Terris Prophecies
| Terris Prophecies | |
|---|---|
 by ToastSamurai
| |
| Related to | Terris |
| World of Origin | Scadrial |
| Universe | Cosmere |
“The Hero will have the power to save the world. But he will also have the power to destroy it. ”
—[1]
The Terris Prophecies were a set of legends which foretells that the Hero of Ages will save the world. Preservation created them with incredible foresight as part of his ultimate plan to defeat Ruin.[2]
Alendi and Rashek[edit]
The Hero of Ages, also called Rabzeen and the Anamnesor,[3] was a prophesied savior who would supposedly take the power of the Well of Ascension and use it to save the world.[4] Kwaan believed Alendi to be the hero,[5] and while initially his claim was scorned by the rest of the Worldbringers,[6] eventually they conceded Kwaan had been right,[7] earning him the prophesied title of the Announcer.[8] By the time Alendi was recognized, Kwaan had started to doubt the integrity of the prophecies.[7] However, the rest of the Worldbringers did not notice the changes in the prophecies because they trusted their copperminds, never realizing they could be altered.[9] Kwaan eventually realized that the prophecies had been edited to require the Hero to give up the power of the Well once taken,[9] and sent Rashek, his nephew, to prevent Alendi from reaching the Well of Ascension.[9] He and his trusted friends went as Alendi's packmen.[9] Rashek killed Alendi at the end of the journey, and took up the power of Preservation at the Well of Ascension.[10] Instead of giving it up as Alendi would have and as Ruin wished, he used it to try to protect the world, and became a Sliver of Preservation.[11][12] From then on, Rashek pretended to be Alendi, taking his title of the Conqueror and believing himself to be the Hero of Ages.[13]
Vin and Sazed[edit]
After a thousand years, the same narrative repeats itself, but with Vin as the Hero of Ages. The Terris Prophecies were written in the Terris language, and all of them refer to the Hero with gender-neutral pronouns.[14][15] But these pronouns were most commonly translated so that the Hero is referred to as 'he', while the word was best translated as 'it'.[16] This led to most assuming the Hero of Ages was male, but Sazed believed the prophecies had been using the neutral case so that they could have been referring to a female, who he believed to be Vin.[15] The Hero of Ages was prophesied to create and destroy nations. When Vin defeated the kings laying siege to Luthadel, Sazed began to believe the Hero to be Vin.[17] Eventually[expand] she became the holder of the shard Preservation, Ruin's equal and opposite, and after the death of Elend, attacked Ruin hard enough to kill him, though it killed her in the process, and unbound both Shards.[1] As Preservation had foreseen,[18] Sazed took them, bonding Ruin and Preservation together into Harmony and became a vessel of both shards. He fixed the world's failing ecology and renewed the land, and remained to guide and protect the world as the Hero of Ages.[1]
By 348 PC, Harmony began to lose stability and began to slip towards Discord, standing on the edge, as mentioned in the prophecy.[19][20][21][22][23] The full transformation does not appear to have occurred yet, as of three weeks after the harmonium detonation and the retreat of Autonomy.[22]
Prophecy quotes[edit]
The majority of these quotes are said in awe by Sazed while watching Vin do things making her appear to be the Hero of Ages. A record of the prophecy is never given. Note that some of these prophecies could have been changed from their original text by Ruin:[citation needed]
Exact prophecy quotes[edit]
Direct quotations of the original or altered prophecy.
“The Hero of Ages shall be not a man, but a force. No nation may claim him, no woman shall keep him, and no king may slay him. He shall belong to none, not even himself. ”
—[24]
“He shall defend their ways, yet shall violate them. He will be their savior, yet they shall call him heretic. His name shall be Discord, yet they shall love him for it. ”
—[25]
“That which has been sundered must again begin to find its whole ”
—[26]
“The Hero will have the power to save the world. But he will also have the power to destroy it. ”
—[1]
“The Hero will bear the future of the world on his arms. ”
“The Hero of Ages was not simply to be a warrior. He was a person who united others, who brought them together. A leader. ”
—[17]
“The Hero of Ages was removed from the Terris people. He was not royalty himself, but came to it eventually. ”
—[17]
“He commanded the forces of the world. Kings rode to his aid. ”
—[17]
“He left ruin in his wake, but it was forgotten. He created kingdoms, and then destroyed them as he made the world anew. ”
—[17]
“...One who is separated from the Terris people, a king of men, a rebel caught between two worlds. ”
—[15]
“He who is not of his people, yet fulfills all of their wishes. ”
—[16]
“He was born of a humble family, yet married the daughter of a king. ”
—[28]
“He could trade words with the finest of philosophers, and had an impressive memory. Yet, he was not argumentative. ”
—[29]
“The Terris rejected him, but he came to lead them. ”
—[30]
“He commanded kings, and though he sought no empire, he became greater than all who had come before. ”
—[31]
“He fathered no children, yet all of the land became his progeny. ”
—[32]
“He was forced into war by a misunderstanding yet he came to fight as well as any man. ”
—[33]
“He was no simple soldier. He was a force of leadership—a man that fate itself seemed to support. ”
—[34]
Partial prophecy mentions/quotes[edit]
Prophecy fragments and non-verbatim quotations.
“...Burden by which the Hero shall be dubbed... ”
—[35]
“...Bloodless bond to the world’s kings... ”
—[35]
“...the Hero of Ages will be an outsider. ”
—[36]
Implied prophecy mentions[edit]
Indirect or uncertain references to the prophecy.
“I think I've finally discovered why Rashek resents me so very much. He does not believe that an outsider such as myself - a foreigner - could possibly be the Hero of Ages. He believes that I have somehow tricked the philosophers, that I wear the piercings of the Hero unjustly. ”
—A quote from Alendi's logbook.[37] This implies that the prophecy mentions the Hero wearing piercings.
Notes[edit]
- ↑ a b c d e The Hero of Ages chapter 82#
- ↑ The Hero of Ages Annotations
— Arcanum - 2010-06-01# - ↑ The Well of Ascension chapter 12 epigraph#
- ↑ Hero of Ages Q&A - Time Waster's Guide
— Arcanum - 2008-10-15# - ↑ The Well of Ascension chapter 15 epigraph#
- ↑ The Well of Ascension chapter 13 epigraph#
- ↑ a b The Well of Ascension chapter 30 epigraph#
- ↑ The Well of Ascension chapter 34 epigraph#
- ↑ a b c d The Well of Ascension epilogue epigraph#
- ↑ The Hero of Ages chapter 65 epigraph#
- ↑ The Hero of Ages chapter 18 epigraph#
- ↑ The Hero of Ages chapter 6 epigraph#
- ↑ The Well of Ascension chapter 37 epigraph#
- ↑ The Hero of Ages chapter 69 epigraph#
- ↑ a b c The Hero of Ages chapter 71#
- ↑ a b The Well of Ascension chapter 45#
- ↑ a b c d e The Well of Ascension chapter 55#
- ↑ Hero of Ages Q&A - Time Waster's Guide
— Arcanum - 2008-10-15# - ↑ The Lost Metal chapter 19#
- ↑ The Lost Metal chapter 66#
- ↑ The Lost Metal chapter 71#
- ↑ a b The Lost Metal epilogue 4#
- ↑ Skyward Seattle signing
— Arcanum - 2018-11-10# - ↑ The Final Empire chapter 21 epigraph#
- ↑ The Final Empire chapter 8 epigraph#
- ↑ The Hero of Ages chapter 75#
- ↑ The Final Empire prologue#
- ↑ The Well of Ascension chapter 21#
- ↑ The Well of Ascension chapter 22#
- ↑ The Well of Ascension chapter 23#
- ↑ The Well of Ascension chapter 24#
- ↑ The Well of Ascension chapter 25#
- ↑ The Well of Ascension chapter 26#
- ↑ The Well of Ascension chapter 27#
- ↑ a b The Final Empire chapter 21#
- ↑ The Final Empire chapter 30#
- ↑ The Final Empire chapter 27 epigraph#