BoM/TWS Message Forum

I agree with you that that's probably how it would work in the case of the memories. That just seems to be the most logical interpretation of the magic.

However, I wouldn't say that the doppleganger line should really be taken with a grain of salt at all. I think it's pretty solid evidence that orders to a golem can semi permenantly alter the mental imago of a mask. While the mask of Kim does sit on a golem layer, that layer is dormant when worn by the matching essentia, and doesn't actually come in to contact with the wearer. For the wearer, it functions as a normal mask. The fact that Will got so swept away by it I think is a really strong indicator that the mask's mental imago is pretty throughly altered by the commands given to it when affected by the golem shell. I'd actually be curious to see Will be put in one of those programmed masks in a situation where he didn't know anything about the masks and see if he'd be able to break out of the autopilot, considering that he didn't panic or break character until he took the mask off, and that was with the full knowledge of how to remove the mask the entire time.