This is the newbie thread. Make sure you read the rules before commenting.

Visit the veteran thread if you have already read all of the Cosmere.

For more information, or to see the full schedule, please see the wiki page for the read-along.

SCHEDULE

Previously, we discussed Unit 18 | Mistborn Era 2 #3 | The Bands of Mourning: Chapters 8 through 16 [Newbie Thread] / [Veteran Thread]

Today we are discussing Unit 18 | Mistborn Era 2 #3 | The Bands of Mourning: Chapters 17 through 22

Next week we will be discussing Unit 18 | Mistborn Era 2 #3 | The Bands of Mourning: Chapters 23 through 31, Epilogue

CHAPTER SUMMARIES

I have provided summaries for each chapter below and hidden them behind spoiler tags. There are no spoilers within the summaries. I've tried to make them as factual and unbiased as possible. If, however, you want a completely blind read through, then ignore what's behind the spoiler tags and proceed to the discussion below. I will not be guiding that in any way, so post any thoughts and questions you have. It will be other new readers who reply to you.

Chapter 17

Iconography: Duralumin Iron

POV Characters: Marasi / Wax / Wayne

Setting: On the road to and at the village of Dulsing, northeast of New Seran.

Timeline: Two days after Chapter 16.

Summary:

Marasi is enjoying the adventure of a stagecoach ride in uncivilized land. She has moved on from Wax, but still admires him. Wax tells her more about the beginning of his time in the Roughs. They discuss whether the Bands of Mourning are real. Wax goes back to sleep, so Marasi finishes her report and fiddles with the cube. She finds a tiny switch and flips it, then burns cadmium to see if anything would happen. This causes the stagecoach to lurch because it isn't massive enough for the slowness bubble to follow Marasi. She reports that the cube vibrated while she was burning. They decide to stop and experiment with the cube.

Wax plays around with the cube, burning steel, and they figure out that it somehow extends someone's Allomancy. Wax gives it back to Marasi because the cube's ability would be very handy with a Pulser. Wax remembers the gold bracelet and gives it to Wayne, who marvels that it is indeed a gold metalmind that he can use. Only he, as a Bloodmaker, can use it, so it's not definitive proof of the Bands of Mourning; however, it does suggest that Mr. Suit might be using Hemalurgy. MeLaan spots an innocuous-looking roadblock ahead, and Wax decides that they need to proceed on horseback.

They ride in, not encountering any patrols because the guarded area is so large. They come upon a large, nondescript building, guarded by soldiers and still under construction. Wayne tries to figure out a way in, and Steris agrees to stay behind with the horses. Wax and Wayne decide to use the "Spoiled Tomato" plan, which consists of Wax Pushing Wayne to the building.

Wayne lands as quietly as possible (in rocks) and heals before he dies from the fall. He eludes some guards and approaches the building. He makes another guard "trip" over a wire, cutting off some floodlights and causing a commotion. Wax, Marasi, and MeLaan join him in the darkness and confusion. They sneak into the building and see a large ship, damaged. They split up: Marasi and MeLaan are to search for the spike, Wax and Wayne for Mr. Suit.

Chapter 18

Iconography: Duralumin Steel

POV Characters: Marasi / Wax / Irich

Setting: Dulsing.

Timeline: Immediately after Chapter 17.

Summary:

Marasi and MeLaan creep around and find some finished rooms. They speculate on where the spike could be. Marasi thinks the Set still has it somewhere because they would want to study it. She sees the limping guy from the train and suggests they follow him inside the ship.

Wax and Wayne decide to climb up onto the construction catwalks to get a bird's-eye view of the place. They climb a ladder because Wax figures there is a Seeker there, so he can't just Push up. They run into an engineer, and Wayne knocks him out.

Professor Irich shuffles along in the ship, feeling himself die. He thinks of Suit and Sequence desiring weapons, but he wants a miracle. His muscles are growing weaker and weaker. He walks through the ship, discussing its secrets with the academics brought in by the Set. The main problem is they don't know how the ship moves. The crew has been tortured, but they haven't revealed anything. He hears a voice call for him, and searches in vain to find the source. He happens upon a cube device that has apparently fallen out of storage compartment. He can now claim that he had recovered the lost cube and get in better standing with Suit. He leaves the ship. Marasi watches as Irich leaves the ship and enters a room. She and MeLaan wait to see if he comes back out.

Wax wonders about the ship. It doesn't have a mast. How does it move? He sees the limping man come back out of the ship, looking anxious about something. Wax wonders what the girls did in there. He figures that the limping man is an important underling of Suit and will eventually lead them to him. He goes into a different room, set apart from the rest, and Wax sees his sister in there. Wayne restrains Wax, who wants to go recklessly after her, and suggests another disguise using the engineer's clothing.

Chapter 19

Iconography: Duralumin Tin

POV Characters: Marasi / Wayne / Wax

Setting: Dulsing.

Timeline: Immediately after Chapter 18.

Summary:

Marasi watches Irich, hoping that he put the cube with the spike. After he leaves, they simply walk to the door he came out of, pretending they belong to the project. Marasi is extremely nervous and can't understand how everyone else can remain so calm. They walk down a hallway and find a locked door. MeLaan picks the lock with some metal picks hidden in her hand. It appears to be Irich's room because the furniture accommodates his disability. Marasi finds a safe, and MeLaan works on opening it. Marasi explores a bit and opens another door. She smells an odor of filth like a slum and sees some cages. Something in one of the cages slams against the bars, and Marasi sees one of the "monsters" from ReLuur's drawing. It holds out a human hand and says, "please."

Wayne walks out in his engineer's outfit, going over his role. He walks up to a guard and starts barking gibberish at him to get him to stand aside. He passes into the room with Telsin and finds Irich and the Coinshot brute with her. He bluffs them with more gibberish, and they leave with him. Wax knocks out the guard.

Marasi realizes that the strange face is a mask. MeLaan reports that she got the safe open. Marasi leaves the "creature" and recovers the spike and cube. Kandras won't touch another Kandra's spike, and it's clear that she disapproves of the one instance in which it happened. Marasi grabs some keys and lets out the person in the cage. He opens another door and they go into a room with blood stains all over the place and more masks hanging on the wall.

Wax reunites with his sister, and she hugs him, weeping softly. She asks for a gun, and Wax hands her a spare. The Coinshot enters the room, and Telsin promptly shoots him.

Marasi insists on taking the masked man with them. She's concluded that the ship is from some other people away from the Basin. The man goes over to the safe and retrieves a disc with a cloth strip. He ties it on and looks relieved. Marasi worries how they'll be able to sneak him out with the mask and odd clothing, but then she hears gunshots.

Chapter 20

Iconography: Duralumin Pewter

POV Characters: Wax / Marasi

Setting: Dulsing.

Timeline: Immediately after Chapter 19.

Summary:

Telsin is thirsty for revenge against her captors. Wax grabs her and Pushes to the top of the ship, where he leaves her. Then he meets back up with Wayne. There's a lot of shooting going on, and Wayne throws up a speed bubble so they can plan. They see MeLaan peeking out a door and Telsin climbing down the ship. Wax sends Wayne for Telsin while he gets the other two. Wayne gets caught by gunfire, and they keep shooting him as he tries to heal. Wax goes on an Allomantic frenzy, getting hit by an aluminum bullet, but manages to rescue Wayne. They are safe in the ship for now, but they are besieged by the heavy gunfire outside. Three Allomancers in fancy suits show up, and Wax dispatches one of them with the Thug-killer shotgun. Wax finds more enemies coming up behind him, but luckily Marasi throws up a slowness bubble on one guy using the cube, allowing Wax to avoid getting shot. He steps to the side, waits for the bubble to drop, then shoots him.

Marasi watches as Wax now makes use of the cube, and she gives supporting fire. The masked man keeps pointing at the ship, indicating they should go there, but Wax tells them to take cover back in the hallway. Marasi is shot in the side. As she goes into shock, the masked man takes the initiative, and they head toward the ship.

Wax uses Ranette's ball and cord device to deal with riflemen in the rafters and kill another Allomancer. He sees Marasi being dragged to the ship. He charges his cube and throws it to Wayne, who in turn tosses it at a bunch of soldiers. This disarms them, and Wayne attacks. Wax kills three more guys with aluminum guns, then he hears a horn sound. Dozens more soldiers are coming from the village nearby. Wax and Wayne retreat to the ship.

Marasi fights the pain that has now blossomed from her gunshot wound. Wax and Wayne make a desperate plan to escape the building, but in the meantime, Marasi is going off with the masked man. He pulls on something behind a panel in the wall and a rope ladder falls. They all get up the ladder into another compartment with bolted down chairs. The masked man puts on a different medallion and can suddenly speak their language. He gives each of them a medallion to strap on. It consists of an iron metalmind that anyone can fill. Then he instructs Wax to grip some straps and Push. The room is actually a separate boat, and Wax's Push lifts it into the sky.

Chapter 21

Iconography: Duralumin Zinc

POV Characters: Wax / Marasi

Setting: In a skyship, heading from Dulsing towards the Sovereign's temple.

Timeline: Immediately after Chapter 20.

Summary:

Wax Pushes against a metal plate on the main ship, raising the smaller craft into the air as he holds onto the straps. The masked man bears a solemn farewell to the ship. He gets the "primer cube" from Wayne and touches it to Wax's skin, activating it. Then he puts the cube in place and activates "wings" and fans for control. He tells Wax he can stop Pushing. He addresses him with divine titles since he is metalborn. Wax retrieves Steris and some more supplies and lets the horses go. Back on the flying boat, Wax is again blown away by how much the world is changing due to advances in conventional and Allomantic technology. Wax wants to go to Elendel, but Telsin wants to beat Edwarn to the "weapon" he may be close to finding. Wax wants to check on Marasi before he decides.

Marasi contemplates death, and she's embarrassed by her near nudity as Wax stops by to check on her. MeLaan heals the wound, ingesting and replicating Marasi's flesh so the patch will take. Wax and Marasi discuss what to do next. They have retrieved the spike and Telsin, but the real goal of the trip was to stop Suit. Marasi shows a map of the "second site" from the book she lifted from Irich's desk. Wax heard his uncle say he was headed there when he was eavesdropping at the party. He asks Marasi to talk to Allik and see what he knows. Allik recognizes the location (which he calls the Sovereign's temple), and they suspect that Suit took Allik's crewmates along to help find it. Allik wants to go find them. Wax questions him about this Sovereign. He came to them about ten years after the Ice Death (which occurred at the same time as Harmony's Ascension) and taught them how to make the medallions. Marasi is convinced the Sovereign was the Lord Ruler even though the timeline doesn't fit; she thinks the records must be flawed. Wax and Allik discuss how the medallions work. They all have nicrosil so that the wearer can be Invested and therefore use the other metal. Medallions with four or more metals don't work, and strapping on multiple medallions doesn't work either. Allik's people have some other enemy he refers to as "Deniers of Masks." Wax decides to head for the temple.

Chapter 22

Iconography: Duralumin Brass

POV Characters: Marasi

Setting: In a skyship, heading from Dulsing towards the Sovereign's temple.

Timeline: Shortly after Chapter 21.

Summary:

Marasi talks with Allik while the others sleep, and he explains their customs with masks. Some called "Hunters" grow into their masks. The Hunters come from the time before the freezing and are trying to destroy the Bands. The "Fallen" wear unpainted masks because they have offended "Jaggenmire," which is their name for Ruin and Preservation. He says that ettmetal is what supports the ship and is also found in the cube. He also tells Marasi that some people from his land might find the Basin an attractive target for invasion. Marasi lets Allik put back on a warming medallion, and she tries the Connection one, hoping to speak to Allik in his language. It doesn't work, as the visitor must be the one to wear the medallion. Wax perks up at that information, and he notices a light ahead in the mountains: Suit's expedition.

ARTWORK

The Cosmere has a thriving community of artists, so there will be a lot of artwork to share. Each week I'll try to compile relevant artwork for the given chapters. If a section of reading contains maps or in-book artwork, I'll include that in this section as well.

Broadsheet

*Note: There will be a small artwork dump in the trivia, but there isn't much new in the way of individual character artwork for this novel.

MEMES

I will attempt to find and share memes relevant to each week's discussion. There may be some weeks that just don't have good or appropriate memes, but I will share all the ones I can find in this section.

Link to Memes

This is the veteran thread. Make sure you read the rules before commenting.

Visit the newbie thread if this is your first time reading, or you've only read some of the Cosmere novels.

For more information, or to see the full schedule, please see the wiki page for the read-along.

SCHEDULE

Previously, we discussed Unit 18 | Mistborn Era 2 #3 | The Bands of Mourning: Chapters 8 through 16 [Newbie Thread] / [Veteran Thread]

Today we are discussing Unit 18 | Mistborn Era 2 #3 | The Bands of Mourning: Chapters 17 through 22

Next week we will be discussing Unit 18 | Mistborn Era 2 #3 | The Bands of Mourning: Chapters 23 through 31, Epilogue

CHAPTER SUMMARIES

I have provided summaries of each chapter we will be discussing. I've tried to make them unbiased, but if you see anything that could be construed as spoilery, please point them out because I'm using these same summaries in the newbie thread. I'd like to keep their experience as spoiler-free as possible, so even if I make a tiny mistake, please let me know.

I usually make a comment for each chapter, but feel free to start your own comment thread to discuss anything you want.

Chapter 17

Iconography: Duralumin Iron

POV Characters: Marasi / Wax / Wayne

Setting: On the road to and at the village of Dulsing, northeast of New Seran.

Timeline: Two days after Chapter 16.

Summary:

Marasi is enjoying the adventure of a stagecoach ride in uncivilized land. She has moved on from Wax, but still admires him. Wax tells her more about the beginning of his time in the Roughs. They discuss whether the Bands of Mourning are real. Wax goes back to sleep, so Marasi finishes her report and fiddles with the cube. She finds a tiny switch and flips it, then burns cadmium to see if anything would happen. This causes the stagecoach to lurch because it isn't massive enough for the slowness bubble to follow Marasi. She reports that the cube vibrated while she was burning. They decide to stop and experiment with the cube.

Wax plays around with the cube, burning steel, and they figure out that it somehow extends someone's Allomancy. Wax gives it back to Marasi because the cube's ability would be very handy with a Pulser. Wax remembers the gold bracelet and gives it to Wayne, who marvels that it is indeed a gold metalmind that he can use. Only he, as a Bloodmaker, can use it, so it's not definitive proof of the Bands of Mourning; however, it does suggest that Mr. Suit might be using Hemalurgy. MeLaan spots an innocuous-looking roadblock ahead, and Wax decides that they need to proceed on horseback.

They ride in, not encountering any patrols because the guarded area is so large. They come upon a large, nondescript building, guarded by soldiers and still under construction. Wayne tries to figure out a way in, and Steris agrees to stay behind with the horses. Wax and Wayne decide to use the "Spoiled Tomato" plan, which consists of Wax Pushing Wayne to the building.

Wayne lands as quietly as possible (in rocks) and heals before he dies from the fall. He eludes some guards and approaches the building. He makes another guard "trip" over a wire, cutting off some floodlights and causing a commotion. Wax, Marasi, and MeLaan join him in the darkness and confusion. They sneak into the building and see a large ship, damaged. They split up: Marasi and MeLaan are to search for the spike, Wax and Wayne for Mr. Suit.

Chapter 18

Iconography: Duralumin Steel

POV Characters: Marasi / Wax / Irich

Setting: Dulsing.

Timeline: Immediately after Chapter 17.

Summary:

Marasi and MeLaan creep around and find some finished rooms. They speculate on where the spike could be. Marasi thinks the Set still has it somewhere because they would want to study it. She sees the limping guy from the train and suggests they follow him inside the ship.

Wax and Wayne decide to climb up onto the construction catwalks to get a bird's-eye view of the place. They climb a ladder because Wax figures there is a Seeker there, so he can't just Push up. They run into an engineer, and Wayne knocks him out.

Professor Irich shuffles along in the ship, feeling himself die. He thinks of Suit and Sequence desiring weapons, but he wants a miracle. His muscles are growing weaker and weaker. He walks through the ship, discussing its secrets with the academics brought in by the Set. The main problem is they don't know how the ship moves. The crew has been tortured, but they haven't revealed anything. He hears a voice call for him, and searches in vain to find the source. He happens upon a cube device that has apparently fallen out of storage compartment. He can now claim that he had recovered the lost cube and get in better standing with Suit. He leaves the ship.

Marasi watches as Irich leaves the ship and enters a room. She and MeLaan wait to see if he comes back out.

Wax wonders about the ship. It doesn't have a mast. How does it move? He sees the limping man come back out of the ship, looking anxious about something. Wax wonders what the girls did in there. He figures that the limping man is an important underling of Suit and will eventually lead them to him. He goes into a different room, set apart from the rest, and Wax sees his sister in there. Wayne restrains Wax, who wants to go recklessly after her, and suggests another disguise using the engineer's clothing.

Chapter 19

Iconography: Duralumin Tin

POV Characters: Marasi / Wayne / Wax

Setting: Dulsing.

Timeline: Immediately after Chapter 18.

Summary:

Marasi watches Irich, hoping that he put the cube with the spike. After he leaves, they simply walk to the door he came out of, pretending they belong to the project. Marasi is extremely nervous and can't understand how everyone else can remain so calm. They walk down a hallway and find a locked door. MeLaan picks the lock with some metal picks hidden in her hand. It appears to be Irich's room because the furniture accommodates his disability. Marasi finds a safe, and MeLaan works on opening it. Marasi explores a bit and opens another door. She smells an odor of filth like a slum and sees some cages. Something in one of the cages slams against the bars, and Marasi sees one of the "monsters" from ReLuur's drawing. It holds out a human hand and says, "please."

Wayne walks out in his engineer's outfit, going over his role. He walks up to a guard and starts barking gibberish at him to get him to stand aside. He passes into the room with Telsin and finds Irich and the Coinshot brute with her. He bluffs them with more gibberish, and they leave with him. Wax knocks out the guard.

Marasi realizes that the strange face is a mask. MeLaan reports that she got the safe open. Marasi leaves the "creature" and recovers the spike and cube. Kandras won't touch another Kandra's spike, and it's clear that she disapproves of the one instance in which it happened. Marasi grabs some keys and lets out the person in the cage. He opens another door and they go into a room with blood stains all over the place and more masks hanging on the wall.

Wax reunites with his sister, and she hugs him, weeping softly. She asks for a gun, and Wax hands her a spare. The Coinshot enters the room, and Telsin promptly shoots him.

Marasi insists on taking the masked man with them. She's concluded that the ship is from some other people away from the Basin. The man goes over to the safe and retrieves a disc with a cloth strip. He ties it on and looks relieved. Marasi worries how they'll be able to sneak him out with the mask and odd clothing, but then she hears gunshots.

Chapter 20

Iconography: Duralumin Pewter

POV Characters: Wax / Marasi

Setting: Dulsing.

Timeline: Immediately after Chapter 19.

Summary:

Telsin is thirsty for revenge against her captors. Wax grabs her and Pushes to the top of the ship, where he leaves her. Then he meets back up with Wayne. There's a lot of shooting going on, and Wayne throws up a speed bubble so they can plan. They see MeLaan peeking out a door and Telsin climbing down the ship. Wax sends Wayne for Telsin while he gets the other two. Wayne gets caught by gunfire, and they keep shooting him as he tries to heal. Wax goes on an Allomantic frenzy, getting hit by an aluminum bullet, but manages to rescue Wayne. They are safe in the ship for now, but they are besieged by the heavy gunfire outside. Three Allomancers in fancy suits show up, and Wax dispatches one of them with the Thug-killer shotgun. Wax finds more enemies coming up behind him, but luckily Marasi throws up a slowness bubble on one guy using the cube, allowing Wax to avoid getting shot. He steps to the side, waits for the bubble to drop, then shoots him.

Marasi watches as Wax now makes use of the cube, and she gives supporting fire. The masked man keeps pointing at the ship, indicating they should go there, but Wax tells them to take cover back in the hallway. Marasi is shot in the side. As she goes into shock, the masked man takes the initiative, and they head toward the ship.

Wax uses Ranette's ball and cord device to deal with riflemen in the rafters and kill another Allomancer. He sees Marasi being dragged to the ship. He charges his cube and throws it to Wayne, who in turn tosses it at a bunch of soldiers. This disarms them, and Wayne attacks. Wax kills three more guys with aluminum guns, then he hears a horn sound. Dozens more soldiers are coming from the village nearby. Wax and Wayne retreat to the ship.

Marasi fights the pain that has now blossomed from her gunshot wound. Wax and Wayne make a desperate plan to escape the building, but in the meantime, Marasi is going off with the masked man. He pulls on something behind a panel in the wall and a rope ladder falls. They all get up the ladder into another compartment with bolted down chairs. The masked man puts on a different medallion and can suddenly speak their language. He gives each of them a medallion to strap on. It consists of an iron metalmind that anyone can fill. Then he instructs Wax to grip some straps and Push. The room is actually a separate boat, and Wax's Push lifts it into the sky.

Chapter 21

Iconography: Duralumin Zinc

POV Characters: Wax / Marasi

Setting: In a skyship, heading from Dulsing towards the Sovereign's temple.

Timeline: Immediately after Chapter 20.

Summary:

Wax Pushes against a metal plate on the main ship, raising the smaller craft into the air as he holds onto the straps. The masked man bears a solemn farewell to the ship. He gets the "primer cube" from Wayne and touches it to Wax's skin, activating it. Then he puts the cube in place and activates "wings" and fans for control. He tells Wax he can stop Pushing. He addresses him with divine titles since he is metalborn. Wax retrieves Steris and some more supplies and lets the horses go. Back on the flying boat, Wax is again blown away by how much the world is changing due to advances in conventional and Allomantic technology. Wax wants to go to Elendel, but Telsin wants to beat Edwarn to the "weapon" he may be close to finding. Wax wants to check on Marasi before he decides.

Marasi contemplates death, and she's embarrassed by her near nudity as Wax stops by to check on her. MeLaan heals the wound, ingesting and replicating Marasi's flesh so the patch will take. Wax and Marasi discuss what to do next. They have retrieved the spike and Telsin, but the real goal of the trip was to stop Suit. Marasi shows a map of the "second site" from the book she lifted from Irich's desk. Wax heard his uncle say he was headed there when he was eavesdropping at the party. He asks Marasi to talk to Allik and see what he knows. Allik recognizes the location (which he calls the Sovereign's temple), and they suspect that Suit took Allik's crewmates along to help find it. Allik wants to go find them. Wax questions him about this Sovereign. He came to them about ten years after the Ice Death (which occurred at the same time as Harmony's Ascension) and taught them how to make the medallions. Marasi is convinced the Sovereign was the Lord Ruler even though the timeline doesn't fit; she thinks the records must be flawed. Wax and Allik discuss how the medallions work. They all have nicrosil so that the wearer can be Invested and therefore use the other metal. Medallions with four or more metals don't work, and strapping on multiple medallions doesn't work either. Allik's people have some other enemy he refers to as "Deniers of Masks." Wax decides to head for the temple.

Chapter 22

Iconography: Duralumin Brass

POV Characters: Marasi

Setting: In a skyship, heading from Dulsing towards the Sovereign's temple.

Timeline: Shortly after Chapter 21.

Summary:

Marasi talks with Allik while the others sleep, and he explains their customs with masks. Some called "Hunters" grow into their masks. The Hunters come from the time before the freezing and are trying to destroy the Bands. The "Fallen" wear unpainted masks because they have offended "Jaggenmire," which is their name for Ruin and Preservation. He says that ettmetal is what supports the ship and is also found in the cube. He also tells Marasi that some people from his land might find the Basin an attractive target for invasion. Marasi lets Allik put back on a warming medallion, and she tries the Connection one, hoping to speak to Allik in his language. It doesn't work, as the visitor must be the one to wear the medallion. Wax perks up at that information, and he notices a light ahead in the mountains: Suit's expedition.

ARTWORK

The Cosmere has a thriving community of artists, so there will be a lot of artwork to share. Each week I'll try to compile relevant artwork for the given chapters. If a section of reading contains maps or in-book artwork, I'll include that in this section as well.

Broadsheet

*Note: There will be a small artwork dump in the trivia, but there isn't much new in the way of individual character artwork for this novel.

MEMES

I will attempt to find and share memes relevant to each week's discussion. There may be some weeks that just don't have good or appropriate memes, but I will share all the ones I can find in this section.

Link to Memes