Editing Beyond

{{infobox
|title=Beyond
|1=
{{row/kv|Universe|[[Cosmere]]}}
{{row/kv|Featured In|''[[Mistborn: Secret History]]'', ''[[Mistborn Era 2]]'', ''[[The Stormlight Archive]]''}}
}}
{{spoilers|mb7}}
{{quote
|[The Cognitive Realm] is the in-between step. After death and before ... the Beyond. The Somewhere Else. Where souls must go.
|[[Leras]] explaining the relationship between the [[Cognitive Realm]] and the Beyond to [[Kelsier]]{{msh ref|1|1}}
}}
The '''Beyond''' is an unknown location that the people of the [[cosmere]] are drawn to after they die. [[Leras]] occasionally refers to the Beyond as the '''Somewhere Else'''.{{msh ref|1|1}} The [[One]] teaches that the Beyond is the same as the [[Spiritual Realm]], though most other philosophers would disagree.{{wob ref|1729}}

== Transportation ==
{{image|Preservation.jpg|side=right|width=200px|[[Leras]] comforting someone before they go to the Beyond}}
When a person dies, their mind is transported to the [[Cognitive Realm]],{{msh ref|1|1}} though they are not always visible to other people in the Cognitive Realm.{{wob ref|11427}} This includes near-sapient lifeforms like [[Ryshadium]]; less sapient lifeforms may also experience this process, though they would transition very quickly and that question is a matter of debate among philosophers.{{wob ref|8313}} For most people, this time in the Cognitive Realm is nothing more than an "in between" step, as their mind is soon pulled into the Beyond.{{msh ref|1|1}} When they go to the Beyond, they appear to stretch toward an unseen, distant point that defies geometry and has also been described as "nothingness" and "eternity."{{msh ref|6|8}}{{msh ref|1|2}}{{msh ref|6|2}} People on [[Scadrial]] appear to turn into white mist as they stretch.{{msh ref|1|1}} Once someone transitions to the Beyond, their [[Investiture]] returns to the [[Shard]]s and the cosmere at large.{{wob ref|8658}}{{book ref|mb6|28}} The pull of the Beyond is part of why shadows point the wrong way in the Cognitive Realm.{{wob ref|2657}}

Before someone moves on to the Beyond, their Cognitive aspect can be returned to their physical body with the proper [[Investiture]], both by use of an Invested Art{{wob ref|5888}}{{book ref|mb6|28}}{{book ref|sa2|88}}{{book ref|sa2.5|8}} or by the act of a [[Shard]].{{wob ref|143}}{{book ref|sa3|38}} It is also possible to escape the pull of the Beyond by entering a [[perpendicularity]] and becoming a [[Cognitive Shadow]],{{msh ref|1|1}}{{wob ref|5784}}{{wob ref|8324}} though this method does not restore a person's ties to the Physical Realm.{{msh ref|2|1}} A Shard can also similarly Invest a Cognitive Shadow to keep it from the Beyond without returning it to the Physical Realm.{{wob ref|15834}} Being killed by an unsheathed [[Nightblood]]{{wob ref|10440}} or [[anti-Investiture]]{{book ref|sa4|97}}{{wob ref|14623}} or consumed by [[Yelig-nar]]{{wob ref|15139}} prevents a person's mind from being preserved, though not from reaching the Beyond.{{wob ref|15898}} If a person was saved from the Beyond by the direct act of a Shard, the Shard may later choose to withdraw their Investiture, sending the person to the Beyond.{{book ref|sa3|118}}{{book ref|sa4|117}} If someone uses [[Forgery]] to make themself die, they will not come back from the Beyond when the seal breaks,{{wob ref|1601}} and it seems unlikely that there is any way for someone to return from the Beyond.

[[Allomancy|Allomancers]], [[Feruchemy|Feruchemists]], and people who had a [[Hemalurgy|Hemalurgic]] spike in life can remain in the Cognitive Realm longer before being pulled to the Beyond,{{msh ref|1|1}}{{book ref|mb7|74}}{{wob ref|8313}} while those who were the victim of a Hemalurgic spiking and less sapient lifeforms cannot remain as long.{{wob ref|8313}}{{wob ref|1528}} [[Sliver]]s can resist the pull of the Beyond indefinitely, though they can still choose to go and still feel the pull of the Beyond when seriously wounded.{{wob ref|3841}}{{msh ref|6|8}} From this, it is possible to infer that the amount of Investiture a person has or had in life determines the length of time for which they can resist the pull of the Beyond.{{msh ref|1|1}}{{book ref|mb7|74}}

What happens in the Beyond itself is unknown in the cosmere and is the question [[Khrissalla|Khriss]] most wants answered.{{wob ref|15029}}

== Shards and the Beyond ==
While the [[Spiritual Realm]] is not the same as the Beyond, that distinction isn't necessarily immediately obvious to [[Shard]]s.{{wob ref|1729}} It does not seem exceedingly difficult to at least grasp the basic premise, however, as [[Harmony]] came to understand the difference within moments of [[Final Ascension|his Ascension]].{{msh ref|6|9}} Learning information about the Beyond itself, however, is at least exceedingly difficult and may be impossible, even for Shards.{{wob ref|6556}}{{wob ref|2717}}{{wob ref|737}} Harmony, at least, still has not learned anything about it, though he considers going to it a kind of adventure.{{book ref|mb6|28}} [[Ruin]] claims that [[Mare]] "longed for Kelsier to join her in the Beyond," but it seems likely that he was simply lying to manipulate Kelsier and does not actually have knowledge of what occurs in the Beyond.{{msh ref|4|4}}{{book ref|sa4|117}}

While trapped in the [[Well of Ascension]], Kelsier refers to Ruin as "the thing Beyond,"{{msh ref|2|1}} but this is likely a misnomer as a Shard's power is concentrated in the Spiritual Realm.{{wob ref|6304}}

== Known Travelers ==
While all people who are not Slivers must go to the Beyond when they finally die,{{msh ref|1|1}}{{msh ref|6|8}} the transitions of the following people to the Beyond have been observed:
* [[Vin]]
* [[Elend]]
* [[Ati]]
* [[Rashek]]
* [[Goradel]]
* [[Eshonai]]
* [[Wayne]]

== Development ==
While [[Brandon Sanderson|Brandon]] initially indicated that Shards might be able to learn to access the Beyond,{{wob ref|4444}}{{wob ref|6150}} he has since indicated otherwise, particularly after the nature of death in the cosmere was more fully explored in ''[[Mistborn: Secret History]]''.{{wob ref|6556}}{{wob ref|2717}}{{wob ref|737}}{{wob ref|13765}} When elaborating on this, Brandon has said that he doesn't want to ever give a definite answer as to whether or not there is an afterlife in the cosmere, as he feels it is important that characters can believe either way without being canonically wrong. As a result, questions about the nature of the Beyond will be [[RAFO]]'d.{{wob ref|13765}} For the same reason, Brandon has also RAFO'd questions about whether there is a capital-G God in the cosmere{{wob ref|9596}} and the relationship between the Beyond and the [[God Beyond]].{{wob ref|6555}}

== Notes ==
<references />
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