Lightning

Here is what I think Prof's weakness is.

I have to admit that I did not see Firefight's true power coming. The ability to reach into alternate possibilities?! Awesome. It got me thinking about how each of the epic powers disobeys the laws of physics. Bullets literally reverse direction. Momentum is passed from one object to another. People can scry using water. But couldn't each of these abilities just be how things work in an alternate universe? So could it not be that each and every epic power is just someone tapping an alternate reality in some way. Firefight's ability is just less-focused than the others. They can only pull off specified effects. Firefight can literally make anything happen for a short time (at least in her amplified state, when she is reborn). This also might explain Calamity, who came from an alternate universe to our own. Perhaps he/she can channel all of the abilities at once. Or maybe scientists (at NASA, where Tia worked) pierced the boundary of our universe, and that's how Calamity was created.

In case it wasn't clear, you all are supposed to come up with your own bad metaphor for how awesome Firefight was.

... a clown in a zoo. Disconcerting as times, but also lots of fun. And the animals are just so cool.

I keep thinking "How could Brandon get any awesomer?" and then he does.

Just for this you get a rep point and a (randomly bolded) AMEN from me.

Rand can be surprised-- his hand was cut off. The Lord Ruler can be surprised-- Vin ripped his bracers off without him knowing it would happen beforehand. So, if either of them didn't take the fight seriously, then either of them could be killed. If both of them took the fight to the highest level of seriousness, the Lord Ruler would rip all the metal out of Rand's body while moving so fast (with the speed metal-minds) that Rand couldn't locate him well enough to catch him with any weaves, while also messing with Rand's mental and physical abilities, while also being able to dodge any danger using atium and luck. No question the Lord Ruler would win, he'd just finish the fight faster than Rand could even think to begin it. But if we allow the element of surprise, either of them could win.

I always thought that one of his spikes gave him Allomantic electrum, so he didn't have to use atium to counter atium. (In fact, I thought this was a standard spike for all inquisitors, since they don't seem to just "out-atium" their opponents.)

I've read the draft of White Sands that Brandon has previously sent out, and think it is at least as good as Elantris. I definitely look forward to this series!

You make some good points. After your response I had a REALLY weird thought (which almost certainly is not how Brandon will do it).

His mere presence is enough to make Sazed leak Harmonium.

That's cool. I just hope my icon never matches my current rep! (Said at 16 rep.)

So, can we vote on the negative ratings below Zucchini? How about "The anti-stick"? You know...because they are always igniting flame wars.... :-p

Moogle beat me to my idea (by 7 days). I'd think Kel would just push some of the coins past Dalinar, create an anchor on the other side, and then pull him over the edge. [Probably he would wait until Dalinar was very close to the edge, or perhaps even jumping the gap, before trying this.]

Ummm...if you remove a Returned's head, it's also a mindless lump. :-p I'll leave it to you to determine whether it is easier to remove a kandra's spikes or a Returned's head.

I found the quote I was thinking of (which says something about Hoid's original motives, meaning he might have used it for something else as well...unclear): INTERVIEW: Mar 29th, 2014 WOR Signing Report - Herowannabe (Verbatim) HEROWANNABEThe Lord Ruler, he had his Lerasium beads, did he use them for Feruchemy? BRANDON SANDERSON [impish grin] Ah ha ha ha. The Lord Ruler, heh heh heh, That is an excellent question. HEROWANNABENot going to answer? BRANDON SANDERSONNot going to answer that one. HEROWANNABEWould you answer if Hoid used it for Feruchemy? BRANDON SANDERSONHis bead? Hoid’s bead was—He originally got it because he wanted to be an Allomancer. [Note that he doesn’t actually answer the question.]

That would be...awesome!

I seem to remember a WoB on Hoid not using the Lerasium the way we would have thought.

DSC01, I for one am grateful you resurrected this thread, just to see all the interesting theories. As I was reading through it, I too came up with that same possibility (perfect pitch) as a possible reason she left.

In case anyone is interested, I can report that as of 6:03pm mountain daylight time, a reputation of 13 is still smack-dap in the middle of "Bridgeman".

My impression was that Dalinar *was* broken by the death of his brother, because he was drunk at the time and thus could not protect him. He blamed himself for his brother's death.

But are you sure he's really dead?

In further support of Arin's theory that Khaladin started the bonding process early; we have some interesting statements from Khaladin to Szeth as they are fighting, about not being new to this form of fighting (in the air).

One thought I've had is that maybe he wanted the extra boost to bronze in order to hear the well when it was ready to use. That way nobody else could beat him to it. Another option is perhaps he used bronze pulses to subdue the spirit of Preservation and the mists somehow.