Awesome / The Elenium

• Queen Ehlana gets one in The Sapphire Rose where she basically chooses the one who will become the local equivalent of the Pope in one single speech, without naming him. To be more specific, Ehlana composed her entire speech before the assembled heads of the church in her head in a single night, using the framework of a prophet touched by God. She not only convinced the entire Heirocracy to select Dolmant as the Archprelate, but won over every other candidate in the building to support him. The only exceptions to this were Dolmant himself, who did not want the job and Makova, who had been bought by the Primate Annias.
• The final duel between Sparhawk and Martel.
• Kurik verbally demolishing an arrogant young nobleman in front of his dissipated friends. Bevier even compliments him on the honor Kurik brought to Bevier's armor (which Kurik was wearing as a disguise at the time).
  Kurik: Try me.
  • Sephrenia later used those exact words with the same intent, after having wanted a chance to do that for years - meaning that moment was considered awesome In-Universe.
• Berit throwing Bevier's axe at Azash in the final battle. He made an Eldritch Abomination flinch!
• Sparhawk's verbal beatdown of Primate Annias and Lycheas upon his return from exile.
• The fate of the Baron Harparin.
• Sparhawk killing Azash.
• In the Tamuli, at one point Tynian shows a map of Daresia to the Troll Gods in order to explain their plans. One of them, Schlee comments that that's not how earth looks like and proceed to mold a wide portion of ground in an extremely detailed tridimensional map complete with mountains, rivers, forests with trees the size of hair, buildings, and individualized people walking around.
  Schlee: That is how Earth looks like!
• Anakha deflecting every attack that Zalasta throws at him with no real effort involved. And immediately afterwards renouncing his powers to become plain old Sparhawk so that he can live a normal life.
• Bevier offhandedly decapitating a guard captain who inconvenienced him one too many times and then leading the man's soldiers in prayer for his soul while wiping the blood off his axe.
  • To be more specific, Sir Bevier offered the captain of the guard several opportunities to let the Knights of the Church pass, noting that the captain was ignoring church law by blocking the Church Knights from entering the Basilica. Once Sir Bevier had established that he was on firm theological footing, he then lopped the captain's head off with his axe. He then knelt before the nave of the church to pray for God to forgive the captain's soul before leading the rest of the Knights into the Basilica.
• Kalten gets several Awesome Moments in The Tamuli, the biggest one happens when he is disguised as someone else and gives a captured Ehlana some important information by having an off-handed conversation with a guard nearby. His love interest shares this moment as she sings their special song which gets his attention.
• Really, anytime Talen steals something counts. Notable examples include:
  • Stealing every piece of jewelry that Kring was wearing, including the pommelstone from his sword. He then informed him of sub-standard quality of some of the jewelry and managed to take coins from Kring's stolen purse and hide them in various pockets. All in the space it took Kring to laugh at a single joke. While he was being watched.
  • Cutting Kurik's purse without the man noticing.
  • Stealing from Dolmant in front of an entire battalion of Church soldiers.
  • Giving what he stole from a guy charging toll for a natural ford^note (he states he consider this to be cheating, but that charging toll for a bridge is fair, as someone had to build it) to the hungry children of the man in care of a bridge that almost nobody used. "[Paraphrased] They need it more than me, and I can always steal more."
• Talen in a non-theft example, knifing Adus in the kidneys after the brute kills Kurik.
• Sephrenia refuses to allow Sparhawk to exact revenge on a group of Elenes who massacred a Styric village. Instead, she insists that Sir Parasim, a young, sweet, gentle knight who's utterly devoted to the faith, be sent instead to deliver an appropriate chastisement. Parasim's idea of appropriate: whipping the murderers with thornbushes.
• Sick of the negotiations with The Thousand (the ruling council of Styricum), Stragen announces that he's sick of hearing them whine and that if they don't side with the Elenes in the coming war, then all the Styrics in Eosia (the neighboring continent) will probably be slaughtered as payment for their cowardice. He then simply turns and walks away. And it works!
  • Prior to this, when he first steps up, at least one of the audience makes a disparaging remark in Styric, only to find out that Stragen was fully fluent in Styric, and he takes apart the insult as being so juvenile in nature.
• The King of the Atans, Androl, gets one. Yes, his charging an Eldritch Abomination that dwarfs mountains was suicidally stupid, but it's later revealed that his insane, one-man charge against that monster distracted it long enough for the army he was leading to escape the field without being annihilated. So, he was not wiped out in a second, but rather held the beast's attention for several minutes while everyone else fled. The only reason his attack is considered too dumb to live instead of a heroic sacrifice is because he honestly believed that he could overcome the monster in single combat.
• Princess Danae gets her moment, as herself, not as Aphrael, when she orders a suicidal Mirtai back into sanity, pointing out that in her mother's absence she is the Queen and owns everything the Queen owns, including Mirtai.
  Mirtai: You’re not Ehlana.
  Danae: I’m not pretending to be. I’m stating a legal fact. Sarabian, isn’t that the way it works? Isn’t my mother’s power mine while she’s away?
  Emperor Sarabian: Well—technically, I suppose.
  Danae: Technically my foot. I’m Queen Ehlana’s heir. I’m assuming her position until she returns. That means that I temporarily own everything that’s hers—her throne, her crown, her jewels, and her personal slave.
  Patriarch Emban: I’d hate to have to argue against her in a court of law.
  Danae: Thank you, your Grace. All right, Atana Mirtai, you heard them. You’re my property now. (Mirtai scowls at her. Danae snaps at Mirtai.) Don’t do that. Pay attention. I am your owner, and I forbid you to kill yourself. I also forbid you to run off. I need you here. You’re going to stay here with Melidere and me, and you’re going to guard us. You failed my mother. Don’t fail me.
  (Mirtai stiffens, breaks her chains with an angry wrench of her arms, snaps to attention, eyes blazing)
  Mirtai: It shall be as you say, your Majesty.