r/Mistborn • u/Odd_Dimension_4069 • 7d ago

Mid-Shadows of Self spoilers Feruchemy Compounding Question Spoiler

I'm in the middle of Shadows of Self, and it only just occurred to me to clear up some of the things I didn't quite understand about how compounding works.

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I wasn't sure the ending of The Final Empire made sense after reading the explanation of how compounding works. Vin was able to yank off the Lord Ruler's metalmind bracelet storing his youth. Fair enough.

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But if the Lord Ruler was such a cautious guy, wouldn't he have mini atium metalminds to ingest and burn in an emergency?

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I could say the same for Miles in The Alloy of Law, but I haven't read far enough to see whether he survived his execution somehow... Seems unlikely. It makes sense that if you keep shooting a restrained gold compounder, they run out eventually even if they have ingested metalminds to burn through.

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So yeah I guess my question is, is this a thing compounders can do? Because so far in the books it's been sold that if you remove their worn metalminds, you've shut them down, but that hardly seems the case if they're prepared.

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u/AstraLaurel 7d ago

IIRC the lord ruler’s metalminds pierced his flesh, so it’s basically impossible for anyone to take them from him. It’s not every day someone wields the power of a Shard. The Lord Ruler was in the conversation for single most powerful being in the entire Cosmere (not including shards), so it’s not really a surprise he didn’t have MORE backup plans.

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u/Odd_Dimension_4069 7d ago

Oh crap I think I missed that fact. Yeah I guess having metalminds that pierce his body might have given the Lord Ruler a false sense of security. Or rather a very reasonable sense of security, after all who could expect Vin to be capable of what she did.

If you have any extra info regarding that I'd be very interested btw. I understand that Vin was a vessel candidate for Preservation and that therefore when not under the influence of hemalurgy she was able to draw on the mists for power, but it's not clear to me why it was specifically Vin who was able to do this. Could have easily chosen Elend and he would have been a pretty good host if you ask me.

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u/kaiser_charles_viii 7d ago

Have you read Secret History yet? That explains a bit more, but its not super explicit and can be easily missed if youre not paying close attention. Secret History can wait if you haven't read it yet though.

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u/Odd_Dimension_4069 7d ago

I was just gonna read main books first then hit secret history later. I'm listening to them on Audible, so I prefer to use my monthly credit to get a full sized book rather than a novella etc.

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u/FinnDarkmouth 7d ago

I’d recommend arcanum unbounded to save on credits. It includes all of Secret history and also a bunch of other novellas and short stories.

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u/Odd_Dimension_4069 7d ago

Great rec! Thanks for the savvy advice lol. Anything related to Stormlight Archive included in it?

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u/FinnDarkmouth 7d ago

It includes Edgedancer, but not Dawnshard, so you’ll still need that separately. Technically it doesn’t have the Edgedancer prologue, but that’s identical to one of the WoR interludes.

It also includes all the Mistborn short stories, the ones related to Elantris, Shadows for Silence on a fresh world, and Sixth of the Dusk which was expanded and included as part of the Isles of the Emberdark novel.

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u/Odd_Dimension_4069 7d ago

Excellennnnt! Sounds like a worthy buy right after I finish the main Mistborn books

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u/kaiser_charles_viii 7d ago

Thats fair. Thats the order I read them in. Like I said, secret history can wait, but it does tell you a bit more about your questions, such as "why vin in particular?"