Beyond
| Beyond | |
|---|---|
| Universe | Cosmere |
| Featured In | Mistborn, The Stormlight Archive |
“[The Cognitive Realm] is the in-between step. After death and before ... the Beyond. The Somewhere Else. Where souls must go. ”
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.[1] The One teaches that the Beyond is the same as the Spiritual Realm, though most other philosophers would disagree.[2]
Transportation[edit]
When a person dies, their mind is transported to the Cognitive Realm,[1] though they are not always visible to other people in the Cognitive Realm.[3] 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.[4] 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.[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."[5][6][7] People on Scadrial appear to turn into white mist as they stretch.[1] Once someone transitions to the Beyond, their Investiture returns to the Shards and the cosmere at large.[8][9] The pull of the Beyond is part of why shadows point the wrong way in the Cognitive Realm.[10]
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[11][9][12][13] or by the act of a Shard.[14][15] It is also possible to escape the pull of the Beyond by entering a perpendicularity and becoming a Cognitive Shadow,[1][16][17] though this method does not restore a person's ties to the Physical Realm.[18] A Shard can also similarly Invest a Cognitive Shadow to keep it from the Beyond without returning it to the Physical Realm.[19] Being killed by an unsheathed Nightblood[20] or anti-Investiture[21][22] or consumed by Yelig-nar[23] prevents a person's mind from being preserved, though not from reaching the Beyond.[24] 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.[25][26] If someone uses Forgery to make themself die, they will not come back from the Beyond when the seal breaks,[27] and it seems unlikely that there is any way for someone to return from the Beyond.
Allomancers, Feruchemists, and people who had a Hemalurgic spike in life can remain in the Cognitive Realm longer before being pulled to the Beyond,[1][28][4] while those who were the victim of a Hemalurgic spiking and less sapient lifeforms cannot remain as long.[4][29] Slivers 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.[30][5] 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.[1][26][28]
What happens in the Beyond itself is unknown in the cosmere and is the question Khriss most wants answered.[31]
Shards and the Beyond[edit]
While the Spiritual Realm is not the same as the Beyond, that distinction isn't necessarily immediately obvious to Shards.[2] It does not seem exceedingly difficult to at least grasp the basic premise, however, as Harmony came to understand the difference within moments of his Ascension.[32] Learning information about the Beyond itself, however, is at least exceedingly difficult and may be impossible, even for Shards.[33][34][35] Harmony, at least, still has not learned anything about it, though he considers going to it a kind of adventure.[9] 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.[36][26]
While trapped in the Well of Ascension, Kelsier refers to Ruin as "the thing Beyond,"[18] but this is likely a misnomer as a Shard's power is concentrated in the Spiritual Realm.[37]
Known Travelers[edit]
While all people who are not Slivers must go to the Beyond when they finally die,[1][5] the transitions of the following people to the Beyond have been observed:
Development[edit]
While Brandon initially indicated that Shards might be able to learn to access the Beyond,[39][40] he has since indicated otherwise, particularly after the nature of death in the cosmere was more fully explored in Mistborn: Secret History.[33][34][35][41] 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.[41] For the same reason, Brandon has also RAFO'd questions about whether there is a capital-G God in the cosmere[42] and the relationship between the Beyond and the God Beyond.[43]
Notes[edit]
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Mistborn: Secret History part 1 chapter 1#
- ↑ a b Arcanum Unbounded release party
— Arcanum - 2016-11-22# - ↑ Skyward Pre-Release AMA
— Arcanum - 2018-10-27# - ↑ a b c Oathbringer release party
— Arcanum - 2017-11-13# - ↑ a b c d e f Mistborn: Secret History part 6 chapter 8#
- ↑ a b Mistborn: Secret History part 1 chapter 2#
- ↑ Mistborn: Secret History part 6 chapter 2#
- ↑ Oathbringer London signing
— Arcanum - 2017-11-28# - ↑ a b c The Bands of Mourning chapter 28#
- ↑ OdysseyCon 2016
— Arcanum - 2016-04-08# - ↑ Shadows of Self release party
— Arcanum - 2015-10-05# - ↑ Words of Radiance chapter 88#
- ↑ Edgedancer chapter 8#
- ↑ JordanCon 2016
— Arcanum - 2016-04-23# - ↑ Oathbringer chapter 38#
- ↑ White Sand vol.1 release party
— Arcanum - 2016-06-28# - ↑ Oathbringer release party
— Arcanum - 2017-11-13# - ↑ a b Mistborn: Secret History part 2 chapter 1#
- ↑ Dragonsteel 2022
— Arcanum - 2022-11-14# - ↑ Idaho Falls signing
— Arcanum - 2018-07-21# - ↑ Rhythm of War chapter 97#
- ↑ Shardcast Interview
— Arcanum - 2021-01-23# - ↑ Mini-Con 2021
— Arcanum - 2021-11-22# - ↑ Dragonsteel 2022
— Arcanum - 2022-11-15# - ↑ Oathbringer chapter 118#
- ↑ a b c d Rhythm of War chapter 117#
- ↑ Boskone 54
— Arcanum - 2017-02-17# - ↑ a b c The Lost Metal chapter 74#
- ↑ Arcanum Unbounded Chicago signing
— Arcanum - 2016-12-06# - ↑ Stormlight Three Update #5
— Arcanum - 2016-11-19# - ↑ FanX 2021
— Arcanum - 2021-09-18# - ↑ Mistborn: Secret History part 6 chapter 9#
- ↑ a b Calamity Chicago signing
— Arcanum - 2016-02-22# - ↑ a b When Worlds Collide 2014
— Arcanum - 2014-08-09# - ↑ a b Calamity San Antonio signing
— Arcanum - 2016-02-26# - ↑ Mistborn: Secret History part 4 chapter 4#
- ↑ Shadows of Self Chicago signing
— Arcanum - 2015-10-12# - ↑ Mistborn: Secret History part 6 chapter 7#
- ↑ B&N Book Club Q&A
— Arcanum - 2009-07-08# - ↑ Hero of Ages Q&A - Time Waster's Guide
— Arcanum - 2008-10-15# - ↑ a b General Reddit 2020
— Arcanum - 2020-06-05# - ↑ JordanCon 2018
— Arcanum - 2018-04-21# - ↑ Calamity Chicago signing
— Arcanum - 2016-02-22#