Firefight

“Once upon a time, my father’s idea that good Epics would come had been laughable to me. Now, after meeting not one but three good Epics…well, the world was a different place. Or I guess it was the same place—I just saw it a little more accurately.”

This quotation indicates that David has grown considerably as a result of the events in Steelheart. Far from hating all Epics universally, David now realizes that Epics are just people and that not all Epics have given in to the corruption caused by their powers. By accepting that his previous worldview was flawed, David also acknowledges that the world has not changed; he has simply incorporated new information to work past the rage that was keeping him ignorant of the truth. His new perspective therefore lets him empathize with the deadly internal struggle that all Epics face, and his change of heart conveys the idea of Understanding as a Bridge to Empathy.

“Named Paul Jackson, Steelheart was a track star in his local high school. He was also reputed to be a bully of some stature, to the point that—despite his winning record—he was not offered any major scholarships. There were incidents. I can’t find the specifics, but I think he might have left some fellow teammates with broken bones.

After high school, he got a job working as a night watchman at a factory. He spent his days posting on various conspiracy theory forums, speculating about the impending fall of the country. I don’t think this was precognitive—he was just one of a large group of eccentrics who were dissatisfied with the way the United States was run. He frequently said he didn’t believe that the common people were capable of voting in their best interests.”

Throughout the series, David researches Epics in an effort to figure out how their powers and weaknesses are related. Steelheart’s backstory is one example of the information that David has compiled, and it also shows the problem when a person like Steelheart develops nearly unstoppable powers. As someone who was prone to anger and violence before Calamity’s rise, Steelheart was particularly susceptible to the corruption of the powers and soon became a dictator, believing that he could rule more capably than anyone else. More broadly, Steelheart’s personal history supports the idea that talent is not a substitute for ethical behavior. Sanderson also uses the passage’s second paragraph to deliver a pointed social commentary on the intensifying real-world issue of conspiracy theories, which often harm people by eroding their trust in the world around them.

“When I’d been a kid, I was enthralled by sharks. I’d read every book I could find about them, including the most gruesome accounts of shark-related deaths. I’d loved reading about them precisely because they were so dangerous, so deadly, so weird. Epics were the same way, only so much more. Creatures like Regalia—mysterious, dynamic, powerful—were fascinating.”

Here, David compares Epics to sharks in order to convey the idea that these superhuman figures are powerful, deadly predators who fascinate him despite their inherent dangers. Despite David’s anger at the Epics for what they have done to the world and for their role in his father’s death, he still throws himself into researching their powers and weaknesses. However, the passage also shows the difference between fascination and respect. David doesn’t like what the Epics have done, and he has no respect for Epics who have chosen to succumb to corruption, but he does respect the threat that their power represents.

“I could see him easily now, striding among the flames, trench coat flapping behind him. He had a narrow face with long, straight black hair, spectacles, and a goatee. He was the exact sort of person I’d learned to avoid in Newcago, the sort of person who didn’t look dangerous until you saw his eyes and realized that something vital was missing in there.

Even for an Epic, this man was a monster. Though he’d originally ruled a city like many top-tier Epics, he’d eventually decided to destroy his city completely. Every single person in Houston. He was an indiscriminate killer. I was beginning to think some Epics might be redeemable, but this man…not a chance.”

When David sees Obliteration for the first time, his thoughts offer further comparisons between various types of Epics, emphasizing that because Obliteration has given in to the corruption, he has gone past the point of being “redeemable” in David’s eyes. By contrast, Prof fights to keep the corruption from overtaking him, and even Regalia maintains a calculated approach to her powers and only kills when she has a strategic reason to do so. However, Obliteration has been driven to a deeply depraved level, and his actions throughout Firefight show that he has only become more unpredictable and unscrupulous since gaining superhuman powers. These lines also speak to the novel’s broader focus on the issue of redemption. While some Epics, like Megan, feel remorse about the lives they’ve taken, Obliteration destroys others because he believes it to be a calling. By showing indifference to his own acts of destruction, he proves that he is beyond help.

“‘No, look, it’s just because the metaphor didn’t work. I’ve got it. I’m intense like—’

‘No, it’s okay,’ Mizzy said, smiling. ‘I like it.’

‘Yeah,’ Exel said, laughing. ‘I’ll remember that orange thing for your eulogy.’”

This awkward conversation between David and members of the Babilar Reckoner team comes after he has botched yet another comparison. This moment shows the type of bonding that proves critical within Reckoner units as they learn to work together and trust one another. When Mizzy accepts David despite his quirks, the exchange shows that she has similar insecurities because she is new to the team. At the same time, Excel’s quip about a eulogy hints at his past as an undertaker, suggesting that even in moments of levity, he is aware that death comes for everyone eventually.

“The others set out across the rooftop, but I lingered, watching the sun set. I’d spent most of my life trapped in the gloom of Steelheart’s reign. Why did the people of Babilar only come out at night? These people could know the light intimately, but they instead opted for the darkness. Didn’t they know how lucky they were?”

This is one of many scenes in which David compares Newcago to Babilar as he struggles to adjust to life in the new city. Rather than showing the type of fear that blanketed Newcago, Babilar has become a city of parties, where the people shrug off the threats that Epics pose in favor of living their lives. Here, David realizes how much his life has changed and acknowledges that he can do things now that he never could have done under Steelheart’s rule. With this new understanding, he struggles to fathom why anyone would want to live as Babilar’s people do—sleeping through the light of day and reveling at night. His contemplations reveal that despite his many experiences, he still has much to learn about the world and about human psychology.

“I knew, logically, that sometimes Epics interacted with their lessers. In Newcago, Steelheart’s favored had served, worked for, and even—in the case of the attractive ones—dated Epics. I just hadn’t expected someone like Newton to be…hanging out.”

This excerpt is another case of David realizing how different Babilar is from Newcago. In Newcago, Epics and regular people rarely mixed unless Epics were demonstrating their power. Here, David has just noticed Newton at the party he’s attending, and his first instinct is to attack her because in Newcago, an Epic who came this close to the general public would inflict ruinous damage. When he realizes that Newton is also there to have fun, David is forced to amend his worldview. He has never encountered this situation before, and the idea of an Epic enjoying a party forces him to reconsider his impulse to dehumanize them.

“Do you have any idea how much it sucks to have your High Epic status granted by reincarnation? Dying hurts. And it wipes a lot of my memories from right before the event. All I remember is dying, and pain, and a black, icy nothingness. I wake up the next morning with the agony and terror dominating my thoughts.”

Megan makes this declaration when she and David finally meet up. At the end of Steelheart, David thought that Megan had died, only to learn that she possessed the power of resurrection. These lines also show that the Epic powers are not always pleasant or beneficial. Typically, High Epics gain their status through abilities such as automatic defense, or else they have highly specific conditions that must be met before they can be killed, as Steelheart did. In Megan’s case, she can be killed by conventional means, but the aftermath of her resurrection comes with both physical and emotional pain. Thus, this scene is designed to portray the pitfalls of superhuman abilities, casting certain Epics in a more sympathetic light.

“‘You have killed Steelheart,’ Regalia continued. ‘For that alone I should destroy you. We have so few pockets of civilization remaining to us, and you bring down one that has not only power but advanced medical care? Hubris of the most high, child. If you were in my court, I’d see you locked away for life. If you were in my congregation, I’d do even worse.’”

Regalia’s words offer a different perspective on Steelheart’s death. Since Regalia was not a citizen of Newcago, she did not live in fear of Steelheart’s rule. To her, Newcago was a refuge that offered people food, security, and healthcare—things that are no longer widely available. Likewise, Regalia views her rule over Babilar as a boon to its people, seeing herself as providing for people in a world that prevents them from providing for themselves. However, even as she condemns David for his actions in Newcago, her own words ironically indicate her godlike perspective and suggest that she, too, is guilty of “hubris of the most high.”

“My father had waited for the heroes. He’d believed in them. He’d died because he’d believed in Steelheart.

He’d been a fool in that regard. But somehow, more and more, I found myself wishing I could be the same kind of fool. I wasn’t going to feel guilty for trying to help people. Prof could say what he wanted, but deep down he felt the same way. He’d agreed to bring down Steelheart because he’d sensed that the Reckoners weren’t making enough of a difference.

He would make the right decisions. He’d save this city. Prof was a hero. The Epic who fought for mankind.”

These lines illustrate David’s hero worship for Prof, foreshadowing the moment of Prof’s downfall at the novel’s end. After contrasting Prof with Steelheart, David has gained new hope that the Epics can create a future in which everyone is safe. Because Prof has learned to resist the corruption, David puts all his hope in Prof, and the resulting pressure that he puts on his mentor ironically plays a part in Prof’s eventual corruption. With David’s faith in Prof, he urges the man to do the right thing no matter the cost. In response to this pressure and his own desire to behave ethically, Prof takes Regalia’s bait and uses his power on a massive scale to save others, thereby succumbing to the corruption and becoming an enemy to his former allies. Taken with Prof’s actions at the end of the novel, David’s thoughts in this earlier moment show that hero worship places its target on an impossible pedestal and ultimately hurts both the hero and the worshipper.

“‘I’ll need you to pilot the sub and take the people to a place well outside Regalia’s range, then let them go. Do you understand?’

‘Sure. But why can’t you pilot it?’

‘Because,’ Prof said, voice growing soft. ‘It’s going to take every bit of my willpower over the next few minutes not to murder these people for inconveniencing me.’”

This conversation between David and Prof comes after Prof uses his powers to save people from a building that Regalia had destroyed. Compared to other discussions with Prof, this moment creates a much more vivid impression of the corruption that he battles to suppress. Prof’s dialogue reveals that part of the corruption lies in a sense of selfishness, given that he feels inconvenienced by the necessity of helping others in this moment.

“Just a gun? Had she really said that?

I found my mouth working, but no sound coming out, as we puttered beneath the waves. The gun you carried was literally your life—if it malfunctioned, you could be dead. How could she say something like that?”

David’s thoughts in this scene come during a conversation with Val. In Newcago, David bonded with Megan over the topic of guns, and he now finds this conversation uncomfortable because it reminds him of the relationship that he has lost. Beyond his feelings, this moment also highlights the fact that Newcago has shaped who David is. To him, a gun is more than a tool—it is a staunch friend on whom he relies. Val has just offhandedly said that she would simply get a new gun if she lost her current one, and David doesn’t understand this casual mindset because he has put so much effort into choosing the perfect gun; the idea of replacing such a vital tool with whatever he can find feels like disarming himself.

“We sometimes forget how human he is, David. He’s just a man, despite it all. A man full of feelings that, at times, don’t make sense. We’re all like that. We want what we can’t have, even when we have no right to demand it.”

Tia says this to David when he discovers photos of Prof from before the arrival of Calamity. In the pictures, Prof looks so different from the battle-hardened man he has become, and David is shocked to be presented with concrete evidence that Prof had a private life before the inception of the Epics. Tia gently reminds David that Prof is fallible despite his leadership role in the Reckoners. Prof’s team members look to him for solutions, and this constant pressure eventually contributes to Prof’s downfall. As he strives to meet his protégés’ expectations, he drives himself to take dangerous risks that make him even more vulnerable to corruption.

“‘You know how it is when you’re up late, and you know that if you don’t go to bed, you’re going to hate life the next day? Then you stay up anyway, because you don’t care? It’s like that. As an Epic, you just don’t care. After all, you deserve to be able to do what you want. And if you go too far, you can change later. Always later.’

She closed her eyes as she spoke, and I felt a chill. I had felt like she’d described. Who hasn’t? Listening to her, it seemed perfectly logical to me that an Epic should do what they do.”

Here, Megan explains to David what the corruption feels like. Her description of a relatable situation and human emotions allows David to understand the corruption in a way he hasn’t before, and this offers him additional insight into Epic behavior. David’s realization that Megan’s logic makes sense is an eye-opening moment for him. Up until now, he has operated on the assumption that the powers imposed new emotions that forced Epics to act unethically. In truth, the corruption simply amplifies the Epics’ existing selfish feelings—emotions that all humans possess. David’s new ability to understand why Epics act as they do illustrates the novel’s focus on understanding as a bridge to empathy, setting David up for the battle that he must fight in order to truly redeem Epics.

“‘Though, I suppose even if you could do it, we probably shouldn’t. I mean, what good is it to protect this Babilar if we let tons of other people die in another Babilar.’ If the things she could do were even from other worlds that did exist, rather than just possibilities of worlds that could have existed.”

Here, David has just learned that Megan has the power to pull images from other realities and manifest them in this one. Prior to this point, David believed that Megan could create illusions, but now he realizes that his understanding of an Epic’s powers has been skewed at best. However, despite his surprise, he immediately incorporates the intel into his working theories, and his pragmatic thoughts reveal the analytical nature of his mind. With his new knowledge of Megan’s powers, he is able to consider how her power might help in the fight against Regalia, and this dynamic shows his ability to pivot when situations change.

“‘Steelheart was a tyrant, but at least he ran a good city. All things considered, he wasn’t so bad, you know?’

‘He killed my father,’ I said. ‘You don’t get a pass on murder because you’re not as bad as you could be.’”

This discussion between David and Megan comes while the two are running surveillance on Obliteration. Megan harbors a degree of sympathy for Steelheart that David is unable to match, as she has firsthand knowledge of the corrupting forces that Steelheart experienced every day. As a result, she can put herself in his place, and she knows that she could just as easily have become such a tyrant. By contrast, David’s retort shows that despite Megan’s insight, she does not understand what it is like to lose a parent at Steelheart’s hands, and he therefore refuses to forgive Steelheart or adopt a softer view on the man’s actions. For David, the benefits that Steelheart may have provided the city cannot compensate for his crimes.

“But now, here you come. Talking about Firefight, and how she lived among us for months, using her powers only when necessary. It starts me wondering. I could do it too, couldn’t I? Aren’t I strong? Don’t I have a handle on it? When you left me yesterday, in the room by myself, I started creating forcefields again. Little ones, to bottle up chemicals, to glow and give me light. I keep finding excuses to use them, and now I’m planning to use my powers to stop Obliteration—create a shield bigger than any I’ve created in years.”

In this scene, Prof has just found David working with Megan and is dragging David back to the Reckoner base. Rather than being angry, Prof is disappointed, both in David and in himself. His dislike for Megan is driven by what she represents. Prof wants to believe that he can fight the powers because Megan did so successfully, but he also sees that he is slowly being corrupted. Here, he blames David for giving him hope, though Prof knows it truly isn’t David’s fault. This moment marks a turning point for Prof as he realizes that his views on his powers have changed, and his words foreshadow his imminent fall from grace.

“Then I traded my shoes instead. I wasn’t certain how much my shoes were worth, but I just kept haggling, adding things until I walked away with the cloak, a pair of worn-out sandals, and a pretty-good-looking knife.”

Here, David has escaped the Reckoner base and is trying to stop his team from playing into Regalia’s plans. When he stops at a vendor stall to purchase a cloak and blend in, he considers trading away a symbol of faith that one of the Newcago Reckoners gave him. In the past, David put no stock in faith because he did not believe that any grand hero would save people from the Epics. However, he cannot bring himself to trade the symbol here, and the moment definitively shows that David’s cynical outlook has shifted; despite recent events, he does have faith that Epics can change.

“I knew what Mizzy felt like. I’d been her. It was crazy, but I guess I wasn’t that person anymore. The shift had started back on that day I’d defeated Steelheart. I’d flown away in the copter, carrying his skull in my hands, overwhelmed. My father’s murderer dead, but only because of the help of another Epic.”

In conjunction with the previous quotation, these lines show that David has reached the end of his character arc for Firefight. At the end of Steelheart, David believed that he had satisfied his innermost desire—to see his father’s murderer dead. Now, however, even though he is still glad to have killed Steelheart, David realizes that there is more to life than hating and killing Epics. Faced with Mizzy’s uncompromising belief that all Epics are evil, David is confronted with a vivid example of his own past self and realizes just how much he has changed. This moment supports the idea that change is not immediately obvious to the one who has undergone inner growth. David only perceives his own shifts in mindset when he sees someone else subscribing to beliefs that he can no longer support.

“The water spraying from my jets below suddenly split, blowing out to the sides instead of striking the ocean surface. But I didn’t fall, at least not by much, as the water wasn’t holding me aloft—the force of it jetting out did that. Regalia, it appeared, didn’t quite understand the physics of the spyril. I wasn’t surprised. Epics rarely have to pay attention to physics.”

In this scene, David uses the spyril to flee from Regalia and reflects on the irony that even though the spyril was fashioned from a dead Epic’s water powers, Regalia still cannot grasp how David uses the machine. This moment suggests that Epic powers do not automatically grant their wielders an innate understanding of how their power works. In this case, Regalia has the might of water on her side, but she lacks the knowledge of how water has been used to create the spyril, and this gap in understanding puts her at a disadvantage since her brute force cannot compete with David’s knowledge. The scene therefore exemplifies the Reckoners’ habit of using loopholes in the Epics’ powers in order to prevail against them.

“It wrenched my gut as she fell face-first to the overgrown ground. But at my core, I was an assassin. Yes, I killed in the name of justice, bringing down only those who deserved it, but at the end of the day, I was an assassin. I’d shoot someone in the back. Whatever it took.”

These lines come right after David disables Newton and shoots her in the head, killing her just as brutally as he killed Sourcefield. Thus, although his understanding of Epics has shifted, his willingness to kill those he views as irreparably corrupted remains the same. Here, David kills Newton to prevent her from doing more harm, even if he deplores the necessity of the act. He may view Epics as humans now, but he also understands that any humans, whether Epic or not, can do terrible things, and he decides that he would have taken the same action against a non-Epic killer.

“If she came back, it meant she’d lied to me about her weakness. I wanted that to be true, desperately, because I wanted her to be alive. But at the same time, if she’d lied about her weakness, what did that mean? I hadn’t demanded it, hadn’t wanted it, but she’d given it to me—so it seemed something sacred.

If she’d lied to me about her weakness, then I knew I wouldn’t be able to trust anything else she said. So, one way or another, Megan was lost to me.”

These lines come before David realizes that Megan rigged Prof’s trap so that she wouldn’t die by fire; instead, she set up a gun so that she could remotely shoot herself and subsequently reincarnate. Because David doesn’t yet know this, he believes that Megan is dead for good, and his unique set of experiences with Epics deeply affects him in this moment. He loves Megan and wants to believe that she trusted him with her deepest secret—her weakness. However, he also wants her to be alive, even realizing that if she is, she has lied about her weakness. This moment illustrates the complexities of a world that includes superhuman individuals. If Megan truly is dead for good, David has lost her. However, if she lied about her weakness, David has lost her trust, which he sees as being worse than losing her to death.

“The projection glanced at the elderly figure in bed. ‘It is frustrating that we still age,’ she said. ‘What is the point of divine power if your body gives out?’”

In this scene, David has found Regalia’s true body and has discovered that she is dying of a terminal illness. Even sick and weak as she is, Regalia still commands the water of Babilar, showing that the condition of her physical body has no bearing on the strength of her powers. Regalia’s dialogue suggests that she considers her projection to be a separate entity from her physical self, even though it is still part of her. This moment also makes it clear that Epics are not traditionally immortal—not even High Epics, as their superhuman abilities do not make them impervious to death and disease.