Tarion

I'm going to disagree that a Shard's intent doesn't influence it's metal in magic. It's in the annotation to HoA (I believe) where it's mentioned that it's not a coincidence that Atium turns you into a killing machine. It's a reflection of Ruin's Intent. Similarly, the fact that it's just so efficient in Hemalurgy could be seen to encourage more Hemalurgy, which contributes to Ruin. As natc says, even the Feruchemy is manipulating your relationship with Ruin. It's only the Compounding that's just outright weird. Although I would agree that Harmony's metal (Sazedium, surely) would most likely function as a metalmind that anyone could access and store anything in. As for why this metal has such seemingly broad effects, I think that co-opting the effects that are already there seems like a fairly fitting effect for a Shard intruding on another world. It's already using the local magic systems on the bigger scale, so maybe it's doing it on a smaller scale too. Also, going to go out of my way to stake out a theory now - The Shard at play is a reformed Dominion (Which ties nicely into the 10th Anniversary for Elantris). Dominion fits with Miles' statements in AoL and Paalm's methods seem pretty damnation close to those undertaken in Elantris. 'Stealing' the magic systems already in play would fit with Dominion, as would stealing power directly. In fact, I'll try to write up a separate post about this later.

It's not necessarily intuitive that a God Metal would be able to steal any trait, I agree. However, given how little we know of the God Metals outside of their "aligned" magical systems (Atium being literally the only one we've seen, granting the ability to live forever when Compounded, seemingly in strict opposition to it's Shard's intent), I don't think it's unreasonable to take it in stride when it apparently happens in the text. I would however point out that you're potentially off with Lerasium's effect - Allowing you to burn all metals is a side effect. A Mistborn burning Lerasium would have a different effect. Which kind of ties into my point about how little we know of the God metals. Atium is literally the only one where we know it's effects, either in it's own system or in the others. We just don't know enough to really say that the new information we're discovering is inconsistent with what has gone before. I'm not sure, but I could certainly see the argument that the "stealing any trait" is Atium's equivalent of "Give you the ability to burn any metals" - A side effect of the metal - and the primary element of Atium is it's ability to hold more charge than other metals, potentially overcoming Hemalurgic decay.

The moment I read your title, I thought "...Wayne". Yeah, with his insight into people, it would be great. I just want Wayne and MeLaan Worldhopping around the Cosmere, meeting people. They don't even really have to do anything.

And clearly, Trellium, or whatever metal it was, has similar properties (at least so far as allomancy/feruchemy go). Which isn't unusual because, again, God metals do weird things. Given that we've not seen the rise of a whole new metallic art, it looks like whatever new Shard we have is just working within the framework already in place on the planet. Ending up with a similar effect to one of the Shards already there seems fairly straightforward.

Why can Atium steal Allomancy? Hell, why does Atium (Ruin) when used Feruchemically and Allomantically (Preservation) give the ultimate in Preservation, agelessness? God metals do weird things. I do like the alloy suggestion too.

He goes a very long way to avoid giving a straight answer there. My reading of it is that Odium was there before the earthquake, but may have set something in motion that caused the earthquake, after Odium had left. Or rather, that Sanderson is unwilling to rule that possibility out.

There's a line when they find Idashwy's body that suggests that it might be what she's doing. But that's before they even know there's a kandra involved, IIRC.

Brass is body heat. But yes, without also compounding Cadmium, your options are limited.

A lot of people have attributed Wax's Steel bubble to his Twinborn effect. I think this is likely, but not complete. I think Wax has an enhanced degree of spatial awareness. Crashers are the ultimate Coinshots, so it makes sense that this combination of powers would contribute to that. And think about it. Wax has a couple of skills that are simply beyond anything we've seen from other Coinshots - His Steel bubble is incredible. To make it work, he's apparently aware of every source of metal around him, and excluding from them a constant push. He's also a fantastic shot. I believe it's Miles who thinks he's the best he's ever seen. But he picks these skills up quickly. Think of him in the SoS prologue - He's a terrible shot. His Steelpush launches his gun out of his hand. To go from that to Waxillium Dawnshot, the best gunman in the world, and arguably one of the best Coinshots in a few years is amazing. He can shoot bullets out of the air. I don't think it's a coincidence that he has both of those abilities. I think they're tied together.

Honestly, if you start to go through the Compounders, they're often not that useful. A Crasher like Wax is better than most of the combinations. The big ones (Atium and Gold) have been done. If you look at the 8 common types, they're pretty mixed. Steel is hideously effective, but hard to include in a story. It's a massive "I win" button. Zinc has a lot of the same problems. Tin is... well, it's Tin. You've got superhuman senses that are more superhuman. Pewter is iffy, because Feruchemical pewter has some pretty unpleasant drawbacks to agility. A Pewter Compounder would most likely just use it on a fairly low level to supplement Allomantic pewter. The advantage there is the constant supply for low level use. The Mistborn RPG names an Iron Compounder as a "Deader", which fairly accurately sums it up - You've really got to be careful with that power. Unlimited weight is potentially useful, but the moment you try to use Allomantic iron, you're pulling something straight through your body. Compounding Copper? No clue how that works. Maybe lets you access the memories without having to take them out entirely, allowing you to avoid degradation? Bronze Compounding just means going without sleep. Useful, but not really as big an impact as some of the others. Brass doesn't do much for you (Unless you're into deep sea/outer space exploration, I suppose) Then you've got the other metals which are just... weird, for the most part. They swing from weird, niche cases that push the boundaries of Investiture to "I win" buttons that warp stories. Twinborn like Wax and Wayne are far, far better characters than most of the Compounders, IMO.

You're making a bit of a weird assumption here that I'm not sure I get. If they're capable of raising a Mistborn child to be loyal enough that they trust them, surely they could just raise a child to be loyal and then spike them? That way they don't have to win the lottery of raising the hundreds, if not thousands of kids necessary to create a Mistborn, raise them through adolescence and hope they Snap into a Mistborn. Can you imagine if the one child that ends up Mistborn was rebellious? Literally more than a decade wasted. Instead, they raise some kids, pick the most loyal and spike them, using the powers of their siblings to do it.

Oh god. I so want a Kandra to eat a Dakkhor monk. Quick method of creating superKandra.

Wax seems pretty sure that they're trying to create a Hemalurgic supply, from what he says when discussing the book Marsh gave him. So yeah, not breeding a Mistborn. Farming Mistings so that they can create their own Mistborn. Of course, I don't imagine Harmony would be too happy with that, so when they start combining the spikes, they might get an unpleasant shock (Unless they get access to the metal Bleeder was using, perhaps?)

I was just saying last night that I'd totally buy a Soonie. If they're not in the shop soon, one is getting made.

So I found the section So definitely looks like someone who survived the end (it specifies Originators). And, from the text, unlikely to be Allriane - She's also (most likely) Wax's ancestor, but that doesn't get mentioned here.Two options I see - Beldre, a character who was pretty much defined by her lies, or Demoux's love interest. I lean towards the latter.

He gets the Last Emperor title too. Looking at Alloy though, they do specify that the Originators were the people who survived under the earth and rebuilt society. So probably not Tindwyl (although actual context could make her a viable choice)

I'm not sure - I could see an argument that it was broader - the people who ended/saved the world. Aren't Vin and Elend Originators? Bah, I'm going to have to re-read it now.

I've not got the book to hand, so I may be wrong. But was this someone who survived the end? Because if not, Tindwyl is a great fit. She had some pretty harsh truths for some important people in the crew, especially Sazed.

I feel it's worth remembering that the rules we know don't necessarily apply to Bleeder. The metal for the spike is important and we know literally none of the properties of the spike she was using. However, it was most likely a God metal. I doubt burning it would necessarily have had the result that burning a normal spike would. Especially since Harmony was unable to track her - that would indicate to me that it seems to still have some of the Investiture of the original spike, not just the Investiture provided through Hemalurgy. EDIT: Ooh, interesting thought - What if we're going in reverse of the original trilogy. This was the Hemalurgy book, next time we'll see something to do with the new metal(s) and Feruchemy, and then finally Allomancy. This would provide a sort of mounting threat, as the powers grow increasingly dangerous. A new Allomancy could be a serious problem.

Is this the first outright sad ending for a Cosmere book? I'm used to Sanderson books ending on a high note. Sure, bad things happen, but they're at worst bittersweet. Kelsier might die, but he dies to achieve his goals. Even Well of Ascension, where the good guys "lose" didn't hit me this hard (Maybe because Straff gets what's coming to him and Luthadel is saved). But here, there weren't any bad guys (Apart from the Set, who were pretty tangential). Just victims. I felt bad for everyone. Part of it is that I shared Wax's disillusionment. Damnit, after the Mistborn trilogy I thought that Sazed would be a great god. But I absolutely see Harmony's point about humanity's lack of drive. Just... Ugh. I hope Bands of Mourning shows hope for the future. I miss the optimism of Alloy of Law.

I felt that Steris really stepped up as a partner for Wax, rather than a love interest. And I think that's what he wants from a marriage. I don't think he'll recover from Lessie and I think he's just fine with his wife being a woman he can work closely with.

I doubt Szeth has used even a significant fraction of the Stormlight the Soulcasters are burning through. Remember that to keep up with demand in WoR, they're no longer simply Soulcasting at night, because there's not enough time. They're having to train other 'casters, in order to achieve close to 24 hour Soulcasting. Szeth's occasional murder sprees simply don't compare to the sheer size of the burden the Soulcasters carry in the warcamps. They're apparently functioning at capacity, all night, every night.

Just to throw an alternative perspective on Kaladin - As someone struggling with depression at the moment, Kaladin's chapters get me down. It's a fairly realistic depiction, but I'm not sure that's a particularly good thing. For most people, depression is tedious (as identified by others above). For a good chunk of the rest, it's the sort of thing we're reading to get away from. Definitely hope Kaladin can get distracted by something cheerier, and focus on it for a while. Because I'm considering skipping his chapters when I re-read WoR, and I don't think I could take another book of him moping.

Thugs do really well, but only against people who aren't prepared. Hazekillers show that a group of regular guys with sticks and wooden shields are able to counter Thugs (Along with the rest of the Mistings). Yes, they have training for it, but that just goes to show that the biggest advantage Thugs have over regular people is that they're a surprise - The vast majority of people outside of the nobility aren't allowed to know about Mistings, and so aren't ready to fight them. Plus, outside of Bronze, you don't really know a guy's a Thug until he's hitting you or your friends (at which point, for most people, it's simply too late).

Words of Radiance Spoiler Scadrial tends to favor small squad-based combat, where the biggest advantage of Thugs is that they let you increase your manpower without needing more people. On Roshar, Surgebinders supplement armies. They just operate on a different scale.