AleStaar

I'm going to take a hunch and say Rashek knew that would've been a fundamentally bad idea. We know from Sazed in TLM that Preservation created the lerasium beads "millennia ago," and from WoB that he created them knowing certain people would need them. Presumably as part of his long game to defeat Ruin. I think Rashek, with the information and future sight obtained through the Well's power, knew he needed to give nine beads to monarchs. So that the Final Empire's existence would play into Preservation's master Plan.

Until we know more about Fortune, I'll err on the possibility Sazed directly gave Wayne Fortune. Even though he's certainly capable of doing so, it seems like Fortune isn't the power to see future possibilities. It sounds more like Hoid's "sense" of "I know where I need to be, but not why," just like the island of Avalon from Gargoyles. So I'm hesitant about Sazed giving Wayne the same "sense." However, I'm very confident Sazed was lying to Wayne about his true role in Sazed's gambit. The epilogue definitely told me Sazed was nudging and arranging things with unparalleled future sight, even as far back as Wayne first working with Wax. And when he was blinded for a year, he was relying on his own sense of Fortune. I think Sazed was arranging the circumstances for Wayne to become so rich he can buy absurd amounts of bendalloy, knowing he might be the hero to partially detonate the bomb.

I'd say he was pretty smart, all things considered. Though I bet part of it was remembering the future visions seen during his Ascension. Rashek created vaults and the atium distribution process, which were not only able to make Ruin cautious and block his senses (and thus negatively affect his future sight). but conveniently played into Preservation's master Plan. The vaults are even more impressive due to being created during the 8th century of Rashek's rule. Morally speaking and perhaps logically speaking, the Final Empire was not a smart decision at all. But since his goal was creating a stable society that wouldn't release Ruin, in that sense it was pretty smart. Even with the wars between Great Houses, they were never bad enough as to completely destabilize the empire. Paalm was Rashek's personal agent in toppling rebellions and kingdoms, the koloss were powerful enough to slaughter armies of non-Metalborn, Inquisitors were constantly hunting skaa Mistings and Mistborn, and Rashek himself was a one-man army. Rashek was really smart. But he was simultaneously really stupid, because he was a glory hound that didn't consider working with nations to counter Ruin. I'm sure there's a more nuance to Rashek and Kwaan's feelings towards Khlennium, than what Brandon cared to write. And persecuting the Terris definitely created guilt, regret, and stress for him. Things that Ruin took advantage of. But even then.. yeah Rashek should've let go of some of his feelings.

SPOILERS FOR THE MISTBORN SAGA UP TO THE LOST METAL Made this as a writing exercise, for practice in writing fanfiction. This is part-theory, part-fanfic, part what-I-wish-era 2 was about. This is framed as an excerpt I think could've been in the Words of Founding. If Sazed's arc was about coming to terms with being a Terris rebel, having a side of Ruin, and growing into a genuine leader of the Terris Dominance. A Sazed who helped Kelsier make a republic. A Sazed who realized Preservation is not a saint, Ruin could be a good thing, and doesn't view things in terms of 'ruining' and 'preserving.' As my mind expands, I realize these twin powers hold more than history and plans. They grant inheritance of my predecessors’ very memories, thoughts, and emotions. Strewn through the precognitive plans of my predecessors Leras and Ati, my mind perceives grand machinations of unfathomable complexity. And yet, in these machinations, I sense deep pain and nuance. Leras went through the pains of sacrifice and mental decay. He planted clues and tools, hoping humanity could use them to fulfill his desired outcomes. Whether it be attuning Vin to the mists, or commanding Kelsier to Survive in the Pits of Hathsin. Ati lost himself throughout this several thousand year long conflict. Millennia ago he was a kind god who set up complex dominoes and gambits, aiming to destroy stagnant societies or threats to humanity. In stark contrast, by the time us crew members faced Ruin, he was a malicious force that cared not for life. But even in Ruin’s lowest moments, he genuinely believed the destruction of our world was a good thing. It is easy to fall into the trap of viewing Preservation and Ruin as “good” and “evil.” But all things considered, they were each capable of great good and evil, depending on circumstances. Preservation placed Rashek into a position where he can use the Well’s power, in hopes his actions could eventually manifest the long-desired atium Mistings and Hero of Ages. However, in the coming centuries, Preservation stoked Rashek’s belief that brutal atrocities are necessary to enforce stability. Ruin arranged the occurrence of many skaa rebellions, and influenced the Keepers to preserve their knowledge. And of course, the Eleventh Metal played a key role in slaying the Lord Ruler. But at the same time, Ruin influenced Rashek and the Steel Inquisitors into doing terrible things. I am only beginning to understand the moral complexity of Scadrial’s gods. And yet, it would be disingenuous to claim I do not feel anger. They have let humanity suffer under a thousand year reign of terror. Mortal minds may try to classify actions and people into 'ruining' and 'preserving.' But I came to realize this should not have influence on the actions of men. A person can be an assassin, but desire stability and protection. A person can be a killer, while at the same time a revolutionary who possesses a deep sense of community and love. If a man slaughters life with cold apathy, is he truly a preserver? If a man knows love and works to better the world, is it right to claim he’s only a destroyer? This is a dichotomy I came to realize during my time as a Keeper, rebel, a leader of the Republic, and eventual leader of the Terris people. In witnessing the actions of Vin, Kelsier, and Rashek. These are questions I must ponder throughout the Ages. I encourage you all - my children - to do the same. Life is about questions, choices, secrets. There are more gods in the cosmere, each a shard of a greater whole. In this moment, perhaps I am encouraging the exploration of passions. Perhaps I am cultivating a belief, or inspiring people to seek autonomy from the binary nature of gods. - Dictated and read by Discord, Sazed, The Hero of Ages

Two years later and just finished Mistborn!!!! This has been an amazing journey!!!!! I’m excited to start Stormlight!!

It helps!!! Look at my signature!!

No worries! We all get preoccupied Do you know how I can make a… what’s it called, a signature? I want to put my finished Cosmere works and hobbies at the bottom of the forum comment box. I’m stealing your list, thanks good cosmerenaut!

My theory is at the very least, spikes were the Excisors. But I’m unsure about them being used to make the Bands. It seems impossible, especially after the creation of Harmony (if Khriss and Marsh’s musings are correct), to use Hemalurgy or the medallion-creation process to grant all 32 Metalborn powers. Much less manipulate Hemalurgic spikes to create the pinnacle of Metallic Arts tech. When you say they could’ve used Hemalurgic spikes to gain powers the Inquisitors didn’t have, that’s where the logistics problems come into play. The only remaining Full Feruchemist became God. The surviving Terris were people who didn’t awaken their powers, and whatever Feruchemical potential they passed broke down into Ferrings. The metals are another big problem. It took time for the Northern people to flat-out discover bendalloy, cadmium, chromium and nicrosil. And to discover aluminum deposits. Those metals and duralumin are very difficult and expensive to produce, even 340 years later. This is compounded by the fact Ferrings with Spiritual powers are very rare. The powers themselves aren’t well known by the Terris. Kelsier and Spook couldn’t have Hemalurgically stolen those powers a mere ~12 years after the Catacendre. And that’s just for the Northern Continent. The Southern Continent didn’t even have Metalborn at first. Stuff like this is why I think Sazed would’ve been involved in the Bands’ creation. He would automatically know who’s a specific Allomancer or Feruchemist, then could subtly guide Kelsier towards them. Plus as I said, I believe he subtly helped the Southerners. He gave them a perpendicularity and ettmetal.

I know this may end up being an unpopular opinion. But the epilogue came across as if Sazed has been operating as the Chessmaster the entire time, all part of a coordinated effort to outmaneuver Autonomy, to make her withdraw her army and interest in Telsin. I think a lot of little quotes in The Lost Metal, and certain quotes in the previous books, point to Sazed subtly maneuvering everyone - Wax, Wayne, Marasi, Kelsier and his Ghostbloods, Marsh, Tobal and Maraga, Steris (?). All with very powerful, very subtle future sight to make specific outcomes come to fruition. Since chapter 19 I suspected Sazed had a plan in motion, one that needed him to arrange “help” unaware they were mobilized to be the “help.” One that required him to play games over and over with Autonomy. This suspicion came back once Wax speculated he always intended for Wax to be the Sword that stops a God Metal bomb. Chapter 71 confirmed aspects of future sight I was curious about… ever since I started analyzing the Terris Prophecies. Sazed confirmed that he can see future possibilities, automatically analyze something as complex as a harmonium-trellium bomb, has thoughts that move much faster than Wax or Wayne, and can discern the probabilities of an action (i.e. 1% chance of success, 99% chance of failure). He even fleshed out what Fuzz warned Kelsier - even future sight as great as Preservation can be wrong. But he also confirmed that while Shards see future possibilities and analyze probabilities, they don’t always know why a possibility is good. This eased my suspicions. But then Kelsier’s epilogue came along. While I don’t think Sazed is acting “all is perfectly according to keikaku”I think he’s acting close enough. I think he was ultimately keeping certain, ultimate future outcomes in mind. The responses to Kelsier’s frustration made alarm bells ring in my mind: "I had it in hand." "Luck is a different thing to a god who can see futures, I think." "I have it in hand." "People should discover it on their own. If they do not, there are subtle consequences." What if Sazed always knew Trell was Autonomy? After all Autonomy created Trelagism, and we know from book 3’s epilogue that Preservation hid “gems” in Trelagism to help the Hero of Ages. What if he let Autonomy’s plans get to this stage, knowing he could efficiently arrange pieces that could stop her? Or maybe he bet it would be the perfect event to encourage the continents to advance and progress? What if Sazed was betting on Wax fulfilling his duties after the Lessie fiasco? What if he intentionally molded Wayne into the Slider who could accomplish the partial detonation? What if he knows the history of Scadrian eugenics and discerning what could happen if he directly GIVES knowledge of future tech? It’s obvious that Sazed is becoming Discord. Or perhaps, he’s already Discord by the time of Kelsier’s epilogue. There’s clearly something going on with Sazed’s Shard, we just don’t know what. Harmony’s Intent left him unable to act, creating a state where every action needs equilibrium between P&R’s attributes. And there was a dark shadow throughout TLM. Kelsier speculates the shadow exists because Ruin was always stronger. Marsh’s interview with Khriss implies it may be the result of Ruin being subservient to Preservation. My theory is Discord will be a good thing. Sazed directly educated Wax and Wayne about the bomb’s mechanics AND told them how to detonate it. Dulled the wave coming over Wax. Arranged for under 10 people to foil Autonomy’s complex plans, while his future sight was BLINDED. This is the most effective he’s been yet. I think Discord will be a Shard representing Sazed’s realization that Ruin and Preservation can’t always be in exact balance. Sometimes, Preservation’s attributes are needed most. Other times, Ruin’s attributes are needed most. I believe this mindset allow him to act, to commit actions that are EITHER of Preservation or Ruin. I think Sazed is just trying to carefully move through his web of future possibilities. Preservation seemingly foresaw Discord will be a good thing, but if Sazed makes the wrong move I bet he could invalidate that prediction. Unkeyed metalminds contain attributes that aren’t attached to a Feruchemist’s Identity. But without Full Feruchemists, it’s impossible for a sole Feruchemist to create an unkeyed metalmind. My theory is the Southern Scadrians are extensively using the same method as the Set’s keep-people-alive Hemalurgy. I think to create an unkeyed metalmind, they’re using a Command and a very thin duralumin spike. This would rip off a piece of the Feruchemist’s Identity, making any future storing Identity-less. I think the Excisors are nicrosil and/or duralumin spikes. The Bands of Mourning is the really tough cookie. Kelsier is no longer an Allomancer and definitely not a Feruchemist, so he couldn’t use his own powers to create the Bands. There’s no way he used Northerners to make them. There are a lot of logistics issues. My theory is Sazed directly created the Bands of Mourning and guided Kelsier into hiding it. It wouldn’t be the first time Sazed subtly helped the Southerners.

Good guess. That's coming after Warbreaker. I'm actually thinking of making a reading thread for Stormlight. Hopefully, it works out MUCH better than this one. I tried to put my read Cosmere works in About Me, but I guess no one sees them I've read all Mistborn stories, Elantris, Emperor's Soul, and the essays for Sel and Scadrial. I'm reading Warbreaker next, then finally The Stormlight Archive.

I've finished The Lost Metal, and with it my journey through the Mistborn Saga has come to the close. And it ends with a bang. The Lost Metal is a lovely book. This was a really fun, action packed book that built upon the characters we all know and love. Wayne, Marasi, Steris, the Ghostbloods, even Kelsier and Sazed were written really well. I still don't like Wax as much as them, but he's still great. It did this while giving us a lot of mystery and tension to look forward to in era 3. I’m excited to see where Kel and Saze’s plans end up, what Autonomy has in store, and how our lovely quartet will impact the world to come. But it's not a flawless book. In my opinion, its relative lack of conclusion brings it down compared to The Hero of Ages. My key issue is The Lost Metal feels like a setup for the Southern Continent and cosmere heavy conflict of era 3, as well as setup for Sazed becoming Discord (and they shall love him for it). We didn't get any answers about the Bands of Mourning, ReLuur's pewter spike, Excisors, unkeyed metalminds or medallions. The Lost Metal raised a lot more questions than answers. To the point I can barely form theories. I'm more confused about the Bands of Mourning's existence than ever before. If Kelsier didn’t have Allomancy or Feruchemy, who created them and how? Who created the Excisors and how? Why did Kelsier hide the Bands? Who drained them? What was up with the Set having Faceless Immortals??? Doesn't this mean Autonomy still has influence on Scadrial, or did she withdraw them along with the army??? We don't know smh. We barely know what the army was. This all makes me wish this book took place in the Southern Continent. Allik is an irritating flaw as well. He's just there, and I don't feel the same chemistry as Wax/Steris or Vin/Elend. I think we should've gotten a buddy secret agent team with Allik, Marasi, and the Ghostbloods. The cosmere stuff is great. I'm sad we didn't get as many answers, but it's more understandable than those related to the Southern Continent. Especially with Autonomy being the main threat. I suppose other Cosmere books and Era 3 will answer my interest in Odium, the dark aether, and whatever other "pieces" are moving in the cosmere. I'm already grieving for Wayne. RIP Wayne. You were the god damn hero. You made the biggest damn explosion ever.

Hiiii. So I'm finally back on this site. Reading The Lost Metal has taken me way longer than it should have. But I am ALMOST DONEEEE!!! My Mistborn journey is almost complete! While away from this thread, I went overboard and gradually read up until chapter 65. This book is so, so good. Not-Wax and not-Wayne are finally dead. Autonomy’s perpendicularity is destroyed, her army frozen in supercharged time, the Community rescued. Looks like all of Independence Tower’s military are either dead or left. All that’s left is Trell. Wax and Wayne have finally made it to the mesa.

Interesting. You mean the fancy orange and blue tables that list Allomantic and Feruchemical metals, right? Yeah I think they’re part of the Words of Founding. It was mentioned in Bands that Harmony left a pretty, artistic, detailed list of Feruchemical metals.

Era 1 would be very different, depending on how you wanna imagine this hypothetical scenario. You said for this scenario, pure atium has a similar ability to electrum-atium. But I should cover the elephant in the room - pure atium’s power. Sanderson has gone on record that the power of atium’s pure form is far stronger than the alloy mined at the Pits of Hathsin. I’m sure two certain Mistborn obsessed colleagues can post the WoBs, but Sanderson generally says pure atium grants an ability similar to Elend’s Full of Stars moment. There’s also the (out of universe?) Allomancy table which states that pure atium grants “an expansive vision of the future.” There’s a lot of things we don’t know about pure atium - burn rate, how far in time a vision can occur, its accuracy, is it a single outcome That’s So Raven style, is it a web of future possibilities etc. But I think no matter what, if pure atium can be burned by anyone I think the world’s events might have a different outcome for the three Chessmasters - Preservation, Ruin, Rashek. In the cosmere, if someone sees into the future at the same time someone else sees into the future, it muddles the precognitive waters. One seer sees what another seer is going to do, so their abilities eternally change how they might react to each other. This creates a reflection of two precognitive mirrors facing each other, where infinite possibilities shoot out of one single possibility. A mirror where possibilities constantly disappear and new possibilities constantly appear. Think back to how burning atium or electrum splits an atium shadow. Preservation and Ruin have the expanded minds and senses to see the possibilities of the world made into layers and layers. Like a tapestry. But if a person burns pure atium, it would create a ripple in their precognitive abilities. It would be the mirror effect, but solely on the Shard’s side. If Kelsier burned pure atium, it would mean Ruin would need to adjust his tapestry on how to maneuver Kelsier into finding the Eleventh Metal. If Vin burned pure atium, Ruin would need to adjust his tapestry on how to manipulate Vin into freeing him and finding the atium cache. If Kelsier, Vin, Elend, or Sazed burned pure atium Preservation would need to adjust his tapestry of the plans he had for them. Rashek wouldn’t be susceptible to the same headache. He doesn’t have the mind, senses, or power to create the same vast tapestry of the future, and he can’t access the tapestry he saw while using the Well (assuming he INDEED did this). But I’m sure pure atium burners will find a way to be a headache for him. Especially if we assume that he occasionally burned atium and duralumin, or electrum and duralumin. I think this form of atium would be used by anyone who can get their hands on it. Seeing vivid outcomes is a desirable power for any Mistborn assassin, skaa thief, noble businessman, subtle Keeper, or rebel leader. I’n sure Ham would want a piece However, this probably wouldn’t be useful for combat.

Hi everyone! Been busy so I’ve been in a bit of a reading rut. But I really hope I can get through Lost Metal and Warbreaker sometime soon. But good news, I’ve been on a historical research spree! It happened after I looked into the technology and chemistry experiments Wax and Steris did on the trellium spike. And remember when Sazed mentioned the radio to Wax, and ranted about the Basin lacking aviation, irrigation, and fertilization? I figured it stemmed from… quite a lot of info he knew about - the Southern Scadrians’ achievements with ettmetal and Feruchemy, whatever the Maskless and Shrouded Isles have, the Set’s possession of aluminum guns and the two-way radio etc. Then of course it would’ve stemmed from Sazed’s more esoteric capabilities… full history of Preservation’s hearing of thoughts and Ruin’s whispers, precognition, looking into the definitive past, probably looking into a web of alternate pasts, grand understanding of phenomena from his Ascension and the centuries afterwards (Scadrial’s nature science + Shard’s Investiture stuff + Keeper coppermind information we don’t yet know). So I’ve been looking into the pre ~1804 history of aviation, firearms, trains, electricity and the radio. I figured Sazed wrote down tons of historical prototypes, predecessors, experimentations, and formulas tied into gunpowder, muskets and flintlocks, the steam locomotive, hydrogen balloons, the voltaic pile, and the optical telegraph.

It’s alright. Guess I should make a new introduction post

This is weird. I typed in the stories I’ve read in my About Me. Guess they don’t show up? Anyway I’ve only read Elantris, Emperor’s Soul, and every other Mistborn story.

@Duxredux So after finishing Secret History, I have to say this is an amazing and well-written analysis of Ruin and Preservation’s precognitive abilities. I think Preservation hearing the hearts of men, having the will to comfort them after death, and his Intent involving protection are the key cornerstones of why his plan was so complex compared to Ruin. And as you said, their differing goals also mattered. Ruin was more patient and precognitive than people give him credit for, but he still wanted to escape his prison during a cycle. In contrast, it seems that Preservation was okay with his mind decaying over millennia if it meant he (and his pawns) could facilitate the circumstances for the Hero of Ages. And as of recently, I’ve talked about how Ruin and Preservation approach self-sacrifice. I’m not sure how much of this plays into the Vessels’ personalities, but I find it very interesting. Ruin doesn’t understand self-sacrifice, while Preservation sacrificed everything if it meant a slim chance Ruin could be defeated. Preservation hoped Vin and Elend would do the same. The only thing I disagree with is Ruin and Preservation’s ability to observe and comprehend the full probability space. I feel like if anything, Kelsier’s Fuzz-assisted vision and Kelsier’s own precognitive plan more or less confirmed they have this capability.

The Lost Metal Chapter 20 Marasi met an interplanetary traveler called Moonlight. Very ironic codename lmao. Moonlight has a moment where she talks about Hoid. About how they’re watching each other, as well as the same third parties. I guess this means Moonlight’s organization and Hoid are both keeping an eye on Autonomy and her minions. Moonlight is part of an organization that protects Scadrial. Apparently her organization doesn’t work for Harmony but I should remember his comments from the previous chapter. I’m 100% certain he secretly supports the organization and arranged for them to help. But they don’t know he did so. 10 points for Harmony, for being smart and sneaky this time around. It’s official. Autonomy is a much better antagonist and much more interesting Shard than Ruin or Preservation. For her writing, I think Brandon is much more effective/consistent with the idea of writing an essential aspect of the universe or humanity, making it sentient, and taking it to a hypocritical extreme. Something else I really admire about Era 2's writing is that Autonomy's Intent and Sazed's approach to Scadrial aren't too different. Sazed as a mortal told people about religions they could worship, but he never forced people to follow them. He was all for people choosing their own religion. We see this in Sazed's mindset as a god, where Harmony/Discord subtly arranges the world while maintaining free will. Or he gives hints of future technology without GIVING people the technology. Autonomy's Intent is about independence and self-reliance. But it seems that Bavadin created a hypocritical form of Autonomy, which is legitimately terrifying. And very engaging as a storytelling device. Autonomy values creativity and individualism. She gives rewards. She encourages rivalry. But it’s all fake and only fits in her vision of the cosmere, where cities are just based on Taldain’s architecture. Moonlight compares it to a corporation advocating individualism, and it makes me very excited. There appears to be a contrast between how Harmony and Moonlight’s organization interpret Autonomy’s plans. Harmony sees there’s a schism between Autonomy and Telsin’s plans, and that Autonomy is more scared of tech progress than the hybrid Shard. While the organization thinks Autonomy and Telsin share the same plan, and think she’s scared of the hybrid Shard. Yup.. this is another case of humans not understanding a Shard’s full plan. Apparently, Scadrial and Taldain developed gunpowder weapons and electricity before any other planet. This makes me very worried about the state of other planets. And curious as to how Scadrial became so advanced. After all, Khriss theorized they would’ve been the most advanced planet without the Lord Ruler messing everything up. I think the Well of Ascension’s users was the main factor. It’s confirmed Trelagism was a religion founded by Autonomy as a seed for when she decided to make Scadrial hers. This makes me suspicious of Harmony’s knowledge. We know from the chapter for Sazed’s Ascension that Preservation hid hints in all religions for the Hero of Ages, including Trelagism. This has me thinking that Preservation, and thus Harmony, knew about Autonomy’s interference on Scadrial for a long, long time. I’m thinking Harmony is playing some kind of long game to permanently defeat Autonomy. But now I have to wonder if Preservation planned even for Autonomy. Now it’s time to back up and look to another worrisome Shard. Apparently there’s a Shard who’s trying to destroy all the others and succeeded a few time. The Shard’s name is Odium. Soooooo we got generic doomsday villain, Brandon’s golden boy who should have been doing crap like reverting everything back to the stone age, the cloning imperialist, and the God-Butcher. Why do I feel like Adonalsium’s murder was a mistake?

Yes, I enjoyed the prologue of TLM. I also enjoyed Wayne and Marasi’s partnership, Wayne’s POV chapters, and the science of God Metals. I have finally finished Part 1 of this book. I finally know that Trell is an Avatar of the Shard Autonomy. I’m very interested in the concept of Autonomy making many Avatars, especially cuz there are two methods of making them. I wonder what’s the difference between an Avatar and a Splinter (know that from Elantris / Sel essay). This chapter has my first official sight of the word Intent. Autonomy/Bavadin sounds very dangerous and intelligent, with long-spanning and mysterious plans. I love her Intent and mindset. I think by the end of this I’ll love the writing of Autonomy much more than Ruin’s, same with their respective Shardic conflicts. Though I already do. The red haze is… interesting. I don’t understand if it’s suppose to limit Harmony’s divine sight over the world, limit his ability to see the future, or both. I’m also confused if it’s still a crude representation of Autonomy’s influence/essence, or an actual haze she created. Harmony can still see and hear Wax, and presumably every other Scadrian cuz he’s Connected to them all. And he can hear the thoughts of every Scadrian. So I guess it’s not limiting his divine sight? Though I guess the trellium that pierces Set members i.e. the Cycle could muddle his divine sight. Much like it did for Paalm. The haze apparently Invested Scadrial, so I guess that could make things worse. Harmony confirmed the red haze infects his future sight ability… but what does that even mean? Does that mean Autonomy’s… essence?… splits Harmony’s future possibilities into infinite more, like atium/electrum vs atium? Or does it cut off Harmonys ability to see the distant future, limiting him to only foreseeing what happens in the near future? Something I find intriguing is that Autonomy is afraid of Scadrial’s technological progress, rather than its hybrid Shard. She even wanted Harmony to move to another world. And it’s interesting that the goals of Autonomy and Telsin aren’t the same. Autonomy wants to destroy Scadrial. Telsin wants to rule Scadrial and delay Autonomy’s destruction. Finally, I want to talk about Harmony’s situation and plans. I can’t help but feel he has a lot of things in motion. 1) Sazed expresses how he’s moved too slowly against Autonomy, and that this weakness grows over time. We know from book 5 this comes from Harmony’s Intent, and there he knew he “tied his own hands.” Sazed knows why his Shard’s Intent ties his hands. I theorize Sazed thinks a hybrid Shard’s Intent can be molded by its Vessel’s perspective on the combination… probably far more than the individual Shards. I think he knows that in order to act he needs to become something different than Harmony. I think he will willingly become Discord. 2) I love that Harmony expresses a lot of knowledge about the enemy, but misses the finer details cuz of Autonomy’s essence. It’s like in SoS, where he knew how Paalm was using her trellium spikes and switching them out, could speak to Paalm’s mind, and could likely hear her thoughts. But he couldn’t constantly track her or know her endgame. In TLM he knows Autonomy and the name of its Vessel, Autonomy’s Intent and her mindset, her extensive use of Avatars and what they’re made from, Telsin’s bestowal and persuasion and activities in Bilming, and Autonomy’s mindset for how Scadrial should be handled. Harmony even knows Autonomy is mobilizing an army. But Harmony does not know Telsin’s ultimate plan. 3) I really can’t shake the feeling Harmony has a master plan in motion throughout this book, even with the haze seemingly limiting him to seeing the near future. There was the envelope convincing Wax to make the trellium earring. Wax is experiencing some weird things after the second explosion. There was the sixteen vials sent to the mansion. There was the bit “I’ve lost games over and over against Autonomy.” There was the bit about him sending help that didn’t know he was the one arranging them to be the help. There was the “time to build greater alliances in the years to come.”

Treamayne and alder explained this pretty well in the first two comments. I’ll expand on some stuff. Ruin and Harmony need the following to talk to minds: Cracks in the spiritweb (the soul). Vin’s mother was schizophrenic, Zane was suicidal (he deserved so much better writing), Quellion had passionate paranoia for following Kelsier and killing nobles etc. This gave Ruin backdoors into their minds to encourage them to spike themselves or others. The Vessel must have personal Connections to their desired subject, they don’t even need to be particularly strong. Though this is something that’s only been used by the Vessels of Preservation or users of the Well’s power, to circumvent their limitation of not being able to talk to minds. Rashek to Kwaan and his Feruchemist friends, Kelsier to Spook and Marsh and Vin, and Vin to Elend. In Sazed’s case, it would’ve been to Kelsier, the crew, and possibly Marsh. Though TBF, I guess a Vessel of Ruin could use this method to hear thoughts. It’s just unconfirmed as far as I know. The subject must be pierced by Invested metal, which makes Connections between the subject and the Shard. Hemalurgic spikes do this. It’s confirmed in the annotations of The Alloy of Law that Harmony, contrary to popular belief, can influence people pierced by metalminds. He doesn’t do it because he prefers the approach of allowing free will while subtly nudging people to do his will. https://www.brandonsanderson.com/annotation-the-alloy-of-law-chapter-fifteen/ We still don’t know what’s up with Sazed hearing the voice in the mind. But Treamayne and alder explained the possibilities well. The Lord Ruler’s atium plan was part of Preservation’s master plan. Before imprisoning Ruin, Preservation saw a frail future possibility that people could burn away Ruin’s body, or that such an event might be important for his master plan. Burning atium does not permanently weaken Ruin, it provides a 300 year long opportunity where he can’t regain the atium’s Investiture. That’s a unique weakness that came from the way Preservation created the Pits of Hathsin. Preservation alloyed pure atium with electrum, and programmed the Mists to Snap on a massive scale once the Well was nearly full. This set up a system where the Mists implanted Mistings throughout Scadrial’s history, tied to the number 16. Preservation hoped that in the distant future humanity might figure out the clue of the unique atium Mistings being a thing, and burn away all of Ruin’s atium as a response. Thousands of years pass. The history of Scadrial between Ruin’s imprisonment and Rashek’s Ascension is a huge unknown. But I have theories on what happened. After thousands of years, TLR Ascended and became partially aware of Preservation’s Plan. He became aware of the Shards’ respective circumstances of impotence, and their inability to see through areas steeped with vast amounts of metal. And it was said by Haddek that Rashek saw into the future, so the Well of Ascension may have granted him a glimpse into Preservation’s web of future possibilities. Because of all this Rashek entrusted the Canton of Resource and the kandra to hide most atium beads from Ruin’s sight. It’s not easy to pinpoint exactly how Preservation’s long-term prediction of atium Mistings ties into Rashek’s gathering of atium. It’s also hard to know how they tied into Elend and Vin’s sacrifices, which Preservation predicted might be crucial to Ruin’s defeat. But if we look at canon it might’ve been that Elend and his atium Mistings NEEDED to burn the atium, to provide an opportunity where Ruin can’t regain his full power. But Elend also NEEDED to die to drive Vin to sacrifice her life, sometime within this opportunity. None of this was guaranteed to happen or work. We just saw the timeline where they did. I like to think that Preservation engineered Rashek’s Ascension (said as much in SH) in hopes Rashek could set up the circumstances for the atium Mistings. Awhile ago I noticed it was implied that the kandra have prophecies of their own. Prophecies that Ruin will take control of them one day (hence the Resolution), that an army of Allomancers will appear, and that the mists might disappear. Rashek might’ve learned hints of the endgame hopes of Preservation i.e. atium Mistings and the Ascension of a successor. So he might’ve disseminated them into kandra culture.

I want to write a few stories that detail what Sazed and Vin’s Ascensions may be like with modern Brandon’s style of writing the phenomenon. Sazed’s Ascension involves the information in his copperminds, so I need to include that. But something I was curious about is what Sazed’s copperminds contained besides his religions. Sure, religions were Sazed’s speciality but they’re not the only thing stored in his copperminds. We know that Tindwyl specialized in the biographies of pre-Ascension generals, kings, and emperors. They would’ve included leaders like King Wednegon, advisors or colleagues or scribes who wrote the biographies, and likely a potential timeline for the rise of koloss armies. Ancient places like Darrelnai and FellSpire would’ve been attached to them, as well as the significance of Alendi and Rashek being known as “the Conqueror.” And yet, the only coppermind information that Brandon made relevant in the Words of Founding was Sazed’s religions… What the hell. Do Sazed’s copperminds just… not contain memories besides his religions? We know that’s not the case, so where’s the goddamn worldbuilding??? Where are the Basin historians studying the Words of Founding for what happened before the Final Empire? Where are the Pathian theologians studying the ancient religions? Or even the Survivorists studying ancient revolutionaries? I mean, does alchemy even exist on Scadrial?

The necessary conditions for becoming a god and the circumstances for Vin becoming a god are explained in Secret History. Major spoilers for Secret History

This reminds me of a major plot point in the Gargoyles universe. In the Gargoyles TV show there’s a magical island named Avalon. Going to Avalon is easy. But a visitor going home from Avalon is insanely difficult, and was the driving force for much of Season 2. Avalon doesn’t take you where you want to go, Avalon sends you where you need to be. And the visitor doesn’t know why. It’s funny you linked the lerasium WoB. I was just thinking about why Hoid didn’t take the last two lerasium beads. I’m thinking Hoid’s Fortune had a vague sense of Preservation’s plan needing Elend to burn the last bead, and knew something bad would happen if he took it.