Andrew C Posted January 20, 2015 Report Share Posted January 20, 2015 I would have thought he'd have told his weakness to Tia in case he needed to be put down. I see no reason he'd tell anyone else. This is, of course, predicated upon Tia not being a closet Epic herself. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted January 20, 2015 Report Share Posted January 20, 2015 (edited) I think its Luck...his weakness is a scenario where he has to rely or accept...luck...Faith... I think you might just have it. I'm pretty certain that the description of him hating games of chance will be part of his weakness. That scene about the contest stood out too much for it not to be important in some way or another. However, I don't like the idea of his weakness being luck or uncertainty. They have had far too many uncertain situations, and there haven't been any indications that he dislikes luck that I can think of other the contest bit. He does however, frequently seem to have a problem with trusting people, and with believing they can be better. All in all, I think something along the lines of faith/hope/trust is pretty likely. My only problem with this is I'm not sure how it would manifest as a weakness, and that he does seem to trust/put his faith in other people at times, if somewhat reluctantly, Another possibility I could imagine is a need to be in control. It would account for the constant planning, his dislike of improvisation, and his dislike of games of chance. Perhaps his weakness would be a situation where he felt he had no control over what was going on. It would definitely give him a good reason to be afraid when he seemed (from his perspective) to lose control of his forcefields when Megan showed up. It might not have been enough to depower him, but it definitely scared him. Edited January 20, 2015 by Jon 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traceria Posted January 20, 2015 Report Share Posted January 20, 2015 I'm glad I read through all three pages of comments, because I was also thinking it had something to do with probability and bad odds back on page 1 and it looks like several of you have also started to think that way. Responding to the poke thing: My husband plays poker, and he says it's more skill and less about luck, so I can see how Prof would be fine with playing poker but dead-set against a slot machine or drawing, which is total luck. So, whether it's something to do with Luck or Prof being weakened due to a low probability of success, I agree that it's likely along those lines. As mentioned by others, Prof and the Reckoners (David aside) plan things carefully and often have multiple contingency plans. Just look at the plan to kill Steelheart. While Prof was the distraction, knowing he could survive in the meantime, the other Reckoners had multiple plans of attack to discover which theory about Steelheart's weakness was correct. They were stacking the odds, which would have theoretically preserved Prof's powers if his weakness does indeed have something to do with luck or probability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fifth of Daybreak Posted January 21, 2015 Report Share Posted January 21, 2015 I'm glad I read through all three pages of comments, because I was also thinking it had something to do with probability and bad odds back on page 1 and it looks like several of you have also started to think that way. Responding to the poke thing: My husband plays poker, and he says it's more skill and less about luck, so I can see how Prof would be fine with playing poker but dead-set against a slot machine or drawing, which is total luck. So, whether it's something to do with Luck or Prof being weakened due to a low probability of success, I agree that it's likely along those lines. As mentioned by others, Prof and the Reckoners (David aside) plan things carefully and often have multiple contingency plans. Just look at the plan to kill Steelheart. While Prof was the distraction, knowing he could survive in the meantime, the other Reckoners had multiple plans of attack to discover which theory about Steelheart's weakness was correct. They were stacking the odds, which would have theoretically preserved Prof's powers if his weakness does indeed have something to do with luck or probability. I definitely agree poker is a game of skill more than luck, but it is very much a game of luck as well. I have a friend who every time we play Texas hold 'em makes the worst calls but still wins on the turn. Skill plays into it, but there still is the luck of the cards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Messremb Posted January 21, 2015 Report Share Posted January 21, 2015 (edited) Pretty sure Prof weakness is going to be people who feel he has failed them. The contest he didn't enter wasn't because he was afraid of losing, but because he was afraid of letting Tia, and his kids down. When David joined the reckoners he threatens David when David puts the team in danger, because he doesn't want to let his team down. When David improvises Prof jumps in to prevent letting David down. Prof kills Exel before he can register what he has done with killing Val. When Prof shows up to kill David, he regards David strangely, and it isn't until David reacts in a way that shows he isn't blaming Prof that Prof tries to kill him. My conclusion is that Profs weakness is people who feel he has failed them. Edited January 21, 2015 by Messremb 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewStirlingMacDonald Posted January 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2015 Nice, I like it. I could definitely see that being the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stellgod Posted January 21, 2015 Report Share Posted January 21, 2015 This is, of course, predicated upon Tia not being a closet Epic herself. Just watch. Tia will turn out to be an epic, and her weakness will be cola. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewStirlingMacDonald Posted January 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2015 And her nightmare will be people calling it "pop." 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fifth of Daybreak Posted January 21, 2015 Report Share Posted January 21, 2015 And her nightmare will be people calling it "pop." Must....resist....urge to down vote...yet....my local culture....must be defended....ahhhh 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewStirlingMacDonald Posted January 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2015 You get a nice upvote for showing such strong moral fortitude :-) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traceria Posted January 21, 2015 Report Share Posted January 21, 2015 I've lived in places where a lot of people called it pop or called everything designated as a soda coke, etc., etc. I've got to say, this is one of the strangest phenomenon of regional terms, in my opinion. Call a big truck that transports things in a trailer an 18-wheeler, big rig, Mack truck, or tracker trailer; those all make plenty of sense. Maybe it's just because I grew up in a region where if you ordered a drink marketed under the name of Coke, you called it Coke. Or if it was Sprite, Sprite. Or if it was Mellow Yellow, Mellow Yellow. *shrug * We should all just start drinking tea.... On the Tia/Epic note, I would think her weakness would be not having enough Coke. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kittalia Posted January 21, 2015 Report Share Posted January 21, 2015 Different take on his weakness -- what if it's feeling like he's losing control/respect/needs to lead? (Obviously, losing control of his powers can't be included) Points to consider: --He often makes snap decisions, but he hates it when other people (meaning David) do. --He doesn't like that David is so good at convincing/inspiring the others. This could be because he feels threatened. --As a teacher, an uncontrollable class would be a plausible fear --He hates things he can't control, like contests or games of chance Rebuttal to the inevitable counter-argument: But he's not always in control of the situation! There are plenty of times where he nearly dies, etc. At the end of Firefight, we realize he's amazingly powerful, more than any we've seen so far, including maybe Steelheart. There are plenty of times where things go wrong, but he's almost always made the decision to limit his powers rather than let them run free. I don't think anything in the series left him completely without that option. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuchapel Posted January 22, 2015 Report Share Posted January 22, 2015 He does however, frequently seem to have a problem with trusting people, and with believing they can be better. All in all, I think something along the lines of faith/hope/trust is pretty likely. My only problem with this is I'm not sure how it would manifest as a weakness, and that he does seem to trust/put his faith in other people at times, if somewhat reluctantly, He kills tia.....enrages at her loss...fireflight realized that she can pull a reality without calamity into our reality and wipe out what has been done...but that means wiping out current version of david too...its tough but he talks her into it... Prof unable to accept what hes done goes full Dark and try to stop her because he will lose his powers...FF confronts him with alternate reality Tia/Prof that are married and happy and have a kid...FF tells him to trust her and she will make his dream come true...he has to trust...goes weak...lets her poof out the calamity reality...Happy days and kittens for everyone. ......Except firefight who realized that david has forgot about her when he got wiped by the new reality to and so she lets alt reality FF overtake her and has to have faith that her and david will find each other again in this world... *ties bow* 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natc Posted January 24, 2015 Report Share Posted January 24, 2015 He kills tia.....enrages at her loss...fireflight realized that she can pull a reality without calamity into our reality and wipe out what has been done...but that means wiping out current version of david too...its tough but he talks her into it... Prof unable to accept what hes done goes full Dark and try to stop her because he will lose his powers...FF confronts him with alternate reality Tia/Prof that are married and happy and have a kid...FF tells him to trust her and she will make his dream come true...he has to trust...goes weak...lets her poof out the calamity reality...Happy days and kittens for everyone. ......Except firefight who realized that david has forgot about her when he got wiped by the new reality to and so she lets alt reality FF overtake her and has to have faith that her and david will find each other again in this world... *ties bow* When an entity with godlike power attempts to greatly alter the world, it is always good to have a reset button on hand, if you know what I mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewStirlingMacDonald Posted January 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2015 Megan the Lord Ruler! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dankworth Posted January 29, 2015 Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 Depends what exactly the weakness is. It might be as simple as "spray and pray" though I personally very much doubt it. If it were as simple as "fire loads of bullets in his general direction and one of them will hit" the machine guns on the armor units in Steelheart would have killed him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Star Posted January 29, 2015 Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 What if his weakness is the elephant toothpaste that he was making? He said that it helped him maintain control and calm down more quickly, which is something that his weakness would do. What do you guys think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiLyghtSansSparkles Posted January 29, 2015 Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 What if his weakness is the elephant toothpaste that he was making? He said that it helped him maintain control and calm down more quickly, which is something that his weakness would do. What do you guys think? Sourcefield's weakness just made her panic, driving her to anger. The same could be said of Steelheart's weakness. Newton's weakness made her pause, but it couldn't be said to calm her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgedancer Posted January 29, 2015 Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 If Prof (or any Epic for that matter) could stay calm around his weakness, I don´t think we would have to worry about said Epic turning evil from the corruption. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiLyghtSansSparkles Posted January 29, 2015 Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 If Prof (or any Epic for that matter) could stay calm around his weakness, I don´t think we would have to worry about said Epic turning evil from the corruption. And, going back to the fear thing, it's something of a contradiction to remain calm around something you fear. For years I had crippling social anxiety, and if going to parties had calmed me, I would've wondered if someone had spiked the punch. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkness Posted January 30, 2015 Report Share Posted January 30, 2015 Something else to account for, Epics lose their powers when their weakness is exploited. Yes, that seems obvious to say, but it means we have to take into account that when Prof jumped on a forcefield and fled after being confronted by Megan, it's because he got scared, not because he was faced with his weakness. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alisonwonderland Posted February 1, 2015 Report Share Posted February 1, 2015 Something else to account for, Epics lose their powers when their weakness is exploited. Yes, that seems obvious to say, but it means we have to take into account that when Prof jumped on a forcefield and fled after being confronted by Megan, it's because he got scared, not because he was faced with his weakness. Prof is a master of running away to fight another day. Throughout his time with the Reckoners he insisted on aborting a planned assassination and running if execution of the plan failed for any reason. I don't think we can read anything into him running when confronted with powers he didn't understand and had no means of countering. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dankworth Posted February 1, 2015 Report Share Posted February 1, 2015 Prof is a master of running away to fight another day. Throughout his time with the Reckoners he insisted on aborting a planned assassination and running if execution of the plan failed for any reason. I don't think we can read anything into him running when confronted with powers he didn't understand and had no means of countering. I believe what Darkness was saying was that Prof's powers still worked when he was confronted by Megan, so his weakness could not have been triggered. If his weakness had been activated, his powers would have stopped working--at least temporarily--and he couldn't have made a force-field at all. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkness Posted February 1, 2015 Report Share Posted February 1, 2015 exactly Dankworth. Wonderful chap... Ps. I love your name! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrath Posted February 2, 2015 Report Share Posted February 2, 2015 Sourcefield showed that sometimes a weakness is more complex than simply being exposed to the right substance. Sourcefield was weakened by Kool-Aid but she only lost her powers when she drank it. Prof could theoretically have recognised that he was in danger as a result of his weakness and left before the situation became critical. Note I don't think that's actually the case, I'm just saying it's a possibility. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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