I have my own ideas, but I'm curious what the Shard's hivemind thinks before I taint the pool with my original thoughts. So please, discuss.

Shallan is a weird case because of her self-denial. In addition to this, given the nature of the Lightweavers, it is often difficult to determine what counts as a Truth for the purpose of advancement. She already had her blade (3rd Ideal) when she was a young child, and we've seen her offer at least one more after that when she admitted she killed her father. She already had her blade at this point as she had thought about using it and recoiled from that thought. Clearly there are other conditions that need to be met for the Lightweavers, possibly accepting the truths more intrinsically than just giving them voice. It's also possible with her repressed memories that she is "rediscovering" her ideals already sworn instead of finding new ones and advancing. We simply don't have enough data on what is necessary for a Lightweaver's advancement to determine anything from Shallan's situation.

Well, look at the gemstone library archive about the fourth ideal. This was a sapphire which is traditionally associated with Windrunners and the quote is "My spren claims that this recording will be good for me, so here I go. Everyone says I will swear the Fourth Ideal soon, and in so doing, earn my armor. I simply don’t think that I can. Am I not supposed to want to help people?" I think the key is "not supposed to want to help people". Given this hint and the moral progression of Kaladin with his massive guilt complex, I can only conclude that the Fourth Ideal for the Windrunners is something along the lines of "I will accept that I cannot save everyone".

This change really bothered me, not because of how it affected the character, but really because of what it would mean for Kershtian culture. This was a very male-dominated culture, which served very well as a backdrop to Khriss, letting her be more pronounced as a stranger in that culture. Changing Kershtian culture to be more inclusive in this case only serves to weaken Khriss and her story.