Shadows of God Kings

[ScadrianTank he/him]

After a God King dies, how long can they last as a Cognitive shadow? They are seemingly the most Invested people we've seen so far, but the Breaths are not fully part of the soul, so would they even help? And if a God King doesn't form a Shadow - since he/she is one already - let's just say a regular person of tenth Heightening.

[Honorless he/him]

The God-Kings pass on their Breaths to the next God-King, iirc so I don't think they'll form Cognitive Shadows: the sequel

[Weltall]

We know that the God Kings are allowed to retire and can still be given enough Breath to stay alive as long as they want (WoB confirms the priests were truthful about that) so they would still have a lot of Investiture assuming they die without ever using the Divine Breath to heal. Whether that counts for Cognitive Shadow purposes is a bit murkier since a Returned already is one.

Oh, and of course we have Arsteel who died with a larger than normal supply of Breath and came back as an unusually intelligent Lifeless, for whatever that's worth. Brandon has said that the Breath he got from Vasher made a difference but doesn't mention the Divine Breath.

Edited September 28, 2021 by Weltall

[Brgst13]

Cognitive Shadows seem to last quite a long time irregardless of how Invested they were upon death.