Can a Vessel give up a Shard without dying?

[amflare]

I posted this on the Sci-Fi and Fantasy StackExchange , but realized it might be worth posting here as well since there is not a huge Cosmere presence over there.

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Brandon has said a Vessel can give up a Shard:

Quote

Questioner: Can holders of Shards give them up voluntarily?

Brandon Sanderson: Yes, a Vessel for a Shard of Adonalsium can give up their power if they wish.
_{FAQFriday 2017 (Jan 2017)}

 

 

 

 

However, all cases of a Vessel being separated from the Shard were involuntary (or in Vin's case, voluntary destruction) and resulted in death.

Quote

[Vin] didn't shy back, though the conflict of opposites ripped her apart. Ruin screamed in terror as the force of her power completely melded with Ruin's.

Her consciousness—now formed and saturated with Preservation—moved to touch that of Ruin. Neither would yield. And, with a surge of power, Vin bid farewell to the world, then pulled Ruin into the abyss with her. Their two minds puffed away, like mist under a hot sun.
_{The Hero of Ages - Chapter 81}

1

 

We know from Secret History that they weren't destroyed, but rather bodies reappeared as dead...

Quote

Outside, something appeared, as if from mists, then slumped down in the bodies beside Elend's corpse. It was followed immediately by something else, a second figure, which also fell motionless.

[...]

[Sazed] tapped a bit of steel and dodged the koloss attacks. He moved quickly through the mass of confused-looking koloss, climbing over bodies, moving up to the scrap of white cloak that marked Elend's resting place. His corpse was there, headless.

A small body lay beside his. Sazed fell to his knees, grabbing Vin by the shoulders. Beside her, atop the pile of dead koloss, lay another body. It was that of a man with red hair, one whom Sazed did not recognize, but he ignored it.

For Vin was not moving.

No! he thought, checking for a pulse. There was none. Her eyes were closed. She looked peaceful, but very, very dead.
_{The Hero of Ages - Chapter 82}

6

 

And their cognition passed on...

Quote

Ruin stood up nearby, blinking. Or . . . no, it wasn’t Ruin any longer. It was just the Vessel, Ati. The man who had held the power. Ati ran his hand through his red hair, then looked about. “Vax?” he said, sounding confused.

“Excuse me,” Kelsier said to Vin, then released her and trotted over to the red-haired man.

Whereupon he decked the man across the face, laying him out completely.

“Excellent,” Kelsier said, shaking his hand. At his feet, the man looked at him, then closed his eyes and sighed, stretching away into eternity.

[...]

Vin looked to Elend. To Kelsier’s horror, he had begun to stretch out. He turned toward something Kelsier couldn’t see, something Beyond, and smiled, then stepped in that direction.

[...]

Then [Vin] let go of [Kelsier’s] hand and followed Elend into the Beyond.
_{The Hero of Ages - Chapter 81}

 

 

So is this connected to the giving up of the Shard? Or a result of how Vin and Ruin clashed? If a Vessel gave up the power voluntarily, would they return to their physical forms? Or would they too end up as a Cognitive Shadow and pass on?

^{(bolded emphasis mine)}

Edited January 10, 2019 by amflare

[+Invocation]

I'm pretty sure they would go back to being whatever state they were when they Ascended or become a Cognitive Shadow. I would use the one example we have of that, but he was already a Cognitive Shadow before taking up the mantle.

[Quantus]

1 minute ago, Invocation said:

I'm pretty sure they would go back to being whatever state they were when they Ascended or become a Cognitive Shadow. I would use the one example we have of that, but he was already a Cognitive Shadow before taking up the mantle.

Likely so, though I think the original 16 wold still be able to manifest their original bodies, given that (at least with Leras) it dropped when they died. They'd technically be Slivers though, having been expanded like a balloon, they wouldnt go back 100% to the way they were, there are still lasting changes to their Spiritweb

 

 

Quote

 

Questioner (paraphrased)

What kind of changes do Slivers go through after letting go of a Shard's power?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

It leaves them, imagine it like a balloon that has been deflated.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Okay, so would Rashek still have had powers?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

He would have had some residual effects. But it also works the soul in weird ways, like a balloon that has been deflated.

source

 

 

[BooksBeforeDeath]

What if it was like, your spirit grew old, but you weren't effected by it? So say you held the power for 20 years, and than gave it up voluntarily. You'd then be 20 years older than when you started. Just a random theory.

[Scion of the Mists]

18 minutes ago, BooksBeforeDeath said:

What if it was like, your spirit grew old, but you weren't effected by it? So say you held the power for 20 years, and than gave it up voluntarily. You'd then be 20 years older than when you started. Just a random theory.

We've seen when Vessels die that they haven't been affected from age in that way (otherwise they'd be thousands of years old).  

Brandon hasn't said much about this.  What he has said is that when you hold that much power, your "mind, body, and spirit [are] expanded," and you retain some residual effects even after you give it up.  Brandon likens this to "a balloon that has been deflated."  One of these residual effects is the ability to sense Investiture.  

Brandon calls these people Slivers.  You can check out the Coppermind article for more info.  

[Stormgate]

On the topic of Slivers, I personally think that the "deflated balloon" effect has the result, among other things, of being able to retain more Investiture without leaking. In the case of TLR, he would be able to tap metalminds at a much higher rate than would be possible without wasting the storage. I remember reading or hearing somewhere that Breaths leaked out over time, which I presume Slivers would be more resistant to.

In the case of giving up power without dying, I think that the reason Vessels have died after giving the power is that what we see is extreme times of Shard transfer, where antagonistic Shards placed external strain on the Shards. With all the ruckus in the Cosmere, it's unlikely that someone would give power to someone unaccustomed to it (see TLR messing with Scadrial's orbit). 

SO, while it could happen, I think it's unlikely that we will see it (Oathbringer spoilers

Unless Dalinar ascends and rejects the Shard of Honor. Which may happen, I don't know.

Edited February 8, 2019 by Stormgate