SPOILERS!
Who doesn't love a good villain or anti hero? Sometimes we find ourselves more drawn to a well crafted bad guy than to the protagonist we're meant to be identifying with, and when those characters are forced into an uneasy alliance it results in some of the most satisfying stories. The answer to this slightly uncomfortable tendency to find the villain engaging is the redemptive character arc. A good redemption arc can often enrich or even trump the main plot. But what exactly qualifies as redemption? What's the difference in narrative terms between reader forgiveness, suffering and atonement? This week the dragons take a look at anti heroes who try to make amends. Under the microscope in this episode - Harry Potter, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Boys and many more.
Please be aware that as Jules and Madeleine are looking at complete character arcs, this episode will include spoilers for Unveiled, The Boys and The Harmatia Cycle.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Episode 390: Let the Games Begin - Why the Competition Trope is so Popular in Speculative Fiction
Episode 389: Beautiful Misery - The Hunger for the Afflicted Woman in Fiction
Episode 388: A Conflagration of Authors - AI, Audiobooks and Infringement
Episode 387: Complicated Runes and Ineffable Power - Hard Versus Soft Magic Systems in Speculative Fiction
Episode 386: The Art of Not Fitting In - A collection of Not Like the Other Girls Trope Observations
Episode 385: Both is Good - Examining Bisexual Representation in Speculative Fiction
Episode 384: Appearances Can be Deceiving - The Hidden Power of Modern Fairytales
Episode 383: Gaslit Magic and Immortal Monsters Hunters - Incorporating Strong Historical Elements in UF
Episode 382: Part of Your World - Tracing the Origins of The Little Mermaid
Episode 381: Hard Times in Magic & Logic - Examining the Parameters of Hard Scifi and fantasy
Episode 380: Will He Escape those Dastardedly Clutches - Why Cliffhangers Are a Bad Idea
Episode 379: Exuding Menace 101 - How to Create Menacing Villains
Ep 378: Separated by a Common Language - Examining the Differences between UK and US Urban Fantasy
Episode 377: Bringing in Dessert - Serving Up Delicious Endings Against Desperate Odds
Episode 376: In that Time In that Place - the Monomyth and Other Storytelling Modes
Episode 375: The Batcherlorette - Bookish Edition
Ep 374: Her Fatal Curiosity - Tracing the Origins of Bluebeard
Ep 373: Circe Morgana and Rosaline - The Problem with Feminist Retellings
Episode 372: Truth Fiction and Outright Absurdity - More Strange Author Mysteries
Episode 371: Breaking the Stained Glass Window - Language Storytelling Absolutism and Censorship
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