The Lord Ruler's Corporeality

[markymarc18]

So this has been bugging me for a while... When Rashek took the power of Preservation at the WoA, wouldn't he have lost his body like Vin and Sazed? My understanding was that the process of apotheosis basically vaporized one's body.

I suppose he could've recreated it, but that always seemed like an unsatisfactory explanation, IMHO... Creating humans required the combined effort of Preservation and Ruin, and I don't see Rashek asking Ruin for help creating a new body =P

Edited August 15, 2013 by markymarc18

[Windrunner]

He didn't become Preservation though. I imagine that once the power faded his body returned (if it ever even vanished) much like Ati and Leras did when they died.

[Shardlet]

The key difference is TLR took up the power of the shard not the shard itself.  Recall that Leras was still alive and held the shard Preservation until HoA.  TLR could not take up the shard because Preservation was already held by another who was still alive, albeit severely weakened and diminished because he imparted most of his remaining power to form the well and Ruin's prison.

 

By the way, welcome markeymarc18.  Glad to have your voice here.

Edited August 15, 2013 by Shardlet

[Pechvarry]

Note that TLR's experience wasn't so different from Vin's at the end of book 2, as opposed to her transformation at the end of book 3.

[happyman]

Yes, the parallel for TLR's ascension was Vin's experience at the Well of Ascension, baring the "not using it" bit.  While Vin gained enormous powers for a brief time, at no point does it appear that her body was in danger of disappearing.

[nightwatcher]

In both cases, Leras still held the shard. Vin and TLR just borrowed its power, not held it entire.