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Brandon Sanderson / Re: Ashfalls
« on: April 30, 2008, 10:39:08 PM »
Hmm, maybe we need a volcanologist advisor to tell us how this stuff works...
News:
Max is a Shadowblade, a supernatural--and supernaturally competent--warrior bound to protect her witch Giselle. As a Shadowblade, Max doesn't age. She is better, faster, stronger than any ordinary human being. And she hates it. Giselle betrayed her trust to make Max what she is, and though she is magically compelled to protect Giselle and follow orders, Max works against her witch in every way she can. Continue reading Bitter Night
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527
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Written in Steel - Spoilers
« on: April 30, 2008, 10:36:01 PM »
Thanks, Ookla. That makes sense, more or less.
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Brandon Sanderson / Re: Kandra of Preservation?
« on: April 30, 2008, 08:38:48 PM »I agree, the kandra are most likely deluding themselves in some way to make themselves feel better.
This would go along with Sanderson's desire not to follow the usual convention of all announced prophesy being fulfilled. It would also fit with the theme of all religions, knowledge, and history being corrupted and unreliable. I hope this is the case, because I wouldn't want to see the series end with all humanity exterminated and kandra ruling the earth. I like TenSoon, but not enough to kill off all the other great characters.
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Brandon Sanderson / Re: The "Snapping" Thread
« on: April 30, 2008, 08:33:25 PM »That brings on another theory now that I think about it... what if all those people the mists started to attack, but didn't, were unSnapped mistings and mistborn?
Or, what if the ones that the mists DID kill were unSnapped Allomancers?
530
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Do Steel Inquistors need to burn metals? *Possible Spoilers*
« on: April 30, 2008, 08:29:23 PM »There are no female Inquisitors because even the Lord Ruler couldn't control an Inquisitor with PMS.
Are you proposing a fourth magic system here, more powerful than the others?
531
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Ruin and Preservation
« on: April 30, 2008, 08:27:01 PM »What I would like to know is if Kwaan was happy with the alternative he caused?
Excellent question. I don't know the answer, but it might help if we knew what would have happened if Alendi had fulfilled his quest. In other words, would we have been happier with that world than with the TLR-dominated one? Clearly, TLR thinks he's done the world a huge favor, but that could be just his arrogance talking.
One thing is clear, or at least it had better be true if the story is to end satisfactorily. There is some unknown third alternative (which Vin and/or Elend will discover and perform), and this third alternative is better than either releasing the power or taking it for oneself.
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Brandon Sanderson / Re: Creator...?
« on: April 30, 2008, 08:18:30 PM »There we go with this again. It's not necessarily good vs evil, more Order vs. Chaos. See the multiple discussions on Dragonmount (and probably several others as well) for full explanation.
Well, I haven't spent much time on Dragonmount, so I won't argue. I simply seem to remember Moiraine once saying something like "The Creator is good, the Dark One is evil, the Pattern is neither." Not that Moiraine is infallible, I suppose.
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Brandon Sanderson / Re: The Comprehensive Hemalurgy Thread
« on: April 30, 2008, 08:11:54 PM »The only thing that we know they do, that isn't a product of allomancy, is healing very fast.
Phaz, I really like your desire to trim down and simplify. Uncomplicated theories are the most likely to be true. Thus, until I see a theory more persuasive than those thus far, I will continue to believe that Inquisitors are Allomancers, although they clearly also have other powers (probably from Hemalurgy).
I did, however, think of something else they can do that an Allomancer can't: track down an individual Allomancer. Near the beginning of MB1, Kelsier tells Vin something about that one Inquisitor having her scent. Now this could be simply amplified Seeker abilities, where an Inquisitor can sense differences in Allomantic pulses caused by the individual Allomancer. Or it could be amplified Ironlines, where the Inquisitor can identify people by the patterns of their bones and organs, which they can see through the trace metals in people's bodies. But it could be a whole different ability, which neither regular Allomancers nor regular Feruchemists share.
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Brandon Sanderson / Re: Do Steel Inquistors need to burn metals? *Possible Spoilers*
« on: April 30, 2008, 07:53:59 PM »
Interesting point, Darxbane. I agree that the confluence of circumstances seems a bit too convenient - perhaps you're right that some or all of those events were influenced by Ruin. However, I think that's a different thing than saying the Inquisitors are totally controlled by Ruin, i.e. dead, which was what I was arguing against.
Who's discriminating? The Inquistors, because they don't want women amongst them? Or Sanderson, because the Inqs are just too brutal and disgusting to be thought of as female?
I think it's interesting that even as the fantasy genre is developing more heroines, the worst of the bad guys are generally still guys. Of course there are exceptions - Shelob and the female Forsaken come to mind - but I don't know of any female orcs or Uruk-Hai or Black Riders or grolm. It's like monsters are just naturally thought of as male.
Not that I'm objecting to this tendency, I simply find it worth discussing.
In response to your question, we haven't seen any female inquisitors, but we (most likely) have seen female hemalurgists, which means that theoretically there could be female inquisitors. The reason there aren't any is likely due to gender discrimination.
Who's discriminating? The Inquistors, because they don't want women amongst them? Or Sanderson, because the Inqs are just too brutal and disgusting to be thought of as female?
I think it's interesting that even as the fantasy genre is developing more heroines, the worst of the bad guys are generally still guys. Of course there are exceptions - Shelob and the female Forsaken come to mind - but I don't know of any female orcs or Uruk-Hai or Black Riders or grolm. It's like monsters are just naturally thought of as male.
Not that I'm objecting to this tendency, I simply find it worth discussing.
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Brandon Sanderson / Re: Written in Steel - Spoilers
« on: April 30, 2008, 07:20:59 PM »
I agree with you both. But I still don't get why the metal plate couldn't just be melted or filed down.
536
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Ashfalls
« on: April 30, 2008, 07:19:03 PM »Quote
Have you ever pour water on an already dead fire covered with white (rather pale grey) ash ? Well... ash turns black.
Absolutely! Brilliant thought! So the Ashmounts are like volcanos with water in them ... like lakes?
Quote
Still, you don't have to love something in order to use it. If you want to make a people forget about their previous life, making ash fall from the sky and obliterate all trace of it would be a great way to do it.
Good point. The ash (and its removal from streets, nobles' homes, and nobles' clothing) would also provide another form of menial, degrading labor for the skaa. Not that the Empire is exactly short on that.
537
Everything Else / Re: Best Quote Lately Reincarnated
« on: April 29, 2008, 09:18:11 PM »
Personally, I'm opposed to the bombing of abortion clinics. But I wouldn't want to impose my morality on anyone else.
(Don't remember where I heard that one.)
(Don't remember where I heard that one.)
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Brandon Sanderson / Written in Steel - Spoilers
« on: April 29, 2008, 08:21:01 PM »
Why can words written in metal be trusted, more than words written on paper or in a metalmind? I would think that Ruin or whoever is trying to warp the prophecy could just melt down the steel. If Ruin itself didn't have that ability, it could make the Inquisitors or someone else do it.
On a related note, I think it's very sneaky of Sanderson to have distorted prophecies and metalminds like this, especially along with the Ministry's propaganda. The combination means we can't trust anything any of the characters say about the Ascension or the Deepness or the Hero of Ages or about any other history or religion. This allows all the rampant speculation in this forum, while ensuring that none of us can be sure our theories are correct. We just have to wait for MB3, and anything in it that contradicts what came before can be explained by Ruin's corruption of metalminds.
On a related note, I think it's very sneaky of Sanderson to have distorted prophecies and metalminds like this, especially along with the Ministry's propaganda. The combination means we can't trust anything any of the characters say about the Ascension or the Deepness or the Hero of Ages or about any other history or religion. This allows all the rampant speculation in this forum, while ensuring that none of us can be sure our theories are correct. We just have to wait for MB3, and anything in it that contradicts what came before can be explained by Ruin's corruption of metalminds.
539
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Wheel v. Mist
« on: April 29, 2008, 08:00:36 PM »
Aes Sedai can be subtle and can seem normal - the Two Rivers people had no idea what Moiraine was till the Trolloc battle. Their power doesn't need to be obvious until they're using it in obvious ways - just as Mistborn powers are obvious sometimes. It's pretty dramatic when Vin flies through the air like an arrow, or tosses armed men around.
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Brandon Sanderson / Re: Creator...?
« on: April 29, 2008, 07:25:09 PM »
The Creator is the epitome of good, just as the Dark Lord is the epitome of bad. Rand is a very human character, more good than bad but definitely not purely good. I just don't see him being the Creator.