Questioner
Is Vin the only person who could have Ascended or could any Mistborn have ascended?
Brandon Sanderson
Um... That's a tricky question because you're giving a false dichotomy. It's not only Vin, but not just anybody. Does that make sense?
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Is Vin the only person who could have Ascended or could any Mistborn have ascended?
Um... That's a tricky question because you're giving a false dichotomy. It's not only Vin, but not just anybody. Does that make sense?
Is the definition of Sliver: Someone who has held a large part of the raw form of a Shard temporarily
That is it.
Can a Parshendi/Singer/nonhuman-humanoid become a Sliver?
Yes.
What kind of changes do Slivers go through after letting go of a Shard's power?
It leaves them, imagine it like a balloon that has been deflated.
Okay, so would Rashek still have had powers?
He would have had some residual effects. But it also works the soul in weird ways, like a balloon that has been deflated.
So you talk about the residue a Shard leaves on a Sliver. So what does that residue have? Like what does it do? If anything?
Well, one thing it can include is that people capable of noticing Investiture, would know there is trace Investiture from that event.
What effects does being a Sliver have on a person?
It can vary (on the Shard, the length of time the power was held, the power itself, etc). In some way a Sliver is someone who has had their mind, body, and spirit expanded due to holding a great deal of power, and then have had that power leave.
In an interview, you said you thought you had canonized someone as a Sliver in Rhythm of War but then realized you didn't. Who is this character?
RAFO.
Is Jezren a Sliver?
Jezrien is one of the Heralds, but has never held the power of an entire Shard himself. (So no, not a Sliver.)
How is a Splinter different from a Sliver?
Let me see... You have met Splinters in Elantris, Warbreaker, and in Way of Kings. You have not met them in Mistborn.
I feel like we know that. So, qualitatively, what's the difference?
Qualitatively, they're reverses of one another. A Sliver is a human intelligence who has held the power and released it. A Splinter has never been human.
But it derives from a Shard's power.
Yes. That's not it completely, but there's at least something to think about.
Who gave the Lord Ruler the name "Sliver of Infinity?" Because he's kind of secretive about his past, and that seems like a very descriptive nickname.
"Sliver" is a cosmere term used by Arcanists, and it would've come from there. They knew what he was, even if a lot of people on the world did not.
So they sort of spread the...?
Yes, it just entered the... people talking about it and it eventually spread, and things like that.
What's the difference between avatar and Splinter?
These are all very weird terms that I'm just using.
*mistakenly answering for Sliver* A Sliver is a person who has held the power of a Shard, and then let go of it. A briefly held time, holding the infinite power of a Shard, but no longer does. So what does that do? That changes your soul, and leaves markers on it. It's a real physiological thing.
An avatar is... a Shard manifesting a semi-autonomous piece of themselves that is still connected to who they are. An avatar, for instance, of Autonomy - depending on how Autonomy creates that avatar - might know, might not know, but they are still an aspect, they are still part of Autonomy. And when you get down to it a part of them knows that, and it's almost a god roleplaying, but in a way that only a Shard, or a lowercase-g god in the Cosmere, can do.
*realizes that he answered for Sliver earlier, and clarifies*
A Splinter is a piece of a Shard that is fully autonomous, where an avatar is not. So something that is Splintered does not consider itself - and would not be considered by the definitions - an actual piece of it [the Shard], and has free will. So once it has free will, and/or could develop free will (because some of the Splinters haven't gotten there yet), but is fully cut off from the direct control and self-identity of the Shard, then it is called a Splinter.
Also, would the Elantrians and the Lerasium-mistings be considered Slivers? Or is just the Lord Ruler and Vin Slivers (Via the Well)? Or do you need more power to be considered a Sliver?
Elantrians are not slivers. Mistborn trilogy spoiler warnings follow! The Lord Ruler was indeed a Sliver. So was Vin. For the rest, I would say probably not.
What defines an actual Sliver of Adonalsium is not as clear-cut as you might think. It's a term that in-universe people who study this have applied to various existences and states. Every single person on the world of Scadrial has a bit of Leras in them—a bit of the power of Preservation. Every single person has a bit of Ati in them. There's a certain threshold where these scholars would call you a Sliver of Adonalsium. But I would say that any regular Misting is probably not a Sliver. A full Lerasium Mistborn is getting closer, but people who have held one of the powers are what would probably be termed a Sliver by the definitions. If you hold all the power that makes you a Shard, but the Lord Ruler held a little bit of it and then let it go. From then on they referred to that change in him—the residue, what was left—as a Sliver. When he held it he became the Shard for a short time, and Vin was a Shard for a short time. After Vin gave up the power, what Kelsier is at the end of the trilogy—that's a Sliver of Adonalsium.
If Ati had somehow managed to give up Ruin and returned to being a regular person, would his mind have gradually reverted from its corruption by Ruin's intent, or would he always be determined to destroy?
Over time Ruin's influence would fade, but Ati would remain a Sliver, so there would be some permanent effects.
*reading a question from a friend* He asks you, "How a dead Splinter [Sliver] can interact with the physical world," and the follow up, "What could they do?"
A dead Splinter... So something like a dead...
Someone who's held the power and let go of it, so someone like... someone like...
Someone like the Lord Ruler.
Yeah, Lord Ruler or Vin or <someone like that>.
Okay, so... How could they interact with the world?
Yeah, the physical world.
So they would have some of the same problems that Kelsier had. But would have slightly more advantages than him. So for instance, speaking to the mad is something they could probably do.
Because Kelsier can't do that.
What's that?
Because Kelsier can't?
He can't?
He can?
Yeah, in Secret History he's able to speak to them. He has a lot of trouble getting through, but he can. So yeah. So I-- read Secret History and... *stutters* <a bunch> of the same answers. But they would be slightly more Invested than Kelsier was... No, but then he... yeah... They'd be about roughly the same.
You hinted I think-- it was talking about it that Kelsier had kind of Ascended?
Yes. [...] Yes he did Ascend briefly. It was... It didn't work real well for him because Kelsier plus the power of Preservation is not a good match, but yes.
Is it possible to become a Sliver if you burn enough atium?
I don't think so.
Is Nightblood considered a Sliver after what happened in Rhythm of War?
By some definitions... *indecisive sputtering* Tenuous. I would say for the most part no. Some people might in-world disagree because Slivers are pretty... it's a moving target, but Nightblood shuts off pretty quick in terms of the amount of Investiture that would come through something like that. And so while he did get a piece of that, technically anything he eats is getting a piece of a Shard. I'm going to say no, with room for debate.