Editing Endbringers (section)

===Energy Reserves===
[[Eidolon]]'s [[shard]] hooks up Endbringers to its well and allocates them energy reserves so that they can operate for roughly 300 years.<ref name="reddit eHookDrain">You could also argue he [Eidolon] was hooked up to three (later five) pretty massive energy drains. - Comment by Wildbow on Reddit, archived on Spacebattles</ref><!-- https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/48960727 --><ref name="reddit eLifespan">Keep in mind, also, that the Endbringers (in jobbing mode) tend to wait until the enemy has an advantage before stepping it up a notch. This allows them to conserve their inner reserves of power (which are vast, but they're playing a constantly escalating game, and they're aiming to maintain it over 300 years.)<br><br>Throw them into the sun and they'll have no reason to hold back at all - they'll just spend all their reserved power at once. Saving it is useless, since they're stuck in the middle of a superdense star. - [https://redd.it/2sju2u Wildbow on Reddit]</ref> The addition of these massive energy drains arguably explain why Eidolon's powers weakened over time;<ref name="reddit eHookDrain" /> more Endbringers would accelerate this drain.<ref name="reddit eProduceNew" /> Only when fighting against Endbringers<ref>“Why isn’t it working?”  He asked.<br><br>“I…” she had to stop for breath, “I don’t care.  Whatever it is.”<br><br>“I was supposed to get stronger, and there’s nothing.  Nothing at all to reach for.” - [[Interlude 18]]</ref> can he sense these energy reserves and thus feel as if his lost power is within reach.<ref name="18.z eReserve">“Against the Endbringers, there are really only two individuals who can stop them, drive them away.  Scion is one.  I’m another.  Each of us is worth a hundred other capes, if not more.  I’m not boasting when I say this.  But my powers are getting weaker every day, little by little.  Whatever vast, improbably deep well parahumans tap into to use abilities, I suspect mine is running dry.”<br>[...]<br>“When I fight, Mrs. Yamada, I feel as though my lost power is somehow within reach.  Reserves I have not yet touched, maybe.  Or a fresh well.  It is something, but it is ''there''.  The problem is that I rarely get to truly ''fight''.  Do you understand?” - [[Interlude 18.z]]</ref> In theory, the creation of more Endbringers and the resulting drain could eventually push Eidolon to the point where he would learn (without the help of [[Glaistig Uaine]]<ref>It’s mine.  Ours.  But you’re stronger than I am.  I can see it.  The issue, High Priest, is that you need to open your eyes.”<br><br>“My issue is that the well has run dry.  I can’t tap it for power anymore.  My best abilities are gone, and I’m spending the remainder with every minute I fight.”<br><br>“Refill the well, then,” she said. - [[Interlude 27.x]]</ref>) how to drain the shards of other [[parahumans]] to refill his energy reserves.<ref name="reddit eRefill">This may lean to Eidolon being forced to tap into the real power source and start draining capes. Cue some back and forth on morality and whether it's right, even when Eidolon limits himself to taking the lives and power reserves of capes who are already dying (maybe at first when they've given consent in advance, but throw in edge cases and Superman believing he can rescue people, and ramping pressure from the new Endbringers...), cue a few Eidolon vs. Superman conflicts. Eidolon's powers give him the strength he needs to match and even beat Superman - a worthy opponent without needing an Endbringer. - Wildbow on Reddit, [https://spacebattles.com/posts/77707099 archived on Spacebattles]</ref>

In their hibernation state, Endbringers can absorb ambient light/radiation to serve as nourishment while regenerating; this state is less energy-intensive and allows them to better pace themselves between fights.<ref>The Simurgh was currently directly three hundred and fifteen kilometers above Spain, in the Earth’s thermosphere.  It was the Simurgh that offered the most clues about what the Endbringers did in their periods of dormancy.  The Endbringer winged a lazy orbit around Earth, beyond the limits of conventional weapons, and the highest resolution camera images showed she barely moved.  Her eyes were wide open, but they did not move to track any cloud formations.  She was, despite appearances, asleep.  Dragon surmised it was a form of hibernation, the Simurgh’s broad ‘wings’ absorbing light and ambient radiation as a form of nourishment while she recovered. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/interlude-10-5-bonus/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 10.5]]</ref>