Mailliw73 Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 I'm wondering the same thing Regalia was. Why would Calamity give powers, and pretty powerful ones, to a man in a coma? He seems to have some reason in why he chooses people for their powers and I can't see why he would give powers to a man who won't use them fully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kobold King Posted January 8, 2015 Report Share Posted January 8, 2015 I'm wondering the same thing Regalia was. Why would Calamity give powers, and pretty powerful ones, to a man in a coma? He seems to have some reason in why he chooses people for their powers and I can't see why he would give powers to a man who won't use them fully. The key here is that Dawnslight did use them fully. He sculpted an entire utopia in his dreams, molding it onto the real world. He fed millions of people. He made the waters warm, undoubtedly providing habitats for thousands of aquatic plants and animals that could never have lived so far north otherwise. He had one of the largest and most profound effects on the rest of the world of any Epic known; compare Dawnslight to an Epic like Curveball. Regalia saw granting powers to a man in a coma as a waste, but she had a narrow way of looking at it. Dawnslight was a magnificent demigod that affected the planet in ways most other Epics could only dream of. Granting him powers was most definitely not a waste, and it may be the only decision Calamity made that actually helped people. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mailliw73 Posted January 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2015 The key here is that Dawnslight did use them fully. He sculpted an entire utopia in his dreams, molding it onto the real world. He fed millions of people. He made the waters warm, undoubtedly providing habitats for thousands of aquatic plants and animals that could never have lived so far north otherwise. He had one of the largest and most profound effects on the rest of the world of any Epic known; compare Dawnslight to an Epic like Curveball. Regalia saw granting powers to a man in a coma as a waste, but she had a narrow way of looking at it. Dawnslight was a magnificent demigod that affected the planet in ways most other Epics could only dream of. Granting him powers was most definitely not a waste, and it may be the only decision Calamity made that actually helped people. I'm more curious why Calamity gave it to a man who wasnt cruel, one who wouldn't feel the corruption. Based off what Calamity's done with the rest of the Epics, I feel like he wasn't such a nice guy either or his powers corrupted him as well, but then he goes and gives power to a man who sustains a city with them, and not just like Steelheart or Regalia in a benevolent(ish) dictator kind of way, but full-blown generosity and peacefulness. I also think that the powers would have been used more fully if Dawnslight was awake. They wouldn't have been as kind, obviously, but they would've been used more, I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fifth of Daybreak Posted January 8, 2015 Report Share Posted January 8, 2015 I think the bigger difference isn't the coma, but rather the mindset he entered the coma in. Up to this point, I'm fairly sure we haven't seen any children become Epics, and I think that's one of the main reasons that Dawnslight was benevolent, not the coma, but the childlike mindset. Calamity might not being able to distinguish a coma from a waking person, and since Dawnslight was an adult, I doubt that Calamity is omniscient and can read minds enough to determine that sort of difference in a person. I'm interested to learn more about Calamity and his(?) limitations. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent Posted January 8, 2015 Report Share Posted January 8, 2015 The biggest question I have here is why his power didn't corrupt him - after all, Calamity doesn't necessarily choose people are already evil, it's the power that eventually corrupts them. The obvious answer is that his mental age granted him an immunity of some sort, and that explanation could still work, but remember that Megan explains the mindset of an Epic as that of a child - uncaring, selfish, unconcerned for other people. Dawnslight* was already in a child's mindset when he was given his powers, so why did his caring and benevolent nature prevail, and not his malevolent and selfish one? * The first couple of times I read his name, I read it as Dawn Slight and was very confused... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrolGenhald Posted January 8, 2015 Report Share Posted January 8, 2015 The biggest question I have here is why his power didn't corrupt him - after all, Calamity doesn't necessarily choose people are already evil, it's the power that eventually corrupts them. The obvious answer is that his mental age granted him an immunity of some sort, and that explanation could still work, but remember that Megan explains the mindset of an Epic as that of a child - uncaring, selfish, unconcerned for other people. Dawnslight* was already in a child's mindset when he was given his powers, so why did his caring and benevolent nature prevail, and not his malevolent and selfish one? * The first couple of times I read his name, I read it as Dawn Slight and was very confused... I assume it has something to do with him overcoming his fear to avoid becoming corrupted, like Megan did at the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent Posted January 8, 2015 Report Share Posted January 8, 2015 Hmm, that may be it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurkistan Posted January 8, 2015 Report Share Posted January 8, 2015 (edited) I'd been thinking that Dawnslight was corrupted by his powers. As Argent said (though it may have been a simplification/grasping-metaphor on Megan's part) Megan did describe the Epic mindset as being like a child, convinced you're the center of the world and no one else matters: "uncaring, selfish, unconcerned for other people", as you say. Maybe that kind of mindset is dangerous in a mind with larger/more damaging ambitions, but it seems that Dawnslights ultimate goal was just to build his little playground and keep it intact; and the people who lived there are a part of the set dressing. After all, children don't go around murdering people just because they're uncaring, selfish little monsters. They're simply absorbed with their own ends. EDIT: Changed some content Edited January 8, 2015 by Kurkistan 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serial Posted January 8, 2015 Report Share Posted January 8, 2015 Did it ever say dawns light was in the coma BEFORE receiving powers? What if that is what caused him to go into it, a child's body unable to cope with the power it received. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrolGenhald Posted January 8, 2015 Report Share Posted January 8, 2015 Did it ever say dawns light was in the coma BEFORE receiving powers? What if that is what caused him to go into it, a child's body unable to cope with the power it received. I'm pretty sure it was mentioned at some point that he was in his forties, and Calamity showed up like 13 or 15 years ago or something, so for him to go into a coma as a child it would have had to be long before then. Guess that's another thing I'll look out for when I get around to reading through a second time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Havoc Posted January 8, 2015 Report Share Posted January 8, 2015 (edited) Wasn't Dawnslight one of the first epics to gain powers? “I’m from Manhattan,” Mizzy said, “born and raised. I don’t remember a whole lot of the early days, but I do remember Calamity. The glows came immediately afterward; anything spraypainted—old or new—started glowing. Only spraypaint works though. The plants started growing at thesame time—they just grew in the streets back then—and nobody has a good explanation, except to credit Dawnslight.” If so, it's very possible that Calamity himself (itself?) went through a Rending like all other Epics, where he indiscriminately gave out powers to random people. He might have become more deliberate once he regained control. Edited January 8, 2015 by Havoc 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrolGenhald Posted January 8, 2015 Report Share Posted January 8, 2015 That's the weird thing though, as far as we know most Epics started appearing about a year or so after Calamity (iirc). I don't think it's really comparable to a Rending, since it seems like Calamity didn't really do a whole lot at first besides Dawnslight. I guess it's possible there's other Epics that appeared right away that we haven't heard about, but I doubt it could be that many since say that they started appearing a year later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sand Master Posted January 9, 2015 Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 Interesting that it seems most people are already thinking of Calamity as a normal Epic, subject to the Rending and such. I was under the impression that since he (supposedly, maybe, according to David's theory) is an Epic that just creates other Epics by gifting some power to them, there's really only one Epic, all the others being offshoots. Since the other Epics go on thier Rendings after getting Calamity's power, it poses the question: where did Calamity get his power in the first place? Is he really just a human turned Epic, and if so, how and why? Is he actually an angel, like Regalia and Obliteration seem to think? If that's the case, this series just went way theological. For my part, I kind of think that it is like one of the rumors that Steelheart mentions -- some scientists were doing stuff they really shouldn't have been, and they created Calamity in the process. This is all just a theory, of course. Definitely something to think about though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galavantes Posted January 9, 2015 Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 I agree with that person who has a number for a name ^^ Brandon loves to touch on religion, but has always strayed away from coming right out with definitive divinities. Even in the cosmere the entities often regarded as gods aren't truly divine. I would be very very surprised if Calamity turned out to actually be an angel. An experiment perhaps. Although that is one crazy experiment. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaa Posted January 12, 2015 Report Share Posted January 12, 2015 Epics have nightmares about their greatest fear. Dawnslight, being in a coma, would've experienced the nightmare the moment he became an Epic. And unlike other Epics, Dawnslight would not have had the privilege of waking up. Being immersed in one's greatest fear every moment of every day sounds like a really effective way to get over said fear, so I'm not surprised at all that Dawnslight isn't corrupt. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgedancer Posted January 12, 2015 Report Share Posted January 12, 2015 Epics have nightmares about their greatest fear. Dawnslight, being in a coma, would've experienced the nightmare the moment he became an Epic. And unlike other Epics, Dawnslight would not have had the privilege of waking up. Being immersed in one's greatest fear every moment of every day sounds like a really effective way to get over said fear, so I'm not surprised at all that Dawnslight isn't corrupt. Even if he´s in a constant coma he´s capable to observe and conserve with the outside world, so he can´t exactly have permanent nightmares. Depending on the fear, not really, (Mitosis for example only had a his fear, because the situation with his band was a constant one) even more so with if the same time you are being mindwashed into fearing said event even more. There´s also the problem that a Rending doesn´t fit into his relationship with the people of Babylar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaa Posted January 12, 2015 Report Share Posted January 12, 2015 (edited) Even if he´s in a constant coma he´s capable to observe and conserve with the outside world, so he can´t exactly have permanent nightmares. I think the nightmares would stop the moment an Epic conquers his fear. Dawnslight must have stopped having them when he began growing fruits for New Yorkers, long before Regalia arrived. As for the Rending, for him it would have happened while his nightmares were starting; he might have been too busy experiencing hell inside his head to bother with the people outside. Edited January 12, 2015 by skaa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vineyarddawg Posted January 12, 2015 Report Share Posted January 12, 2015 I think it makes more sense for Dawnslight to have been created by the same power that created Calamity (or, if they're from an alternate reality, for them both to have been originally from the alternate reality). Dawnslight is basically the exact opposite of every epic we've seen so far in terms of how he interacts with the world around him. I don't think Calamity would have intentionally created him unless he was Calamity's first attempt to create an epic, and Calamity screwed up so badly that he was actually the cause of Dawnslight's coma. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent Posted January 12, 2015 Report Share Posted January 12, 2015 It sounds like some of you are treating the nightmares too literally, almost like something supernatural. It could very well be a figure of speech - our nightmares are our fears, and the Epics are human enough to experience terror just like ordinary humans. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaa Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 (edited) It sounds like some of you are treating the nightmares too literally, almost like something supernatural. It could very well be a figure of speech - our nightmares are our fears, and the Epics are human enough to experience terror just like ordinary humans. I don't know about you, but I don't have nightmares about a single specific fear every night (or even most nights). Epics apparently do. It's supernatural. “David, you need to know this. Our house burned down when I was just a kid. I was almost killed. I crawled through the smoke, holding on to my stuffed kitty, everything burning around me. They found me on the lawn, covered in soot. I have nightmares about that day. Repeatedly. All the time. If you do manage to interrogate other Epics, David … ask them what their nightmares are about.” Edited January 13, 2015 by skaa 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mailliw73 Posted January 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 I think that may have just been Megan. I agree with Argent that it is their biggest fear, which they may or may not have nightmares about. I don't think that the nightmares are a requirement, just something common. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaa Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 I think that may have just been Megan. I agree with Argent that it is their biggest fear, which they may or may not have nightmares about. I don't think that the nightmares are a requirement, just something common. Obliteration had them too, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junior Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 Yeah, I suspect that the nightmares aren't just limited to Megan and Obliteration. So far we've learned the weaknesses of six epics. Of those six, the only unexplained weakness is Nightwielder's weakness to UV light. The other five are all linked to either the background or the personality of the epic before they received their powers. Two of the weaknesses (Kool-Aid and fire) are linked to known events that would traumatize anyone who lived through them. One (compliments) is linked to an apparent backlash against feelings of inadequacy and family expectations on the part of the epic. Another (lack of fear) is a concern for bullies, and we learn that the epic in question was a known bully before his transformation. And the last one (specific music) appears to be linked to something that the guy developed a complex over before he became an epic. I can see all five characters having bad dreams (some more severe than others) about the items in question even before they became epics. Once the characters became epics and knew that the items were their weaknesses, it's not hard to believe that even the mere bad dreams would become out and out nightmares. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dyring Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 One then wonders, does the weakness change if the thing you fear the most change? Likely not, but possible. As for nightwielder, I suppose he might have been lost in a desert or something, constantly remembering the merciless sun overhead and having nightmares about that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junior Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 My guess for Nightwielder is that he had a thing about skin cancer. Remember - his weakness was UV specifically, not just the sun. And the UV rays from the sun (and tanning devices) are a big cause of skin cancer. Given how it's already known that receiving epic powers messes with your head, it's possible that an epic can't become unafraid of their weakness. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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