Patrick Star Posted December 31, 2015 Posted December 31, 2015 So, I was wondering about this the other day. If I programmed a terminator robot, could it kill steelheart? The robot would be incapable of fearing steelheart, and would have zero sense of self preservation. 1
king of nowhere Posted December 31, 2015 Posted December 31, 2015 yes, it probably would. unless whatever mysterious rule governs epic decides that the robot programmed by you counts as you trying to kill steelheart with an elaborate weapon. After all, the bullets fired against steelheart didn't fear him, but the people pulling the trigger did. On the other hand, david stuffed the explosives and set up the trigger, but it was enough for steelheart to press the trigger to switch the responsibility. It is not clear how detached from the event one must be to not trigger the epic invulnerability. By the way, the invulnerable steelheart could have easily died by tripping on his shoes, or suffocating with food, or any other stupid accidental way that didn't involve someone else.
Voidus Posted December 31, 2015 Posted December 31, 2015 I think that would count as you doing it, and even if it didn't Steelhearts weakness was specifically people who didn't fear him so I doubt a robot would count unless it was insanely realistic maybe. By the way, the invulnerable steelheart could have easily died by tripping on his shoes, or suffocating with food, or any other stupid accidental way that didn't involve someone else. Which is also the reason I doubt those would work, his weakness has to be activated by a person not fearing him, if there's no person involved at all it would still not do anything. Tripping might work though since that's arguably him causing it, but then he seems more prone to flying than walking.
natc Posted December 31, 2015 Posted December 31, 2015 We're talking about AI here. To the "might as well be a person" level. It could count. I mean, I believe even with the cosmere it's possible to develop a spiritweb in a machine with good enough AI, as far as Sanderson's stance on "people" is concerned.
Voidus Posted December 31, 2015 Posted December 31, 2015 We're talking about AI here. To the "might as well be a person" level. It could count. I mean, I believe even with the cosmere it's possible to develop a spiritweb in a machine with good enough AI, as far as Sanderson's stance on "people" is concerned. It might be able to have intent for it to count as it's own being then but again, Steelhearts weakness is specifically about people, I doubt he'd be afraid of a robot that wasn't afraid of him because it's kind of expected that robots don't fear people, you wouldn't try to intimidate a computer so you wouldn't be afraid of a computer that couldn't be intimidated.
TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her Posted December 31, 2015 Posted December 31, 2015 It seems Steelheart's weakness can only be triggered by an entity that is capable of fear; otherwise, all you'd need to do is set up some gun turrets to go off at random intervals. 2
KaIadin he/him Posted January 1, 2016 Posted January 1, 2016 It seems Steelheart's weakness can only be triggered by an entity that is capable of fear; otherwise, all you'd need to do is set up some gun turrets to go off at random intervals. What if the robot is Awakened using Breath? Oh wait....
Stormgate he/him Posted January 1, 2016 Posted January 1, 2016 1) you just made another Nightblood 2) RECKONERS ISN'T COSMERE 3
xland44 Posted January 30, 2016 Posted January 30, 2016 I think that would count as you doing it, and even if it didn't Steelhearts weakness was specifically people who didn't fear him so I doubt a robot would count unless it was insanely realistic maybe. Which is also the reason I doubt those would work, his weakness has to be activated by a person not fearing him, if there's no person involved at all it would still not do anything. Tripping might work though since that's arguably him causing it, but then he seems more prone to flying than walking. Rather than a weakness activating from a person not fearing him, I think it's activated when he *thinks* someone isn't afraid of him. When David told Steelheart his weakness, he said it in a calm tone, causing Steelheart to think David wasn't afraid. As a result, his immunity disappeared and the explosion killed him.
Blackhoof Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 No, weaknesses can be activated without the realization of the Epic, so it doesn't matter what the Epic thinks.
Voidus Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 Rather than a weakness activating from a person not fearing him, I think it's activated when he *thinks* someone isn't afraid of him. When David told Steelheart his weakness, he said it in a calm tone, causing Steelheart to think David wasn't afraid. As a result, his immunity disappeared and the explosion killed him. The explosion was triggered by Steelheart not David, plus Steelheart didn't know anything about Davids father whatsoever so there's no reason for him to be able to trigger his weakness if that were the case. No, weaknesses can be activated without the realization of the Epic, so it doesn't matter what the Epic thinks. Well David at least believes that certain Epics weaknesses are 'thinking certain thoughts' so it is possible.
Patrick Star Posted February 1, 2016 Author Posted February 1, 2016 This is completely off-topic, but I also just realized that Freddy Krueger would be the greatest epic-killer ever. 1
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