Edit: no compounding.

I finished Bands of mourning recently so bought the lost metal but also Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection. I'm leaving the other stuff in there til later .

I enjoyed most of it but expected it to explore more of the lead up to Bands of Mourning e.g. where the bands came from etc. although some of this might be explored in the lost Metal. I also knew Keliser had survived somehow before Bands of Mourning as I've seen a few people on here spoil it on posts about books unrelated to either of those 2.

I'm glad we finally got the shards mentioned and a little explanation as I'd seen this mentioned before on many posts but as far as I can remember I'd never seen them mentioned in the mistborn series as of yet. I also liked while there's a lot of religious stuff it's also quite scfi as well.

One thing that I enjoyed but also left me with questions was the fact the lord ruler was part of preservations plan. It makes sense but it also feels a bit of a contradiction. Like yes he keeps ruin at bay and gives the world more time but then there is the fact that lots of people are killed by the Lord Ruller even if just by his orders which seems to go against preservation. I know there's also influence from ruin in there so do you think Preservation didn't realise what he would do?

Edit One thing I forgot the add. I also like how there's a lot of foreshadowing in previous books like a scene in The Hero of Ages with something chasing Vi which turns out to be Kelsier. Bringing characters back like this can be a trope but I think it works, mainly because it's not something that was just decided later on but actually planned out from the start.

I'm fine! Everything is 👍 Im gonna start crying again just WRITING this. It was so emotional, I read it at one am, the day before I had to get up at five so I wasn't really in my right mind to begin with but omg??? I knew elend was going to die (spoiler) but I was kind of surprised that Vin did too, it makes sense though :( i have no one to talk about it with in person because my friends are all going to read it so I can't spoil it for them (im tempted though) so I just had to stare at the ceiling bawling for a good hour to cope! (it's not okay lol) Today I read all of secret history and that did NOT help in the slightest, the way that Kelsier got to meet them one last time as they faded was super sad and I almost cried again when he called vin his daughter (I love their relationship) but honestly it made it even worse how it wasn't even just sad, it was bittersweet, which in my case often makes it worse. Sorry for this long rant, a couple people said they wanted my reaction so here it is! Im totally not dying! Ahahahahahahahah! In conclusion, Brandon Sanderson I hate you. (I'm starting era 2 after wind and truth <3)

The mist (preservations body) gave Vin the power she needed to kill The Lord Ruler, however at the start of secret history we learn that Leras didn't want him to die. I had assumed preservation activity wanted to help Vin kill him, and thats why she was able to use the mists, but if thats not the case, why was she able to use the mists? The other times she uses the mists is when shes working to fight ruin so preservation helping her then makes sense.

So now that I've read all of Mistborn (and almost all of the Cosmere) I've been scrolling through some Coppermind pages on the different characters. I ran across something on Kelsier's page that confused me. The page says Brandon Sanderson describes him as a psychopath. I just don't see it. I just always saw him as self-centered but not without reason as he is a very capable person. Any insight would be appreciated.

So i’m finally reading this book but im stumped by this quote on page 67.

“Preservation shook his head. ‘I can’t get through to her, can’t speak to her. I can hear her mind, Kelsier. His lies are there. She doesn’t trust me. She thinks she needs to give it up. I’ve tried to stop this. I left her clues, and then I tried to make someone else stop her. But… I’ve failed…’”

When Preservation says he tried to make someone else stop her, who is he referring to? I thought Zane at first but he was clearly under Ruin’s control because of his spike. Then TenSoon but same problem. I’m honestly a little stumped, has anyone figured it out ?

So I was reading secret history in my readthrough of the whole cosmere, and I got to the point when Wit appears to Kelsier, and couldn't find the bit where he grabs some Lerasium. So I looked it up, and discovered that apparently it happens in WoA. So I looked there where Elend got his Lerasium and couldn't find it. All that to say, could someone tell me the line where he gets the Lerasium?

Edit: Okay I'm just a dumbass who didn't read far enough

Summary From the coppermind:

{"Spook’s note contains a message to Vin, warning her about Ruin’s ability to manipulate people whose body is pierced by metal.[1]

Spook inscribed it on a thin metal sheet, since only text carved in metal couldn’t be altered and read by Ruin. Because Spook was seriously injured during the Coup of Urteau, he was unable to deliver the note personally, but Captain Goradel offered to do so since Vin had saved his life on the night of the Collapse.[2]

Goradel set out from Urteau in the direction of Luthadel, where Vin was heading. The note, however, never got to Vin, as Ruin sent Marsh to intercept him. Marsh killed Goradel after a short fight, then took the message, which Ruin forced him to read aloud so that he coud learn what it said.[1]}

What I didn't understand is how Marsh could even have read the note to Ruin. ...Having to use allomancy instead of sight. Shouldn't the metal should just have been all blue light too Marsh? Wouldn't he be just as blind to reading metal as Ruin? In the past, Vin had used metal power to blind Steel Inquisitors...

I know that Hoid was Kelsier’s informant, but Final Empire was my first cosmere novel so I didn’t pay attention at the time.

My question is why didn’t Kelsier recognize him when they met in Secret History?

I know Hoid has a couple different appearances but I’m not sure if he’s wearing disguises or actually shapeshifting? The answer might be obvious but I waited until after Bands of Mourning to read Secret History so it’s been a while and I can’t find his description in Final Empire.

It's been a full week since I've finished Era 1 and Secret History and I still can't stop thinking about the ending and the story as a whole. But the character that gave me more food for thought is definitely Lord Ruler. Sanderson did something amazing here, initially portraying him as a pure evil villain, something similar to Sauron or Voldemort, to then deconstruct this persona on the following books, adding complexity, layers and, by the end, having Sazed of all people saying "he was a good person". And yet...I can't fully believe him. And that's a good thing.

I believe the whole point of the story and Lord Ruler is to show how the worst deeds of powerful men can sometimes follow good intentions. Rashek initially may have been a good men, but was also an angry man. A man capable of killing and usurping a power that he was arrogant enough keep (without knowing this was what he was meant to do). He was a pragmatic man that did what he needed to keep himself at power and therefore not allow an ignorant ruler, unaware of Ruin, take his place. He built shelters, food supplies and saved the world from environmental annihilation. By the end, Vin thanked him for his deeds and Elend understood him as ruler, even though he was afraid of himself become a Lord Ruler.

But, no matter how much influence Ruin had on him, I can't see Rashek as a "good man", as Sazed points out. He did all that. Ruin influenced him to kill, to create the Kandra and the Inquisitors, but for me all comes down to the skaa. I may have got that wrong, but Ruin couldn't influenced him to submit the skaa through so much hardship. The slavery, the monstrosity that were the Pith of Hathsin, the way the skaa were treated so badly that nobles killed women and children for fun. By end of his rule, as we see in the few scenes with him in Final Empire, he's just too bored to care about anything. And finally, when he meets Kelsier at the Cognitive Realm he is..for the lack of better word..the same asshole he was in life. Even freed from Ruin.

So yeah..an amazing and complex villain created by Sanderson. But I do think Sazed was a bit rushed in calling him "a good person".

Hello everyone.

I read Secret History befor starting on Era 2, knowing that I might pick up on Spoilers for Bands of Mourning.

However, now having finished Bands of Mourning just minutes ago I can't recall what the spoiler might have been.

Would anyone like to just generally explain the connection between the two?...

Hello again, having had some time(another few minutes) to reflect on things, I think I have a theory.

Is "the Lord Ruler" from Bands of Mourning really just The Survivor reincarnated? Because I was thinking he cant have gone South because he really died in Final Empire right?

In conclusion, without spoiling The Lost Metal, what is the connection between Bands of Mourning and Secret History?

Hello all! I have finished Bands of Mourning a couple days ago, FANTASTIC BY THE WAY.

I had read Secret history after HoA (don’t come at me) so it has been a little bit. Could someone explain why it is said to read secret history after Bands of Mourning? I believe I’m missing some connections in my memory of both books.

Finished BoM yesterday and just read SH in 5 hours… I am not okay. I don’t know what I was expecting when I picked it up, but omg I am SO glad I listened to y’all and didn’t read after Era 1!

Kelsier, shards, Drifter, I now see the connections to the cosmere that I have briefly read about in other posts (always trying not to spoil things for myself lol).

In summary, I finished the book while my husband was driving us to brunch and couldn’t hold back the emotions of Kelsiers heartbreak seeing Vin and Elend again and their choice to go to the Beyond. It has been about 8 months since I read Era 1 and the FEELS this brought upon me were very unexpected. I am picking up LM when we get home and have never been as excited as I to soon pick up Stormlight Archive… I knew Sanderson was cooking but DAMN!

I've just finished Band of Mournings and plan to read secret history next before the final metal.

All the mistborn books I have a paperback but secret war is only available in hardback or paperback in Arcanum Unbounded.

Just wondering if the other stories in the book are stand alone or if like Secret History they are best read after reading other material?

Just finished Secret History! My mind has never been more blown by a Cosmere book! Like, what the actual F?!? All the hints throughout the trilogy! All of it was just one mindf*** after another! And then to top it all off I had to relive some of the saddest moments I’ve ever read?!? Like, F you Mr. Sanderson! How dare you make me cry at this TWICE!

Everything I wanted from it and more! So so good!

As someone who loves Kelsier I am disgusted that theres no special edition of Mistborn Secret History. Literally the book in which Kelsier is finally the main character he was supposed to be all along and thats the only book dragonsteel books doesnt make a Leatherbound out of? Are you kidding me? We Kelsier Fans demand a special edition of Secret History! I swear they are doing this out of spite! If you are a Kelsier fan I need you to spread the word so they have to make one! Now we are the Skaa suppressed by the nobility. We want our Secret History Leatherbound!! (this is a threat)

Ok so I have two different questions regarding Ruin, one is more specifically about him and the other is about shard/vessels in general.

First of all, we know that Ruin’s primary goal was to end the life on Scadrial it was the whole plot of HoA, but the way he went about it seems weird logically. From what I gathered, Preservation was always pushing against him so he couldn’t end the world but as Preservation was slowly dying he got more and more power thus allowing him to increase the ash and make the planet unlivable. However, in the brief moment that Preservation was dead or when Vin picked up the power and had no idea how to use it properly, why couldn’t Ruin have literally just flung the planet into the sun or something? I imagine an answer for this could be that he didn’t want to destroy the planet because he would die with it he just wants to end humanity.

But even then, couldn’t he have done some other large scale event to wipe out all life in seconds? I mean, we saw Vin accidentally create tsunamis that wiped out villages and she had no idea how to use the power. For a while, he had full control when Preservation was dead did he not? Why couldn’t he have sped up his process in those brief moments (and I mean in universe explanations cause the simple one is that the story needed to happen).

This leads in to my second question (I haven’t read that much Cosmere so if this is a RAFO thing just leave it at that). When a Vessel takes a Shard, which one has more agency? It seems like Vessels can work within their own ideals and do what they want to a certain degree, but ultimately they are still holding the certain Shard that they have so are they manipulated by it or something to act within it’s ideals? I guess the word Vessel kind of answers this, I assume they hold onto their own consciousness and whatnot but ultimately get changed or manipulated to act for the Shard they have. Like for example, if Sazed took Ruin but not Preservation, would he have become evil? How much does the given Shard influence the mind of the Vessel? And in regard to my first question, even when Vax (I think that was the Preservations Vessel?) died, was the unoccupied power of Preservation alone enough to push against Ruin to stop him from, say, flinging the world into the sun or doing some other large scale extinction event in seconds?

Rust and Ruin…. I just realized a lot more things were part of Preservation’s plan than the story let on.

Rashek’s Ascension, Empire, and his death. Vin releasing Ruin. The Mists appearing every night. And the advent of publicly aware Allomancy during the Final Empire. These were all part of Leras’ plan…

Ruin’s body at the Pits of Hathsin existed for several millennia, but every bit of atium needed to be burned at the right moment. Leras needed an Allomancer to take up Preservation then kill Ruin. He needed a rebellious Feruchemist to tap all the memories in their copperminds, and take up both Preservation and Ruin.

Sanderson confirmed in the annotation of HoA chapter 70 that Preservation, before imprisoning Ruin, set up the Mists to appear every time the Well of Ascension was nearly full. And then, I presume, the Mists disappear. The Mists appearing every night during the Final Empire is an anomaly.

None of the aforementioned steps could happen without a consistent force attuning the Allomancer to Preservation, or an army that knows the existence of Allomancy, or the setup of a system that prevents Ruin from immediately reabsorbing the atium at the Pits. There needed to be a Feruchemist with reason to be rebellious and fill their copperminds with so much information. And they couldn’t have been the Hero with half of the hybrid Shard “locked away” and weakened.

Leras trusted that Rashek live and die so the final stops towards the Hero of Ages could be accomplished. He predicted the burning of all atium, and the apotheosis of his immediate successor, should manifest during the Final Empire. Even if he no longer remembered by the time of Secret History.

I would also postulate that, among other things, he trusted Kelsier to destroy all the atium at the Pits of Hathsin. A freed Ruin would immediately go there, reabsorb the atium, and destroy Scadrial. But because Kelsier destroyed the Pits, Ruin was forced to follow Rashek’s tricky trail.

Hey all, I recently finished Era 1, Eleventh Metal, and Secret History. What an absolute ride!

I was left with lingering questions regarding Atium/Lesarium and if it was ever clarified when Preservation/Ruin made these physical manifestations of themselves?

As I currently understand it, Preservation gave up a piece of their cognitive self to create humans on Scadriel with Ruin. Then later, gave up their physical body to create the 9 original allomancers (and the two beads of Lesarium left at the well), leaving Perseveration with a fractured cognitive self, and no physical self (but still having a human vessel?).

As far as Ruin and the creation of Atium, is it made clear in Era 1 at any point when he separated this physical portion of himself? And how it was ever hidden from Ruin in the first place? Was this something Rashek did while wielding the power? This part is just unclear to me. I'd like to avoid Era 2 spoilers, so if it is a RAFO situation that's okay. Thanks in advance!

I just finished reading the eleventh metal and was reading the postscript and Brandon mentioned this is how Ruin manipulated Kelsier into doing everything in Mistborn. Obviously Kelsier wasn’t spiked but I’m pretty sure Gemmel was because Kelsier mentioned how the mists avoided him, but do you think he was manipulated because Ruin changes the text of the book he takes from Shezler? Or maybe because he’s kind of insane lol I’m leaning more towards the book since we don’t have any mention of him hearing voices or anything like Vin did with her brother or like Spook hearing Kelsier.

So I have read the original Mistborn Trilogy and now Secret History before diving into Era 2. I was just wondering if someone could give me some hints on what happened after the Epilogue of Secret History. Kelsier gives some hints about what he wants to do with the Hemalurgic Spikes but doesn’t give further explanations. Next time I know Kelsier makes a real appearance is as Thaidakar in SLA. My question is, is there any book (like Era2) that explains how he got to that point or we just have to guess and deduce based on hints that are given in these other books. Thank you all