Radix
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Nov 21, 2020
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I don't agree with most of you guys, I really enjoy the Ophidian connection and the more mystical aspects of the Orange Light. Paul may seem overpowered, but honestly, we're more than 4m words in so that doesn't really bother me. If we were to transpose the serial's development onto a more standard fantasy series, we're not in the first installments anymore. Paul's main goals once he got his feet under him - of learning to use his powers with the League, of defeating Larfleeze, claiming the Orange Central Battery, and founding the OL Corps have already been accomplished. If he wasn't overpowered at this point, his growth would have to be so slow that it'd feel frustrating. We're at the point in the series where the real big bads of the entire galaxy are starting to line up, and for Paul to confront them he has to be strong.
Also, there's a lot of problems that can't be solved with a bigger gun, and those are also hella interesting.
Except that Paul has been at his present power level for over 75% of the fic. He didn't grow and reach it naturally, he got a sudden power spike and plateaued.
Not to mention it would not be glacial for him to develop naturally to where he is now. Frankly he could be half as powerful as he is now and still have experienced a bunch of power boosts.
Subspace pockets means that the traditional weakness of a limit in charge is gone. That is a tool that could be useful. There are no real downsides to him using the Orange light, when traditionally it's power was balanced by being less stable than Green Light. But here most of the lanterns seem to handle it very well, especially considering they are not exactly the exceptional like the GLC.
And you are right that there are problems that can't be solved with a bigger gun, but hte issue is that Paul is not coming across them. Most episodes have Paul curb-stomping whatever he comes across. Most of the time is him talking to people and getting info-dumps.
Plus a Power Ring isn't just a bigger gun. It is a supercomputer, fabricator, teleporter, and pretty much anything else you could ever need. Paul at his power level can't be stopped by very much except for something with raw power given that he can go around almost anything else.
The only things that have held him still are Grayven and the insane Green Lantern who was pure will. Both of whom are metaphysically more powerful than him. The conflicts are still fights. He has no real opposition in most of his efforts, and he isn't really getting conflicts that play against his strengths.