Talk:Steel Inquisitor

Steel Inquisitor spikes

How many spikes do the Steel Inquisitors have? What metal is each spike, where is it located, and what power does it give them? That question applies to regular Steel Inquisitors from the first Mistborn book, and also to the Steel Inquisitor at Vetitan from the book Hero of Ages.

Here's what I've been able to put together myself: They all have 2 steel spikes through the eyes, 2 steel spikes in the chest, and 4 bronze spikes in the chest. Through those 8 spikes, they get the 8 basic Allomantic powers. The regular Steel Inquisitors also have 1 spike to seal them together. So we're up to 9. That much seems well established. But then I'm confused about the rest.

Issue 1. The Mistborn epilogue (page 637) said that in addition to those 9 spikes, regular Steel Inquisitors had 2 more spikes in the chest, for a total of 11. What's the deal with them? Mistborn chapter 36 (pages 592 and 600) implied that regular Steel Inquisitors had healing powers and moved supernaturally quickly. So maybe those other 2 spikes granted those abilities. That's supported by the introduction of the Hero of Ages chapter 36 (page 313), which says that the original Steel Inquisitors had a spike that gave them their healing abilities. If so, then what type of metal were those spikes? I don't think it says this anywhere in the first trilogy (which is all I've read), but presumably the speed comes from a pewter spike, since speed is a Feruchemical physical power, and pewter spikes steal Feruchemical physical powers.

The introduction of the Hero of Ages chapter 36 (page 313) says the spike that gave them healing abilities was pewter. That's slightly problematic, as healing comes from gold, and the metal tables say that gold is a temporal or hybrid metal, rather than a physical metal. This website's article for Steel Inquisitors speculates that they could gain healing from a gold spike, since the Hemalurgic metal table in the leather bound version of Hero of Ages says gold spikes steal Feruchemical hybrid powers. (As opposed to the metals quick reference chart in the paperback version of Hero of Ages, which says atium spikes are the ones that steal Feruchemical temporal powers.) The webpage https://wob.coppermind.net/events/294-17th-shard-interview/#e10123 says that when the author was asked about this in 2010, he said that might be a typo, but he wasn't sure. The webpage https://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/1729-a-late-breaking-report/ says that the author said in 2012 that pewter spikes really do steal the ability to store health (which Feruchemists store in gold). He reiterates that pewter spikes only steal physical powers, but he says two groups of Feruchemical powers are both considered physical. That sort of contradicts the metal tables that describe gold as a temporal or hybrid metal, rather than a physical metal. The author seems to say this contradiction is because Feruchemy obeys different rules than Allomancy, and there was going to be a table of Feruchemy at the end of the book Alloy of Law which presumably would've clarified this, but it wasn't ready in time for publication.

So that's what my theory about those 2 spikes. But does anyone else have any additional information from the last 8 years or the more recent books?

Issue 2. Also, Hero of Ages chapter 5 (pages 44-45) says the Steel Inquisitor at Vetitan had a pewter spike in the heart, which the other Steel Inquisitors didn't have. What power did that give him? That section makes a big deal about his speed. Is it trying to imply that pewter spike gave him speed? Because as I mentioned above, Mistborn chapter 36 (page 600) implied that regular Steel Inquisitors already moved supernaturally quickly. So I don't know why that would be a new revelation.

Issue 3. Also, if the regular Steel Inquisitors had 11 spikes, and the Steel Inquisitor at Vetitan has an extra one, then it seems like he'd have 12. But that section (Hero of Ages chapter 5, pages 44-45) says he only had 10. It also seems to say that regular Steel Inquisitors only have 6 spikes in the chest, rather than the 8 spikes they were previously described as having. So what's the deal with that?

My theory is on issues 2 and 3 is that by the time the author got to this part, he'd forgotten what he wrote in the first book. Or decided to retcon it. But does anyone else have additional information?

Issue 4. That section (Hero of Ages chapter 5, pages 44-45) describes the Steel Inquisitor at Vetitan as having a steel spike in the shoulders. Is that another term for the spike in the back that seals the other spikes together? And if not, what's the deal with it?

- Ebmid2 (talk) 00:56, 29 December 2020 (UTC)

On issue 1, one problem I think you're running into here is that, even before the Lord Ruler's death, not all Inquisitors had the same number of spikes (see wob:8848; wob:10123 and wob:8037 also imply this). I wouldn't be surprised if there were some inconsistencies in the spike metals either, but I think the Hemalurgy table should be the canonical version of what metals steal what powers and any errors were probably fixed in the leatherbound editions of the Era 1 books. Per wob:5971, the entry for atium on the metals quick reference chart in The Hero of Ages is a deliberate, in-world error. I think the Feruchemical table and Hemalurgy table make clear that, while Brandon did consider there to be two physical quadrants in Feruchemy at one point, that is no longer canonical.

On issue 2, Inquisitors had Allomantic pewter before the Lord Ruler's death, which I think would be enough to give them supernatural speed. Since wob:10123 says they occasionally had trouble finding enough Keepers for Feruchemical gold spikes, I doubt any Inquisitors had Feruchemical steel at this time. Vin says the Inquisitor at Vetitan moved too fast for even duralumin-enhanced Allomantic pewter and per the Hemalurgy table, the pewter spike through his heart would grant a physical Feruchemical power, so I'm pretty sure that new spike was in fact granting Feruchemical steel, allowing that Inquisitor to move even faster than Inquisitors previously had (possibly by Compounding).

On issue 3, I think this also probably falls under "the number of spikes in each Inquisitor was not always the same."

On issue 4, yeah, I'd agree that the spike in the shoulders is the one Marsh describes as sealing the other spikes together.

As far as this Coppermind article goes, the fact that not all Inquisitors had the same number of spikes is already noted at Steel Inquisitor#Powers. For the metal types used for Inquisitor spikes, the Hemalurgy table and leatherbounds should take precedence over earlier editions of the books; if there's a disagreement between the leatherbounds or between the leatherbounds and the table, I think we'd just try to note that disagreement.

--Stargazer (talk) 02:04, 29 December 2020 (UTC)