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Pretty major Firefight spoilers, hence the topic's presence in the spoiler board. You have been warned.

 

 

In Firefight we learn that Calamity, that wicked red star visible even through Nightwielder's smog, is actually an Epic.

 

From Chapter 41:

 

 

I could see it up there, that omnipresent glowing dot. Brighter than a star, but far smaller than the moon.

 

"You can view Calamity through a telescope," Regalia continued, speaking in a conversational way. "The four of us did it quite often, back in the day. Jonathan, myself, Lincoln. Even with a telescope, it's hard to make out details. He glows very brightly, you see."

 

 

And in the same chapter, David sees it almost up close, and could have sworn he saw a pair of fiery wings.

 

So here's my question... how is Calamity's true nature not common knowledge?

 

We are told in the prologue to Steelheart that there was a full year between Calamity's first appearance and the dawn of the Epics. We are told in Firefight, in the passage quoted above, that it is brighter than any star but far dimmer than the moon; that puts Calamity at an apparent magnitude somewhere between -1.46 and -12.7.

 

Therefore, there was a full year for NASA and every other astronomical organization and amateur stargazer to view a mysterious glowing object that appeared without warning and is brighter than Halley's Comet. This isn't the sort of thing people ignore; it seems to me that scientists should have learned of Calamity's true nature long before Epics began to appear. It should have become common knowledge. At the very least, David shouldn't have been nearly surprised at the revelation as he was.

 

In summary: if Calamity hung over modern Earth for a full year and can be viewed with a telescope, why in Calamity's name doesn't everybody know what it is?

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Pretty major Firefight spoilers, hence the topic's presence in the spoiler board. You have been warned.

 

 

In Firefight we learn that Calamity, that wicked red star visible even through Nightwielder's smog, is actually an Epic.

 

From Chapter 41:

 

 

 

 

And in the same chapter, David sees it almost up close, and could have sworn he saw a pair of fiery wings.

 

So here's my question... how is Calamity's true nature not common knowledge?

 

We are told in the prologue to Steelheart that there was a full year between Calamity's first appearance and the dawn of the Epics. We are told in Firefight, in the passage quoted above, that it is brighter than any star but far dimmer than the moon; that puts Calamity at an apparent magnitude somewhere between -1.46 and -12.7.

 

Therefore, there was a full year for NASA and every other astronomical organization and amateur stargazer to view a mysterious glowing object that appeared without warning and is brighter than Halley's Comet. This isn't the sort of thing people ignore; it seems to me that scientists should have learned of Calamity's true nature long before Epics began to appear. It should have become common knowledge. At the very least, David shouldn't have been nearly surprised at the revelation as he was.

 

In summary: if Calamity hung over modern Earth for a full year and can be viewed with a telescope, why in Calamity's name doesn't everybody know what it is?

I wondered the same thing about Dawnslight not being common knowledge, David was very suprised about him as well. Sadly, I don´t really have an answer, maybe Calamity mindwipped everyone that found out he didn´t intend to turn into an Epic? (Probably not)

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Even with a Telescope, it's hard to make out the details.

 

My personal headcannon is that his brightness matches the amount of power he has left. The more epics he makes, the dimmer he becomes.

 

So before the collapse they would have needed to send out probes to get more details, and by the time they did, Society was in collapse, NASA was gone. Only the few Backyard Astronomers and Scientists who had powerful telescopes could see him.

 

What bugs me about the situation is that Prof knew about it, and didn't tell the Reckoners.

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Didn't one of David's "memories of the old days" say that when Calamity first came to Earth, he was so bright that he cast a reddish pall over everything on the planet?  With that kind of brightness, I'd imagine that seeing small details would be problematic.

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I wondered the same thing about Dawnslight not being common knowledge, David was very suprised about him as well. Sadly, I don´t really have an answer, maybe Calamity mindwipped everyone that found out he didn´t intend to turn into an Epic? (Probably not)

 

I think Dawnslight would have been much easier to overlook in the early days.  I mean, an epic who's in a coma in real life, and who doesn't really manifest his powers (as far as we know) until after Regalia has sunk Manhattan?  No one would have a reason to particularly notice him.

 

EDIT:  Whoops, sorry for the double-post.

Edited by vineyarddawg
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I think Dawnslight would have been much easier to overlook in the early days.  I mean, an epic who's in a coma in real life, and who doesn't really manifest his powers (as far as we know) until after Regalia has sunk Manhattan?  No one would have a reason to particularly notice him.

 

EDIT:  Whoops, sorry for the double-post.

 

I do remember Calamity. The glows came immediately afterwards; anything spraypainted - old or new- started glowing. Only spraypaint works though. The plants started growing in the streets back then...

A wole year with, as far as we know, only two magical occurrences, pretty sure even the one confined to a location would have made the news all over.

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See, this is why I love this site.  I completely missed that bit about Dawnslight's powers starting immediately in Manhattan.

 

I don't know why everybody wouldn't already know about the glowing paint (and fruit).  If the house Regalia was using was the one that Dawnslight's parents had lived in, though (and, obviously, Dawnslight himself), then it would be pretty straightforward to see why nobody had been able to pick him out as the epic in that first year, when he was essentially just a person who had been comatose their whole life in a random house in New Jersey.

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My personal headcannon is that his brightness matches the amount of power he has left. The more epics he makes, the dimmer he becomes.

 

So before the collapse they would have needed to send out probes to get more details, and by the time they did, Society was in collapse, NASA was gone. Only the few Backyard Astronomers and Scientists who had powerful telescopes could see him.

 

What bugs me about the situation is that Prof knew about it, and didn't tell the Reckoners.

 

A fair point, and I like your headcanon, but I have my doubts about your main point.

 

This is a photograph of the sun, taken by an amateur photographer named Alan Friedman:

 

alanfriedman_venustransit.jpg

 

 

The black circle is the shadow of Venus.

 

It's incredibly detailed, viewing an object with an apparent magnitude of -26.74, 93 million miles away from the surface of the Earth where the photograph was taken. And this is an amateur picture

 

It just seems to me like the combined scientific might of NASA and worldwide astronomical organizations should have been able to get a good look at Calamity. While we assume it's a much smaller target than the sun, only the size of a typical human being, it's nonetheless an extremely bright object that seems to be located in near-Earth vicinity. It seems like over the course of a calendar year, with all the resources available to NASA and its kin, someone would have taken a picture clear enough to show that it's a guy with wings.

 

Also, Prof keeps as many secrets as a mime in the witness protection program. I'm honestly not surprised that he didn't tell the team what he knew about Calamity.

Edited by Kobold King
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Hm. Perhaps Calamity arrived in a 'cocoon' of power, which slowly opened up after a year, or maybe they assumed since it was a star, it would be further away and never got an accurate reading on him? Or maybe he cloaked himself somehow.

 

Tell you what, I'll add that to my question list for friday.

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You guys all bring up some good points!

 

My personal headcannon is that his brightness matches the amount of power he has left. The more epics he makes, the dimmer he becomes.

 

So before the collapse they would have needed to send out probes to get more details, and by the time they did, Society was in collapse, NASA was gone. Only the few Backyard Astronomers and Scientists who had powerful telescopes could see him.

 

What bugs me about the situation is that Prof knew about it, and didn't tell the Reckoners.

 

This is my new headcannon.

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Does she ever outright say they could tell Calamity was a person via telescope, or did looking at him trigger a conversation or something else that would give it away? Did Calamity use his powers to block observation? Normal Epics can defy physics, the big man himself must be able to completely alter reality at a whim. If he doesn't want to be seen as human while he charges up, I doubt science could make it happen. What if he really did just show up as a star on telescope? What if the same abilities that shine so brightly in the sky and leave him in orbit did something as well?

 

Personally, my money is either on Calamity actively blocking attempts to be seen, or looking like an extremely abnormal but nonhuman celestial object early on. The wings and other details probably only show up for new Epics, and who's to say the thing is even human? There's a lot we don't know, but I'd honestly be surprised if looking at him during the first year didn't do really wacky crap.

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It's also possible that [he] in fact looks nothing like an angel, and that is simply what David's mind perceived as Calamity's powers began to touch him. That might even be what Calamity wants people to see when he gifts them. We have no idea the scope of Calamity's abilities. Skewing what people perceive when they look at him (either through a telescope or any other means ) is well within what he could be capable of.

Edited by Galavantes
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The more I think about it, the more I think Calamity was somehow cloaking or masking... or whatever you want to call it... his/its true form from any observers.  This could be the case in conjuction with people of Prof's generation keeping mum and/or too large a percentage of humanity (particularly people that would have been old enough to remember details very clearly) dying off at the hands of the Epics.  If there are very few eyewitnesses left, and those that are don't share the knowledge, then the general public isn't going to know much about Calamity either except what is rumor.  Plus, by this point in time, people are either scavenging around and general distrustful or anyone outside their small circle or are under the thumb of an Epic.  The Reckoners were the exception.

 

Maybe he is an Angel?

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  • 2 weeks later...

I wouldn't be surprised if the only ones who can observe Calamity's form are Epics. Note that in the above quote Regalia only mentions herself, Prof and Lincoln looking at him even though Tia was with them - and in fact was the one who worked at NASA and therefore would have been the one most likely to take part in astronomy.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 1 month later...

Well, first, David is able to see Calamity from earth like it's up close, seemingly like a something with maybe fiery wings. But, if Calamity can show itself, it might also be able to hide itself.

Or it doesn't have actual human form, and changes it as needed.

 

And also Calamity is either some unique Awakener epic, whose power is to create powers that he doesn't have; or he's a Gifter epic, and has all those powers that he gives to people. Maybe even more powerful. Including Megan's reality warper powers. Also, it apparently doesn't need food|water|air. So, maybe it's a reality warper who makes alternative versions of people, only with thematical superpowers (what with "take this power, it's yours"). Or alternative versions of himself, with any superpower possible. Maybe Megan can reason with it.

 

Maybe Calamity originally was some kind of a comet, or a portal. So, people tried to watch it, investigate, wait for any changes. And when they tried to look at it, it didn't have any discernible shape. So, after waiting and observing, they decided to send someone on a ship to take a closer look, and that person got near and activated calamity's powers. So, he became the first epic, and that moment calamity activated and started giving people agressive superpowers, and the ensuing chaos made it impossible for people to know about that theoretical Nasa astronaut.

 

Or maybe Calamity's the Phoenix force. Or a time-travelling Epic from the future. Or time-travelling Epic David from the future.

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Well, first, David is able to see Calamity from earth like it's up close, seemingly like a something with maybe fiery wings. But, if Calamity can show itself, it might also be able to hide itself.

Or it doesn't have actual human form, and changes it as needed.

 

And also Calamity is either some unique Awakener epic, whose power is to create powers that he doesn't have; or he's a Gifter epic, and has all those powers that he gives to people. Maybe even more powerful. Including Megan's reality warper powers. Also, it apparently doesn't need food|water|air. So, maybe it's a reality warper who makes alternative versions of people, only with thematical superpowers (what with "take this power, it's yours"). Or alternative versions of himself, with any superpower possible. Maybe Megan can reason with it.

 

Maybe Calamity originally was some kind of a comet, or a portal. So, people tried to watch it, investigate, wait for any changes. And when they tried to look at it, it didn't have any discernible shape. So, after waiting and observing, they decided to send someone on a ship to take a closer look, and that person got near and activated calamity's powers. So, he became the first epic, and that moment calamity activated and started giving people agressive superpowers, and the ensuing chaos made it impossible for people to know about that theoretical Nasa astronaut.

 

Or maybe Calamity's the Phoenix force. Or a time-travelling Epic from the future. Or time-travelling Epic David from the future.

Hmmm... Cliche  ;)

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