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xdirtyhands · 3 years

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That’s a fucking great concept.

I don't normally do this, but i'm, like, really obsessed over this and... Why not, huh? Here i go!

Why i think Materialkis are way more powerful than it was showed in the three Grishaverse books.

There i was, reading the second book from Grishaverse, Siege & Storm, when a thought hitted me. I got really curious... But Leigh Bardugo did nothing to clarify my doubts. Sometimes it looked like she was letting things there that seemed to prove what i was wondering. Other times... It felt like she was stepping back.

So, let's put things in the table before going ahead:

We have Grishas.

We know we have, normally, three types of Grishas. Let's just ignore Shadow Summoners, Sun Summoners, Tailors and Corpsewitches here in this one.

Leigh Bardugo taught us that Grishas aren't really something like witches. They just don't go around using magic. Actually, Grishas have a very specific kind of power. They manipulate matter:

"Everything in the world could be broken down into the same small parts. What looked like magic was really the Grisha manipulating matter at its most fundamental levels.

Marie didn't make fire. She summoned combustible elements in the air around us, and she still needed a flint to make the spark that would burn that fuel. Grisha steel wasn't endowed with magic, but by the skill of Fabrikators, who did not need heat or crude tools to manipulate metal."

— Shadow & Bone, chapter ten.

Now, keep this in mind but follow me ahead:

Etheralki manipulate natural elements.

Corporalki manipulate the human body.

Materialki are said during the the three books to manipulate matter composed of such things like metal, glass, chemicals, etc.

But even though that's what is said, there's somehing that doesn't fit. If Materialki can only control matter composed by those specific things — non organic matter and chemicals —, then how can David manipulate the horns of the Morozova's Stag? How can the Materialki in Sturmhond crew's manipulate the scales of the Sea Whip?

This left me confused. And wondering. If Materialki could manipulate scales and bones, then they could act like Corporalkis? what would stop a Materialki from manipulating bones? Could they only manipulate organic matter after being removed from its source — a tree, a stag, a sea monster —, the thing that, technically, keeps the cells alive? Could they only manipulate organic matter if it was dead? That could make sense, but it still had something that really bugs me.

And while i was wondering, we also are introduced to Ilya Morozova. AKA the Bonesmith. The Materialki's hero. Sankt Ilya of the Chains.

It's pointed that Ilya Morozova was a Fabrikator way above average. And the central point of his theory is about manipulating everything:

"One of the essential tenets of Grisha theory was "like calls to like," but Morozova seemed to believe that if the world could be broken down to the same small parts, each Grisha should be able to manipulate them. Are we not all things? he demanded, underlining the words for emphasis."

— Ruin & Rising, chapter four.

But in Ruin & Rising, we also have Baghra, his daughter, talking about their life during her childhood. Where she explicitly says he was a craftsman and a healer. So... We have a Materialki manipulating organic matter that wasn't dead, or removed from a source. He was manipulating bones, skin, blood. The human body. Doesn't it sounds like a Corporalki? (also, why Corporalkis can only manipulate the human body and not other animal's body? Weird.)

Ilya Morozova healed the shattered body of his younger daughter before using merzost to bring she back to life. And, of course, we can say it was because he was super powerful and mega special — He created the amplificators, right? Extraordinary dude —. But then... David and the Materialki in Sturmhond crew's were there, manipulating organic matter like it was natural. Baghra said her father was a healer like it was natural. Darkling made David travel with him because he was the most powerful Fabrikator in the Second Army. He knew David could manipulate the bones, organic matter, in the most perfect way.

Again, what would stop Materialkis from simply manipulating the bones of the people around them?

Then i remembered something. In Siege & Storm, Alina decides that Fabrikators should have military training instead of just producing for the Second Army. Darkling didn't do that. He is something like 200 years old. Or more, we can't be sure. Older than The Unsea. And Baghra said that before the Grishas didn't distinguished between Etheralki, Corporalki, Materialki, Healers, Infernis, Alkemis, whatever. They didn't have the Second Army. They didn't have Orders. And yet, somehow, Materialkis endend up without military training. Somehow, Materialki ended being looked as less powerful, less worthy. Someone made that choice. Someone who built the Second Army.

I believe the Darkling deliberately made the choice to to put away Fabrikators from the fighting scenery. He inserted them in workshops, where they would focus on production instead of fighting. He lived in the time where Grishas didn't felt in categorys. He was Ilya Morozova's grandson, and was obsessed over the work — the work of a Fabrikator who's naturally seem as a Healer too — he left behind, after all.

He must have known what a Materialki could do. He must have known their potential. So, why he didn't use that goddamn potential in his army? Was he afraid to see Fabrikators that were military trained and seen as valuable soldiers, manipulating the human body? He must have thought they were too strong. They controled too many things. Organic and inorganic matter. Basically everything that Corporalki do, but more. Better. Maybe even turning some Etheralki useless too.

Following this, Materialki could, theoretically, manipulate chemicals like the ones Etheralki could. Or manipulate organic matter like a Corporalki could. And then become even better than these two Grishas types. Etheralkis can't play with poison, and Corporalkis can't mess with other organic matter besides the one in the human body. They need to have, of course, strength to do it. But just like it takes strength to Harshaw, or Adrik, or other Summoners, to use their power. Just like it takes from Tamar and Tolya. They just need to be trained.

"We say like calls to like, girl. But if the science is small enough, then we are like all things."

— Ruin & Rising, chapter seven.

Matter.

This is what Grishas manipulate.

In its most fundamental way.

From the latin, materia.

Materia-lki.

#materialki #grishaverse #shadow and bone #shadow & bone #leigh bardugo #grisha

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