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AU Idea: If Two Epics Switched Powers


Speedy Reckoning

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What if, from the beginning of the series, 

Spoiler

Firefight had the abilities of instant teleportation + heat control, and Obliteration had the reincarnation + illusions control? It has a more symbolic connection to me. Megan was chosen by Calamity because of her past trauma with her house burning down, so what better way to counter that fear than heat/fire control and teleportation to escape? Obliteration is deeply religious and fears something related to that, so what better way to counter his fear than appearing to be God's chosen with holy reincarnation and literally spreading the visions of God through illusions? 

The power switch would make the perfect counters to their fears, just as precognition would counter Fortuity's fear of rejection and darkness would counter Nightwielder's fear of sunlight. Sure, both of them get nerfed (Megan by the slightest fire burns - flaming arrow - and Obliteration is overall weaker), but even so it seems far more symbolic.

Additionally, Megan's weakness would encourage her to use her heat-sided powers less, because of the risk of self-burning. So I can easily imagine her, Steelheart, and Nightwielder as a symbolic steel-darkness-cold combo of evil, only to have some interesting plot twists when she shows the other side of her heat control. If we want even more symbolism, her joining David can be symbolic of fire melting steel, illumimating darkness, and banishing cold.

 

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Spoiler

well, a) just wanted to point out illusions is not Megan's ability, her ability is to pull things that already exist out of other dimensions

and b)  the powers aren't meant to counter their weakness', they were powers given pretty much at random to people by calamity, and the weakness' aren't really theirs either, again they are Calamity's, sure it might have been more interesting, but not really realistic and it would have made finding epics weakness' really easy as you could just look at what their powers revolved around avoiding.

WARNING: Calamity spoilers

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Ah, right. Forgot about what

Spoiler

Megan's powers really were - reality warping, not illusions. Oops!

And I agree that the powers are not definitively correlated to weaknesses. It was a plot idea since Sanderson does seem to enjoy symbolic correlations like that in some characters - making the Epic's powers a twisted way of avoiding, not confronting, fears.

 

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