Kelsier - How was he brought back to life?

[John Flamesinger he/him]

At the end of Bands of Mourning, we get a glimpse of Kelsier telling some people to "Survive". We know that he now has a spike through one of his eyes, and we know that him and Spook were trying to "...find me a new string." So did the spike bring Kelsier out of the Cognitive Realm, or did they have to find a victim for Kelsier to have a new body?

[Calderis he/him]

There's a spike, so of course there was a victim. Hemalurgy doesn't exist without them. 

We don't know how he did exactly, but per this WoB, we do know that the spike in the eye is anchoring him to the current body. 

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Questioner

In Bands of Mourning, we learned that the Sovereign, who they confused as being the Lord Ruler, came after the Catacendre. [He] was their god, was their king and god. And then Kelsier looking for a string. Is the spike somehow connecting Kelsier's soul to Spook's body.

Brandon Sanderson

No, good question. It is connecting his soul with his body, his current body, but it is not Spook's body. That's a great theory.

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I personally, think the body itself isn't stolen, just the Connection to the Physical realm. 

 

[+Ark1002]

I personally believe it was some random corpse, or someone nearly dead (shown by Spook being okay with that) if they can't use a corpse. I believe this because Returned can change their bodies, the body would change to fit Kelsier.

[John Flamesinger he/him]

14 minutes ago, Calderis said:

There's a spike, so of course there was a victim. Hemalurgy doesn't exist without them. 

We don't know how he did exactly, but per this WoB, we do know that the spike in the eye is anchoring him to the current body. 

 

I personally, think the body itself isn't stolen, just the Connection to the Physical realm. 

That may be... so then did they use Kel's original body? Or did a new body just appear out of thin air.

[+Invocation]

43 minutes ago, John Flamesinger said:

That may be... so then did they use Kel's original body? Or did a new body just appear out of thin air.

Probably not Kell's original body, since it was eaten by a kandra and then TenSoon carted it around for a while. Might be Spook's physical form, for all we know.

[old man moomba he/him]

58 minutes ago, Invocation said:

Probably not Kell's original body, since it was eaten by a kandra and then TenSoon carted it around for a while. Might be Spook's physical form, for all we know.

But, probably not, as we know that Spook was alive for almost a century after Harmony's Ascention.

[Weltall]

1 hour ago, Invocation said:

Probably not Kell's original body, since it was eaten by a kandra and then TenSoon carted it around for a while. Might be Spook's physical form, for all we know.

We actually know that Kelsier's bones survived the Catacendre so... it's not impossible. But it's also not really necessary so we can't really read anything into that fact. We know for a fact that it's not Spook's body.

38 minutes ago, Ookla the Ookla said:

I personally believe it was some random corpse, or someone nearly dead (shown by Spook being okay with that) if they can't use a corpse. I believe this because Returned can change their bodies, the body would change to fit Kelsier.

Yeah, it's an extension of how Cosmere healing works, where your Spiritual template (mediated through the Cognitive) overwrites your Physical one. The same reason why Kaladin's slave brands don't heal would ensure that any body Kelsier acquires would have his scars; they're a part of his identity in the same way.

[Calderis he/him]

5 minutes ago, Weltall said:

Yeah, it's an extension of how Cosmere healing works, where your Spiritual template (mediated through the Cognitive) overwrites your Physical one. The same reason why Kaladin's slave brands don't heal would ensure that any body Kelsier acquires would have his scars; they're a part of his identity in the same way.

It is. The Fused show us though, that while certain traits will carry over, the actual physical features of a body won't change. They carry over the marbling patterns rom body to body, but retain the physical features of the host. 

This is why Little Wilson asked a question for me at the Legion release party which was, of course, RAFO'd. 

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little wilson [PENDING REVIEW]

If Vin were alive, would she recognize the Sovereign's facial features?

Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW]

I'll RAFO that. Do you mean the statue or the actual...Did you mean the statue?

Sunbird [PENDING REVIEW]

I think we mean the actual Sovereign.

Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW]

You mean if they met the person that the statue...I'll RAFO both of them. But someone making a statue...like if you met Homer, would he look like his statue? Is a different question also. But I'll RAFO that. But there will be answers forthcoming.

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If the Fused example holds true, then a different body would mean different physical features... The same features would mean the body is his,whether the original or a Investiture created duplicate. 

Per this WoB, I think it's his, due to the similarity to Marsh. 

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Questioner

The Sovereign...

Brandon Sanderson

Mhm.

Questioner

...has a <nail> in his eye. Which eye is *inaudible*

Brandon Sanderson

I am going to RAFO that one. Just in case.

Questioner

Has Bloody Tan seen the Sovereign?

Brandon Sanderson

*laughs* So... here's the thing-- and this is why I'm RAFO-ing these, it's not because of what you think. I'm RAFO-ing these because these the nature of the Sovereign, and who they call the Sovereign, and these sorts of things is stuff that I want to potentially leave for Secret History 2-- or for [Secret History] 3, if I write more Secret Histories. So the answers are probably simple, right? And they're not ones that are gonna be mind blowing. But I don't want to lock myself down until I've written those, which is why I'm RAFO-ing most of the questions dealing with this, okay?

*a moment later Brandon overhears continued conversation about Secret History*

So, oh, you were asking it that specific way to not give spoilers to someone here? Yeah, I see what you're doing. I see-- I thought you were trying to wiggle out of me something that you weren't trying to wiggle out of me.

Questioner

Not everyone here has read...

Brandon Sanderson

I get it, I get it. I see what's going on.

Questioner

We're not trying to be that *inaudible*

Brandon Sanderson

Okay, okay. I was misinterpreting the intent of those questions a little bit. Yes, being very tricky. Okay. 

*pauses to sign a book*

So the answer of which spike is it? I can answer that one? *interruption* Or really I can tell you--it's in my notes, and I don't have them, but it's not particularly relevant--it's the opposite side of the one where Death's skull was crushed. 

Questioner

Oh, yes. Yes.

Brandon Sanderson

They would look like mirror images if you saw them.

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