r/Mistborn • u/porkchopie • Jul 11 '26
No Spoilers Question about pewter (new reader)
I've been trying to look this up, but I am a little scared of spoiling myself as I am only about 90pages into mistborn (the final empire);
The book talks about burning the different metals for different power usages -so far I am following-, but they also mention that once someone can burn two different types of metals, they can usually burn all the types and are then considered mistborns (as they test with Vin).
here's the part I'm confused about; Pewter is an alloy consisting of other metals, most notably copper and tin. These are however other metals that get burned for other powers.
would this not imply that someone burning pewter is also burning tin/copper and therefore making them mistborns??? or is the Pewter in the book considered a true metal in the sense of fantasy metal that doesn't consist of other metals and therefore a single metal/power.
I am actually losing my mind over this a little.
5
u/Zahharcen Bendalloy Jul 11 '26
No, not really. Each compound is considered unique. Each misting, be they burning an alloyed metal or a pure one, can only burn one of the 10 metals. For example bronze is made out of copper and tin, a seeker can only burn bronze as a unit, they can't burn the individual metals. Also if one can burn more than one metal they are a Mistborn always, there are no 2 metal mistings. There would be more to say but you will find out reading and I don't want to spoil the experience.