As anyone who has read Mistborn knows, there is always, always another secret. Today is no exception. But first, a word of caution: There are SOUL-DESTROYING SPOILERS below the cut.
Well, not quite that bad… Your soul will probably not be in real danger but if you haven’t read all the books, you don’t want to go there. You want to have read the original Mistborn trilogy (preferably quite recently) plus the three published Wax & Wayne books—including The Bands of Mourning—before you click this link. Really, really, you do. You will destroy the endings of all six books if you read this before you read them. Trust me.
However: If you have finished The Bands of Mourning, read its Postscript and the new novella, Mistborn: Secret History, you may proceed.
As Brandon notes in his preface, this particular story has been in the works for nearly twelve years now—begun even before he was a published author. At long last, we get to go behind the scenes of some of the major events in the first trilogy. We get to find out what really happened.
It’s an unusual book for Sanderson; there’s somewhat less action, and a lot more time-killing while waiting for action. The climactic events are already established, and known by the reader. In some ways, this tends to reduce the tension. For the first third of the book, anyway… and then Kelsier starts talking to Worldhoppers in Shadesmar, and it’s like a whirlwind up in here. Cosmere information and implications all over the place, and Kelsier stirring things up just to keep it stirred, because Kelsier.
Let’s touch on just a few specifics, and then I’ll open up the comments and y’all can dive in. One request, though: please keep ALL spoiler discussions to this thread (at least on Tor.com), so as not to spoil things for those who haven’t got this far. Especially, of your kindness to fellow readers, please don’t leak the identity of the main character—Kelsier. That man never could follow instructions.
There have been many hints along the way that Kelsier was perhaps only mostly dead; now we know the truth. For reasons even he doesn’t fully understand, he simply refuses to die properly. Here we get clarification of some odd references made in other books and in Q&A opportunities, and a whole list of Words of Brandon (a.k.a WoB) suddenly make sense. Kelsier is, indeed, a Sliver of Preservation: he has held the Shard’s power and then released it. It’s an interesting little twist that Kelsier spends three years fighting for Preservation and against Ruin, eventually Ascending as Preservation for a time, even though he is naturally much more aligned with Ruin. Sneaky, that.
Also, Kelsier and Hoid definitely do not get along!
Kelsier’s Cognitive-Shadow POV provides us the opportunity to see the events and the people from a different perspective. For instance, I was both angry and relieved to learn that it was Kelsier who gave Elend the near-fatal wound at the Well, and it was Preservation who truly saved his life by giving him the final bead of Lerasium. It also puts a slightly different spin on Vin’s selfless choice to give up the power rather than using it for her own needs: it hammers home the knowledge that the Cognitive Crew was doing everything they could think of to get her to use the power, to keep Ruin imprisoned.
One of the loveliest things provided by this new angle, to my mind, is the sense of closure for two particular characters—and I know I’m not going to be the only one feeling this way. It was so burningly painful to see Elend and Vin die at the end of Hero of Ages; now we get a proper farewell, and recognize that they were content to go together into whatever lies Beyond the Realms. Okay, it made me cry all over again, but it felt a lot better this time! Not nearly so gut-wrenching, you know?
Speaking of people dying, I’m still snickering over the whole Lord Ruler thing. Kelsier fully expected him to put up a fight, either against Kelsier or against death, and he just… doesn’t. He gives Kelsier (what turns out to be) a well-deserved sneer, for thinking that he’s saved the world when he knows nothing about it, drops a hint to that effect, and just goes away. I can’t say I liked the way he handled the world, but he did keep Ruin contained, and that’s not nothing.
Two of my favorite developments, though, were with Spook and Marsh. Most of what Spook was hearing was Ruin pretending to be Kelsier, but in the end, Kelsier was able to make a firm connection, and now the results are even sweeter. Regarding Marsh… maybe y’all had figured this out already, but I hadn’t. Getting Spook to send the metal-etched message, ostensibly to Vin, was a brilliant piece of misdirection on Kelsier’s part. By setting it up so that Marsh would retrieve and read the message, letting Ruin think he’d won by keeping it from Vin, Kelsier gave Marsh a way to fight back against Ruin’s control.
Now I wonder what Marsh has been up to for the last 300 years…
* * *
Along with eye-popping insights into what was really happening behind the scenes on Scadrial during the years of the first trilogy, we get head-spinning Major Revelations of Cosmic Significance. Worldhoppers, ahoy!
Drifter, a.k.a. Hoid, is floating around doing his thing—swiping Investiture and being completely obnoxious in the process. He’s always been obnoxious in a snarky way, but this time, he’s a total jerk. It’s been implied before that he might actually be under some sort of geas which makes him unable to hurt people. His altercation with Kelsier would seem to confirm that—
“That was unpleasant,” Drifter said, “yet somehow still satisfying. Apparently you already being dead means I can hurt you.”
—and it gave me a decidedly less pleasant view of Hoid. He seemed to enjoy causing pain to Kelsier, as if it had been a long time since he had the fun of pounding the living daylights out of anyone. (Which… is a beautifully inapt metaphor, under the circs. Heh.)
Khriss and Nazh are tooling around the Cosmere, apparently doing scholarly things while in exile. Ooooo…kay. It’s fun to see them both again (second time each, I think? though chronologically the first) and this time, wearing their own names and having a real conversation. Khriss most definitely Knows Things, and I’m glad she wasn’t snooty about sharing what she could. I’ve always liked Khriss, but I’ll admit to wondering what she’d be like after becoming a Worldhopper and the most-informed person in the Cosmere. So far, things are looking good. I liked Nazh far better than I expected—probably because of the knife. It was generous of him to give it to Kelsier. Useful, too. I wonder if he’ll ever get it back.
The Ire, or Eyree, (two syllables, pronounced with a long I and a long E) are creepy, and more than a little strange. They’re hanging around waiting for Leras to finally die so they can snatch his Shard and take it back to Elantris? This strikes me as a singularly bad plan, attempting to substitute another Shard for your own Shards that were Splintered by the big nasty. I mean, I can understand wanting some protection against a power that could do such a thing, but I question how well another Shard would adapt to a world not of its own making.
I would also like to know just how far back in Sel’s history these folks originated.
Threnody’s Shades didn’t exactly make an appearance, per se, but they sure make people jumpy. Nazh I can understand, since he’s from Threnody himself; his offense at Kelsier’s unmitigated gall in choosing to become a Shade was comical. But why are the Elantrians so nervous about them, to the point that they have a special device to identify anyone from Threnody within a day’s march?
There’s always another secret.
This Secret History, in addition to taking the entire fandom by surprise (despite a couple of leaks in the last month), has granted a whole new look at Adonalsium, the Shards, the Realms, and the Cosmere. Things are not so straightforward as “us against them” in any Cosmere situation: there are more “thems” out there than we knew, and almost certainly several more “thems” of whom we know nothing yet.
There’s even a lot more hinted for Scadrial than we knew before. We’ve been told elsewhere (TBoM) that Spook, a.k.a. Lord Mistborn, governed for a century or so before stepping down—not dying, which is odd when you think about it. Now we have a hint at how he was so long-lived, but very little clue as to what he did after that. Is he a Worldhopper? Is he still on Scadrial? Did he finally let go and die?
I fully expect another episode in the Secret History, because I Have More Questions. What did Kelsier and Spook come up with? How did they make the Bands of Mourning? What about the southern continent? These may be answered in The Lost Metal, I suppose, but there’s plenty of room for a sequel History.
There is always another secret.
Alice Arneson is a long-time Tor.com commenter and Sanderson beta-reader. She was awestruck and delighted to learn of this project in November, and to participate in what must be the fastest turn-around ever: a 50K-word “novella” going from an alpha/beta read starting 01 December, 2015 to ebook release on 26 January, 2016. What a ride.
So, I am a rabid Brandon Sanderson fan, and some how the fact that this was being published completely escaped me.
I really liked seeing Khriss as well, she seems to have a cooler head on her shoulders now that she has been bouncing around the Cosmere.
As an example of the ingratitude of fans, my first reaction was wishing Secret History was longer. Did it have to end there? Kelsier’s story still wasn’t done >.<
But rust and ruin, the Cosmere is bigger than I’d thought. It’s not just winking nods and occasional crossover there’s a whole geo-political and economic system. Hoid said smashing the Pits upended an economic ecosystem, which implies worldhoppers were coming and going even if the locals weren’t aware of it.
I wonder if Sanderson is familiar with Procopius. Though if he wants to riff on that theme, Hoid would have to be the author.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procopius#Secret_History
It really is interesting that worldhopping to a planet’s Cognitive Realm is easier than reaching the Physical Realm, which seems to require a place tied to a Shard, like the Well or the Pits. I wonder if people already knew this, since I go out of my way to avoid WoBs.
I hadn’t thought of Hoid as evil before. Now, I wonder. He was downright creepy in this.
So, it seems like an entire civilization was mistaken about who they worship. I wonder if the misidentification was deliberate or something that kind of happened?
And beware the ghosts of Threnody–and beware people from Threnody who can turn into ghosts.
This is only tangentially related to the secret history, but there has been a lot of talk about splintering Shards. Ruin was trying to splinter Preservation; Odium has splintered a good 25% of all Shards. Do you guys think that a splintered Shard could be reconstituted? The power was shattered in the first place, and if judging from Harmony the power seems to want to go back together in some sense. Yet, I can find no WoB on this mattered nor does anybody seem to be asking the question. Which I definitely would be, were I living on Roshar or Sel.
Dantalion88 @1 – There’s a very good reason for that. Remember, a while back, Brandon posted a screenshot of his files, and there was one called “Unnamed Secret”? That was the only hint he gave.
This was supposed to be a complete secret right up until you got to the end of The Bands of Mourning; until then, there was supposed to be no clue as to its existence. One more way Sanderson can make the fans scream. :)
It did leak out early, a little; the Amazon “Look Inside” text for TBoM included the postscript in late December, and there was an accident which led to M:SH showing up for pre-order on Amazon a couple days early. (To make up for that, there was another accident which kept anyone from downloading the Kindle version until Friday…)
Anyway, as far as I know, no one outside Brandon’s writing group and direct employees knew of the existence of M:SH before last November. At that point, Peter tapped a half-dozen people to do an alpha/beta read in December, and no one else knew about it until the “Look Inside” glitch just after Christmas. So, no, you didn’t miss anything. It was intended to be a surprise to knock your socks off. :)
Luke @6 – How do you figure “a good 25% of all Shards?” Odium has Splintered three that we know of: Devotion, Dominion, and Honor, or 18.75% of the original Shards. The rest are, as far as we know, still kicking around doing their thing.
I really need to reread Elantris. I was totally “who are The Ire, or Eyree?” Still am honestly.
And I didn’t cry about Vin & Elend’s death revisit. It was too much “Mistborn on fast-forward.” So the emotional impact wasn’t there (for me). It has also been several years since my first and only reading of the series. It was such a gut punch, I couldn’t revisit it. First time I meet Brandon was a WoT signing. But told him how much Hero of Ages left me crying.
Now I am rereading the series.
You know, in a way I could understand Hoid. I’m not a violent person, but if I was left unable to hit anything for a few centuries, upon discovering I could hit something – I’d enjoy it too. But yes, his overall interactions here were weird.
I still laugh at Kelsier punching god. But can’t believe he was first. Too many people I know would be mad enough at god / death to punch “him.”
Biggest question – for now – how did Kelsier’s arm scars transfer to his new body?
Why go by “Lord Ruler” to the southern people? Oh yes, there are defiantly more secrets to discover. Wondering how many The Lost Metal will actually answer.
@6: My guess is that every question even touching on “can the shards be rejoined” – has a big RAFO flag.
I’m not on the side of those who find Hoid sinister, (well, rather, malignantly sinister, since he has always been suspicious) since Kelsier DID threaten to murder him, cut off all his fingers and shove the middle finger into his mouth while he died. A beating isn’t exactly something that would have long-term consequences for Kelsier as-he-is, and Hoid did lay off once he was down. Kelsier, a man too used to violence, needs a bit of humiliation now and then to teach him restraint.
I wonder at the timeline, since if the Ire were Elantrian, and unHoeded, and seemed to speak of Devotion as still intact, that implies the first Mistborn trilogy takes place before Elantris, whereas I’d assumed Elantris was set before all the current books.
There is also talk of Splintering Shards, which might imply the destruction of Devotion and Dominion already, but by any timeline Honor was the first to go, so it’s not a major continuity problem.
I’m not a big fan of the book, since it’s more Expo-dump than a novella with an actual arc to it. I must admit I was never a big fan of Kelsier, and this novella just reinforces it; Vin is correct, most of his actions are more for himself than anyone else, a point strengthened by the fact that he forgoes going to his wife in the Beyond just to meddle more in the Physical Realm. I doubt he did this just for the sake of Scadrial Planetary Security; it’s the lure of the game for him.
This book, as well as Harmony’s commentary in the previous Wax book, implies that the Southern civilization was rescued (by Harmony’s design) by Kelsier and Lestibourne’s faction, as a direct counterpoint to the ‘coddling’ the primary Elendal Basin civilization got; I suspect even the eventual meeting of North and South is meant to inspire a technological renaissance via the ‘shock’ of colonialism, without any of the more barbaric aspects of it. Harmony plays the long game; easy to forget he is half-Ruin.
Also, I believe the Set to be indirectly or directly descended from Lestibournes’s and Kelsier’s secret scientific experimental faction, which was concocted by both of them as any long-term planning would require more parties ‘in-the-know’ than just the two of them; the conceptual Hemalurgical application where dying Mistings and Ferrings would be spiked, from Lestibournes’s book, also implies that he was not the most ethical of rulers, even if he perhaps did not follow through. Harmony allowed this ‘gray faction’ because he knew it was necessary; whatever Shard is infringing on Scadrial is simply co-opting an existing enterprise.
@9 I thought that was just a translation gaff and a mutual misunderstanding, but it makes sense that Kelsier co-opted the Lord Ruler’s religious mystique to make controlling the masses easier.
@6 @8 I would assume Odium wouldn’t want to Splinter itself, so 3 out of 15 (20%) that we know of.
@9 Assuming new bodies work similarly to the way healing working on Roshar, Kelsier would still have his scars because his cognitive self still identified with having the scars. The same way Kaladin still has his brands because he feels that he should have them on the cognitive level so they do not heal.
@8) Wetlander per WoB we do in fact know that Odium has splintered at least 25% of the Shards;
leiftinspace
Can you write in one of my books about something we don;t know about the Shards, or at least one of the Shards?
Brandon Sanderson
Odium has killed at least one more Shard than the ones we know about.
At the time of this WoB we knew of Honor, Devotion, and Dominion.
@7 Actually if I remember correctly the “Unfinished Secret” is something else, but the first page of Secret History does show up in the background of that image. (Peter actually recommended against people trying to guess what the “Unfinished Secret” was because it may never see the light of day and that people should be focused more on the background image)
Regarding the Ire, preservation referred to them as being dead and not dead. What if they are elantrians who passed through the pool they used to bury their dead?
@16 – That is what/who I thought they were as well. Elantrians that went to through the pool.
@8 Wetlandernw
I was scouring the coppermind wiki this weekend and I found something curious. Supposedly, M. Sanderson has said that another shard has been killed off screen/page.
http://www.theoryland.com/intvmain.php?i=1091#3
That’s where I got my 25%,
Luke – someone else said that too. Unfortunately, as committed as I am to all things Sanderson, I just can’t keep track of all the signing reports! :) Part of the reason I reacted as I did is that I’ve seen a bunch of people insisting that Cultivation is Splintered, but we know that’s not the case. My bad – I assumed you were in that camp! I’m sorry, and you’re right.
@9 I haven’t read Elantris in a while either, but I’m pretty sure the Ire was featured in the book, the only way we know they’re Elantrians is by the description and the way their names are formed (which aren’t things I usually notice, but I noticed this time (Yay, so proud!)).
I loved the look we got into the larger goings-on inside the Cosmere, but I didn’t like the role Kelsier played in Vin’s final ascension. It’s not about Kelsier as a character, he stayed consistent with what we’ve seen of him in the first Mistborn book, in fact I liked him more for conning Ruin with Spook’s message and who he needed it to reach. My problem is with the role Brandon gave Kelsier, specifically this part:
Kelsier’s words to Vin occur almost verbatim in Hero of Ages, except there it’s “a voice whispered in her head” (p.491 of hardcover edition) instead of “Kelsier said to Vin” as in M:SH. I always thought that the voice was just an expression for how the thought came to her (I really should know better, I guess), but by revealing that it’s Kelsier voice telling her, I thought it actually undermined Vin as a character. I could understand why Vin wouldn’t recognize the earring as a Hemalurgic spike, it’s been with her for a long time after all, but once Marsh took it out, she could have figured out the association between having it out and the mist approaching her again rather than being repelled by her and she could have figured out that she could use the mist’s power now. So even though Brandon executed it perfectly with how Kelsier’s role was planted in HoA, I can’t say that M:SH changed the way I read HoA completely for the better. The comments here are focused on the Cosmere reveals, but I’m wondering if anyone else feels the same about how it changes the way we see Vin?
Just in case you are interested. This is from AUDIBLE
Join us this Thursday, February 4th at 4pm ET for a live Twitter chat with author Brandon Sanderson. Submit your questions on Twitter using #SandersonChat. adbl.co/SandersonChat
I have a guess why they’re scared of the people from Threnody. If I remember correctly, Brandon has said that each world has a physical realm, a cognitive realm, and a spiritual realm. If Kelsier’s experience is typical, death takes a person out of the physical realm, and they transit through the cognitive realm before arriving in the spiritual realm (about which even gods–like Fuzz–may not know much).
But, the shades of Threnody return to the physical realm. They’re the only ones I’ve read about so far who do that. This makes them both rule-breakers and (maybe) unknown quantities, creatures from a spiritual realm with power over the physical realm.
For a lot of people, this must be like living in a desert and discovering that 1) sharks aren’t mythological, 2) they’ve learned to walk on land, and 3) they have sunscreen.
Getting back to Hoid: I usually like Hoid. However, in a story with a lot of death imagery, I’m going to be wary of the guy who shows up on a corpse-boat (which he chats with–and which answers him back). That might be OK behavior, but I reserve the right to worry.
@19 Wetlandernw,
Cultivation splintered? That’s just odd and not supported by the text. I wonder why people believe that?
Going back to my original concern, I think splintering may either be about dividing the power of a Shard or about the capacity of a Shard to connect to a host mind. Judging by Secret History, it seems that connection is much more important to Shards than I had previously thought. So much so that Shards seem to get bound to worlds where they spend “too much” time. I just cannot believe that splintering truly destroys a Shard. The power clearly remains as does the concept: the idea of “Honor” is still extant. Perhaps reconstituting a Shard is a process of gathering up the splinters or time spent waiting for it to cohere again.
@20 re: Vin and Kelsier,
I honestly don’t remember for sure, but on my first reading I believe I thought those words–along with the ones that inspired Spook after he un-spikes himself–were from Kelsier or at least something acting on Kelsier’s behalf. In both cases, they sounded like something Kelsier would say. That’s been confirmed for me (and others) ever since I read the annotations shortly after completing the trilogy, so seeing the full scene from Kelsier’s viewpoint doesn’t change how I read the originals at all.
Luke @23 – I know, right? It doesn’t fit the text, and WoB says straight out that Cultivation’s holder is still alive. But I had a… discussion just a few days ago with someone who insisted that Cultivation was dead. To be fair, he had A Theory which depended on her being dead, and he loved his theory so much that he was finding/creating a fair amount of “evidence” for the case. It’s hard to let go of something essential to the existence of your pet theory.
As to the rest… I’m concluding that there’s a lot about Splintering and Connection that I don’t understand. I really have to wonder if it even would have been possible for the IRE to take Preservation back to Sel; I’m inclined to think that if Alonoe had succeeded in Ascending, Preservation’s connection to Scadrial might have won out over her own connection to Sel. That would be another interesting question to ask Brandon…
Regarding Hoid: he said, flat out to Dalinar in WoR, not to completely trust him. He has always come off as a wild card, and in Stormlight, at least a little bit like a wolf that simply preferred being witty and clever rather than confined to it. His beatdown of Kelsier just seemed like the logical conclusion of that.
A question for anyone else: I’m not as familiar with every bit of Cosmere lore, and definitely not with all the many Words of Brandon, so tell me – I vaguely remember Nazh as an artist in certain things in other books, but where have we seen Khriss before?
Another quickie, since a friend brought it up, Hoid mentions a tall bald fellow with earrings just before jumping the well. Friend wanted to know who that was, I had thought it was Galladon from Elantris, but not sure.
Maybe connection is why Hoid is going around grabbing investiture? Get enough of the disparate parts of Adonalsium in one place, create enough of a connection, and you can call every shard and splinter to youself? Accio Adonalsium?
I’d been fuzzy on Cultivation’s fate since it seemed reasonable to assume Odium would kill any shardholder he could. If he got Honor, why not Cultivation, too? Apparently not Cultivation though. Odium must have some limitations, though I’ve pictured him just showing up with a giant hammer and smashing any Vessel and Shard he could catch.
26. Before BoM, Khriss had never appeared on-screen (although I’m told she’s a major character of White Sand, an unreleased book). However, she’s the author of all the Ars Arcanum epilogues, describing how the magic system works. Nazh is an archivist and a cartographer in her employ.
FWIW, White Sand is being developed as a graphic novel, with the first installment set to release in June.
Radhil @26 – I assume the “tall bald fellow with earrings” is Sazed. I could be wrong – it’s happened before. Also, re: Hoid, there’s this little line in Words of Radiance:
This kind of thing, along with the fact that despite seeing him in every book, we’ve never seen Hoid do violence except with words, contrasts sharply with his behavior at the Well. Add in this:
and I have to believe that his ability to hurt Kelsier is an unusual thing. So I don’t believe it’s just that he normally prefers to be witty; I think it’s that he’s normally unable to do physical violence. I don’t know why, but it seems to be a Thing. YMMV, of course.
@29 Wetlandernw
I agree about Hoid not being normally able to do violence. Rock, in Words, mentions that the “trickster god” (Hoid) has been forbidden by the other gods from harming “man.” There are lots of little tidbits like that.
As for whether he is a bad guy, I think he is generally for the continued existence of people in the Cosmere but otherwise might not be the nicest person out there. Just because he has extended kindness to some does not mean he extends it to all. (The reverse is also true.)
I think it’s interesting how different characters spark such different responses in people. For example, I love Shallan, and was surprised to learn that many do not care for her. On the other hand, Kaladin, who I take to be a popular character, leaves me cold.
Hm, I have to say that I don’t like fake deaths and despite all the hints about Kelsier being mostly alive, I don’t like the confirmation that he is, or how big a role he covertly played in the events any better. And I really liked live Kelsier and thought that his death was very poignant and great. I agree that it diminshes Vin, who, to add insult to injury, is like the _only_ significant female character in the trilogy. Yes, I remember and like Tindwyl, but hers was very much a bit part. Beyond that, crickets.
OTOH, new revelations about the Cosmere are very interesting, of course. Mm…
Is ghost Kelsier functionally a spren? Ditto the shades from Threnody? Was the unaccounted for Shard killed by Odium from there and if so, what on earth could it have been? Kind of interesting, that apparently all former Vessels have an option to remain in the cognitive realm after their deaths, but of those that we have seen, only Kelsier was tempted so far.
Not sure what to think about Hoid. I am not too put out by him beating up ghost Kelsier, though it is somewhat omnius if indicative of his true character, but why did he stay on Scadrial after grabbing a bead of lerasium? Wasn’t it likely that Ruin would get his way and destroy everything, including him?
The fact that magic on Sel continued functioning even after Devotion and Dominion were splintered and now Ruin’s declaration how nothing is ever truly destroyed, makes me certain that we will see reconstitution of a splintered Shard at some point, likely Honor.
So, those Elantrian thieves, were they operating before or after restoration of Aon D’or? And if they understood Cosmere mechanics so well, why didn’t they help restore it in the first place? Also, were they drinking Stormlight?! I actually think that their plan to steal Preservation shard was quite ingenius and it might have worked, if Alonoe managed to pull it’s shardic power back from the battle with Ruin and allowed him to destroy Scadrial. Preservation then wouldn’t have been connected to a world anymore, and Alonoe’s own connection to Sel would have allowed her to take it there.
Neat to see Khriss and Nazh – and did she say that she used to be a part of IRE? Yet she doesn’t seem to be an Elantrian, hm…
How did Kelsier know that Ruin would send Marsh after his messenger, rather than some random Inquisitor? His plan would have failed spectacularly if it had been anybody else.
So, some mad beggar mistaking him for Lord Ruler gave Kelsier an idea to pretend to be him to the southeners from BoM? Why? Wasn’t LR just some distant legend for them? Might have just as well gone with his own growing legend as Survivor instead.
And um, did he possess some poor SOB to gain a body in which he went to the southeners? Sazed didn’t want to reincarnate him apparently… though it does make me wonder how much he turned his Preservation half towards people he felt he belonged to as a human and their descendants and his Ruin half to everybody else. Maybe not helping Kelsier or the southeners was part of “not coddling” narrative.
Of course, Kelsier’s possession of a body, with some use of hemalurgy, no less, doesn’t explain how he could have provided the southeners with Mistings and Ferrings. From BoM I thought that he somehow managed to survive (heh), so he could have given them Mistings just by sleeping around, but now it seems that he got his abilities back through hemalurgy, so nope. And Ferrings were a big question to begin with, since he wasn’t a Feruchemist. So, mystery persists.
All the cognitive realm shenangians make me wonder how difficult it is to get to another planet’s cognitive reflection by chance. Like, will we see Jasnah, for instance, absent-mindendly finding herself in the cognitive realm of another world? Running into some Shard (hopefully not Odium!) and hectoring them about not really being a god? Heh. Jasnah versus Sazed could be truly awesome.
Is this the first time we’ve had it confirmed that the shardbearers themselves shattered Adonalsium? I know we knew them to be present at the shattering, but I wasn’t aware of any WoB or anything that said they did it.
To me that’s one of the most significant things in the Secret History as it’s possible the reason for Odium’s rampage is more complex than has been presented in the series thus far. It wouldn’t be the first time that a supposedly malevolent evil turned out to be far more nuanced than at first glance (Lord Ruler, God King).
Maybe everyone else knew about this already and I’m late to the party, but I wouldn’t be surprised having learned that they killed Adonalsium that we may have the wrong end of the cosmere stick in some ways.
@24 tiornys, I knew about the annotations, but didn’t exactly go through all of it, only a handful of entries more or less at random. Reading the part I quoted above was finding out that Vin wasn’t as smart as I thought she was, that she was never that smart in Brandon’s head (from whence canonicity flows forth). I might have had less of a problem with it if it was revealed directly in HoA (emphasis on “might have”), but revealed this way, it feels more like a betrayal, as if Vin couldn’t be smart enough to figure it out.
But, @31 Isilel, Glad to know I’m not the only one who thinks that regarding how M:SH affected our perception of Vin.
(And thanks for responding you two.)
Elsewhere in the Cosmere, @25 Wetlandernw, it’s not just you, there’s probably a lot that we don’t know about Splinters, I always thought that Endowment was Shattered because it talked about how the Returned have Splinters of her in them, but apparently that’s not the case? As for Cultivation it could be that Odium didn’t get a chance to completely Shatter it but she’s weakened like Preservation was when held by Leras.
thank you all. While I’ve read all of BS’ works, I only vaguely paid attention to all the background Cosmere things. I only recently (after a re-read of most of his novels before reading BoM & M:SH) started trying to understand & track Cosmere. These comments really helped me fill in where readers are getting information from, and how it is all coming together. I may need to do another re-read with all this mind. Not a bad thing to think about.
FWIW my reaction to the revelation of Kelsier’s influence on Vin was mixed. At times yes, I thought it was diminishing Vin a little, but I also thought that something was trying to guide her to remove the earring, though I thought it was Preservation. And if Kelsier is a splinter of Preservation, that’s not completely wrong.
Mind. Blown. Away.
I really need another week to sit & absorb.
Rereading(of everything) is in order also. Details are just … yeah, mind blown
Personally, I found Hoid and Kelsier very similar right there, which is why I think they really didn’t get along. I suspect that Kel would like to punch himself, if he ever had to deal with himself.
The thing I’m sort of confused about is why there’s even an inhabited southern continent anymore. I mean, Harmony moved the planet, reshaped the world, and healed the various issues the humans had developed from living on a dying planet. I fail to see why he couldn’t have done that to the southerners too. The issue that Fuzz and Ruin had where they couldn’t follow Kel onto the ocean…ok, maybe Harmony is attached to the Northern continent in some way, but that seems weird. He can move a planet, but not rearrange an area on that planet?
It’s confusing.
I suspect that, at some point, Spook does tell Kel off and makes him go away. I’m also wondering why he wants to stick around so badly.
In BoM there’s a broadsheet article called the Ghastly Gondala were Nicki Savage tries to take a map back from a man who stole it. I was wondering if this was Nazh. Everything fits up with being him. The map is apperently worthless except for a pocket that the man doesn’t care about. He also has a gun that shoots ghosts or shades or something and the gun is affected by chromuim. And at the end he jumps of off the Gondola to get away. At the end of the story a young man with white hair (Hoid?) offers to tell Nicki a story which she declines. If it is Nazh this is the most descriptive account of him so far.
awsome postI was wondering if this was Nazh. Everything fits up with being him. The map is apperently worthless except for a pocket that the man doesn’t care about. He also has a gun that shoots ghosts or shades or something and the gun is affected by chromuim.
@36 WuseMajor, From what I’ve read in BoM, there has always been a “southern” continent, we’ve just never been there, the book said they’ve adapted to the heat before the Catacendre, apparently the Lord Ruler’s ash mounts didn’t exist where they were, which is why when Sazed remade the world, they felt like it was freezing. I thought it was strange too that Sazed didn’t change them, he had time to make Spook a Mistborn but couldn’t be bothered to change these other guys’ physiology? Someone on the BoM spoiler thread suggested it’s to balance out the coddling of the Elendel basin people, but that would mean he realized his mistake almost immediately, which, if he did, why didn’t he just unmake the fertile paradise-like conditions of the basin? So my theory is he just plain forgot to check if there were any other people aside from the ones (formerly) under the Lord Ruler’s rule.
As for Preservation and Ruin not being able to follow Kelsier into the ocean, my interpretation is it’s just the “oceans” in the Cognitive Realm they can’t go, that the Shardic powers can go anywhere on the planet in the Physical Realm (because the Investiture is the same even on the Southern continent), but in the Cognitive Realm, Shardholders like Fuzz or Sazed are bound to the parts that are reflective of the land masses, so neither Fuzz nor Ati can follow Kelsier to where the oceans are, and M:SH strongly implied that these Shardic Powers can’t access the Spiritual Realm at all.
I don’t think that Sazed realized his mistake almost immediately re: Elendel basin, in fact I imagine that his Sazed and Preservation parts very much hoped that people there would flourish in every way. But his Ruin part would prevent him from creating a uniform paradise on Scadrial and force him to leave a part of the populace to their own devices, evolve or die, etc. And he chose to sacrifice the people he personally didn’t know and care about to his Ruin side.
And, BTW, if Lord Ruler had to create the ashmounts to cool things down enough for the people of the Final Empire to survive, how was it possible for equatorials to do so, without any of the Metallic Arts, even? Wouldn’t it have been boiling hot there?
We know that the Terrismen could survive in very inhospitable places because of their Feruchemy, but without any magic at all, it doesn’t seem plausible within the framework of Scadrial worldbuilding.
As to the ocean in cognitive realm, it seems that at least this part of it isn’t wholly of Scadrial, but rather an intersection of cognitive realms of several worlds. Which is why the shades from Threnody could waltz in and why the Shards, presumably, couldn’t. Though their being embroiled in battle to the death at the time may have played a role as well. Maybe normally they might have been able to get in deeper, with some effort, but their resources were tied up elsewhere when Kelsier visited.
#32 @armisticeone – That, for me, was one of the most interesting revelations. The fact that Adonalsium was intentionally broken into the Shards by the original holders puts a whole new spin on things. It wasn’t a case of something that just happened on its own and these 16 people took up the Shards out of necessity. It sounds more malicious than that. I wonder what they intended to gain (other than the powers of a god) and if they consider it a success? Hoid clearly knew many of them prior to this. Was he part of the plan all along or is he working against them, trying to recreate Adonalsium by bringing the Shards together? There’s clearly a LOT more to learn here.
I gave it 2 stars on Amazon, and my review (copied and pasted below) is titled “Disappointing” The prose and narrative doesn’t read like Sanderson at his best; it’s muddy, convoluted, and (especially the annoying ending) -well, it seems that it’s TRUE purpose is to set up more books in what is a near-perfect and completely complete series. I love the Mistborn books-I consider them some of the best and most well-written books I’ve read-this felt rushed and an almost disingenuous effort. It has kind of ruined -a little bit- the Mistborn series for me, so I’m going just pretend that I haven’t read this book. I know some people loved this novella-but there were too many odd things, changed or conveniently torqued plot points. It just seemed, well, a bit of a mess compared to what I feel is the standard of Brandon Sanderson’s writing.
Hi, I have finished my 4th Mistborn reread and am now reading the secret history for the first time and noting my reactions as I read. (will read the post and your comments afterwards).
Part 1. The first pages feel very “Malazan” to me. I like it. “Fuzz” -> very funny. Kelsier is in true form as the (forced) optimist who never gives up, no matter what. Being in the well at least gives some kind of explanation how Kelsier “survived”.
Part 2. Hoid! Fun and antagonistic as I expected. Love the remark about mercantile system ;-). If the pits are Invested, it makes sense they would be a focal point for worldhopping. I guess Saze remade worldhopping points afterwards, since Demoux at the very least got off (and I suspect more). “you did what I needed you to do” why? Why would Hoid want to bring down the lord ruler? To encourage change? Perhaps even to make Harmony, a more powerful shard? Can Hoid look that far ahead and/or does he take wild chances and hopes it works out? Is Hoid travelling from the world of the dead or from Shadesmar?
Cephandrius? Sounds like a Scadrial name to me.. From a previous visit perhaps? Or the name which he was known by during the Shattering? Nice Platonesque comparison with the sunlight, not sure I understand it any better than Kelsier… (cont’d in next post)
Khriss en Nazh! Finally we see then and we see them interacting! I’m LOVING this secret history!
I wonder why Khriss is in exile.. Is that explained in White Sand? Looking forward to the Graphic Novel! Eyree are the People of the Southern pole, richt? That’s the slight (tiny) spoiler for Bands of Mourning I guess. Love the last line, eating the bolt.
yvetadin @44 – No, Khriss’s exile isn’t explained in White Sand – not unless the graphic novel is dramatically revised from the original. It’s probably something that results from her further scholarly activities.
The Eyree are … never mind. You’ll figure that out. :P
@36, others re:Southern physiology
We just learned or a least received a lot of hints about Ruin and Preservation’s ability to affect people who were more strongly tied to another shard. Perhaps the worship of or relationship with some other entity interfered enough with the Connection between Harmony and the southerners. I imagine Sazed would have been Connected enough to all of Scadrial to change the actual planet, but I think Connection to living beings is more nuanced, and he may not have been able to change their physiology. He could have orchestrated or directly sent Kelsier or Spook there to help them study Investiture, resulting in the development of the warming technology as compensation for his inability to alter them.
I only now got around to getting back to Scadrial (too busy with my master’s thesis when they came out), but I agree with @@@@@32 ArmisticeOne and @@@@@41 Nick31. I had assumed that the group just picked the shards up when Adonalsium shattered, to know that they themselves were behind this shattering … Not sure what to think of it. Most of my other thoughts have also been already represented here.
A post or something putting all the events in the Cosmere into a proper timeline would be wonderful, but I understand that these things are still debatable.
And I am quite satisfied with myself. Been following Brandon’s work since he was announced as RJ’s successor for finishing WoT, and I still feel like a novice regarding the workings of the Cosmere compared to most of you here, but I AM picking a few things up from the books and it feels great to have them confirmed (eg recognizing the Eyrees as being from Sel or in BoM suspected it was actually Kelsier, not Lord Ruler several chapters before the actual revelation in the end). Most satisfying, indeed :)
Okay, I’m a little late here. I read it when it first came out, just did not post here. Re-reading it in Arcanum, I realized I had more questions than answer.
First – Vin and Elend, are they coming back? Or are they going to stay dead?
Second – the Resurrection of Kelsier. Will it happen onscreen or off screen.
Arghhhhhhhhh…. I’m more confused than ever.
sheiglagh @48 – Vin & Elend went Beyond. They aren’t coming back. As for Kelsier, assuming you mean in the books as opposed to whatever they do with the movies, it depends on whether Sanderson ever writes M:SH2. It’s past history for Era 2, so it would have to happen in another backstory novella like this.
Wetlandernw @49 – Thanks Alice!!!! *kisses*
You’re welcome! :D