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Fae rebirth, the nature of their immortality, is confusingly addressed by lore sources in-game. Clearly: 

  • Fae are reborn in a hollow when they die. 
  • Fae lives are so long aside from the rebirth-cycle that they seem immortal by more usual definitions than rebirth, especially as Titarion is referenced as being unusually old and wise for a Summer Fae. 
  • It is suggested that the Fateless One unravelling a Fae disrupts their return to the Great Cycle.
  • Tirnoch's influence disrupts the Great Cycle, forcing Fae to be reborn as Tuatha instead of their natural selves. It is likely that the Great Cycle will return to its natural state after the events of Reckoning.
  • Only the Winter Fae are willing to openly discuss Fae dying. Summer Fae use euphemisms like "heard the call of Winter" or "was commended to the Cycle."

However: 

  • Taibreah shows no awareness of her past lives, most notably as the Weeping King, until contact with the Fateless One1, while Maxen indicates that he is aware that he has never "in all [his] lives" spoken to a Summer Fae out of distrust. Other accounts tend toward remembering past lives where the matter is mentioned, though this is often confused by other situations such as the Chancellor of Windemere's. It is distinctly possibly that Taibreah is an exception, and the Weeping King somehow chose that his later lives would not remember being the Weeping King. He probably knew something about needing to keep his identity secret, and likely at least the incarnation directly prior to Taibreah (whether that was the Weeping King or not) continued with the voluntary wipe.
  • The Chancellor of Windemere clearly was previously a Summer Fae and is now a Winter Fae2; this in combination with the common phrase "heard the call of Winter" seems to indicate that Fae are reborn into one Court and then the other somehow. This is supported by the nature of the House of Ballads, that the heroes of legend do not re-tell their tales, nor do the re-tellers continue in an endless re-telling personally. However, Maxen, Osduin (referencing Boderill)3, and others seem to indicate that a Fae's essence remains in one court or the other, not crossing over between the two. 
  • Terenia seems to die in an unusual way at the end of Floodgates. She refers to this as a mortal death, suggesting that she will not be reincarnated. This is likely due to her self-sacrificial ending, but remains noteworthy, especially in contrast to the Chancellor's death and subsequent rebirth as a Winter Fae and in parallel to Taibreah's sacrifice at the end of Such Sweet Sorrow

The most striking element to me is that I honestly cannot recall an indication aside from Boderill's odd situation where Summer Fae perish and are reborn. As such, I am tempted to conclude that Winter Fae are the only ones that can reincarnate as their own court. The Gallows Tree is likely connected to this, but that connection is obscure. It would then make sense that the Court of Winter does not become overpopulated because of its decaying nature, and it is thus possible that Winter Court internal resurrection becomes possible because of the House of Sorrows's delving. 

  • Esha mentions that Bareth spent "his first lifetimes" in the House of Seasons, though he is now a Winter Fae who remembers much of what he learned in the Seelie Court.
  • When the Fae of Castle Yolvan killed The Widow, they clearly did not expect her to return from being commended to Esharra.


I'm actually highly interested in what people think of my examples and arguments and such, especially if anyone has more definitive examples to add, such as if someone in Ysa talks about the matter more specifically or directly. So if you have anything to add, even if you want to point out some detail that makes one or more of my examples or initial points worthless, please do! 


Notes:

  1. Mere contact with the Fateless One is enough to alter an individual or location's Fate; it is unclear whether the rather distant degree of contact the Fateless One necessarily has in Didenhil to change Agarth's reading (as the player does not need to perform any actions to save Didenhill from the boggarts for the reading to have been changed) changed Taibreah's awareness prior to her contact with Cadoroc's victim in Voices of the Dead. Taibreah explicitly states that she learned of her nature as the Weeping King when she meditated under the Gallows Tree while the Fateless One was in Damalroc; the Fateless One's effects on this revelation are still unknown. It is also unclear what relationship there is between the Fae and mortals' Fate (as it is hinted on a number of occasions that while the Fae work in patterns, they are not bound by Fate) such that this change could occur. 
  2. It is also suggested, because of Magwyr's immediate presence, that the Chancellor was reborn as a Winter Fae in Gorguath, suggesting a bodily connection in the transition from Summer to Winter. This can be explained simply by Magwyr knowing which Hollow the Chancellor would be reborn in and either knew that he would be Winter Fae or induced this change, possibly via Prismere. 
  3. Come to think of it, it's never specified that Boderill is of the Summer Court, though it's illogical to assume that he is of Winter given the extremely Summer-oriented context.
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