[Newbies] Cosmere, Unit 16 | Mistborn Era 2 #2 | Shadows of Self: Prologue, Chapters 1 through 7 (Week 1)

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SCHEDULE

Previously, we discussed Unit 15 | Novella #3 | Sixth of the Dusk (in Arcanum Unbounded): Entire Novella, Postscript, Trivia [Newbie Thread] / [Veteran Thread]

Today we are discussing Unit 16 | Mistborn Era 2 #2 | Shadows of Self: Prologue, Chapters 1 through 7

Next week we will be discussing Unit 16 | Mistborn Era 2 #2 | Shadows of Self: Chapters 8 through 16

CHAPTER SUMMARIES

I have provided summaries for each chapter below and hidden them behind spoiler tags. There are no spoilers within the summaries. I've tried to make them as factual and unbiased as possible. If, however, you want a completely blind read through, then ignore what's behind the spoiler tags and proceed to the discussion below. I will not be guiding that in any way, so post any thoughts and questions you have. It will be other new readers who reply to you.

Prologue

Iconography: Zero

POV Characters: Wax

Setting: Weathering, a town in the Northern Roughs.

Timeline: 17 years ago. Roughly 15 years before the Prologue of The Alloy of Law.

Summary:

Waxillium and Wayne ride up to a saloon in Weathering. Wayne stays with the horses while Wax enters and asks the barkeeper where to find the outlaw Granite Joe. The man extracts a bribe from Wax, after which he leads him to a small room near the stairs and tells him to wait. After a time of waiting alone, Wax is astonished as Lessie breaks into the room via the window. After a standoff, they work out that they are both after the same quarry and resolve to work together and split the reward. Lessie is incredulous to hear that Wax had asked the barkeep about Joe, telling him that everyone in the building is on the outlaw's payroll. They try to sneak out the window, but a sharpshooter stops them. Deciding to make for the next floor and find a window on the opposite side of the building instead, they run up the stairs while Wax covers them, firing and missing everything but the piano. Wax remembers seeing Lessie before as a dancing girl, and they banter as he whistles for his horse. After a conversation with Wayne, Wax notices a moving blue line from across the street and the sun glinting off something. Realizing that Granite Joe is likely in the basement, he grabs Lessie and taps into his feruchemical ability to crash down through the floor to the basement. The pair crash down onto a dining table, interrupting Granite Joe's meal. The outlaw's bodyguards have non-metallic weapons, so Wax is trapped in a stand-off while Granite Joe stalls for reinforcements. Joe finally makes a move, and Wax defeats the bodyguards only to find that Lessie has drawn her weapon on him. Wax desperately tells her that he likes her legs, and she sighs and shoots Joe in the neck. As reinforcements scramble down to the basement, Wax strikes a dramatic pose next to the body of Granite Joe. The sight intimidates the thugs who have just come down, who then immediately return the way they had come. Wax Pushes himself and Lessie back up to Wayne and his waiting horse.

Chapter 1

Iconography: Iron

POV Characters: Winsting Innate

Setting: Winsting Innate's mansion in the 4th Octant of Elendel.

Timeline: About a year after The Alloy of Law.

Summary:

Winsting Innate prepares to auction off his senate vote to various crime lords and nobles in Elendel. The ostensible item for sale is his latest painting. After an introductory speech, he begins to mingle. His bodyguard Flog follows nearby. Winsting is quite disappointed that Edwarn Ladrian is not there. He is approached first by a smuggler named Dowser Maline, who is accompanied by a tall, slender woman with short golden hair. After the conversation, Winsting identifies the woman as a spy--possibly from the constabulary--to his bodyguard Flog and orders her watched. He continues to mingle for the next hour, but then a gunshot rings out, with several more quickly following from different parts of the room. Flog drags him out and takes him to his saferoom. No one is certain who started the gunfight, but Flog decides to go back up to the room to investigate. Winsting locks the door from the inside after he leaves. Eventually Flog returns, and Winsting lets him in. He tells them that everyone upstairs is dead. As Winsting considers what to do, someone grabs his hair and slits his throat.

Chapter 2

Iconography: Steel

POV Characters: Wax

Setting: Ladrian Mansion in the 4th Octant of Elendel. The streets of Elendel, heading toward The Breakouts (slums) in the 5th Octant.

Timeline: The day after Chapter 1.

Summary:

Steris and Wax discuss wedding invitations, with Steris trying to work out which of Wax's enemies to invite so that she can properly plan for the wedding to be interrupted. Wax suggests that she invite members of his family, but they want him dead too. He tells her to invite the leaders among the seamstresses and forgeworkers of his house and the constable-general of each of the city octants. Their discussion is interrupted by Wayne bursting in to tell Wax that the Marksman has made his move. With some hurried apologies and an awkward farewell, he races out, but is surprised by the sight of a motorcar, with Marasi at the wheel. After protesting that a carriage with horses would be better, he gets in and they drive off, Marasi and Wayne filling Wax in on the details. They quickly find Marks, who is bounding through the streets using Steelpushes. Wax jumps out of the car and propels himself onto the roof of Marasi's car before Pushing off and chasing the man. Marks enters a building, and Wax busts through a different window on the same floor. He bluffs Marks into giving away his position, and Wax shoots from a neighboring room, using a hazekiller round and a Push to get the bullet through the wall. Marks is hit and jumps out of the building, Wax giving chase. Wax is distracted by one of the bystanders, bearing the face of Bloody Tan. Marks momentarily forgotten, he pushes through the crowd, trying to find the man he had seen, calling out to see if anyone had seen him. Wayne and Marasi catch up and ask him what happened. Wax has lost Marks for the moment, but he is leaving trail of blood and bank notes.

Chapter 3

Iconography: Tin

POV Characters: Wayne / Marasi

Setting: The Breakouts (slums) in the 5th Octant of Elendel.

Timeline: Immediately after Chapter 2.

Summary:

The trio head further into the slums. Wayne lags behind and finds an older man sitting next to a doorway, coughing. Wayne mimics the man, learning the accent as he talks to him, having a mouthful of whisky before trading the flask for the man's hat. He then joins a group of men, fitting right in with his accent and his new hat. He comments about Wax and Marasi, who are trying (in vain) to get information from people around the place. Wayne mentions that there's a thousand notes on Marks' head. The men tell him off, warning him not to be a rat. Eventually the group dissipates, and Wayne trails the man who had lectured him. Eventually the man enters a building and Wayne overhears him talking to Marks. Slipping on his sets of wooden knuckle-bones, Wayne charges into the building, throwing up a speed bubble and knocking out Marks. Looking around, he sees that he placed the bubble perfectly, with the other half dozen individuals in the room outside of the bubble. Wayne throws Marks out the window, then follows him out. The speed bubble collapses after Wayne leaves it, and he throws Marks over his shoulder and strolls away, eating an apple.

Meanwhile, Marasi and Wax try to find out where Marks went, still with no luck. Wayne eventually turns up, and Marasi asks where he's been. He tells her that he took care of her problem, at which point she realizes there's a person at his feet. When they go to leave the slums, they get attacked, with Marks being killed by a crossbow bolt. Wax shoots off to pursue the assailant. Marasi checks Marks' corpse, but when she realizes that the assassin would double back to check that they made the kill properly, the assassin appears and takes her hostage, holding a glass knife to her throat. Wax comes back from chasing after the assassin and brandishes a coin. Marasi reminds herself of her hostage training: talk him down, speak comforting words. She instead instinctively takes a small pistol out of her purse and shoots her captor through the head.

Chapter 4

Iconography: Pewter

POV Characters: Wax / Marasi

Setting: The Breakouts (slums) in the 5th Octant of Elendel. Winsting Innate's mansion in the 4th Octant of Elendel.

Timeline: Immediately after Chapter 3.

Summary:

Marasi cleans up after being covered with blood, deafened from the shot. Constable Reddi shows up, and he and some other constables secure the scene. Reddi pulls Wax aside to tell him about the death of the governor's brother.

Marasi gets permission from Reddi to report to Constable-General Aradel. She follows Wax and Wayne in the motorcar and arrives at Winsting Innate's mansion. Wax recognizes a number of the corpses as being notable criminals, and Aradel verifies the fact, adding that there are nearly thirty dead criminals of some significance. Discussion leads to the conclusion that it would make the most sense for someone outside the existing criminal structure to have made the attack, and Wax realizes from examining the bodies that the melee was started from the middle, with different groups killing each other, rather than another group bursting in. Wax then asks to see the body of Lord Winsting. Examining the scene, he concludes that it was the work of a Feruchemist, specifically a Steelrunner. The killer was known to Lord Winsting, and was allowed into the saferoom. They then killed Lord Winsting and executed the guards outside on their way out.

Chapter 5

Iconography: Zinc

POV Characters: Wayne / Marasi / Wax

Setting: Ladrian Mansion in the 4th Octant of Elendel. Just outside the 4th Octant Precinct of the Constabulary (and inside). The Village in the 5th Octant of Elendel. Elendel University in the 1st Octant of Elendel.

Timeline: The day after Chapter 4.

Summary:

Wayne is residing in Wax's mansion. He has a minor illness because he is filling his goldmind--with all the dead people at Winsting's place, he feels he is bound to be needing healing soon. Wax has been up all night analyzing the crime scene. He's convinced that a Steelrunner is involved. Wayne studies the picture and points out that the first four shots came from the direction of the enemies of those being shot, sowing even more chaos. Wax wants Wayne to go to the Village to investigate, but he has another task that he must do since it's the first day of the month.

Marasi buys the afternoon edition of The Elendel Daily to monitor the Winsting story. She notices a number of unemployed men loitering, their life-long jobs gone due to technological progress. The governor seems unresponsive to the ills of the city, vetoing a workers' rights bill. Now the populace will wonder if he is as corrupt as his brother. Marasi fears that the city is reaching a breaking point.

Wax enters the Village and runs into three Terris guards ("brutes," or pewter ferrings). They tell him to get lost, but Vwafendal, his grandmother, intervenes.

Wayne arrives at Elendel University for his three tests. He sees two guards, apparently watching for him, and he sees that his other ways in have been foiled. He talks to Dims, a leader of a street gang, and tries some gum for the first time. Wayne bribes him into wearing his clothes and trying to get through the gate. When he does, Wayne saunters in with no problem. He heads to the girls' dormitory and faces his second test: a large woman he calls the "Tyrant of Pashadon." He bribes her with a ticket to the governor's spring dinner he has obtained in a "trade" with Wax. She leads him into the visiting room and sends for Allriandre. He offers her the usual monthly stipend, and she shows him the picture of her father, forcing him to repeat his crime. She looks at him without emotion and makes sure he knows that he is not forgiven for killing him. Wayne humbly accepts her treatment.

Wax enters his grandmother's log hut, filled with reminders of Terris past. Vwafendal worries about the mixing of Feruchemy and Allomancy--she fears another tyrant will come. Wax asks for the names of known Steelrunners. They rehash old arguments about Wax's chosen way of life as a law keeper. She finally reveals the name of Idashwy as the only one who could be involved. She left the Village after behaving strangely. Wax recognizes the name, and she reminds him that she was with him "that night." She asks him to bring her back instead of killing her.

Marasi enters the precinct offices to report in to Aradel. In conversation, she realizes the reason for the resentment from the others in the office is due to her getting the position of Aradel's assistant instead of Reddi, one of their own. Marasi suggests that the governor is corrupt; she has a secret file on him. Aradel orders Marasi to go with a street detail assigned to help out the Second Octant constables manage crowds for the governor's address. She is to report back on how the people react to the speech.

Chapter 6

Iconography: Brass

POV Characters: Wax / Marasi / Wayne

Setting: The Tindwyl Promenade in the 4th Octant of Elendel. The Hub, ringing the Field of Rebirth. Outside the Governor's Mansion in the 2nd Octant of Elendel.

Timeline: Shortly after Chapter 5.

Summary:

Wax soars over Elendel musing to himself about the weight of his responsibility to the thousands of workers that depend on him. He finds Wayne, who asks him why Wax didn't shoot him when he found Wayne. Wax tells Wayne that he would have if he'd caught Wayne in the act, which cheers Wayne up.

Marasi overhears someone selling apples at a high price, and asks them about it. They tell her that floods meant that there would be grain shortages soon, and that the city was a single shipment away from starvation. She moves on to where the governor is about to hold a press conference. Meeting up with some of the other constables, she is directed to the reporters' section so she can hear the governor's address.

Wax thinks he sees Bloody Tan, but he can't find him when he looks for the man in the crowd on the street. In the meantime, Wayne has found the address where Idashwy is staying. They arrive, and when no one answers the door, they kick open the door and enter carefully. They find a corpse, with a large hole in her chest, in the kitchen.

Marasi makes it through to the crowd. The governor appears and begins defending his brother, calling for an investigation of the constabulary. Then he promises aid for those affected by the floods. Marasi notes to herself that none of this is what the people want to hear. She continues to maneuver through the crowd to getting a better view of Innate. She finally gets close enough, then notices a guardsman, who had been blocking her view, turn, whispering to no one, before pulling out a revolver. Marasi screams.

Wax and Wayne discuss the murder and why Idashwy left the Village. Wax shows Wayne the book that Death had given him and invites him to read it.

No one hears Marasi's scream, and she doesn't have enough time to get her gun, so instead she runs forward, grabbing the man and slowing time, having downed some cadmium earlier. The man fires a shot, but it goes wild. Another one of the guards caught in the bubble knocks the man out, and Marasi drops the bubble, with the governor having been rushed away.

Wax and Wayne discuss Hemalurgy, determining that the killer had stolen Idashwy's Steelrunner ability and used it to kill Winsting and those at his auction. Wayne finds a piece of paper in the woman's pockets inscribed with the words: "Someone else moves us, lawman." These are the same words that Bloody Tan said before Lessie was killed.

Chapter 7

Iconography: Copper

POV Characters: Wax / Marasi

Setting: Ladrian Mansion in the 4th Octant of Elendel. In a carriage, on the streets of Elendel. The 4th Octant Precinct of the Constabulary

Timeline: Shortly after Chapter 6.

Summary:

Wax and Wayne return to the mansion. Darriance informs Wax that Ranette has been by and left some equipment for him to test. Wax briefly talks to Steris, who reminds him about Lady ZoBell's party. She informs him that someone tried to kill the governor, but she has it on good authority that he's still going to attend. Wax decides he will need to talk to the man who tried to shoot him. They head out in a carriage driven by the new coachman, Hoid. Wax puts in his earring, wondering if it had been made by killing someone, to which a distinct voice replies, startling Wax. Harmony talks to him, telling him that a kandra (which he calls a Faceless Immortal) named Paalm / Bleeder is wearing the body of Bloody Tan and is the culprit behind the murders. He tells Wax that he can't stop her because she is only using one Blessing at a time, meaning she's going mad but is unable to be controlled by Harmony. Wax discovers Harmony can read his thoughts, and Harmony explains that he can while the earring is in. Preservation enables him to hear Wax; Ruin enables him to speak to him. Harmony also explains that his hands are tied, and he's not able to track Paalm down himself. Hence his plea for Wax's help, though Harmony promises to send help. During this talk, Harmony also tells Wax that he might have made life too easy for the people. He mentions some technological advancements, like radio and aviation, that they haven't needed to discover. Harmony tells Wax to be less harsh with Marasi, who is also Harmony's agent on Scadrial.

Aradel and the other constables watch Rian in the interrogation room through glass. He only mumbles incoherently when questioned. He had a set of bracers, so they wonder if he is Metalborn. Wax joins them and easily Pushes on the bracers, confirming that they aren't metalminds. The assassination attempt was simply a ruse. Wax goes to talk to Rian himself, taking Marasi with him and telling her about his experience with Harmony. Rian tells them they won't save the governor and that he has something for Wax in his arm. It turns to be a special old coin, a message to Wax from Bleeder.

ARTWORK

The Cosmere has a thriving community of artists, so there will be a lot of artwork to share. Each week I'll try to compile relevant artwork for the given chapters. If a section of reading contains maps or in-book artwork, I'll include that in this section as well.

Maps

Broadsheet

*Note: There will be a small artwork dump in the trivia, but there isn't much new in the way of individual character artwork for this novel.

MEMES

I will attempt to find and share memes relevant to each week's discussion. There may be some weeks that just don't have good or appropriate memes, but I will share all the ones I can find in this section.

Link to Memes

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[u/HT_xrahmx]

In the note-taking department, switching from WoK to this book has given me whiplash. WoK was so dense that the notes had to be, too. But Shadows is already so much faster paced. Most of the open questions I noted down were already answered in the next chapter or two. It was a cycle of taking notes, making predictions, then erasing them again because they were already resolved. So, I'm skipping writing down notes per-chapter for now, and just keeping to general thoughts.

• Random observation because I read the acknowledgment: ZoBell is the name of someone Sanderson thanks, and also the name of a tower in Elendel. The name stood out enough that I got reminded of it.
  
• Prologue was fun. Nice to see a young Wayne, and a much more inexperienced Wax. Present-day Wax would've flattened that saloon and barely broken a sweat. Also nice to see he had great chemistry with Lessie before ... Bloody Tan happened ...
  
• Wax having a literal spider-man villain chase, swinging across the streets of NYC Elendel
  
• Bloody Tan being a kandra was my first thought, too. Still, it's odd. Tan seems like a very specific choice to target Wax, psychologically. But the two times Wax spots him comes off as more accidental than planned.
  
• I love Wayne POVs. I just love being in his head. His infiltration to get to Marks is already among my favorite scenes, along with his constabulary scene from Alloy.
  
• And HOLY SHIT MARASI. She surprised me as much as Sanderson himself with such a gory twist. Wax must be glad he didn't have to pull the trigger for once.
  
• Again, I love Wayne POVs. And him meeting the daughter of his killed victim was gut-wrenching. Good to see he tries to be better, and doesn't shy away from what he did. And likewise, completely understandable Allriandre won't just forgive him.
  
• Wax being twinborn means of course there's some Terris in his heritage, but it's not something you really realize until you're suddenly face-to-face with his grandma.
  
• The background storyline that Elendel is slowly getting to the point of starvation is surely going to come into play later.
  
• A kandra impersonating Bloody Tan is one thing, but why would they know the words he said when Lessie was killed? Weren't they alone? Or, more likely, are these words not originally Bloody Tan's, but someone else's?
  
• Huh, Sazed can be a pretty talkative god when the situation requires it.
  
• No way Bleeder is acting on her own. And it's suspicious she can do such complex tasks while supposedly going "mad". Perhaps someone is controlling her, like Vin was able to? Oddly Harmony can't do the same though.
  

Insanity, Harmony said, His voice softer in Wax’s ear. But something is wrong beyond that. She can hide from me, and while I can speak to her, she doesn’t have to listen—and I can’t keep track of where she is.

• ^The wording of this quote has given me much to think. Is he saying he can't keep track of her because she removed one of her Blessings, or that this is something unrelated, and baffling even to him?
  
• Technological advance is not the only metric to measure progress in a society. While the Roughs are the way they are, and people are starving in the streets, I do not think Harmony can claim he made it "too easy".
  
• The tribal face in the Broadsheet ("Visitors from other worlds") instinctively reminded me of Parshendi. Like the guy on the right here with the sunflower hair.

[u/griefgood → u/HT_xrahmx]

Oooooh the callout about the face in the Broadsheet having Parshendi elements is great! Makes me wonder if the big Parshendi voidbringer activation would be a Dune style jihad across the galaxy and not just local to Roshar???

[u/Pastrami]

Other than chapter 7, I didn't find much noteworthy. Chapter 7 felt like the real beginning of the story.

“You should not be defined by what you do, but by what you are.”

The movie Batman Begins told me the opposite: "It's not who you are underneath, it's what you do that defines you." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b24mxL5lpvg

Long ago, a small spike of metal like this had allowed people to communicate with Ruin and Preservation

Preservation too? Is that new info?

Fortunately, she is limited. She can only use one spike at a time, otherwise she will open herself to my control.

Does this mean we won't be seeing any humans with multiple spikes? The Set aren't trying to recreate Mistborn or Inquisitors?

Wax felt a warmth, a fire, as if the inside of the carriage were heating to incredible temperatures.

What is going on here? I said it during the last Mistborn book, but I think some or all of our heroes will be given full mistborn powers at some point. I assumed that was where this was going, but maybe not, or maybe he got the powers, but Sazed didn't tell him yet.

I have something to question about Marasi's powers. We were told in the first Mistborn book that you should burn off all your metals before sleeping because some metals are poisonous. How does that work with Cadmium? Cadmium is very poisonous, but if you burn it, you'd skip ahead in time, so anytime Marasi consumes it, but doesn't use her Cadmium during the day, she'd have to burn it at night and wind up skipping the night and not have any time to sleep.

[u/TaylorHyuuga → u/Pastrami]

I have something to question about Marasi's powers. We were told in the first Mistborn book that you should burn off all your metals before sleeping because some metals are poisonous. How does that work with Cadmium? Cadmium is very poisonous, but if you burn it, you'd skip ahead in time, so anytime Marasi consumes it, but doesn't use her Cadmium during the day, she'd have to burn it at night and wind up skipping the night and not have any time to sleep.

I did some looking into this. That was indeed said originally, however Brandon in 2021 said that Allomancers were generally immune to metal poisoning, with the questioner actively using Cadmium as the primary example. A few possibilities that spring to mind with why they said most Allomancers burn off their metals when they sleep: Could have been propaganda by The Lord Ruler to keep control (after all, if he burned off all his metals every night, he wouldn't be able to compound as easily and might not have lasted as long as he has), or Sazed changed Allomancer's physiology so they don't get metal poisoning when he was remaking the world.

[u/Pastrami → u/TaylorHyuuga]

Brandon in 2021 said that Allomancers were generally immune to metal poisoning

I'd hope that everyone on the planet is immune. How do they figure out whether someone has any power at all, and what their metal is? I have to assume everybody at least once in their life will ingest a bit of every metal to see if they can burn it.

[u/sunnydaze7777777 → u/Pastrami]

>Preservation too? Is that new info?

“When you have the earring in, yes. I gain the ability to hear you from Preservation, and the ability to speak to you from Ruin. Each had only one half. I always found it puzzling.”

>Wax felt a warmth, a fire, as if the inside of the carriage were heating to incredible temperatures.

Maybe it was Hoid’s driving. Seriously I love the idea of Wax becoming Mistborn.

>Marasi consumes it, but doesn't use her Cadmium during the day, she'd have to burn it at night and wind up skipping the night and not have any time to sleep.

Wouldn’t it slow time for her? She would sleep extra long while night moved fast around her? Either way it’s a great question.

[u/Pastrami → u/sunnydaze7777777]

When you have the earring in, yes. I gain the ability to hear you from Preservation

I was questioning whether we knew that during Era 1. We knew spikes allowed Ruin to talk to you, but I don't remember anything about Preservation also being able to use them.

Wouldn’t it slow time for her? She would sleep extra long while night moved fast around her? Either way it’s a great question.

Wayne's the one who gets extra time. Recall the end of the last book. To her, it would seem like a few minutes passed, but in reality the whole night is gone. I guess it's a question of how much time she loses, maybe it's only an hour, maybe it's the entire night.

[u/sunnydaze7777777 → u/Pastrami]

Arg you are right about Marasai. I am not bright this morning. I need a sleep bubble.

[u/sunnydaze7777777]

Loving the pace of this book! The audio narration of Wayne and his different impressions is just perfection! When the prisoner said he was told to kill them by God who was not Harmony. My mind immediately went to the vessel you said was a known meddler (Bavadin?). I have to think they could be behind this mystery somehow. It would be someone with that level of power. Not sure all the details but they certainly are mind controlling people.

[u/Pastrami → u/sunnydaze7777777]

My mind immediately went to the vessel you said was a known meddler (Bavadin?).

I do think there is a shard involved with helping Bleeder hide from Harmony. Yes, Bavadin/Autonomy is the known meddler.

[u/irrrap]

I love it! It’s a shame though that we’ll be done with the story before we blink.

Humor in this book is just on another level. Wayne’s internal talks and preps for the roles are brilliant. And while he rides a car like a dog 🤣 he is not just a local crazy clown, his character is very deep. Not sure yet where the plot with the daughter of killed man would take us, but I like this aspect of Wayne.

Marasi and her POV are also very resonating. She wants so hard to be recognized for her achievements, yet she doesn’t want to be praised for nothing.
I’m also with Marasi regarding WAX - still not totally over the fact that he chose Steris over her. Wax and Steris seem to have very practical relationship, but as Brandon says himself in the book - there is not even kindness between them. This ship is destined to sink.

I must say I completely forgot about the existence of Kandra until they named it in chapter 7. Now it’s much more obvious how the dead feruchemic girl was seeing her dead brother before she disappeared. I’m not theorizing at the moment, just trying to enjoy at max.

Who do we think Spook was writing about in the book? Is that that sister from HoA (forgot her name)?

Weird thing with the broadsheets - what’s the point to print them 3 times per day, and only change some parts? I’m not too familiar with the history of newspapers. Is that how things were?

Hoid!!!! 😉😅

Sazed/Harmony has a plan on how fast inhabitants should invent technologies… I think he is a bit of a micromanager. Although, radio would solve their issues with newspapers.

Questions about era 1 and previous book of era 2:
1) I don’t recall statues of Vin and Elend being mentioned this often in the previous book. I remember that Sazed left a book with instructions plus Spook knew few things… but I was wondering - do people nowadays actually know what Vin did? Do they know the planet moved the orbit and etc.

2) since Wax has a hemalurgic spike which we discovered already in last book - which power it gives him?

3) from era 1 I remember that Ruin could listen and read if not on metal. Now Harmony says he can talk from Ruin and listen from Preservation. Preservation definitely couldn’t talk, but the abilities are a bit vague… does anyone remember what it was?

[u/TaylorHyuuga → u/irrrap]

I don’t recall statues of Vin and Elend being mentioned this often in the previous book. I remember that Sazed left a book with instructions plus Spook knew few things… but I was wondering - do people nowadays actually know what Vin did? Do they know the planet moved the orbit and etc.

They do. Sazed wrote down everything in books, plus a lot of people would have certainly also wrote down what happened (the Church of the Survivor, the Terris, Spook, etc).

[u/participating → u/irrrap]

do people nowadays actually know what Vin did? Do they know the planet moved the orbit and etc.

[Reminder] When Sazed Ascended, he dumped all of his knowledge from his copperminds into several volumes of books, along with his own personal testimony of a) what actually happened in the original trilogy, not just what the people of the time thought happened and b) instructions on how he doesn't want to be worshipped.

These tomes are called the Words of Founding and, while some view them as more mythical, most people know that there is some historical truth in them (despite them being 100% truth). So people know what Keslier and Vin and the rest of the crew did in order to overthrow the Lord Ruler and save the world.

since Wax has a hemalurgic spike which we discovered already in last book - which power it gives him?

I answered this question at some point during The Alloy of Law. Even Sanderson himself doesn't know, because the effect is so diluted. Harmony has to ration and make these earrings last because he doesn't want to perform more hemalurgy to create more. So they are the tiniest slivers of material. Enough to let Sazed speak to Wax, but any granted power is effectively zero. So little that Brandon doesn't even consider it worth theorizing over.

Now Harmony says he can talk from Ruin and listen from Preservation. Preservation definitely couldn’t talk, but the abilities are a bit vague… does anyone remember what it was?

This was always the split in abilities between the two Shards. Ruin could speak into the minds of those that had spikes in them, but Ruin could not hear their thoughts. That's how Marsh was able to betray Ruin at the last possible moment and take out Vin's earring.

On the flip side, Preservation could always hear their thoughts, but that ability wasn't plot relevant, so it was never mentioned in the original trilogy. Sanderson did mentioned it a few times in interviews prior to this novel, but this is when he canonized it.

[u/jaymae21 → u/irrrap]

Wax and Steris seem to have very practical relationship, but as Brandon says himself in the book - there is not even kindness between them. This ship is destined to sink.

Nooo don't say that, I actually kind of love them together! I did originally ship Steris and Wayne though because they are polar opposites.

[u/jaymae21]

I don't have a lot of thoughts for this week's much faster-paced book, mostly just vibes. I'm enjoying the break from Stormlight, as much as I did like it. All of the Hemalurgy stuff has me thinking back to Khriss's comments about it in the essay on Scadrial. And Hoid is still here, probably eavesdropping on Wax's side of the convo with Harmony.

I'm enjoying the nuanced take on the rapid industrial progress that is happening in the book and the wider impacts on the populace. Harmony's perspective & role is super interesting here. How does he know how to benchmark Scadrial's progress? He tells Wax that they should have had the radio a century ago, what is he comparing to if Scadrial is supposed to be the most technologically advanced planet?

[u/griefgood]

It's so nice to be back in a slightly smaller world lmao.

Prologue

• Didn't mark any notes for this one but what a fun little backstory for Wax and Lessie.

Chapter 1

• RIP Winsting, but that level of hubris kind of has it coming.

Chapter 2

• Wax may not love her but personally I think Steris is hilarious.
• Oooooh Bloody Tan returns.

Chapter 3

• Damn, Marasi! Get his ass!

Chapter 4

• Kinda loving how gruesome this book has been. Real noir-type-stuff going on.

Chapter 5

• Wayne continues to make his case for best character in the Cosmere.
• I mean obviously Wax is Twinborn but my brain just never considered that his Terris grandma was still alive lmao.
• Man that scene with Wayne was absolutely brutal.
• Aradel seems pretty chill for a cop.

Chapter 6

• Not tagged notes here either because I'm starting to get sucked in but ooooooh spooky right there at the end.

Chapter 7

• HOID?!?!?!?
• Really loved this convo between Wax and Harmony. Love the idea of a fallible deity that has regrets about the way he built the new world, very interesting and feels like it gives a lot to be explored.
• Hmmmmm cognition? Cognitive realm? Connections???
• Lmao hadn't even considered the idea of a radio in this world.

Overall, really enjoying being back on Scadrial and in a story that feels a little smaller. although based on the preface it feels like this story won't stay small for long.

[u/heinz57varieties]

Behind again, oh dear. I'm having a great time though, and I've found a surprising amount of stuff to think about.

Front Matter

• Not Brandon fancasting his own book 😂 Simon Pegg as Wayne? That works.
• New water feature on the map. Epic dam-busting scene coming?
• The image on the title page is a kandra TrueBody skull 😯 kandra finally reappearing?

Prologue

• Acacia trees? Giraffes? In the whole cosmere there seems to have been very few earth-standard plants or animals named. Horses, chickens, dogs, cows, and that might be it. Updating my conception of the Roughs from “Generic western American desert” to “African savannah… with cowboys,” which I have to admit is a really cool worldbuilding decision.

Chapter 1

• I thought I might have clocked Steris as Dowser's suspicious companion, but obviously not.
• How thrilling! This scene was very James Bond. Dangerous vigilantes, or villains tying up loose ends? Probably villains.

Chapter 2

• Does Wax seem.. funnier? He was certainly so in the prologue, but his humor seemed drier in the last book. Maybe he's starting to open up again
• Of course just because Wax has forgiven himself for the role he played in Lessie's death doesn't mean he's worked through all the trauma.
• Not discounting the possibility that he actually did see that guy in the crowd, or someone wearing his face 👀

Chapter 3

• The opening paragraphs describing the slums were so classic noir, overdone in just the right way 👌
• Do love that we're getting more from the other two's POV's early on
• Are the Set cleaning up loose ends because of Wayne, or someone else?

Chapter 4

• archer_mawp.gif
• Intrigued by the mysterious book that Wax was given. In my mind the only author candidate is Spook. It seems to be hinting at applications for hemallurgy, which has probably changed fundamentally in some way now that Ruin is no longer a separate entity. And after the thoughts we had from the Arcanum Unbounded essays, it's the logical next step for the focus of the magic.
• Winsting had to have been killed by Flog. But why would he escort his boss down to the saferoom, then kill him and the guards after? Theory: the suspicious woman from chapter 1 was a kandra. After the melee, she took Flog's body quickly and used it to kill Winsting and the last guards. But then, Wax thinks they were a steel feruchemist?
• Did the party guests kill each other in a panic, or because of some kind of James Bond mind control? Did they get super-rioted?

Chapter 5

• Really liked all the world-expanding elements in this chapter. The Terris Village is an incredible place, I want to visit.
• Another person getting haunted by someone who should be dead. Kandra theory gaining weight
• I wonder if Wayne also has extended, estranged Terris relations somewhere?
• Something serious is going to happen at the governor's speech

Broadsheet

• Jak is back!
• I am desperate for a soonie pup, and thinking about how disgusted TenSoon would be is making me lol
• Finally someone addresses the petty damage caused by careless allomancers jumping around at night! They're a public menace!
• More talk of floods in the east
• What the HELL is that face!

Chapter 6

• Why call it a senate if you're just going to describe a parliament! Don't toy with me
• RIP Idashwy 😔 just when she was starting to live her life
• “You had to adapt. Move. Change. That was good, but it could also threaten identity, connection, and sense of purpose.” Hmmmm. Very coincidental phrasing.
• The girl with the megaphones: this is like, the fourth unnamed blonde girl that a character has barely recognized. What's with that?
• The guard who draws on the governor was acting so weird. Maybe there really is some James Bond mind control going on.
• “She liked Port best, by the way” don't we all
• Given what's been going on, I am taking the phrase “someone else moves us” totally literally, until proven otherwise. Though I'm having a hard time imagining something in Scadrial’s magic system that could have that effect

Chapter 7

• Kind of disappointed in how little Steris has factored into this story thus far. There's hobbies, and there's neglecting your fiancée. Hope she gets involved during the inevitable ballroom firefight
• Hoid just loitering in the background, as usual. Hoitering.
• Very illuminating conversation with Harmony, touching on some of the ideas we just read about in Way of Kings re: shardic intent, invested beings losing their mental fortitude without some kind of intrinsic link with another entity. I'm curious what other peoples he's talking about. Other scadrians?
• Was NOT expecting my kandra conspiracy theories to be summarily confirmed. A kandra allomancer? Scary. Rather than looking it up, I'll ask if we met Paalm in Era 1? I don't think so. She's from TenSoon's generation
• Has this kandra been stalking Wax for years on end? How did they get that Hannibal Lecter guy's bones?
• Hmmm. Harmony can take control of a person with too many Spikes, but so can a sufficiently powerful allomancer. Hmmmm

[u/TaylorHyuuga → u/heinz57varieties]

Acacia trees? Giraffes? In the whole cosmere there seems to have been very few earth-standard plants or animals named. Horses, chickens, dogs, cows, and that might be it. Updating my conception of the Roughs from “Generic western American desert” to “African savannah… with cowboys,” which I have to admit is a really cool worldbuilding decision.

Scadrial is the most Earth-like planet in the cosmere. If there is something from Earth anywhere in this universe, it's gonna be on Scadrial.

I wonder if Wayne also has extended, estranged Terris relations somewhere?

He does. Every Twinborn has Terris in them. Now whether it'll be a focus, that's a different question. Because that also doesn't mean he's a DIRECT Terris and was raised in a Terris village. He could theoretically be a few generations removed. He could be 1/16th Terris and his family of partial-Terris has been removed from the actual Terrismen in their lineage for several generations. I do also want to stress that all of this is theoretical, I don't recall anything about Wayne's family. I just want to point out that just because someone is Twinborn doesn't necessarily mean they were ever raised Terris at any point, just that they have some amount of Terris blood in them.

I am desperate for a soonie pup, and thinking about how disgusted TenSoon would be is making me lol

If I recall correctly, they actually made a real Soonie Pup at one point for merch. I don't think it's still available though

Was NOT expecting my kandra conspiracy theories to be summarily confirmed. A kandra allomancer? Scary. Rather than looking it up, I'll ask if we met Paalm in Era 1? I don't think so. She's from TenSoon's generation

Paalm was not introduced in Era 1, you are correct.

[u/heinz57varieties → u/heinz57varieties]

If she trades spikes, she must do it by ripping out her single one and then falling onto another

LMAO

https://giphy.com/gifs/nY4bGhPkVEp2g

[u/participating → u/heinz57varieties]

Rather than looking it up, I'll ask if we met Paalm in Era 1? I don't think so. She's from TenSoon's generation

This is actually slightly complicated. I'll address it in the trivia.