Does Harmony have a Cognitive Shadow?

[The Wanderer]

We know that shards have a cognitive shadow: Fuzz for preservation, the Stormfather having absorbed Honour's, possibly the Nghtwatcher for Cultivation. It's not a stretch of the imagination to resume every Shard has or had a Cognitive Shadow, although ones like Dominion and Devotion's may have been Splintered alongside them. However, what we don't know is if Harmony, which is two shards in one, has a Cognitive Shadow. Maybe it has two, one for Ruin and one for Preservation, or perhaps it has one, more powerful/developed than other Shards? it could be interesting to see in Era 3, or maybe The Lost Metal, how that all works, and how it would interact with Scadrial and the people living on it or worldhoppers.

[RShara she/her]

No, because Harmony is still alive. Cognitive Shadows can only be formed after the physical body dies. A CS is the remnant (or copy) of the mind or soul that has managed to persist after death.

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R'Shara

Does a person have to die before they can become a Cognitive Shadow?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. Depending on your definition of dying?

R'Shara

The physical body dies.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Legion Release Party (Sept. 19, 2018)

If your question is if Harmony has a self-aware Splinter, like the Nightwatcher, my guess would be no. He has the kandra and other agents to do his work, I don't know if he has a need for a Splinter. Unless it's something he's doing to keep his extra Ruinous investiture under control.

Edited May 28, 2019 by RShara

[Weltall]

'Fuzz' was the result of Preservation sacrificing most of his mind to trap Ruin, but that was still Leras and not a Cognitive Shadow. Note how when 'Fuzz' dies Leras' original body coalesces and drops back into the Physical Realm, just like how Ati and Vin's bodies appear after their mutual death. Leras wasn't dead before that point, therefore he had no Cognitive Shadow. This WoB is relevant:

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WeiryWriter

Could you explain a little more about Cognitive Shadows? When you first mentioned the name and gave the examples of Kelsier and the Shades from Threnody you kind of gave the impression that they were kind of like ghosts. But this past December at the Orem signing you mentioned that the Stormfather and the mist were also Cognitive Shadows. The first makes sense to me, I had an [entire theory about that (although I argued he was specifically Tanavast’s and not Honor’s). The second however really doesn’t make sense to me, unless it was actually the mist spirit that is the shadow and that got missed in the report (it wasn’t verbatim), but even still Preservation is still alive at that point so how can he have a “ghost”? (Unless him sacrificing his mind to form Ruin’s prison counts as “death” in this situation?)

Brandon Sanderson

On the first question, I did not say the mists themselves were a Cognitive Shadow. That must have been a misunderstanding. The Stormfather totally is, though. Cognitive Shadows are basically ghosts, which can take a lot of different forms in the Cosmere, but follow general rules.

WeiryWriter

Is the mist /spirit/ a Cognitive Shadow then?

Brandon Sanderson

The mist spirit is a little more complicated than that. That was actually Leras, kind of. He was in the process of dying. But other things are involved there that, unfortunately, must be RAFOd.

/r/books AMA 2015 (March 12, 2015)

The 'must be RAFO'd' bit is refering to the behind the scenes goings-on in Secret History, which he couldn't talk about or it would have spoiled the surprise.

Now, Leras or Ati (likewise Vin) could have become Cognitive Shadows after their deaths because having held that much power, they could permanently resist being pulled Beyond if they chose; they simply didn't want to.

The Nightwatcher is not a Cognitive Shadow but a Splinter that's associated with Cultivation in a somewhat similar manner that the Stormfather is associated with Honor, but she can't be a CS of Cultivation because Cultivation is still very much alive and a separate entity.

Edited May 28, 2019 by Weltall

[Impact he/him]

On ‎5‎/‎28‎/‎2019 at 3:30 PM, Weltall said:

The Nightwatcher is not a Cognitive Shadow but a Splinter that's associated with Cultivation in a somewhat similar manner that the Stormfather is associated with Honor, but she can't be a CS of Cultivation because Cultivation is still very much alive and a separate entity.

Exactly.  Nightwatcher is what the Stormfather was before Honor died.  After Honor died, SF changed to incorporate Honor's cognative shadow, start granting visions, etc.  

The Heralds, on the other hand, are CS of themselves, that are granted bodies when they reincarnate after each desolation.  Personally, I think they still have their bodies on Braise, but that's my theory.

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Questioner

Have we seen cameos of Heralds on other Shardworlds?

Brandon Sanderson

The Heralds are tied to the system by the magic that permeates them. They could not leave.

Questioner

I thought I saw someone but I guess not.

Brandon Sanderson

It’s part of the magic. Some would call them Cognitive Shadows, right? Whether they are or not. "Cognitive Shadow" is a very ambiguous term in the cosmere. It means, basically your soul-- It's the same thing with petrification, right? Investiture replaced your soul, and permeated your soul, and your soul continues to exist, but... you are usually Invested with something, that's tied, and you're basically like pure Investiture then. You're tied to the thing you're Connected to. Most of the things that you're gonna see with that, travelling is going to be very difficult, unless you know how to do it. You have seen people do it.

Questioner

Who?

Brandon Sanderson

Vasher

Brandon Sanderson

Vasher... You have seen people do it. But anyone who's got-- yeah.

Arcanum Unbounded Chicago signing (Dec. 6, 2016)

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[Scion of the Mists]

Usually this distinction doesn't matter, but in this case, I think it is useful to be specific.  It's not the Shard that produces a Cognitive Shadow - it's the Vessel.  The Vessel's are the beings with the physical bodies who actually die.  The Shard itself is basically just a ginormous hunk of Investiture - it can't be "killed."  

So, Harmony could never have a Cognitive Shadow, but Sazed could (but doesn't yet, because he's still alive).