What Happened at the End(s)

[digitalbusker he/him]

I have seen a lot of talk about Nikaro bringing Yumi back at the end: how he did it (Realmatically), how he did it (narratively), whether it was a satisfying ending, etc.

Before you ask "how", ask "whether". Did Nikaro bring Yumi back?

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Because this is what I have to do, she whispered back, feeling her entire essence unravel. Memories vanishing. Experiences vaporizing. She couldn't remember her own face any longer. She was... just smoke. From that smoke came old thoughts, echoes. Lies drilled into her from long ago.

I was created to serve, she said. My life is not my own.

It doesn't have to be that way, Painter sent to her. Your life can belong to you. It should.

(Note that "Lies" in there. Even here, where Hoid is deliberately pretending this is That kind of story, he reminds us that the yoki-hijo is manipulated into useful martyrdom.)

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I'm losing myself, Nikaro, she thought. No one knows me anymore. I don't even know myself.

Then in the Epilogue when Nikaro ignores Hoid's narration and starts painting:

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"I know you," he whispered.

The curve of her hair as it curled around the sides of her head to spill down her back. The line of her chin, the defiant confidence in her eyes. The smile. That smile.

"I know you."

And then after he finishes the painting and reaches into the smoke to take Yumi's hand:

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"You have power granted by the spirits. Your whole life--your dozens of lives--you've used it to serve. Use it for yourself this once."

But...

"Our world, Yumi. Our rules."

I don't...

"Our world. Our rules."

Our... world.

"You deserve to live."

Our rules.

"You deserve to be happy."

I... deserve to choose. I deserve love.

And the last line of the Epilogue:

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As real as anyone else. Because she wanted to be.

Did Nikaro bring Yumi back? No. He reminded her that the idea that she couldn't/shouldn't have a life of her own was a lie and talked her into coming back under her own power.

(The painting was not nothing. It focused his Intent and strengthened their Connection, and we'd already seen that the emotional resonance of art can spark memory, but it didn't bring Yumi back. If anything, it drew her attention long enough for her to realize she could come back.)

[Firesong she/her]

I discussed this in another thread, in the Cosmere Spoilers version of this collection of threads. I feel this is a pretty solid idea of what happened in the end, taking into account all of the worldbuilding throughout the book, Cosmere mechanics, and foreshadowing in the book to come to a solution.  

 

[Werewolff Studios he/him]

2 hours ago, digitalbusker said:

Did Nikaro bring Yumi back? No. He reminded her that the idea that she couldn't/shouldn't have a life of her own was a lie and talked her into coming back under her own power.

(The painting was not nothing. It focused his Intent and strengthened their Connection, and we'd already seen that the emotional resonance of art can spark memory, but it didn't bring Yumi back. If anything, it drew her attention long enough for her to realize she could come back.)

Piggybacking on @Firesong - it was broken down better in the Cosmere spoilers section as the ending deals with a lot of Realmatic stuff. But I agree - I feel Nikaro essentially provided the 'anchor' to the Physical for Yumi to pull herself together and heal herself. And, as you said, he reminded/ convinced her to stay, which changed her Intent. The whole thing needed both of them, together. Our world, our rules. 

[Stigmadiabolicum]

On 7/10/2023 at 3:18 PM, Werewolff Studios said:

Piggybacking on @Firesong - it was broken down better in the Cosmere spoilers section as the ending deals with a lot of Realmatic stuff. But I agree - I feel Nikaro essentially provided the 'anchor' to the Physical for Yumi to pull herself together and heal herself. And, as you said, he reminded/ convinced her to stay, which changed her Intent. The whole thing needed both of them, together. Our world, our rules. 

This is exactly how i read it, taking into consideration what we know about the moment of death of heavily invested people, and connection.

Kelsier was able to stick around a while, but was able to tether himself to the well, a perpendicularity, before the pull, but still in the cognitive, and eventually got a body back with Hemalurgy. Taravangian ascended at the moment of death, but as weve discussed in the past, he wasnt capital D dead yet, he would still be saved by regrowth at that point like yanagawn, so he still has ties to the physical unlike Kel. 

Saze would have been able to pop Elend and Vin back into their repaired bodies if they'd wanted it but willingly left, and the bands with f gold yoinked Wax back. 

Returned are basically getting a stapled hack back into the physical..but i usually exclude Endowment since she doesnt follow the rules haha, like being able to go offworld.

Yumi was able to basically will herself back with intent using his Connection as the compass back, but the lies and training pushed that back at first. Remember, shes more invested than a freaking Elantrian, off the charts haha. She basically has direct access to her planets Dor, likely a mix of her role and the millenia communing with them each day. 

Shes unique from all of these, since it isnt a normal death, it isnt just physical body dies, Identity/self hops back in before going to the Beyond..

They aren't quiiite cognitive shadows, but basically, it seemed more like it transformed them directly into the nightmares, a weird blend of fused & threnody shades (With identical appearances to Sja Anat for some reason..) 

We know the spirits grant objects to townsfolk with the transfer, and make hion, I think as a nightmare she basically just pulled a Herald/Returned and used the spirits power of Virtuosity and creation to just make herself a body just like the Heralds do, and like she did inside the simulation. 

But definitely couldn't have done it without painters connection, it was a collaborative art piece haha. 

Honestly im happy with the ending, it isnt a high stakes book like mistborn or SA, just like Tress im glad they got to go live at the noodle shop.