History Main / DeadlyDeferredConversation

!As a DeathTrope all spoilers on this page will remain unmarked.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* Happens twice in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses''. The first time is when [[spoiler:Jeralt]] tells [[PlayerCharacter Byleth]] that he has something important to say after the month's mission ends. And the mission ends by [[spoiler:him being stabbed by Kronya]]. The second time is near the end of the Verdant Wind route when [[spoiler: Rhea]] promises to explain more to Byleth and Claude before getting mortally wounded in a HeroicSacrifice. However, in the latter's case, they actually did end up having that conversation with the time they had left.

** {{Justified|Trope}} when Jon Snow expressed his wish to learn about his mother, and Ned Stark promises Jon they'll talk about his mother when he returns from the capital. Ned Stark is executed before they can discuss it further. Ned's reluctance to discuss the matter makes sense once the reader learns that [[spoiler:Jon is not Ned's bastard son, but the offspring of Ned's sister and a Targaryen prince and therefore a [[HiddenBackupPrince claimant for the Iron Throne]]. Delaying the conversation ensured that Jon Snow joined the Nights Watch and legally gave up his claim to any inheritance, land, or titles]].

* ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'': Before a major battle, with the beast men, Kamina and Yoko kiss, and Kamina says when he comes back "he'll return that 10 times more". He tragically dies from a fatal wound in the subsequent battle.

* At the opening of chapter three of ''Fanfic/TheWrongReflection'' Eleya is catching up with her old friend and former subordinate T'Var, but has to break off the conversation to go change into her vacsuit, saying they'll talk more later. In the subsequent battle [[TakingTheBullet T'Var uses her ship]] to stop a {{ramming|AlwaysWorks}} attempt against Eleya's ship. Despite ordering her crew to abandon ship, she doesn't make it to the {{escape pod}}s in time.

-->'''Luisa Rey''': "I promise I'll tell you everything that happened in the morning."\\
'''[[KidDetective Neighbor Boy]]''': "Okay, but I hope you realize you just said exactly what every character in any decent mystery says right before they get killed."

* ''Series/GameOfThrones''.
** JustifiedTrope when Jon Snow expressed his wish to learn about his mother, and Ned Stark promises Jon they'll talk about his mother when he returns from the capital. Ned Stark is executed before they can discuss it further. [[spoiler:Ned's reluctance to discuss the matter makes sense once the reader learns that Jon is not Ned's bastard son, but the offspring of Ned's sister and a Targaryen prince and therefore a [[HiddenBackupPrince claimant for the Iron Throne]]. Delaying the conversation ensured that Jon Snow joined the Nights Watch and legally gave up his claim to any inheritance, land, or titles.]]

* Happens twice in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses''. The first time is when [[spoiler: Jeralt]] tells [[PlayerCharacter Byleth]] that he has something important to say after the month's mission ends. And the mission ends by [[spoiler:him being stabbed by Kronya]]. The second time is near the end of the Verdant Wind route when [[spoiler: Rhea]] promises to explain more to Byleth and Claude before getting mortally wounded in a HeroicSacrifice. However, in the latter's case, they actually did end up having that conversation with the time they had left.

* Played for laughs in ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' when then Blue team captain Butch Flowers explains to Church and Tucker that he will tell them the secret of beating the Reds tomorrow...only to die of an aspirin overdose that night. Though as Season 10 reveals, [[spoiler:[[HarsherInHindSight what Flowers might have been trying to tell Church and Tucker was more important than they thought]]]].

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* In one ''Manga/{{Rinne}}'' story, one ghost was a CuteSportsClubManager for a baseball team. The captain of the team said he had something to tell her, right after the team wins this game. But they don't win, so he puts it off, and the team goes into a long slump. Finally, the team wins and the girl is so excited by the win and the captain at last completing the conversation that she leaps up and smashed her head on the dugout ceiling. She died, and the ghost has been holding out ever since waiting to hear what he had to say.

* In the 2002 adaptation of Creator/HGWells' ''Film/{{The Time Machine|2002}}'' Alexander is arguing with his friend after the death of his fiance. They agree to continue the discussion in a week but by that time Alexander is stuck in the future.
* Versions of ''Franchise/StarWars Episode IV: Film/ANewHope'' starting with the Special Edition restore a deleted scene right before the attack on the Death Star where Luke and his old friend Biggs Darklighter promise to meet up after the battle so Luke can tell him how he got there. Biggs is killed by Darth Vader while covering Luke during the trench run.
* Parodied in ''Film/HotShots'' when Dead Meat tells his wife he can save talking about his life insurance, his solution to global warming, and his JFK assassination evidence until after he returns from his mission.
* In ''Film/TheTrain'', Burt Lancaster plays the leader of a group of French Resistance fighters who are trying to prevent the Nazis from taking a trainload of paintings to Germany. In one scene, one of the fighters asks Labiche (Lancaster's character) if he has ever seen the paintings. Labiche says no. The other man says maybe they should go to a museum and see them after the war. He gets killed shortly thereafter.
* In ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'', Harry tells Eggsy that they'll continue a conversation about duty when he gets back. He doesn't come back.
* Subverted in ''Film/IrrationalMan''. Jill realizes that Abe has killed a local judge and confronts him about it. This is compounded when an innocent man is arrested for the murder. Despite promising he'll come clean, Abe resolves to kill her because SheKnowsTooMuch. Meanwhile, Jill reconciles with her boyfriend Roy and promises to explain everything later. Abe makes his attempt to kill her beforehand, but Jill survives while [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Abe falls into the open elevator shaft he had rigged]].

--> '''Luisa Rey''': "I promise I'll tell you everything that happened in the morning."\\

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'':
** ''Literature/AGameOfThrones'' has several examples. Ned Stark promises his bastard son Jon Snow that they'll talk about Jon's mother after he returns to the capital, Jon's Uncle Benjen promises to talk about Jon becoming a ranger after he returns from a scouting mission, and King Robert tells Ned they'll discuss the exiled princess Daenerys after Robert returns from a hunt. Ned is unfairly accused of treason and executed, King Robert is manipulated by his wife into being killed by a boar and Benjen has been missing for two years and is possibly undead.
** ''Literature/AFeastForCrows'': Jaime Lannister recalls the last conversation he had with Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, about how the prince had realized how badly his mad father King Aerys was ruling the realm and he had planned to summon a council and make changes. He promised to speak more on the subject when he returned from what became his final battle.

* The Penultimate ''Literature/JediQuest'' book has Obi-Wan's senate friend Tyro (whose just discovered some nasty truths about Chancellor Palpatine) calling Obi-Wan in the middle of a mission to stop assassin droids from being released into the senate rotunda, and urgently saying that he needs to tell him about something evil. Obi-Wan is too busy at the moment and tells him to wait until the mission is over. That mission sees Tyro become one of the droids victims.

* In ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'', Togami talks about "things" in his past he can't tell anyone about, yet defers the question when Hinata asks him to elaborate, saying only that he can (and indeed may ''have to'') explain later. Unfortunately for interested players, Dangan Ronpa is a murder mystery game, and Togami ends up being the first victim. [[spoiler:There is good reason why his past isn't brought up - he isn't the Togami we knew.]]

* In ''VideoGame/EmpireEarth''[='s=] Greek campaign, this is how king Phillip of Macedonia's death is presented: Alexander asks to speak to him after a battle, but the king is busy, and is killed by assassins before he has a chance to talk to his son.
* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'': Giovanni sends his son, Ezio, on some courier missions and says there's something important they need to discuss afterward (implied to be Giovanni's membership in the Assassin Brotherhood). By the time Ezio returns, his home has been raided by Templar-backed guards and his father sentenced to death.

* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' Klaus' promising to explain everything to Gil is somewhere between this and TemptingFate, ensuring that ''something'' would happen to prevent it. Klaus has been subsequently [[spoiler:wasped and frozen in time, and the imprint of him living in Gil's head doesn't seem particularly inclined to share information]].

* Happens twice in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses''. The first time is when [[spoiler: Jeralt]] dies after telling [[PlayerCharacter Byleth]] that he has something important to say after the month's mission ends. The second time is near the end of the Verdant Wind route when [[spoiler: Rhea]] promises to explain more to Byleth and Claude before getting mortally wounded in a HeroicSacrifice. However, in the latter's case, they actually did end up having that conversation with the time they had left.

* ''Series/BlakesSeven''. In "Death-Watch", Del Tarrant's older brother (who he hasn't seen in years) is taking part in a televised CombatByChampion. Because he needs to focus on the upcoming DeadlyGame he decides to talk to his little brother after the match. Unfortunately he loses, and has to deliver his final message to Del with [[GladiatorGames millions of people listening in]], as [[OminousWalk his killer walks up]] and puts a [[CoupDeGrace bullet in his head]].

* In ''VisualNovel/SuperDanganRonpa2'', Togami talks about "things" in his past he can't tell anyone about, yet defers the question when Hinata asks him to elaborate, saying only that he can (and indeed may ''have to'') explain later. Unfortunately for interested players, Dangan Ronpa is a murder mystery game, and Togami ends up being the first victim. [[spoiler:There is good reason why his past isn't brought up - he isn't the Togami we knew.]]

* In ''VisualNovel/SuperDanganRonpa2'', Togami talks about "things" in his past he can't tell anyone about, yet defers the question when Hinata asks him to elaborate, saying only that he can (and indeed may ''have to'') explain later. Unfortunately for interested players, Dangan Ronpa is a murder mystery game, and Togami ends up being the first victim.

** JustifiedTrope when Jon Snow expressed his wish to learn about his mother, and Ned Stark promises Jon they'll talk about his mother when he returns from the capital. Ned Stark is executed [[spoiler:so Jon doesn't find out that he's not Ned's bastard son, but the offspring of Ned's sister and a Targaryen prince and therefore a [[HiddenBackupPrince claimant for the Iron Throne]]. As Jon Snow was heading off to join the Nights Watch (who require all recruits to give up lands, titles, and inheritances) Ned's reluctance to discuss the matter at that time was understandable.]]

'''Neighbor boy:''' Okay, but I hope you realize you just said exactly what every character in any decent mystery says right before they get killed.

-> '''Luisa Rey''': I promise I'll tell you everything that happened ... in the morning.\\
'''Neighbor boy''': Okay, but I hope you realize you just said exactly what every character in any decent mystery says right before they get killed.

* ''Series/BlakesSeven''. In "Death-Watch", Tarrant's brother (who he hasn't seen in years) is taking part in a televised CombatByChampion. Because he needs to focus on the upcoming DeadlyGame he decides to talk to his little brother after the match. Unfortunately he loses, and has to deliver his final message to his brother with millions of people listening in, as [[OminousWalk his killer walks up]] and puts a [[CoupDeGrace bullet in his head]].