David's True Fear

[Vision he/him]

So we all know David turned down Calamity's offer by overcoming his fear of water. The scene is ambiguous enough that many people have questioned whether or not David is now an Epic. I propose that overcoming his fear of water allowed him to bypass his rending, but a second fear took its place to give him a weakness. That fear? Being called a nerd. With Megan around, he can never activate his powers because of her constant lighthearted teasing. Until David accepts who he is, he can't unlock his new potential.

See, David's primary fear has always been being called a nerd. His fear of water was just a short-term distraction that Calamity picked up on and made his initial weakness, despite David's "fear" being a simple instance of a body of water being a new environment. Notably, he quickly adapted to his new environment and, so I say that Calmity's assigning of his weakness was a mistake. He rectified this error, but not before David overcame the negative effects of becoming an Epic. David's new weakness is now his true challenge, one he will have a much harder time overcoming. This will be one of the main points of book three, I think, and allows Brandon to explore the wonderfully cliché theme of accepting yourself for who you are, one of my favorites.

Edit: Just had a brilliant insight that somehow was not part of my initial post. Prof will learn about this weakness, and in a move that is thematically appropriate, lure David into a trap ddevised from information about Prof's own past... his middle school science classroom. David won't be able to help feeling like a nerd in such an accommodating environment, and his Epic powers will be fully neutralized until Megan helps him understand that it's okay to be a nerd.

Edited January 16, 2015 by Vision

[Vision he/him]

Well, I'm not sure what I said to deserve a downvote... maybe my satire was bit too subtle?

Hint: This topic is as serious as a policeman in a police station. You think it's really serious, then you realize that policeman is The Joker in disguise, and he is most definitely NOT serious. (Though in a way that makes the situation ridiculously more serious... which is maybe the explanation for that downvote? Haha.)