TLR's sense of self-preservation

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

Something that has been pointed out by Brandon is that any investiture will change your personality, even just a bit. This means that since we know that TLR hacked his allomantic strength at the Well of Ascension, he probably had a lot of preservation in him. This means that this new, incredibly strong sense of self-preservation (The one that drove him to immortality) probably came from that ascension. We know that it can still sometimes take a while to take hold, given how Vin could still kill herself in book 3, but TLR had quite a while for this sense/intent to take hold. This underlying sense could also be why he kind of killed all of his close friends (Turning them into Mistwraiths) and enslaved his people.

[alder24]

6 hours ago, CoderDrag0n8 said:

Something that has been pointed out by Brandon is that any investiture will change your personality, even just a bit. This means that since we know that TLR hacked his allomantic strength at the Well of Ascension, he probably had a lot of preservation in him. This means that this new, incredibly strong sense of self-preservation (The one that drove him to immortality) probably came from that ascension. We know that it can still sometimes take a while to take hold, given how Vin could still kill herself in book 3, but TLR had quite a while for this sense/intent to take hold. This underlying sense could also be why he kind of killed all of his close friends (Turning them into Mistwraiths) and enslaved his people.

Hard to say. I think those effects would be minimal on him. Yes, he had more Preservation in him because he made himself into a powerful Mistborn, but he also was a Sliver of Preservation which was a more important factor. However, despite this he wasn't a Cognitive Shadow - his soul was not infused and replaced by investiture making him like a spren. Cognitive Shadows do indeed suffer personality changes and madness, being often driven by a singular intent. Rashek wasn't like this. He didn't suffer supernaturally induced mental illnesses, his mental problems were caused by his own isolationism and mental pressures he was dealing with. 

But this should have no effect on his decision to turn Feruchemists into Mistwraiths and later destroy his people. He made himself into a Mistborn as the last action he took using the power of the Well, plus the effects of this investiture on his personality wouldn't have manifested immediately, it takes a long time for that. All of those decisions were made out of fear of being rivaled and rejected. Rashek was always overly ambitious and jealous even before his Ascension. He thought Terris people should rule as they are better than others, he couldn't accept the fact that a foreigner was the Hero of Ages and was so jealous over achievements of other cultures, that eventually he included them in his empire. He already was a person who could commit terrible atrocities for the sake of self-preservation before his Ascension. Also, he didn't kill his friends, he gave them immortality.

And he did try to end the Final Empire once. His sense of self-preservation wasn't that overwhelming to be caused by investiture. 

Spoiler

Comatose

(Paraphrased) Can you tell us something about the Lord Ruler that we do not already know?

Brandon Sanderson

*Written* The Lord Ruler once gave up + tried to end the F.E.

Alloy of Law release party (Nov. 7, 2011)

SA spoiler WoBs:

Spoiler

EAgamezz

What did The Lord Ruler do all day? He was totally bored right? What would he have done to get his hands on some Cadmium?

Brandon Sanderson

He was bored, but he was also—he was not mentally all completely... sane? I guess? That's a wrong way to say it. He was having trouble simply continuing to exist because of pressures and forces upon him in a cosmere sort of way. Much as the same sort of thing is happening to the Heralds and has happened to the Fused. He was not, let's say, in a stable sort of immortality like Hoid has found. Or I should say, his is unlike what Hoid has found. 

YouTube Spoiler Stream 3 (Dec. 16, 2021)

 

Spoiler

Bobby2797

You once said that you want to explore in your books how humans change in their behavior and personality when living several hundred or a thousand years. Many of these characters in your books go mad: for example, the Heralds or the Lord Ruler. But still, Hoid seems as "normal" as someone can be after such a long time. Is there any reason why he didn't become "mad"?

Brandon Sanderson

It's more that what happened to the others, something is wrong, if that makes sense. What's going with the Heralds, the supernatural madness of the Heralds is related to their specific situation. With the Lord Ruler, I don't think what happened to the Lord Ruler... His is a really interesting situation. I would say that it is not supernatural; it is his isolationist attitude, the pressures placed upon him, and things like that. It's a very normal type of mental... I don't want to call it mental illness, but you know what I mean. A conventional mental illness, if you will, exacerbated by extreme periods spent alone and isolating self. And that's where you get what happened to him.

YouTube Livestream 39 (Feb. 1, 2022)

 

[king of nowhere]

i wouldn't give tlr much credit. he was a bigot racial suprematist before his ascension.