Shadows of Self

Content Warning: This section of the guide refers to stereotypes and problematic depictions of people of diverse racial backgrounds as well as underserved communities and neighborhoods, which feature in the novel. This section of the guide also discusses classism, misogyny, and sexism, which the novel depicts.



Throughout both Mistborn series, Allomancy, Feruchemy, and Hemalurgy symbolize power. In the original trilogy, the Lord Ruler attempts to control where that power is held by forbidding nobles, who traditionally have Allomantic powers, from having children with skaa (lower-class individuals) and by trying to eliminate Feruchemical powers in Terris people completely through a breeding program. Without all-knowing, however, the Lord Ruler cannot find all of the children born from both noble and skaa backgrounds; he uses his loyal servants to search for and kill any skaa children born with Allomantic powers, but they cannot catch all of them. This is why Kelsier’s crew members almost all have Allomantic powers that they use together to fulfill their plans. They manipulate the system and pool their abilities, eventually defeating the Lord Ruler.

After the Catacendre, the founders of the new world tried to eliminate stark class differences; despite their failure to completely do so, they did foster a world where the intermingling of peoples is more acceptable. Because of that, there is much more intermarriage, and there can be people like Wax and Wayne, who are Twinborn, or born with both Allomantic and Feruchemical powers. They use their abilities to fight criminals and save those with less power, but there are many people in the city who use their abilities and the abilities of those who serve them to consolidate power and gain control over others. Wax’s grandmother sees the danger in this, but she mistakenly identifies the existence of both powers in one person as the problem: “Neither power is evil […] It is mixing those powers that is dangerous. Your nature is not your fault, but I cannot help but see it as a sign. Another tyrant in our future, too powerful. It leads to death” (96). Although Wax disagrees with her, he does see the psychological danger of Allomancy if not checked, noting that Marks “probably felt invincible. Being an Allomancer could do that to a man” (46).

Hemalurgy is another form of power. It is the process of using metal spikes to acquire power from others by killing them and then putting the spike into one’s own body. It is also the power by which kandra are made conscious. Paalm begins to manipulate Hemalurgy for her own gain, using it in a way that no one knew possible. Even Harmony does not know how a kandra is able to gain Allomantic or Feruchemical powers or how she is able to do so without him being able to control her through the spikes. Hemalurgy is seen as an evil power since it has required death, and Sazed sought to eliminate all knowledge of it when he became God. Spook, however, who became the Lord Mistborn after Scadrial’s rebirth, kept records of it, writing, “I couldn’t let it die […] It’s not right. Hemalurgy is good now, I figure. Saze is both sides now, right? Ruin isn’t around anymore” (40). Hemalurgy survives through the next generations to be used by those seeking power.