Predictions Why is meliodas so weak?

[kkck]

Ok, so over the last couple of chapters we finally got to see what demons are made of and a chunk of their true power considering their magic stat is at the moment at zero. Anyways, their power is to put it mildly, overwhelming. Overwhelming to the point where the sins we have seen so far are by all intents and purposes fodder to them even though the sins are overwhelmingly stronger than basically every non sin we have seen. If anything the situation seems to be that the difference between the sins and the demons is just about the same as the difference between the sins and low ranked holy knights...

The issue here is meliodas. So far everything seems to suggest he is an actual demon and brother to zeldris and estarossa. And yet his power, compared to other demons, is insignificant. We saw meliodas use his demon powers, which increased his power to 4400, and then further his transformation which rose it to 10300 and even then he could not do a thing. Galan went to camelot with the specific intention of fighting meliodas, he even said he had always wanted to fight him. At one point, presumably because of meliodas' weakness he even questioned whether meliodas was in fact meliodas. We even saw meliodas use what he presumably used to destroy danafor and the vampire girl with a connection to zeldris and even then meliodas could not do a thing.

So the big question, why is meliodas THAT weak? Clearly over the past 3000 years something happened to the vast majority of his strength. As far as the more likely answers so far I have thought of this ones:

1.- Meliodas got old. For whatever reason meliodas has had an insane life span even though demons only live less than a third of what meliodas has been around (however long he existed before the war 3000 years ago and the 3000 years since then). So meliodas got his hands on some convenient immortality that did not stop his strength from just withering away. His strength aged normally while he didn't. And so what we have right now is meliodas at the weakest he has ever been.

2.- Merlin took something from him which stopped him from using his real demon power. This is a bit of a plot point for a long while. Whatever merlin took is clearly important and for whatever reason is at least hesitant to return. Maybe she needs it or maybe she does not think meliodas has a right to have it. My only beef with this idea is that merlin did not return it when she heard galan had 26000 PL. Of course, its also possible she couldn't return it too quickly.

So.... any crackpot theories around?

 

[Impossibility]

I think it comes down to his unwillingness or inability to use the entirety of his powers. As you said, it's been a bit of a plot point for a while. It might be self-inflicted or it might be the result of some sort of seal. The thing about Meliodas is that he's the only one amongst the Sins that seems to have the actual potential to take on a member of the Ten Commandments, he just hasn't utilised it yet.

 

[Aonori]

Well some reasons could be, him being rusty after all he probably spent 3000 years without any real demon class oponents even the vampires from Edinburgh didnt had PL´s that surpassed 5000 and only recently has Meliodaz have to fight serious fights, it´s just as you say the gap between the commandments and the sins is like comparing the gap between the sins and low class holy knights (there´s a 1 more digit diference in PL´s thats huge), but all of it still drives at least a good part from the sins being rusty from fighting low tier oponents, King himself didnt tend to use Chastiefol´s true spear form until he had too and he got a PL of 11000 that is still over Meliodaz´s 10300, also Meliodaz doesnt tend to use his Demon powers often so that will naturally make him inferior to the other 10 commandments that can use the demon powers more easily, time wasnt moved to make them rusty apparently.

 

[Demonspeed]

It's related to Merlin and/or he doesn't control himself when he is at full power for some reason, Liz must have changed him. I don't see how age would be an issue, he's still an amazing fighter if you exclude the amount of power he can generate, some Demons are probably older than him too.

 

[Holt]

Merlin certainly has a hand in it. At the moment, it seems he isn't able to properly control his demon powers which is a very weird situation. The attack he used here wasn't on the same level with that he used on danafor imo. It is an attack of the same type but the effects are too wide apart.
Anyway, the issue is likely that there's some sort of limiter placed on him. This could range from what Merlin took, or something self-inflicted by Mel or even a repercussion of the war (perhaps the goddesses used that opportunity to tamper with his powers). Either way, the power shouldn't be gone or weakened. His access to it is just blocked at the moment for one reason or the other.

 

[kkck]

Merlin certainly has a hand in it. At the moment, it seems he isn't able to properly control his demon powers which is a very weird situation. The attack he used here wasn't on the same level with that he used on danafor imo. It is an attack of the same type but the effects are too wide apart.
Anyway, the issue is likely that there's some sort of limiter placed on him. This could range from what Merlin took, or something self-inflicted by Mel or even a repercussion of the war (perhaps the goddesses used that opportunity to tamper with his powers). Either way, the power shouldn't be gone or weakened. His access to it is just blocked at the moment for one reason or the other.

I'd think the attack is the same, what changes is simply the scale. The one at danafor was incredibly powerful, it blew up at least the capital if no the entire country itself. The one at edinburg was significantly weaker than the one at danafor but stronger than the one he used at camelot. At least it kinda seems like the hole he made just now is smaller than the one at danafor. What seems weird to me is that at least judging by galan's reaction this is a power that should be stronger and he should be able to control. So the issue is not limited to the amount of power, its an issue of control itself. 10300 for demon is nothing... Meliodas is in a position where he can't control a worthless amount of power.

Assuming meliodas had a seal or limiter placed on him.. who could do that? And if it was only a seal then why would he loose control? I would think this suggests his power is for whatever reason gone. Seein that each of the holes meliodas has made is consecutively weaker, perhap we can make the case that meliodas has simply not yet recovered from the attacks? So each time he used the power of darkness his power has been reduced and for whatever reason he has been unable to recover. Its still not good enough an explanation though...

 

[Machi-tan]

I think merlin placed the limiter on him, i remember he was preparing to ask her a question about 'something' to which she said she wouldn't answer, but she'd answer anything else.

Now it's easy to assume he simply ment why did she betray him/set him up with the other sins, but i just think the convo is worth noting. And also Merlin doesn't strike me as the type of person to withhold that secret considering that they already 'won' versus the enemy in question of the betrayal.

It might be alittle of everything, not having proper demon kin to fight, going 'soft', gradual declination of power due to inactivity. Also it could do with the original demon seal, that sealed the rest of the clan.

 

[Holt]

I'd think the attack is the same, what changes is simply the scale. The one at danafor was incredibly powerful, it blew up at least the capital if no the entire country itself. The one at edinburg was significantly weaker than the one at danafor but stronger than the one he used at camelot. At least it kinda seems like the hole he made just now is smaller than the one at danafor. What seems weird to me is that at least judging by galan's reaction this is a power that should be stronger and he should be able to control. So the issue is not limited to the amount of power, its an issue of control itself. 10300 for demon is nothing... Meliodas is in a position where he can't control a worthless amount of power.

Assuming meliodas had a seal or limiter placed on him.. who could do that? And if it was only a seal then why would he loose control? I would think this suggests his power is for whatever reason gone. Seein that each of the holes meliodas has made is consecutively weaker, perhap we can make the case that meliodas has simply not yet recovered from the attacks? So each time he used the power of darkness his power has been reduced and for whatever reason he has been unable to recover. Its still not good enough an explanation though...

Yeah that's what I meant to say. It's the same attack but of different scales. I don't think the attack has been getting weaker (aside his latest one). In danafor, it was that big because he had a huge target while in Edinburg, his targets were a few vampires and so didn't need such a large scale attack. I'd say he could have leveled Edinburg if he wanted to.
This one against Galan is obviously weaker though. In edinburg, he didn't even seem to put in so much effort as compared to last chapter where he seemingly gave it his best and yet the results are very different.

As for his powers, I think it is what Merlin took from him (which Mel may have even requested to begin with). I think she took memories which also contained info concerning his powers or she simply put a seal on him which he isn't aware of and thus hasn't made an attempt to break. As for the control, it could also be linked to the memories. It Merlin deliberately targeted his demon powers, she could have inadvertently hindered his ability to control what little he is capable of using at the time. At the moment, he seems to have two problems, first being he cannot use his full powers for some reason and second being that he cannot control the powers that he can use.
The second problem could also be self-induced. Perhaps he has found he is too extreme when using his demon powers and has lost his ability to properly control it due to fear or maybe that's is naturally how the demon's power works and Mel (after associating with humans) tries to bring it under control to avoid harming them.

The demons are far stronger than humans and the other clans (so far). Its possible that in an effort to mix in with humans, Mel has to consciously tone down his powers to avoid crushing them. In byzel, he just didn't care about anyone in the slightest (save Elizabeth). Helbram made the point that he likely didn't respond because he didn't think it was worth it. To Mel, the others were just in the way and it mirrors Galan traveling all the way down here to have a 'round'.
Well, I'm just throwing ideas around.

 

[Nico Brown]

I think merlin placed the limiter on him, i remember he was preparing to ask her a question about 'something' to which she said she wouldn't answer, but she'd answer anything else.

It could be the tattoos all the Sins have. Maybe Merlin gave it to Meliodas to help seal his real power and the others got theirs just for decoration as to not raise suspicion. Kinda reminds me of Bleach, where all Captain class shinigami had to wear a limiter when fighting in the RW. They coincidentally used tattoos as well.

Could Mel be restricted to 20% atm?

 

[Liestue]

I'm not surprised that Mel was weak against Galan. If he would have ended it just like that there wouldn't d be a final battle, no development, and more importantly Mel would remain a static powerful character. Not so fun, or much less interesting. Having him beat up at this point is part of the story. A part where our expectations are defied by the author and gives us something to hang unto the story. It just means that Nakaba wants us to believe that these sins are hopeless against the commandments at this point and that they may have to go through intense character development. Gives them room to grow and show that there's something in store for them.

But disregarding the author's point of view, Mel's defeat may come as a shocker considering he should be a demon with enough power considering the past events we've seen.There are a lot of factors that could contribute to his significant weakening, but let's not forget that Galan told us that current Mel wasn't anything like the past Mel assuming he's referring to the time where he fought in the war. That was 3000 years ago. And anything can happen apart from Merlin taking something important. It probably has something to do with the goddess clan. My guess is that after his betrayal against the demon clan, he made a promise or vow to the goddess clan to limit his powers or lay low to avoid him being suspected as a demon. This was to prevent any suspicion that may spark something sinister, which could potentially mar the goddess clan's reputation for them siding with a demon to be able to defeat the demon clan. Merlin made it a point that no other sin apart from herself knew about Mel's demon power. Ban once asked Mel if he was a demon. The sins can't meddle with the other's past if they didn't share it willingly. This would mean that none of the sins know about the incident in Danafor as much as they don't know about the incident in Edinburgh. That's how much he wants to hide it.

But unfortunately for both Mel and the goddess clan, the incident at Danafor was enough to lead him to suspicion. And everything went shabang when the druid's altar was destroyed, and when a druid by the name of Hendrickson felt the demonic power in him that lead him to start the holy war all over again. At the incident at Danafor, I'm sure Mel released some sort of seal upon himself. Whether or not it was self-inflicted is a mystery.

At Byzel, I'm sure he felt the urgency to release the demon inside him because of numerous things. He had to get out of that pendant, he had to save Eli, the civilians were out of the way and so were King and the others, whilst Diane was missing in action (remember how King said he could no longer sense her and Mel's power). In Ban's case, who he split in half, the fight at Byzel was probably what lead him to believe that Mel was a demon. Let's also not forget how Diane and King don't know about the mysterious marking that appeared above his eye since I'm sure these two didn't do their research on the demon clan and that they weren't aware. But for Ban, he called this Mel's 'trump card' which means that he held that suspicion for a long time (also from that part where he tried to steal the coffin of eternal darkness that lead to Ban getting a scar that never heals) but never bothered to go against him since he didn't have a reason to. It only came up when the goddess clan wanted him dead. Which I'm sure is a result of Mel's untimely betrayal of his promise. If there was ever one. These are purely theories though, so don't take me seriously.

But anything can happen after the current chapter, and indefinitely were lead to believe that all of them need some sort power up, need to get full control over there ST's abilities, need to recover something, might need a bit of training, or need to stop holding back. Because I'm sure all of the sins have a reason for holding back. I'm a little skeptical on Merlin but hey, she must have her reasons too.

The coffin of eternal darkness is also something gravely important to Mel. It represents the weight of his sin, and how he can only repent for it for having that with him. His sin being the sin of wrath makes me think he lost himself in his anger after Liz's death, and ultimately was left without a spec of concern for the other humans and the whole kingdom itself. He just eliminated it in one swipe without hesitation, or as in, he went berserk and broke his vow that lead to the death of millions and having Danafor named the ill-fated kingdom.

Assuming that he was locked up for some time before he was tasked to form the sins, we later see Mel with the coffin of eternal darkness while he recruits Ban and the others after Danafor's demise. It sorta fits, since it was with him ever since, but he didn't have it, niether a sword during his happy times as an ordinary holy knight of Liones. And since we know it's something that's needed to release the demon clan, we can say that it was given to him to prevent the consequences of his mistake. Which would be sparking a holy war again.

 

[HereNThere]

Yeah that's what I meant to say. It's the same attack but of different scales. I don't think the attack has been getting weaker (aside his latest one). In danafor, it was that big because he had a huge target while in Edinburg, his targets were a few vampires and so didn't need such a large scale attack. I'd say he could have leveled Edinburg if he wanted to.
This one against Galan is obviously weaker though. In edinburg, he didn't even seem to put in so much effort as compared to last chapter where he seemingly gave it his best and yet the results are very different.

I think that attack was of a different nature than the two used in Danafor and Edinburgh.

The two at the latter location have two sharp points on opposite ends of the crater, while the crater Mel just made lacks those.

Edinburgh Crater:

Spoiler

Danafor Crater:

Spoiler

Camelot Crater:

Spoiler

 

[kkck]

Well, how about this:

http://manga.redhawkscans.com/reader/read/the_seven_deadly_sins/en/0/119/1/page/28
http://manga.redhawkscans.com/reader/read/the_seven_deadly_sins/en/0/121/page/20
http://manga.redhawkscans.com/reader/read/the_seven_deadly_sins/en/0/121/page/21

The attacks look at least exactly the same. You are right about the pointy things at the beginning and end of the crater though.

 

[Holt]

I think that attack was of a different nature than the two used in Danafor and Edinburgh.

The two at the latter location have two sharp points on opposite ends of the crater, while the crater Mel just made lacks those.

Edinburgh Crater:

Spoiler

Danafor Crater:

Spoiler

Camelot Crater:

Spoiler

Well fair point but the shape doesn't really hold much meaning imo. It could be due to the terrain or the strength put into the attacks. We could also assume this one on Galan was unsuccessful (or incomplete) since the latter resisted and sort of dispelled it.
Kkck also linked to the attacks above and the method behind it seems the same as well.

 

[HereNThere]

Fair enough. I figured that black column was the result of Gowther's Blackout Arrow, but it being Mel's power works as well.

 

[Holt]

Well it couldn't really have been gowther. Galan referred to it as darkness and alluded it was Mel's doing. He went further on to chide Mel for the attack being so weak. I assume he would have immediately realized if it was done by someone else and would have turned his attention to gowther. Gowther's blackout isn't tangible as well iirc. It leaves no lasting damage to the surroundings since it works like normal darkness which doesn't have such properties. The demons darkness on the other hand, is solid and does actual damage.

 

[gnut]

Spoiler

notice the island in the middle of the crater...looks like galan blocked the attack instead of tanking it.

 

[HereNThere]

Well it couldn't really have been gowther. Galan referred to it as darkness and alluded it was Mel's doing. He went further on to chide Mel for the attack being so weak. I assume he would have immediately realized if it was done by someone else and would have turned his attention to gowther. Gowther's blackout isn't tangible as well iirc. It leaves no lasting damage to the surroundings since it works like normal darkness which doesn't have such properties. The demons darkness on the other hand, is solid and does actual damage.

I was talking about when they were in Edinburgh. I assumed that column was the effect of Blackout Arrow.

 

[Demonspeed]

Maybe it's related to the magic incident ? Meliodas might have been sealed or trapped somewhere, used all his forces and didn't eat anything, his powers are coming back but very slowly, he ate Liz's soul when she was dying and destroyed Danafor, Elizabeth is next.

 

[Holt]

Yeah the magic thing is a solid probability. However, even though the demons are empty on magic, their strength and spirit are intact so it still doesn't explain why Mel has strength of 960 and spirit of 2,010