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I agree that is the best prediction, but I haven't seen a clear WoB confirming it. Though honestly, the number part of the question is what I'm interested in, with the metal follow-up being a bonus confirmation.

Here are my top 4 for anyone who is looking for more questions: Would a Soother be able to prevent a listener from attuning a given rhythm? If the shades on Threnody stopped enforcing the Simple Rules, would the spread of the Evil from the Homeland be hastened? In WoK Prime there were no spren as part of the world. In that version, where did shardblades come from? If Ruin and Preservation had picked Nalthis or Roshar, instead of Scadrial, would magical abilities on their world still divide into sets of 16? Would they still be based on metals?

In all the instances I noticed, the commas following ellipses were there to set off italicized thoughts or conversations-by-mobile. If the italics are being used to denote quotes without overt quotation marks, I can see how putting a comma before "he said" would make sense in a given style guide.

See, that part didn't bother me, because it wasn't about showing him what he'd done wrong so much as confronting him with his fear (that he had been wrong), which is plausibly the culmination of the whole find Epic weaknesses thread. I'm not saying I found it fulfilling, mind, just that it didn't seem to come out of the blue.

I had a lot of fun with it, but like some of you I felt it a bit lacking. Bottom line: Firefight is the best out of the trilogy, and it's not often a middle book gets that honor. World: weaknesses may have been explained, but the matching of power sets to people was not. Humor: loved the profanity filter (I really hope we can incorporate digeridoo into our site swear filter!) But we didn't have nearly enough Mizzy, who I think needs lots more screen time. Plot: I was repeatedly disappointed that David didn't have Megan send him to talk to Firefight for information. And we spent so much page time focused on Prof that the title character seemed shunted to the end, despite is having seen him earlier. The showdown there didn't feel quite earned. Question: at the end when they won, did Calamity leave from just David's reality or from all of the connected worlds that Megan had been drawing from? Because clearly some of those included an evil Prof, and it would be rather depressing/irresponsible if the heroes only saved the world in one possible iteration.

Ch 30 (kindle loc 3578) "David and Mizzy had brought extra wire climbers" should be Abraham and Mizzy. Acknowledgements (kindle loc 5835) "ininsouciant Peter Ahlstrom" --if we are trying to stick to real words, that has an extra "in," but it could well be intentional. Pretty sure "that" is correct, referring to Manny's release of David's hand. Though I agree that it took me a couple times through to parse that sentence, so it wasn't the most clear construction.

As usual, the incredulous Peter Ahlstrom has several locations named after him, but I'm wondering what other people have been Tuckerized in BoM. Irich's name such out to me as quote possibly being or own Eric (aka Chaos). Appropriate, I think, for a character who is trying to analyze the magical artifacts they found. Am I seeing shadows the the clouds, or is he actually meant to be Eric? Are there other individuals to be found?

Hm. Regarding the single burst: perhaps I'm mistaken, but I thought it had been established that the enhancing metals didn't disappear with their targets. I am fairly sure that duralumin and nicrosil stick around for another burn, so I would have thought chromium does as well.

My related question is about the Wax/Suit showdown. Suit's chromium removed Wax's steel, but when Wax then tapped his metalminds for weight, the leeching didn't do anything. I consider the broadsheet to be pretty definitive evidence (if we needed any) that chromium works on other forms of investiture. So why wouldn't Suit's chromium affect the investiture Wax was drawing from his metalminds?

According to this page, the energy output per mole isn't terribly different for the different metals: the increasing violence as you go down the group is due to the speed of the reaction. That is why powdered sodium metal can spontaneously explode in conditions where the bulk metal will "calmly" burn. I don't have the expertise to know how the formulation of an explosive relates to its power, but I would guess that the reaction enthalpy is a good measure of maximum achievable yield. (Please correct me if I'm making unfounded assumptions.) In a reaction with water (resulting in both peroxide and hydrogen gas, which contribute to the explosion), you get these figures (rounded): Metal__kJ/mol__kJ/g___yield relative to dynamite Li_____222_____32_______425% Na_____184______8_______105% K______196______5________65% Rb_____195______2.3______30% Cs_____203______1.5______20% For purposes of explosive yield comparison, dynamite gives about 7.5 kJ/g. Using that figure, and assuming that Irich's device was a maximally effective water+metal explosion, you get pretty equivalent weight-for-weight yield out of sodium as you do from dynamite. Lithium has more energy per mass, and the heavier metals have less. That's clearly not definitive, though, since water isn't nearly the best oxidizer you can putin an explosive. Someone who knows what they are doing could probably coax much higher energies out all of these. I suspect that the characteristics described (doesn't explode immediately in air but does in water) are the best clue. My (unfounded) suspicion is that whatever the identity of ettmetal that they use, other group 1 metals would also work as substitute.

This jumped out to me the same way as the OP. I don't think we'll see Suit again, but I do suspect he was spirited away (ha!) somewhere and that we will see similarly stolen cognitive aspects in the future. We don't know how the Heralds are packed off to Braize when they die, but at least in that special case there are ways to shunt people to where you want them to go.

When Marasi grabs the bands and does her awesomeness, she notices that she is leaking mist. When we get a Steris PoV, she comments that her sister "started glowing" and flew away. This struck me as odd. We have seen (and have WoB) that the mists and stormlight are very similar in lots of ways, being essentially the same thing for different shards; but to my knowledge we have never seen Scadrian mists glow, either on their own or in connection with an Ascension. It makes the most sense from a narrative standpoint for the glowing to be in reference to the leaking mist, but magically that doesn't sound right to me. Maybe in "tapping everything" she was also drawing enough heat that she started to glow? I'm not sure. So, is the glowing significant? Is it an error? Is it related to the leaking mist?

I am pretty confident that ettmetal is a group-1 element. The objections in this thread that such a metal isn't capable of destroying a city seem misdirected to me. I'll need to go back and find the quote (I bought the paper copy this time) but I'm pretty sure that Suit's statement was about being disappointed because "we [the Set] needed city-destroying bombs." I don't believe it is ever claimed that ettmetal has that ability, only that the Set wanted it to. It is asserted that the Hunter expedition brought bombs capable of destroying the temple, but that is an entirely different destructive scale.

You are right--good clarification. (By "cellular autoimmunity" I meant cell-mediated. I tend to oversimplify.) Thanks for bringing up anaphylaxis. That is what my mind usually jumps to when I hear "cytokine storm", even though that term applies to all sorts of non-anaphylactic situations too. I appreciate the correction.

The speed of Bleeder's death certainly argues for a fast-acting mechanism, which rules out cellular autoimmunity (like graft rejection) but definitely allows for the more generalized cytokine storm that Aonar references. That mechanism shares a lot with septic shock and induces multi-organ failure pretty quickly. (Usually more than just a few minutes, which is why we have medical interventions that often work for such things, but conceivably helped along to the crisis point by the kandra's ability to crank up the system.) The apoptosis idea is a good one, and could be stretched to work, but the usual timecourse for that kind of cell death is hours, not minutes. Which isn't to say that organ function wouldn't be impaired much sooner than that if all of the cells got the "die now" signal at once. I have nothing to support this, but my assumption while reading was that the death spiral affects kandra physiology directly, not the (usually human) bodies they are wearing. That way it couldn't be counteracted if the Shard forced them to turn back into goop before the process finished. That Bleeder is apparently able to fall off of one set of bones and reform a body on the next in just a few seconds suggests that gloopifying doesn't take long. Thinking about this has given me some uncomfortable thoughts, though. Whatever its mechanism, how did the kandra discover this death spiral and confirm that it works? How many died, or nearly died, in their search for something that would act fast enough? A very disturbing avenue of research, if you ask me.

That would be fine with me as well. I look forward to reading them. And if the scope changes you can let me know.

If that review series happens, I would be interested in contributing. PM me if you want submissions.

Great analysis, Chaos! I'm trying to guess the identities of the tertiary characters. Right now I'm predicting Szeth=1, Jasnah=2, Eshonai=3, Navani=4. I was initially surprised that the "short story collection" line has 6 segments, since we've only gotten 4 interludes in the past. Then I realized that he must be including the prologue and epilogue in that category. Not a change-up after all.

Some great ideas here! I'm going to take a different tack and start with feruchemical zinc (mental speed). Recent WoB suggests that it also allows for intuitive leaps, and I think that giving myself the time and ability to plan and figure things out even when surprised would be super useful. I'll double down on this with allomantic electrum (see your own future). I'm sure there are ways to make that useful, especially as a way to gain information during a zinc think. There is a good chance that it is only helpful in large doses (i.e. if you can see minutes ahead rather than seconds) which is why I'm going to get a spike of allomantic duralumin to boost it with. On a complete tangent, I couldn't help but imagine the effects of translocating the zombie apocalypse from Earth to Scadrial (any tech level). Koloss are hugely useful allies, but absolutely terrifying if bitten. And imagine the consternation of a kandra whose bones start trying to walk around on their own!

Do you have a source for this? I was also under the impression that "in your mouth" wouldn't count as "internalized" for the purposes of burning, though I recognize that there is nothing in the text to support that definitively. (I'm familiar with the quotes about burning spikes.) I do wonder if an encapsulated metal bead would be allomantically available, or if the surface must contact your organs or fluids directly for you to be able to burn it. Hemalurgy has to contact blood, but it’s a completely different system so I doubt we can infer much from that requirement. I suspect the answer will be no. Once the metal atoms ionize and dissociate from each other, they no longer have the same composition or structure, and we know that the molecular structure is crucial in accessing the powers of alomancy. The argument in favor of burning would be young Vin’s ability to build up a reserve of Luck (which we know is brass for soothing) over the course of days and weeks. I don’t know much about the bioaccumulation of copper, but I doubt that it would stick around in the body as brass. This is a good question. Metal poisoning is an effect of an oxidized (cationic) form of the metal, sometimes in complex with other things. Depending on whether the ionic forms are allomantically active, you might be able to burn off some of the metals. If you can, would doing so reverse or stop the effects of metal poisoning? It depends on the metal. In all cases it would definitely be a good thing to do to stop things from getting worse: most modern treatment begins with getting the metal out of the body by chelation or dialysis. However some of the effects of poisoning continue after the metal is gone. See below for details, but the short version is that cadmium and copper are bad, and iron and chromium are cause for concern. Here is a summary of toxicity degree and mechanism for the base metals, and for the other components of alloyed metals. (Spoilered for length)

Perhaps I'm mistaken. The coppermind says that both the Forger's spiritual connection and the distance from MaiPon are important: The cited reference for both claims is this WoB: That doesn't strictly say the same thing, so while I suspect there are other WoB that justify what was put on the coppermind, I don't have direct support for it.

Great catch, skaa! This discussion has made me think about some other aspects of Selish magic. It has been quite a while since I read Elantris, so I'm relying on the coppermind a lot here. If those with more recent memories of the book would correct my mistakes, I'd appreciate it. (Also, this will ramble a bit. I'm not trying to make a point, just reason through things out loud.) The main reason I initially thought that the potions wouldn't be invested is that Hrovell is part of the Fjordell Empire. I was working under the assumption that the regional manifestation of magic was tied to the cognitive identity of the region. That is, since Fjorden is a single nation-state, it would have a single expression of its magic (which we'd seen on-screen in the Dakhor monks). We know that your origin on Sel changes whether you can become an Elantrian, a Forger, etc. I was similarly attributing this to the cognitive identity of the individual, since we know that the investiture on Sel predominantly resides in the cognitive realm. On reflection, this was not a good assumption. You need to be born in or have bloodline from MaiPon to be a forger, and answers to other questions like this have involved the ideas of sDNA and spiritweb, your spiritual connection to places and things. The reliance of Selish magics on the physical shape of the land (mountains, chasms, etc.) suggests to me that the resemblance of Aons to the shape of Arelon the nation is an instance of shared cause, not cause and effect. That is, national boundaries tend to follow geographical features, so you would expect a nation's shape to appear in a symbol that derives from those same features. Cognitive identity as a nation or empire has, I now think, little if any effect on the regional manifestations. Skaa's discovery that Hrovell retains its unique manifestation (potions) despite having been subsumed by the greater Empire seems to support this. It's certainly possible that the inhabitants of Hrovell don't consider themselves fundamentally Fjorden, but more likely to me that the potions are in fact tied to the physical land of Hrovell, not the idea of Hrovell the country. On the topic of the potions, then, I am newly impressed with Forton's skill. We know that all Selish magics lose strength as they travel away from their own region, though AonDor is particularly dramatic in this regard. So for Forton to know how strong to tell the potion to be in order for it to imitate Elantrian appearance, then wear off after exactly the requested five days when used hundreds of miles away is astonishing accuracy. Which brings me to a question and a realization. First, what does it take to be initiated in any of these systems? The Shaod strikes with apparent randomness, and I don't have a sense for what percentages are hit. We don't know how many of Shai's people are forgers either. On Scadrial there are both unsnapped proto-allomancers and Snapped allomancers who haven't yet discovered their abilities, so I would imagine that similar situations occur here. I hope we learn more about that soon. The realization is that so far Selish magic has been very external in its effects, and remarkably mechanical. For example, a Forger must make the seal, but anyone can apply it. I wonder how much the distance you travel from MaiPon matters to the different stages of Forgery. Presumably Shai would run into difficulty trying to carve a seal if she had travelled to Hrovell, but if she tried to use a pre-carved stamp would it take? If she carried one of those stamped pots with her would the seal fail either immediately or faster than usual? Similarly, the potion, once made, was portable and usable by anyone. Only people from Arelon can be Elantrians, but the Aons they draw can heal anyone who comes. I suspect that the bones of Dakhor monks are similar, in that certain magic users are able to do the necessary chanting/shaping (sorry, don't really recall the process) but that they can do this to anyone's bones, not just people from the correct region. (Oooo, supponse an Arelon youth converts to Shu-Dereth and becomes a Dakhor monk, then returns home and gets taken by the Shaod. What happens then?) As for how you go about programming the potion to do what you want it to, I'm not sure. I like all of the proposals so far (stirring patterns, arranging ingredients, using materials--either ingredients or utensils--of the correct shape). An alternative could be the way you heat or cool it. Use specially shaped grilles over your fire to direct the heat at it, or submerge heated (or chilled) brands in the liquid to impart the properties.

Given the way it is pronounced aloud when Brandon is speaking, I definitely think "real" is the original root, and that the "realm" sense is an additional bonus/later development.

If you go to the hardcover listing on Amazon for Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians, the cover art on the top left has the text "Look Inside" above it. Clicking on that will open a preview window with pages from the book. There are only certain pages available to view, but in this case they include pages with (very fun!) character art for Alcatraz, Ms. Fletcher, Grandpa Smedry, Sing, and Bastille. The preview for the Scrivener's Bones has character art for Australia, Kaz, and Bastille's mother. (As Peter mentions, the Look Inside" preview isn't available yet for Shattered Lens or Knights of Crystalia.)

While I suspect you are right, unless there is a WoB that I missed we don't know if this is true. (When asked at a signing, Brandon responded with "The biggest RAFO")