First appearance: S5E7 — Ducks of Death — Robbie Clark & the Hunger v Bob the Barbarian · watch it on YouTube
The Blade of Shadow is a weapon with a dark bargain built into it. It holds a piece of The Shadow King’s soul, and it knits its wielder’s wounds with every blow they land, but holding it wears them down. It appeared twice during the Season of Fate, first in the hands of Bob the Barbarian and later as one of the Lord of Fate’s own treasures, until Thea discarded it.
Description
The blade’s power comes from the fragment of the Shadow King trapped inside it. Every strike it lands heals the one holding it, which makes it a tempting prize in a fight to the death. The catch is that simply carrying it saps its bearer’s stamina, so a champion who leans on it trades a slow grinding exhaustion for those quick recoveries.
When the blade first appeared, Thea gave a newcomer-friendly summary of its former owner:
“Ooh, that’s an old bad guy. He was bad. We were like, we didn’t like him.”
History
Long before the blade turned up in the arena, the Shadow King had shown what his shadow could do as a weapon. In the Season 3 finale, featuring Soot Mustam and Huey Leatherface, he turned his own hand into a blade of shadow and thrust it at Doug. The Arbiter, rising from unconsciousness, threw himself in front of the blow and took it through the chest and heart. “Run, run, Doug, run,” he urged, and Doug yipped and scampered between The Dragon Knights and out through a small doggy door.
The Blade of Shadow itself surfaced in S5E7 — Ducks of Death — Robbie Clark & the Hunger v Bob the Barbarian. As fire turned the sky pink and purple, like an artificial sunset, Bob the Barbarian was handed the weapon with the words, “You hold a piece of the Shadow King’s soul.” Each hit he landed healed him, even as the blade wore him down. Bob went on to win the match against Robbie Clark and The Hunger.
The blade came back in S5E11 — Appliance Adversaries — Atlas v Frigidoom, during the fight between Atlas and Frigidoom. This time it was presented as part of the Lord of Fate’s private collection, with the same gift and the same curse: healing with every strike, exhaustion while held. Thea discarded it.