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The weaknesses were inherently tied to Calamity's corruption(/presence), because when an Epic faces their fear, they also drive back the darkness, which we know was because of Calamity and his contempt for humanity (and fear/startlement of the physical world). Now that Calamity is gone (or in the case of the otherverse already left a long time ago) does that also imply that the Epics no longer have weaknesses? Does that mean Megan literally can't die and David is literally invincible to all physical damage? Is this why Obliteration is still wreaking havoc in the otherverse even though they have an actual Superman expy helping them out, because he can't be killed since he just teleports forever?

I was rereading The Stormlight Archive in preparation for The Rhythm of War release, and I thought that Kaladin has one major restriction, he is tied up in his past failures. He can never get past them. This reminds me of an Epic in the Reckoners. The spoiler below will tell the epic's name, DON'T OPEN UNLESS YOU HAVE READ THE SERIES. If a character in the Cosmere manifested Epic powers, what would each of their weaknesses be, and what is your reasoning? PS: I am sorry if this is in the wrong discussion board, I wasn't sure where to put it if it spans both Cosmere and Non-Cosmere books, just tell me where I need to move it or do it yourself if you have that power. Thanks!

...in which case the audience didn't, either. In the prologue of Steelheart, David describes Epic weaknesses thusly: By this definition, an Epic whose weakness is in effect should be unable to use their powers in any way whatsoever, as if they were no longer an Epic at all. Being attacked by or being in the presence of a person who does not fear him does not appear to have this effect on Steelheart. Although an attack from a person who does not fear him is shown to be able to bypass his defensive power, he is able to use his other abilities within seconds of suffering such an attack, as seen when he mortally wounds Blain Charleston with a super-strength-enhanced punch just after the latter's bullet grazes him. I suppose it is possible that Steelheart's other powers simply do not work while he is being attacked by someone who doesn't fear him, but upon consideration, another explanation presents itself. In Firefight, the Reckoners confront the Epic Sourcefield, whose weakness is Kool-Aid. While fighting her, David notices that different degrees of exposure to her weakness seem to affect her powers in different ways. Pouring it over one of her forcefields causes that particular field to disappear, and splashing it on her body causes her personal protective field to momentarily flicker and weaken. However, only when David removes her mouth guard and forces her to drink some do her powers shut down completely. Sourcefield's true weakness, the condition that makes her functionally an ordinary person, is drinking Kool-Aid; having it touch her body or her forcefields is what we might call a "pseudo-weakness", a related condition that dampens an Epic's powers but doesn't entirely stop them. Another example of this phenomenon is a major plot point in Calamity. So, if being attacked by someone who doesn't fear him is a pseudo-weakness for Steelheart, what might his true weakness be? Perhaps his powers would shut down if no one in the world, or at least no one within a certain distance of him, feared him at all? We will probably never know. (Does this post need to be in the Calamity subforum? It's not specifically about Calamity, but it does mention Calamity spoilers as part of its argument. Apologies if I've misplaced it.)

On page 179 of Firefight, Tia mentions that Sourcefield was poisoned as a little girl, not with cool-aid, but with a generic juice drink. Sourcefield was still weakened by the kool-aid. So my question is will an Epic be weakened if they're confronted by what they believe is their weakness?