Restoring a lifeless.

[Epicdaf]

Could you theoretically restore consciousness to a Lifeless via Hemalurgy, unkeyed Feruchemy or Advanced awakening? 

[Duxredux he/him]

At bare minimum we have this WoB:

Spoiler

AndyGranny

If you used a Lifeless body, would a Lifeless be able to access an untapped metalmind...

Brandon Sanderson

An unkeyed type of metalmind?

AndyGranny

Thank you, I could not think of that word. Would they be able to access an unkeyed metalmind if the intent when the Lifeless was created, if the intent was that they could...

Brandon Sanderson

Right, I see what you're getting at. Yes, they could. As they could access and use any tool that is appropriate for what they're Commanded to do, they could indeed access a metalmind in the same way.

In fact, doing so may, depending on the metalmind, be dangerous for keeping your Lifeless a Lifeless.

JordanCon 2021 (July 17, 2021)

With the right knowledge, probable.

[Trusk'our he/him]

3 hours ago, Epicdaf said:

Could you theoretically restore consciousness to a Lifeless via Hemalurgy, unkeyed Feruchemy or Advanced awakening? 

Forgery would also likely be very helpful for giving sapience and free will to a Lifeless. 

Note that it is not the original person being restored to life however. It's basically like a regular Lifeless, albeit with more complexity.

Spoiler

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/549-dragonsteel-nexus-2025/#e16988

Questioner

At the very end [of the Emperor’s Soul], the Ashravan construct, the simulacrum that’s been made, is convincing. Is it a real boy?

Brandon Sanderson

So, by cosmere terms, what has happened here is that it is a new individual who has the memories that Shai has put into his head. She has actually constructed something that is using some of the matter and stuff behind (it can access some of the matter). Is it a real boy? It is a construct that has enough Investiture to be self-aware. So it is a person, I would say yes.

Is it a real boy? Is Syl a real girl? If you say yes to Syl being a real girl, then yes, it’s a real boy. It’s definitely a person, does that make sense? But is it actually him? No. Not by basically anyone’s definitions. If you go to the religious definitions, they’re gonna be like, “No, that soul passed on.” If you go to the arcanist definitions, they’re gonna be like, “This isn’t quite a Cognitive Shadow, but it’s something analogous to it.” You’ve taken some Investiture that’s become self-aware and can access the memories, ‘cause it’s got… It can actually access memories that she didn’t put in there, because it has access to the brain, that was still functional. But see, it gets a little sticky here. She basically made them a better version, but it also has autonomy. It is a person.