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I think I'll be contrary here. In my real life I think I'd go with Twinborn, A-Pewter and F-Zinc. The real world applications for these I think are just more useful than 99% of what you can do with surges. Yes, being able to fly or negate friction, or cause stuff to breakdown would be cool but not as applicable in my life and those powers would be far more gaudy and harder to hide. The only surges that I'd contemplate over A-Pewter and F-Steel would be Progression and Transformation. Healing and soulcasting would undoubtedly be very useful in real life. Now, if we are talking me living in the Cosmere and I get a spren as part of the Surges I get then I'd take the surges every time. Yeah, Leechers with F-Steel would be a pretty deadly counter for surgebinders, as would be Allomantic grenades improved to essentially be bombs capable of instantly Leeching investiture from wide areas.

I don't think his skill really changed per se, I think his perception changed, giving him the ability to apply his skill in a way he hadn't thought of applying it before, but either way I think we are thinking along the same lines. I said he could turn Aux into a watch (clock) if he understood the inner workings. I don't know, maybe I just worded it poorly. I meant he is capable of doing it, he just requires knowledge of the inner workings in order to accomplish it.

Perhaps, I assume that spiking a spren may prove a difficult objective...but I suppose if you're able to move in and out of Shadesmar it may not be as difficult as I'm making it out to be.

The image of Marsh as "Iron Eyes" is a striking one. I think it's probably a combination of the impact of perception and the lasting impact of his image for Scadrians actually impacting the cognitive/spiritual concept of death....in combination with references to him spread by actual Scadrian world hoppers, including Kandra. Like I said, his image is a striking one, and one I would surmise would be easy to spread as those are the kind of stories and references people seem to cling to accross cultures. I actually doubt it has much, if anything to do with Marsh worldhopping himself. Seems to be more Scadrian cultural proliferation and cognitive/spiritual shenanigans.

Thanks for the WoBs. I'm still pretty much a rookie when it comes to all the things he's said, but they basically confirm my thoughts on the matter, specifically the difficulty of the bond being something the spren has control over. The only way it would work perhaps is if the spren already wanted to change who they are bonded with, but at that point there would be easier ways to do that. Sometimes I think that people want to use hemalurgy to do things just because it seems cool, but there are actually much easier ways to accomplish their goals.

I probably shouldn't have brought this up here, but I thought it was such an interesting parallel about perception. As far as the watch (clock), I think we are agreeing? I said "if he understood the inner workings" and you said once he studied the schematics. Those two things don't seem like opposites to me, they seem like two different ways of saying the same thing I was paraphrasing based on memory, I don't have a digitl copy of the book to quickly reference.

Fair enough, you're probably correct. I still don't think that an object would necessarily have to be a computer to accomplish such a thing if Awakened, any Awakened machine could likely relay information if that was part of their command(s). But the weight of the evidence we have thus-far suggests you are probably correct.

I don't think what you're saying precludes what I said. If a steelmind were Awakened and being used as some kind of physical engine for the ship it very well may be able to give a status report on itself, for example what % of storage capacity the stored speed is at. By merely being Awakened it may be able to relay such information, that doesn't mean it has to be a computer in my opinion. We really don't have enough information, either about the scene or the state of Awakening tech in the future of the cosmere to be able to tell definitively. I think we will need to see more about Awakening in this new era of technology and even know what kind of magic system was used to accomplish the Awakening to be able to know for sure.

Now the question on my mind is whether you would be able to spike a Radiant and steal their connection to their spren, so basically could you transfer a Nahel bond via hemalurgy? Not that it would be that useful I think because I don't think the spren would be too happy with you after that, and then it raises questions about having to uphold oaths and ideals and the like. But it's an interesting thought on whether it's possible or not.

Yeah, I'd say Kaladin seems like the superior warrior from the standpoint of what his body can do at this point, but we'll see. As others have said, that isn't really how breath works. It doesn't increase physical ability, though it does do fun stuff like grant perfect color recognition and perfect pitch...so if the final showdown is an acapella performance that may help.

Maybe I misread, but I believe the Awakened Steelmind was used as the "engine" , not an AI...or at the least the the Awakened part is the A.I. piloting the engine, which is the steelmind. But, I could be totally off. The others already explained the bit about Nalthians pretty well, I have nothing to add.

This is it, we know that cognitive beings like spren are highly impacted by our perceptions. The chain is perceived as a single item, therefore it works. The bracers for example are not one thing, so Aux needs to have a connective piece between them so they are one item. Am I mistaken, or didn't Nomad state that he could turn Aux into a watch if he understood the inner workings? Also reminds me of how (Spoiler for Mistborn Era II)

Pretty sure everything except White Sand, Dawnshard and The Hope of Elantris. I plan to read Dawnshard next, when I can get my hands on it.

Oh, so you're a psychopath

The daggers probably are a longshot, but we've seen Vin wield a 6-foot long Koloss sword and use an iron gate as a flail...so she or Kelsier would have other options. Just about any character with a fair amount of skill in an invested art would have a chance, but as others have already stated it's going to come down to how fast the opponent can learn and how long they can avoid through mobility or defensive measures.

Brilliant observation...I mean painfully obvious once you point it out but I hadn't really connected it, consciously at least.

This is kind of how my brain (which understands nothing about Korean or Japanese) interpreted things. On Roshar *Storming* can be used positively or negatively. "That was storming brilliant" vs. "That storming man" Or likewise, on Scadrial *Rusting* can be used positively or negatively. "That's a rusting masterpiece" vs. "What a rusting idiot" That's kind of how I read highly and slowly in the book. Hoid specifically said they didn't have curses so this would have been the simplified way of expressing how their culture conveys positive vs negative.

I think the biggest aspect here is how sheltered Yumi was. She didn't talk to other people, she didn't interact with them, she barely saw them beyond when they came to watch her and petition her. She also seemed to mostly visit smaller, outer cities/towns. It was probably unlikely she would have had much interaction with technology even if it existed for some time in Torio, particularly the larger cities. It kind of reminds me of the fact I know family members who remember a time when they didn't have indoor plumbing in their homes, and they aren't that old. Rural areas are often far behind the times technologically.

This is kind of fascinating to me, that you perceive a take-out death to be cruel. Bear in mind, I tend to be pretty easy to please, but in most cases I don't mind being faked out about an emotional death...it let's me have my cake and eat it too...to go through the emotions that the death brings out, to feel that moment fully...but then afterwards have the satisfaction of the happy ending. I know many find it too simplistic, or childish but I like happy endings most of the time. In the end it's going to be deeply personal how someone feels about these things, and as a reader each of our experiences is valid.

Correct, I misspoke.

I agree, I always defend Mistborn Era 2, I just feel like I often have to defend it more than the others. I find it odd trying to explain, but I'll do my best. I think Stormlight is Brandon's best work on a whole series level, it's the best written, has the best plot, hits me the hardest emotionally. But I prefer the aesthetic of Mistborn, if that makes any sense. I don't think I could choose a favorite series, I love both for different reasons.

I always roughly interpreted them as peak human similar to Captain America with slower reflexes.

I don't hear very many people say it is their favorite series.

I don't feel Kelsier shares the same outlook as Bavadin. He doesn't really believe in the survival of the fittest perspective in the way Bavadin does. Kelsier is bold and willing to do what it takes to achieve his goals, but I don't know that he values that as a universal norm, and I'm not sure he places competition and struggle at such a high level. He survives and urges others to, but I don't think he subscribes to Bavadin's desire for people to prove themselves. But, I guess they don't need to be a 1 to 1 correspondence.

Seems unlikely. I'd say far more likely