Justicer's Challenge

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JTass
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Justicer's Challenge

Post by JTass »

Hi Mr. M.,

A bit of background before I ask a question...

Over the weekend, I had an interesting discussion with a friend of mine who teaches film at a magnate school. During the conversation, the subject of twist endings came up, and he mentioned a couple of instances where the director or screen writer introduced an element that initially seems to be a Chekov's Gun, but is later proved to be a red herring.

That reminded me of the several references to the Justicer's Challenge in the Kharl story arc, which i took as foreshadowing that it would play some key role later in the story.

My question is: was the Justicer's Challenge in that story line always intended as a red herring, or did you initially intend to have Kharl undertake the effort and change your mind at some point during the writing process?
Considering the principles involved, what are the odds that Murphy's Law is named after the wrong guy?
lmodesitt
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Re: Justicer's Challenge

Post by lmodesitt »

First off, I don't agree with the point behind "Chekov's Gun," with the exception of stage plays and possibly thrillers. That's because, to convey a hint of cultural, societal, military, and political depth, I believe an author needs to plant things that suggest that depth. Those bits can sometimes be red herrings as well, but most of the time, at least for me, that's not their primary purpose.

L. E. Modesitt. Jr.
JTass
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Posts: 167
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2015 9:30 am

Re: Justicer's Challenge

Post by JTass »

Hi Mr. M.,

I happen to agree with your opinion regarding Chekov's Gun, that not everything is or has to be significant to the plot. Sorry if my wording implied something I didn't mean it to. I understand that authors can and must provide non-essential details to flesh out the worlds they're writing about.

To me at least, the way that the Justicer's Challenge in the Kharl story arc was called out specifically on several occasions, seemed to be foreshadowing that that element would become important later in the story rather than just a detail added for worldbuilding. So when I had the conversation with my friend about instances (specifically in film, not books) where a director or screenwriter intentionally subverted the Chekov's Gun trope it occurred to me that you may have emphasized that detail intentionally as a red herring, or that you might have originally intended Kharl to take the challenge, but later went in a different direction.
Last edited by JTass on Wed Feb 01, 2023 4:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Considering the principles involved, what are the odds that Murphy's Law is named after the wrong guy?
lmodesitt
Professional Wordsmith
Posts: 1610
Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2003 12:29 pm

Re: Justicer's Challenge

Post by lmodesitt »

You're right. I did consider the possibility of Kharl taking the Justicer's Challenge , but ended up using the challenge to show -- along with Werwal's trial -- that even successfully [legally speaking] using the law against oppression has a heavy price. That becomes one of the factors in Kharl's decision to handle Osten as he does.


L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
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