Discussion Main / OnlyTheAuthorCanSaveThemNow

I don't believe the Bleach entry is an example. The time-manipulation of the Dangai was established from the beginning. Jinzen had been introduced hundreds of chapters before. A fusion scene between the two inner spirits created the fandom theory that Ichigo needed to fuse his inner spirits for full power years before. When it happened, the fandom immediately noticed the similarities between it and Letzt Stil (the theory Ichigo was half-Quincy based on his mother's behaviour when she died had been around for years by now).

• Bleach: Aizen was an insanely powerful Master of Illusion (in that both his illusions and he himself are insanely powerful), so he essentially has most of the cast mind-controlled and could beat most of them even if they weren't. When the protagonist finally shows up to pull a Big Damn Heroes, he can't even scratch the bastard, who then goes on to get several more power upgrades. Ultimately, he's only beaten by the hero gaining so much power that he has to immediately lose them so as not to destroy the plot. For added lulz, it's stated that the only reason Aizen didn't win despite Ichigo's powerup is because he didn't want to.
  • Also the technique that Ichigo uses to defeat him is never even hinted at prior to Isshin training him in it. That's in addition to the fact that there were actually several points at which the villain could have been reasonably defeated but was saved by a Diabolus ex Machina.

Edited by Wyldchyld If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading. Hide / Show Replies

I'm surprised not to find any references to Harry Dresden in this section. He's been in more seemingly hopeless predicaments than you can shake a stick at. Surely there must be at least one that qualifies, or at least comes very close. He does after all have a freaking Archangel among his allies.

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I don't think Attack On Titan is really an example. Eren's titan powers are basically the core to the entire plot, and not just some one time trick to get out of a bad situation. His titan controlling power is a much closer example - having been used only once to get out of an otherwise hopeless situation and not appearing again.

So, I'm removing the Thrawn example, copy-pasting it here to the discussion thread. The reason is actually that the opposite is true: Partway through the second book, the good guys manage to subvert Thrawn's bodyguards. The remainder of the series is spent waiting until he gets knifed in the back, leaving the only question as how well his evil crazy second-in-command and his neutral sensible third-in-command are going to take over as main villains - these characters being much closer to the power level of the protagonists.

The previous example:

• The original Thrawn trilogy of Star Wars books by Timothy Zahn would be a good example. Although the Imperial and New Republic forces were mostly equal on paper, Grand Admiral Thrawn held the initiative and never let go for an instant. 2 3/4ths of the three books were dedicated to the heroes struggling not so much to win as to survive. At the climax of the final book, Luke and Mara were trapped on Thrawn's clone world at the mercy of Joruus C'baoth and the majority of the Republic navy were warping right into a massive trap at the site of their planned counterattack against Thrawn's forces. Only a series of increasingly catastrophic and unlikely setbacks in the final quarter of the third book allowed the heroes to win the day. The author himself even commented that writing a plausible ending was difficult because he had "written himself into a corner" by establishing Thrawn as such a Magnificent Bastard.

I think the Harry Potter third book example was for the correct series. They would have stopped the entire villainous plot at that point if not for how no one, including Lupin, expected Lupin to transform (they forgot it was a full moon?) and give Pettigrew a chance to escape. Whether this is a valid example or not is open to debate, but I don't think it was misattributed.

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So, this may have been an example behind the scenes during production, but I'm not sure the episode as it turned out is an example. The ending isn't a Deus ex Machina, it's a rather poetic exploitation of the given properties of the Monster of the Week. It could be an answer to the riddle "How do you stop a group of monsters that can't move as long as someone's watching them? A:Trick them into watching each other"

• In the DVD audio commentary for the Series 3 episode Blink, Steven Moffat reportedly turned to the director, saying that he just couldn't find a way to defeat the Monster of the Week; the director contributed a way to defeat them that made it into the final cut, fortunately.

I'd like to dispute the Bleach example. Aizen was beaten via exploiting a.) the wonky timescale inside the Precipice World, and b.) the death of the Janitor. Both the time-screwage ands the Janitor were established beforehand, and while the resulting Training Arc did indeed lead to a powerup we'd never heard of before then, this a shonen manga. That's not especially noteworthy.