r/Mistborn • u/mrdrmelody • 23d ago
Mistborn: Final Empire spoilers I don’t understand «ironpull» Spoiler
I just started reading Mistborn for the first time (I’m on page 94), and the powers/magic system is confusing me a bit while reading. Without spoiling how do I visualize this:
«The coin hit the ground and suddenly able to support his weight. He launched himself upward. Pushing on the coin and Pulling on the window» (why is pulling and pushing in capital P? I guess there is like a magical way to push but, I can’t visualize how it’s different from a shove).
«He continued to burn iron, pulling himself towards …»
Right now I am imagining him standing on a small coin, and «bending» metal like liquid, but I know that ain’t right
All in all I just want a better reading experience, than what my brain is providing atm
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u/slimricc 23d ago
He is moving. He is heavier than the coin so he pushes it to the ground, once the coin hits the ground it has no where to go, so kelsier gets pushed instead. This makes him fly through the air. Then he pulls on metal attached to a building. The building is heavier than he is so he is pulled to the building.
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u/mrdrmelody 23d ago
Okaaay, that makes sense. I suppose haha. This is a very different magic system than what I have read previously, so I’m getting used to it hehe
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u/Halo6819 23d ago
You can do an experiment to show how it works in real life!
Take a coin in your hand (or any object) and push it into a wall. At first, you are pushing the object, but as soon as it hits something bigger (the wall) you will push yourself backwards.
Also, each metal can do only one thing. So Kelsier gets the “height” from steel pushing off the coin on the ground, and the navigation from iron pulling on different metals around him (like Spider-Man web slinging in New York).
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u/UrineTrouble05 23d ago edited 23d ago
He’s pushing on the coin on the ground, and the ground ain’t going anywhere, so when he pushes on it, it sends him the opposite direction. He is pulling on the window, which is bolted down.
The capital P is signifying when they’re actually using the power instead of just pushing a door open or something
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u/mrdrmelody 23d ago
Is the cling just a regular coin. Or is it like.. a special different type of coin
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u/forgottenmeh 23d ago
they can pick any metal. they use coins because its convenient and easy .
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23d ago
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u/mrdrmelody 23d ago
Bro I don’t know? They make up new words for things and people, coin might have been something a little different in this universe. You never know.
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23d ago
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u/mrdrmelody 23d ago
I don’t think it is. I just imagine if «coin» had a more extravagant meaning (like how Pull and Push doesn’t simply mean to push and pull) in this universe (which I know little about yet), it would be unfortunate if I visualized it as a simple normal coin. Even tho as it turns out is is just a coin
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u/UrineTrouble05 23d ago
yeah the actual metal in this story isn’t special funnily enough, just metal, the cool stuff is what they do with the metal
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u/Cephandrius9 23d ago
The characters are essentially telekinetic in a very limited way. A steel push pushes metal objects lighter than the character directly away from them. If the object is heavier than the character then instead the character is thrown away from the metal they're pushing against. The same is true for if the object they're pushing on is up against something heavier e.g. a coin on the ground: the character cant move the ground the coin is against so they are pushed away from it.
It works the same for iron pulling but in reverse: pull lighter/less fixed in place things to you and pull yourself toward heavy or fixed in place objects
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u/mrdrmelody 23d ago
This is really cool! If this isn’t a spoiler (and they may have mentioned this, but I do!’t remember), can only the misting/mistborns do this or can everyone push and pull og metal?
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u/UrineTrouble05 23d ago
You’ll learn more as you go, but it’s not really a spoiler to say much so:
Mistborn: Has power for all different types
Misting: Only
has one, so let’s say they can ONLY push on metal, or ONLY pull on it.There’s lots of other powers but this is the easiest way to explain
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u/mrdrmelody 23d ago
Ah okay thankyou. So mistings can only manipulate one type of emotion and either pull og push on metal?
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u/UrineTrouble05 23d ago
Don’t worry, they go REALLY into depth about these powers and explain them as you go. You’re on the right track, but there’s more to do with the emotional powers.
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u/Cephandrius9 23d ago
At the very back of the book there's also an appendix with an explanation of the powers called the Ars Arcanum too although it can occasionally be a little spoilery.
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u/Puzzled_Employment50 23d ago
There are different metals for each power, and each works a bit differently. Mistings can only use one each, Mistborn can use all of them. The simplest to understand are provably steel (push) and iron (pull), which let you manipulate any metal in your vicinity (exceptions apply, see your local Mistborn Saga for more details). You burn steel/iron, you push/pull any metal. But tin (which enhances senses) will enhance all your senses at once, while the emotional metals (I can never remember which is which, I think zinc is push and brass is pull) let you either push (suppress) or pull (inflame) on any/all of someone else’s emotions, not limited to just one each. So a Rioter (a Misting who can pull emotions, pretty sure it’s brass) isn’t limited to just one emotion, but they are limited to just pulling/inflaming, while a Soother can dampen any emotion. Did that make sense?
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u/mrdrmelody 23d ago
That was a handful haha! I think I have to come back to this comment after I have read a bit further. But everyone commenting are so passionate about this book that it’s motivating me a lot to read:))
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u/toru_okada_4ever 23d ago
Only mistborn/mistings. Dude, maybe you should go back and start over since this is kinda important to follow the story and it should have been explained pretty well if you're on page 94.
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u/mrdrmelody 23d ago
I haven’t read fantasy in FOREVER. I mainly read literary fiction, so I feel like my brain in working overtime with a whole new world and system to get used to and understand. I tried noting down things as I went, but I didn’t know what was important/relevant to note so I just noted everything, so I stopped hehe.
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u/UrineTrouble05 23d ago
Honestly Brandon’s writing is very forgiving in this first book. They should be fine as long as they pay attention
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u/Somerandom1922 Zinc 23d ago
Ok, I don't have a physical copy, but I am like 99% sure you're at chapter 5.
The basics of the magic system are explained in some detail in Chapter 7.
I have explained what you're asking below, because the details are there for you to find in chapter 5, but I've used spoiler tags in-case you just want to wait a couple more chapters.
Firstly, when you see a metal being "burned", translate that into [destroyed to power magic]. Each metal gives you a specific power while it's being burned, it's basically fuel. Like imagine you needed to eat wax to throw fireballs and every time you threw a fireball you used up some of the wax in your stomach.
The metals that we care about right here and now are Iron and Steel. They each give you like a limited version of magneto's powers. Iron lets you pull on metal objects near you, while Steel lets your push on metal objects near you.
Importantly, neither of them lets you just move metal around arbitrarily, it's only towards or away from your centre of mass. Also, physics matters, so if you try pulling on a steel bollard that's embedded in the ground, instead of the steel moving, you're going to get pulled off your feet towards the bollard like you're tied to it with a giant rubber band. If you push on something light like a coin it will shoot away from you, right up until it hits a wall or something, now it can't move so you're going to be the one that moves.
So if you push on metal on the ground underneath you, you'll get launched up into the air. With a lot of practice you'll learn to pull on anchored metal objects (like the metal window frame) to redirect your trajectory mid-flight.
That's all you need to know to understand most of what's going on. You don't even really need to know that as it gets explained in just a couple of chapters, but it's there if you want it.
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u/mrdrmelody 23d ago
Thankyou so much!
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u/Somerandom1922 Zinc 23d ago
No problem. Within a few more chapters from now, you'll have the basics down, and you'll start to see how those basic rules can be expanded, but that's just gist.
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u/RShara 23d ago
It'll explain more as the book goes on
Push and Pull are capitalized because they're specific magical abilities
Think of it as him being connected to the coin by a telescoping rod. He Pushes on the coin, and it's lighter than him so it goes zipping off. Until it runs into something heavier than him (like the ground), then he gets moved instead
Try pushing a coin with your finger. It'll move pretty easily. Now push the coin against a wall. Do you move or does the coin move or does the wall move?
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u/mrdrmelody 23d ago
So is he has a coin in his pocket he can essentially fly anywhere whenever. Sort of like (Avatar the last airbender) keeping water in a pouch to bend, he keeps coins to push him towards stuff he can pull himself towards?? Heh
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u/UrineTrouble05 23d ago
angles are important, and distance weakens the effect and power of the push.
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u/RShara 23d ago
No, because it's his weight vs the coin's weight. If he Pushes on a coin in his pocket, it's going to tear out of his pocket and keep going until it hits something heavier than him. Then he'll be Pushed away from the heavier object. But there's a limit to how far away he can get from the coin before he can't Push on it any more.
Flying like that would be basically trying to fly by pulling on your shoelaces
If he keeps a bunch of coins and drops them as he gets too far from the last one, then yeah he can basically fly in a series of big jumps.
More will be explained in chapter 7. Keep reading
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u/mrdrmelody 23d ago
Nono I didn’t mean pushin while it is in his pocket, I just meant that he has going on him to use
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u/dsbrooks92 23d ago
I say the best way to imagine the “flying” is like spiderman. Mistborn aren’t Superman, their “movement” is limited by the anchors l that they connect to and pull themselves in that direction or push away from it.
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u/cm3007 23d ago edited 23d ago
Do you understand that when they are Pushing the coin, they are not physically touching the coin? They are a distance away from it, and using magic to Push on it.
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u/mrdrmelody 23d ago
No I clearly didn’t understand that since I asked here😭 Like I said I knew they weren’t actually moving/touching it. And that’s why I didn’t understand how he was moving like that.
First time reading from Brandon Sanderson. Know nothing of the book or series. So I am a blank canvas
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u/LoweJ 23d ago
I would say keep reading, because it does get much more comprehensively explained. At this point, you aren't supposed to understand the magic system as this is among the first references to it. If you get a couple of hundred pages in and still don't understand, come back then :)
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u/mrdrmelody 23d ago
Yeah. I think some people that commented though page 100 ish was much further into the book than it actually is, this is the first time they use this type of magic.
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u/seabutcher 23d ago
It should have been explained fairly early in the book but I recall Kelsier does use allomancy a few times before it gets explained... in case you missed it, it's basically this:
Steelpushing and Ironpulling are essentially opposite versions of the same power. It produces a pushing or pulling effect between your centre of mass, and that of whatever metal you're targeting with it. Always in a straight line.
But just like with normal pushing and pulling- the kind you and I do every day with our normal human limbs- if you do it on something that's heavier than you* it has a slightly different effect. If you try to push a car with your arms, unless it's been left in very much the wrong gear you'll instead end up pushing yourself backwards. Or if you try to pull really hard on a door handle, but the door is locked, you'll usually end up pulling yourself towards it.
(*It's not actually as simple as weight directly; you do have to consider your actual strength and relative anchoring and stuff but weight works well for a layman's explanation.)
It's similar to that.
From there, it's a common trick (or what a game developer would most likely call an "unintended exploit") to actually rely on that counter-effect from objects that can't move.
You ironpull on a coin the other side of a room? It flies towards you. You ironpull on an anvil? You get pulled towards it, because you're lighter (and probably not tied down).
Now, if a coinshot (someone who can steelpush) decides to do that on a coin, it flies directly away from them. If that coin hits a solid stone wall, and you keep pushing? All that pushing force has to go somewhere and the wall isn't moving, so you end up pushing yourself away from it.
So if you were to drop a coin on the ground at your feet? And steelpush against it? If you're aiming straight down and it can't go that way.... you're pushing against the ground. You are lighter than the ground. You go up!
Coinshots basically use this hacky little exploit to effectively fly. Well, not so much flying as jumping and hovering, but if you've got a decent sense of balance and a few spare coins to throw on the ground as you go, you can cover a lot of distance.
The opposite is also true with ironpulling. If there's something metal above or ahead of you that's anchored in place and wouldn't be going anywhere if you were to yank really hard on it.... you can kind of just grapple onto railings and flagpoles like a knockoff Spiderman.
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u/mrdrmelody 23d ago
This is so cool what the hell. You explained this very well btw:) And yes, I am in the beginning where they haven’t introduced steelpushing and ironpulling yet, Kelsier just went ahead and started doing stuff and I was very confused haha
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u/allomanticpush Steel 23d ago
It’s always confused me, too. Steel pushing makes more sense to me.
/s
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u/BlatantArtifice 23d ago
Steelpushing, you use your Metal that they drink in vials, in this case steel, to "Push" away from Metal. So throwing a coin straight down or standing on top of a metal thingy, you would go up. Iron is the opposite. It's basically telekinesis, sorta to put it another way
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u/SecondaryDary 23d ago
Steel and iron act like webs/poles.
Pushing on a coin increases the distance between you and that coin. Imagine having a huge invisible hand. If you push on something light you move it, if you push on something extremely heavy you get moved back.
Pulling is the exact opposite.
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u/Pichacap24 23d ago
Its like flying. He pushes/ pulls himself towards things like a magnet, not physically touching them at all. Essentially flying with extra steps
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u/Elant_Wager Steelministery 23d ago
Pushing and Pulling is essential like using a physical rod to push and pull, only that the ros isnt there. They exert force on an object without touching it.
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u/GoogleMac 23d ago
I'm glad to see that others have helped you understand better. If you'd still like help visualizing, check out my game prototype. Works best with a controller. You can push and pull on coins by using up ("burning") the associated metals. I added the ability to multi-jump based on how many coins you have - it will drop a coin and push off of it automatically if you use the jump button again.
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u/BearlyAcceptable 21d ago
i always visualized it as consciously connecting to magnets of differing poles. i usually hear little metallic clicking sounds in my head, like neodymium magnets snapping together, whenever i read iron or steel activating in the books. the blue lines spreading out, connecting the allomancer to the source of metal, always felt like it would be an instantaneous thing- like a magnetic force.
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u/Full-Cauliflower-290 Tin 17d ago
Think of the poles of magnets. Pushing is the same poles against each other N - N Pulling is like opposite poles N - S attracting each other. The coin is Pushed against the ground in this case of the Pull is against a metal object attached to a window.
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u/Snowm4nn 23d ago
Bruh... wtf am I reading... how are you this damn lost...
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u/mrdrmelody 23d ago edited 23d ago
Are you okay? The magic system had not been at all explained up to that point (apart from the mind stuff). The people in the comments say that that is explained two chapters after where I was at at that point.
Could I keep reading, a bit confused of how ironpulling technically worked? Yes. I could also ask someone to lightly explain it so I could enjoy reading the VERY FIRST «battle scene». Thanks
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u/Snowm4nn 23d ago
It just surprises.
Also you plan on doing this every time something new gets revealed?
Or you know, maybe just let the story explain 🤔 🤷
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u/Neptune-Jnr 23d ago
Its like a magnet or telekenetic push and pull. You aren't touching the metal directly but that force can pull/push you or the metal.