Quote Originally Posted by Saint-Just View Post
I concur. If you buy a "safeguard" explanation and make paladin lose powers for unwilling or unwitting evil acts, then using atonement to restore the link makes sense. If powers are lost and not suspended then god is unlikely to have easy access to the paladin's state. Fuses need to be replaced or at least manually turned in once they have activated. Because it doesn't cost XP anyone sympathetic to the paladin's cause is unlikely to demand significant concessions.
I guess. Though I still think it's weird that a paladin who only lost their power as a safety measure — rather than because something they did — would need outside help (which may or may not be readily available) to restore it. Wouldn't something like having to pray/meditate for a while make more sense in the situation? Is there anything supporting a "technical" reason like the god not having access to turn the paladin's powers back on? To me, a paladin falling to stop their powers being used against their god's wishes reads more like "flipping an off switch" than "burning out a fuse".