Talk:Vol.2 Ch.192: 38F - Hell Train: The Dallar Show (21)/@comment-26484417-20160308083333/@comment-26484417-20160308215202

Two things come to mind when going through this discussion.  I suspect that getting power from "outside sources" may be Baam's main power-up theme. His speciality is copying, which entirely relies on outside sources, and his first great power-up was the Thorn, which is currently followed up by these souls... Is it too soon to call this a pattern? I expect there is going to be more to assimilating the souls properly than some suspect; very much like the struggle with the Thorn. I imagine some fatigue, maybe some mental struggle, etc etc... In fact, the more one thinks about it, the more this situation with souls resembles the situation with the Thorn. 

As for the rest, maybe Hoaqin can only force-eat souls within certain radius? Maybe the sheer amount of souls this clone represents requires some preparations before he can eat them? There were far too many mentions of different spells for the process to be as easy as willing them to be eaten.

You're right, Baam didn't exactly hijack Hoaqin's souls. If we go with the crime metaphor, I suppose Baam would be closer to the "get-away car"... =P

The idea that Baam holds immense dormant power is another quite common assumption around here, one that I (used to) subscribe to myself. However, I'm beginning to suspect that Baam's dormant power is the ability to fully assimilate, understand, and / or utilise any power, regardless of the source or magnitude. Kind of an extension of his copying ability. Maybe I'm wrong, this is more of an ad-hoc theory than is my usual style, but it actually fits quite well. It even opens some "new" doors, such as the possibility that Baam comes across the sealed Colorless December and either learns how to wield it without losing his mind, understands the nature of its condition and how to restore its sanity if there ever was one, or something of the sort.

As for giving the souls back, that may not be an option. I agree that Baam may prefer to set the souls free, but that really depends. First, it's possible that Baam cannot separate from the souls once they merge with him. And, second, even if he actually can set them free, there is always the possibility that they will merely be stuck in "limbo" because of Hoaqin's magic that originally consumed them. If the concept of "setting the souls free" entails that the souls are left to rot someplace, Baam is going to spare them from this fate even if they turn out to be detrimental to his psyche and / or body.