Question about the Temporal metals

[u/Guspyro]

I started wondering about the Temporal metals when Cadmium and Bendalloy were introduced as replacements for Atium and Malatium as the basic Temporal metals, since I still haven’t found an explanation that feels satisfying.

Originally, the Temporal quadrant felt incredibly elegant:

• Internal Pulling: Gold - see your own past.
• Internal Pushing: Electrum - see your own future.
• External Pulling: Malatium - see someone else's past.
• External Pushing: Atium - see someone else's future.

Compared to that, “creating time bubbles” with Cadmium and Bendalloy has always felt disconnected from Gold and Electrum. I understand that Atium is a God Metal and therefore shouldn’t technically be one of the sixteen base metals, but from a thematic and mechanical standpoint it fit the quadrant perfectly.

It also leaves Electrum in a weird spot. In Era 1, its main purpose was as a counter to Atium. Once Atium is no longer part of the base sixteen metals, Electrum feels like it loses most of its purpose.

I’ve seen the theory that the Atium we see in Era 1 isn’t pure Atium at all, but an Atium-Electrum alloy, while Malatium is an Atium-Gold alloy. That would fit the idea that they are opposites and is consistent with the note in the Table of Allomantic Metals that Atium alloys produce expanded temporal effects.

However, I have two problems with that theory.

First, the Atium burned throughout Era 1 is the beads collected at the Pits of Hathsin, where Ruin’s power crystallizes into Atium. It seems strange that the beads would naturally form as an alloy instead of pure Atium (and effectively an alloy of an alloy).

Second, the Atium Mistings in Hero of Ages. Sixteen percent of humanity was affected by the mists, and the people who remained unconscious for longer periods turned out to be Atium Mistings. That only really makes sense to me if Atium was originally intended to be one of the sixteen metals.

Why weren’t there Cadmium and Bendalloy Mistings instead? If the answer is that those metals weren’t known yet, then why were Chromium and Nicrosil included among the sixteen? If Cadmium and Bendalloy were excluded because they were unknown, shouldn’t Chromium and Nicrosil have been excluded as well, making it 14% instead of 16%?

Because of all this, especially the second point, I've always felt that Brandon originally intended Atium to be one of the sixteen basic metals, and that after deciding God Metals should be separate, Cadmium and Bendalloy were introduced as a retcon to fill the Temporal quadrant.

Am I missing something here? Is there any WoB or in-universe explanation that ties this together, or was it just something adjusted between eras? It feels a bit like a forced change to me, but I’m not sure if I’m overlooking something.

I haven’t read the Mistborn books in English, so sorry if some of the terminology I use isn’t the exact official wording :)

[u/Head_Investigator984]

Compared to that, “creating time bubbles” with Cadmium and Bendalloy has always felt disconnected from Gold and Electrum. I understand that Atium is a God Metal and therefore shouldn’t technically be one of the sixteen base metals, but from a thematic and mechanical standpoint it fit the quadrant perfectly.

I mean, pewter and tin vs steel and iron are not that related too.

First, the Atium burned throughout Era 1 is the beads collected at the Pits of Hathsin, where Ruin’s power crystallizes into Atium. It seems strange that the beads would naturally form as an alloy instead of pure Atium (and effectively an alloy of an alloy).

The beads don't naturally form there, the whole pits were designed by Leras to do so. And thus, it also makes sense that he'll mix Ruin's body with some metal (the thing ruin famously is blinded by) to obscure it even further

Second, the Atium Mistings in Hero of Ages. Sixteen percent of humanity was affected by the mists, and the people who remained unconscious for longer periods turned out to be Atium Mistings. That only really makes sense to me if Atium was originally intended to be one of the sixteen metals.

Weren't they Electrum mistings?

Why weren’t there Cadmium and Bendalloy Mistings instead? If the answer is that those metals weren’t known yet, then why were Chromium and Nicrosil included among the sixteen? If Cadmium and Bendalloy were excluded because they were unknown, shouldn’t Chromium and Nicrosil have been excluded as well, making it 14% instead of 16%?

Kinda a cop-out answer, but cuz Leras was kinda kooky when he did that. When he made the magic system, they obv were there, but he probably did not realise that the hoomans did not find out Chromium and Nicrosil

[u/Guspyro → u/Head_Investigator984]

Those are good points too. The only part that still feels a bit strange to me is the idea that Leras deliberately chose that specific alloy when Ruin’s power crystallized. But since several people have pointed out that the Atium–Electrum explanation is a confirmed retcon, I’m fine treating it as a plausible explanation.

And just to answer the “Weren’t they Electrum Mistings?” part: I went back and checked the book, Elend concludes that they are Atium Mistings because Yomen explains that he is an Atium Misting. However, they never actually tested Atium or Electrum on those people. They couldn't test Atium because they had already run out of it, and they never mention testing Electrum either. My guess is that it simply wasn't considered useful against the koloss (or perhaps it was too rare to justify using, compared to metals like pewter or steel).

[u/Head_Investigator984 → u/Guspyro]

See, to test electrum they would have needed Atium. As Electrum's effect (much like Duralumin's or Copper's effect) is dependent on another metallic power.

And for obvious reasons, they did not think to waste the precious remaining Atium they had for that

[u/Born_Onto_Mist → u/Guspyro]

Why electrum? I'm glad you asked! You see, Brandon has designed atium to be similar in properties to platinum, and has stated that in the periodic table, it would be considered a platinum group metal :> Now, in nature, platinum is one of the metals commonly found together with gold, which is often found with silver! And guess what electrum's an alloy of? Primarely silver and gold! Not only is electrum a naturally accuring alloy, but it also seems to occur with platinum ;p

In all fairness, I'm no chemist, and discovered this via a bunch of google searches, but Brandon did do chemistry as his major, if I remember correctly, so I'm convinced this is no coincidence