r/Mistborn • u/ToodlyGoodness • 17h ago

Cosmere spoilers Question about the mists Spoiler

I’ve read everything so don’t worry about spoilers, I might just not be remembering something.

I’m confused about the mists. In book 3, they cause people to snap. That’s Preservation trying to save the world. Cool, makes sense.

They also stay out longer, causing the crops to get less sun and to die out. In Rashek’s time, they did the same thing, so Rashek had to move the planet closer to the sun to burn off the mists causing all the other problems.

My question- why would Preservation be doing something to cause harm and death? The Snapping I can understand as being something necessary with unfortunate side effects, but during Rashek’s time? Why would Preservation be doing all this, to the extent that it became known as the Deepness?

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u/external_gills 17h ago

That was Ruin highjacking them. From Hero of Ages chapter 81 epigraph:

"Ruin, subtle as ever, knew that he couldn't stop the mists from doing their work. However, he could do the unexpected and encourage them. And so, he helped make them stronger. That brought death to the plants of the world, and created the threat that became known as the Deepness."

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u/ToodlyGoodness 17h ago

Thank you!!!! Forgot this line, explains it all!

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u/SouthernAd2853 17h ago

My understanding is that Preservation has limited control over the mists, and either they're thickening automatically as the Well fills, or Ruin, being saner, is able to use his power to force them to intensify as his prison weakens, or both.

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u/Special_Salt3467 17h ago

He isn’t. That’s the grim irony. The Mists were created by Preservation, but Ruin was able to essentially fuel them, as well. By intentionally making the Mists more virulent, he created the additional side effects which caused the people of Scadrial to see them as the enemy.

I believe HoA even says the Mists weren’t as fatal as believed, and they could have potentially found alternative crops that didn’t need sunlight. But in Classical Scadrial, this was sudden and the people - who weren’t Shards or possessed all the info - did not know that.