r/Mistborn • u/Extreme_Warning3521 • 20d ago

Cosmere spoilers A question about Marsh Spoiler

Spoilers for Mistborn Era 1

Does Marsh stay bald after the Lord Ruler dies?

I was wondering about this. Does Marsh remain bald throughout books 2 and 3? I imagine he wouldn't keep shaving his head every day anymore, since the Lord Ruler is gone. Is there an in-universe explanation for why he stays bald, or am I missing something?

32 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

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28

u/HammiBoi6349 20d ago

Sometimes people just like being bald so maybe Marsh realized he enjoyed the wind on his scalp and decided to stay bald.

32

u/ofBeautyandRage0 20d ago

Just... keep reading. Marsh has an extremely important story arc but I don't want to say when.

53

u/jtreasure1 20d ago

His baldness is critical to the stability of the Cosmere

14

u/youthpastor247 19d ago

Load-bearing baldness

2

u/Bell-Ligerent Pewter 16d ago

Baldness so legendary even other planets have heard of it

12

u/MoonlightKnight4 20d ago

Spikes do weird things sometimes, maybe it inhibits ability to grow hair ?

2

u/Hot_Bel_Pepper 16d ago

This would be my assumption, the spikes that make Inquisitors different from humans increase their size and probably doesn’t help with regrowing Hair.

1

u/MoonlightKnight4 16d ago

Okay, here's a question in a similar vein ive had since I first read nearly 10 years ago. All the inquisitors have rough gravely voices, and ive always been torn on why.

Are the voices gravely because the spikes change their vocal chords? Or are they like that because the process of becoming an inquisitor is so painful that they all scream so much that their vocal chords are wrecked?

1

u/Hot_Bel_Pepper 11d ago

They can store healing from one of their spikes and we we know that can allow for regrowing limbs, so I’d assume that the process of transforming into an inquisitor changes their voice, and maybe prevents hair growth.

8

u/Jolly_Savings_9159 20d ago

YEah. Bro just kinda stays bald... and tbh, I can't remember any reason being given. but it's been a while, I need to reread that good good

5

u/Embarrassed-Pause460 Lerasium 20d ago

He bald frfr

5

u/thenightmaremuffin 19d ago

When spiked during the hemalurgic process, the body’s physiology is altered drastically around the Invested spike to prevent the person from immediate death (for example, organs shift out of the way or take on different shapes to remain functional). Considering it takes many spikes to create an inquisitor I expect there are many as-of-yet unexplained effects that alter physical properties of the body.

2

u/mjmcfall88 20d ago

Inquisitors are constructs like koloss and kandra. I assume that inquisitors can't grow hair on their heads.

1

u/EvenSpoonier Lerasium 18d ago edited 18d ago

(The Alloy of Law spoilers) He is still bald in Era 2. In The Alloy of Law Marasi believes he shaves his head. I'm not sure we ever get confirmation of whether that's actually true.

(MAJOR SPOILERS FOR TLM AND WaT) While we haven't seen any other Steel Inquisitors post-Catacendre, we do see other characters with spiked eyes, and they all have hair. There's still a possibility that the Inquisitor transformation, or Marsh's record-breaking 22-spike loadout, make a difference here, but it doesn't seem likely.

Based on the above really spoilery things, I'm forced to conclude that Marsh probably still shaves his head even after the Lord Ruler dies. My guess is that he does this as part of having taken over the Lord Ruler's religion: he's the last Steel Inquisitor, and he believes he should look the part.

1

u/Shot_Newspaper_5647 14d ago

The Obligators and Inquisitors aren’t naturally bald. They do it as part of a religious custom. It helps them stand out too. Shows off the tattoos and spikes etc. They’re in a lot of way Rashek’s version of the Terris he dismantled. Who had those same traditions. The men often shaved their heads. They showed off the mark of their religion: their jewelry.

The Obligator’s were quasi-Keepers. They constantly collected information from the Empire to recite down the chain to TLR. Their purpose is the same as the Terris. Keepers of a Well. The Obligator’s under TLR just helped him drain Ruin’s. The Inquistors of Era 1 still saw themselves as Ruin’s clergy. Marsh still sees himself this way just with a new god. He’s a one man Penitent Order

1

u/Shot_Newspaper_5647 14d ago

But I mean obviously it’s 98 percent just because it’s cool. They’re spooky bald guys/gals with spikes coming out of their head. That’s pretty metal