Mistborn 3 Annotations Discussion *Spoilers*

[Chaos]

Now that Ookla is getting the annotations posted on a regular basis, I think we should have a thread where we can pore over them as a group

[Shard]

So the first annotation is posted: Title Page.

I like that he was originally going to go with Final Hero mostly because it adds to the idea that "Hero of Ages" could apply to more then one person. Preservation was trying imo to get a Hero to counter Ruin. I think that's what it's plan was all along and Sazed was the "final Hero" though I feel Vin and  Alendi were Heros of Ages as well.

[Chaos]

Quick thing, Ookla: the annotations on the main page (as of today) say Chapter Five and Chapter Six, yet clicking on those links lead to an empty page. Going to the Annotation home page, there are only three updates, and none of them are the chapter ones. I wonder why on the front page it has the wrong ones displayed.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

It's a bug. Chapter 6 is the latest one to be uploaded, but it has not yet gone live and won't until July. What would be better would be for the latest live ones to be listed on the left. I've emailed Jordan about this.

(Also, I screwed up the dates for the two latest annotations that did go live. The second one wasn't supposed to go live until this next Tuesday, but I put the wrong year on it and it throws up an error when I try to change it.)

[Chaos]

That makes sense. Thanks for the explanation, Ook.

[Chaos]

I'm resurrected this thread because the latest MB3 annotation, Chapter 38.

First, to these forces, energy and mass are the same thing. So, their power can take physical shape—as Preservation's did in the bead of metal Elend ate. Second, there is a bit of Preservation inside of all the people—and it's this that allows the people to perform Allomancy. It needs to be awakened and stirred to be of use, but when it is, a proper metal can draw forth more of Preservation's power. It's like the metal attunes the bit within the person, allowing it to act as a catalyst to grab more power.

Allomancy is not fueled by metal; it is fueled by Preservation. The metal is the means by which a person can access that fuel, however. If there were another way to access it, then the metal wouldn't be needed.

Preservation's touch on people differs. Some have more, some have less. This doesn't make them better or worse people—indeed, some most touched by Preservation have been among the worst people in the world. As Ruin later points out, there is a difference between being evil and being destructive.

Regardless, if a person can get more Preservation into them, they become better Allomancers. Hence Elend becoming a Mistborn. Like all people, he had the potential within him—it was just too small of a potential to be awakened through normal means. That little jolt of Preservation's body, however, expanded and awakened his Allomancy.

As a tidbit, that was a side effect of what that bead of metal did. It wasn't the main purpose of the bead, and if another Allomancer were to burn it, it would do something else.

First of all, this answers that conversation way back where we argued how that metal could be burned when you already have to be an Allomancer to burn metals.

Second, Lerasium does something else? Discuss.

From my very spiffy Table of Allomantic Metals (which is incredible, by the way), Lerasium is:

Pure lerasium transforms a person into an Allomancer or drastically improves their Allomantic powers. In alloy form, it produces various expanded physical and enhancement effects, including the creation of Mistings.

I believe that I must mention that these Tables are in-world creations, and this one is a couple centuries after the end of Hero of Ages. They wouldn't have Lerasium to test. They only know what Vin/Elend learned in Hero of Ages, which is that this particular metal creates Allomancers. Obviously, judging from Brandon's tongue-in-cheek "" emoticon, this is intentional.

This also explains the disparity between the power of the God Metals, as atium's influence is decidedly less permanent than lerasium. [I suppose we should use the convention of keeping metal names lowercase.] Lerasium does something completely different.

Guesses?

We may have some clues on Feruchemical/Hemalurgy tables, as atium's temporal-ish Allomantic effect seems somewhat related to its Feruchemical power. Lerasium probably acts the same. So whatever our guesses for its actual Allomantic effect will probably be vaguely related to its Feruchemical power.

[Eerongal]

My guess would be it would have some sort of opposite-atium effect, though I have no idea what this could be.... we all ready have the "back in time" sort of metals, so i'm really unsure.

Lessee....Atium shows you all potential things someone can do.....maybe it lets you see all potential mental actions someone can do? I dunno, sounds kinda reaching to me....

[Chaos]

As I read your comment, I came up with an idea.

Atium, you see, has both temporal aspects and mental aspects. You can see into the future, and your brain can process the information more effectively (I would also assume that it gives you a bit more Ruin, compared with the body's natural Ruin/Preservation, just like lerasium gives you a better link to Preservation. However, unlike Preservation which gives you a clear magical effect, this Ruin-side effect may be more related to the violence one inflicts with atium, as Sazed notes in the epigraphs of MB3).

As alloyed-atium grants expanded mental and temporal aspects, and there are two clear components in atium's Allomantic effect, I think that the converse is true for lerasium. Its Allomantic power is physical and enhancement in nature, most likely.

That's really interesting, actually. Whereas normal metals have a pair in the same quadrant, like gold and electrum, atium and lerasium are on opposite halves of the metal wheel.

So, if atium grants invincibility through mental/temporal means, which in effect it does (brings a whole new meaning to god metal, yes?), lerasium may grant invincibility via physical/enhancement methods. That seems really plausible to me.

If this is true, there better be a frickin' lerasium vs. atium burning battle in a later Mistborn trilogy, or I will be extremely upset. That would be all kinds of awesome.

[Aranfan]

I thought we had reached a consensus that the Atium we see the characters use was the Electrum Alloy form?

[Eerongal]

As I read your comment, I came up with an idea.

Atium, you see, has both temporal aspects and mental aspects. You can see into the future, and your brain can process the information more effectively (I would also assume that it gives you a bit more Ruin, compared with the body's natural Ruin/Preservation, just like lerasium gives you a better link to Preservation. However, unlike Preservation which gives you a clear magical effect, this Ruin-side effect may be more related to the violence one inflicts with atium, as Sazed notes in the epigraphs of MB3).

As alloyed-atium grants expanded mental and temporal aspects, and there are two clear components in atium's Allomantic effect, I think that the converse is true for lerasium. Its Allomantic power is physical and enhancement in nature, most likely.

That's really interesting, actually. Whereas normal metals have a pair in the same quadrant, like gold and electrum, atium and lerasium are on opposite halves of the metal wheel.

So, if atium grants invincibility through mental/temporal means, which in effect it does (brings a whole new meaning to god metal, yes?), lerasium may grant invincibility via physical/enhancement methods. That seems really plausible to me.

If this is true, there better be a frickin' lerasium vs. atium burning battle in a later Mistborn trilogy, or I will be extremely upset. That would be all kinds of awesome.

that actually seems quite plausible. I wholely expect the two to be opposites in every possible manner, and i think your assessment is probably pretty accurate.

[Chaos]

As I read your comment, I came up with an idea.

Atium, you see, has both temporal aspects and mental aspects. You can see into the future, and your brain can process the information more effectively (I would also assume that it gives you a bit more Ruin, compared with the body's natural Ruin/Preservation, just like lerasium gives you a better link to Preservation. However, unlike Preservation which gives you a clear magical effect, this Ruin-side effect may be more related to the violence one inflicts with atium, as Sazed notes in the epigraphs of MB3).

As alloyed-atium grants expanded mental and temporal aspects, and there are two clear components in atium's Allomantic effect, I think that the converse is true for lerasium. Its Allomantic power is physical and enhancement in nature, most likely.

That's really interesting, actually. Whereas normal metals have a pair in the same quadrant, like gold and electrum, atium and lerasium are on opposite halves of the metal wheel.

So, if atium grants invincibility through mental/temporal means, which in effect it does (brings a whole new meaning to god metal, yes?), lerasium may grant invincibility via physical/enhancement methods. That seems really plausible to me.

If this is true, there better be a frickin' lerasium vs. atium burning battle in a later Mistborn trilogy, or I will be extremely upset. That would be all kinds of awesome.

that actually seems quite plausible. I wholely expect the two to be opposites in every possible manner, and i think your assessment is probably pretty accurate.

I'm really enjoying going back to theory mode.

I thought we had reached a consensus that the Atium we see the characters use was the Electrum Alloy form?

I never subscribed to that notion I'm unconvinced of it. The burden of proof is on you, really. I'm not trying to condescending, but it's true. What clear evidence do you have that this atium is atium-electrum?

Brandon has said that when godhood is in its solid form, it does a specific thing. In liquid form, it's most potent. I forgot what gaseous did, but what is the atium we currently have? It does one specific thing. Sure, there are alloys, but the point is that atium is fits this description, too. I thought the primary evidence for atium-electrum was that lerasium, with its Mistborn-granting powers, was far superior to atium's power, so obviously this "atium" isn't true atium, but an alloy of that.

This annotation supports the opposite, however, that what we thought of as lerasium's "primary" ability isn't primary at all, but a side effect.

[Eerongal]

So do you think lerasium's like some kind of super powered Pewter/Duralumin alloy, or like an "unlimited" supply of gold-style healing from hemalurgy for causing invicibility?

Other than just straight saying "you're invincible", i'm trying to think of ways it could make you invincible. That's all i can really come up with, unless it does something crazy like making you so incredibly elastic you can't be damaged or other weird methods of being "invincible"

[Chaos]

Heck if I know. I got my theorizing done for today. Usually this is the part where I sit back until I have a revelation.

[Patriotic Kaz]

Man is sentient on Scardiel b/c the preservation/ ruin ratio is inbalanced so your theory of atium giving you more of Ruin to me is far-fetched. Leras was weaker than Ati (until he seperated Ati from his body) b/c of it, which is why Leras gave up his "mind" to make a prison for Ati.

[Chaos]

Man is sentient on Scardiel b/c the preservation/ ruin ratio is inbalanced so your theory of atium giving you more of Ruin to me is far-fetched. Leras was weaker than Ati (until he seperated Ati from his body) b/c of it, which is why Leras gave up his "mind" to make a prison for Ati.

My rationale was that if lerasium had a side effect, atium must as well.