Session 4.11 - Season 4 Episode Outlines (Revisited)

I just came to the horrifying realization that we have to have an arc for Glaurung. Otherwise, our "Finale" is going to have a distinct "Monster of the Week" feel to it.
 
Well, well. After a working on it sporadically throughout the day, I have more or less filled in my chart. I would welcome any suggested changes.

Moving forward, though, I'm going to expand these cells to a full sentence describing the story beat to which the word is referring.
 
Nicholas Palazzo said:
I just came to the horrifying realization that we have to have an arc for Glaurung. Otherwise, our "Finale" is going to have a distinct "Monster of the Week" feel to it.
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I agree with what you gave him, but we can't really show it this season. If "unanticipated horrifying monster came out of nowhere and we have no idea what it is or how to stop it" = Monster of the Week, then I think that's exactly how the finale should feel. Although not unconnected to what came before (or Season 5's finale).

I would disagree with a few points. "Colonialism" isn't a good name for Finrod's midpoint because he's not knowingly or deliberately conquering and subjugating anyone. I think "cosmopolitanism" is Finrod's midpoint, while Turgon's is foreboding, or nostalgia for Tirion. And I would call Maedhros' starting point "gratitude".

But I see that your one-word lines are placeholders for longer sentences.
 
Faelivrin said:
I agree with what you gave him, but we can't really show it this season. If "unanticipated horrifying monster came out of nowhere and we have no idea what it is or how to stop it" = Monster of the Week, then I think that's exactly how the finale should feel. Although not unconnected to what came before (or Season 5's finale).
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I disagree with the idea that we cannot show this arc in this season. And having a standalone episode as the finale in a show that is so arc-heavy is a major issue. A finale in a show like this should be something that is anticipated. The audience should be excited and terrified to see Glaurung break free into Beleriand, not wondering why this episode wasn't part of the next season.

If anything, if Glaurung has no arc in this season, then all we should see of him in the finale will be at the end of it, and end it on a cliffhanger. This has it's own problems if we proceed to hunt down and drive him back in the first episode.
 
So you don't think we can make him a surprise or a mystery, without messing up the tension curve?

Is there any way we can have Morgoth in Angband making cryptic comments of his work in making something mightier than Orcs because the Orcs unaided have failed him? Or have Gothmog have a converstion with offscreen-Glaurung in Episode 12?
 
Faelivrin said:
I would disagree with a few points. "Colonialism" isn't a good name for Finrod's midpoint because he's not knowingly or deliberately conquering and subjugating anyone. I think "cosmopolitanism" is Finrod's midpoint, while Turgon's is foreboding. And I would call Maedhros' starting point "gratitude".
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I'll grant that colonialism was a reach. I was trying to convey Finrod's failed attempt to relate to the Petty Dwarves at the site which will become Nargothrond. He'll do better with Men next season.

And yes, Turgon is full of forboding, but he will somehow be able to not only weld some of the Falathrim and Noldor into a single people, but convince them all to come to his secret base.
 
Faelivrin said:
So you don't think we can make him a surprise or a mystery,
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A surprise, not entirely, but a mystery, sure. He doesn't have to appear on the screen to have a story arc. If he doesn't have a presence, though, but is the A plot of the finale, it will appear to the audience that all of the season's major plots have been resolved, and we are having an extra episode.
 
Faelivrin said:
Is there any way we can have Morgoth in Angband making cryptic comments of his work in making something mightier than Orcs because the Orcs unaided have failed him? Or have Gothmog have a converstion with offscreen-Glaurung in Episode 12?
Click to expand...

The former seems too vague without further development, and the latter too late, though conversation with an off-screen Glaurung is how I would handle the development of his arc. A single conversation in episode twelve sounds, once again, like E12 is the finale proper, and we are hinting at a plotline for S05.

What successful arc-heavy shows do when introducing a villain who will be a persistent threat for seasons to come is to either: introduce him/her as a looming threat over the course of the season, leading up to a "final" confrontation in the season finale, or they will leave gentle hints about the existence of an extant threat, but do not actually reveal the antagonist until the final moments of the season finale. What would follow in the next season would be an initial conflict in which the villain accomplishes the first step in his/her plan, which will unfold as the season progresses.

Having an entire episode where we hunt down and drive off an almost unanticipated villain seems clunky to me in this sort of story.
 
The problem is that if we introduce Glaurung too early, we run the risk of his appearance in FA 260 not coming off as a shock to the audience that Morgoth has created something bigger than a troll that can withstand sunlight. The fact that he makes it a long distance across Ard-Galen is a shock, with a sunny day that no Troll would have been able to manage without a large cloud of ash from Thangorodrim.
 
It seems like part of the difficulty comes down to Morgoth's plans unfolding over centuries, which isn't normally how these things happen (or are depicted) in TV. Glaurung's appearance in the season finale, as big as it seems to the Elves, is itself only a teaser for the Dagor Bragollach... which won't necessarily be hinted at again until the Season 5 finale.

Can anyone think of any example of an arc-heavy show that had a major enemy come as a total surprise to the protagonists? How did they convey it?

What we don't want is for it to feel like Glaurung came out of nowhere (the way Ungoliant feels in the Silmarillion). We'll convey that he's from Angband, and part of Morgoth's overall plans. But we also need to make it feel more connected to his other plans?

Can we make it feel more tied to the existing plots by having a vision of fire and smoke in the foreboding visions Turgon and Finrod receive? Both of their kingdoms will be destroyed by Dragons, and Ulmo at least knows Gondolin "shall be in peril of fire" someday.
 
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Ange1e4e5 said:
The problem is that if we introduce Glaurung too early, we run the risk of his appearance in FA 260 not coming off as a shock to the audience that Morgoth has created something bigger than a troll that can withstand sunlight. The fact that he makes it a long distance across Ard-Galen is a shock, with a sunny day that no Troll would have been able to manage without a large cloud of ash from Thangorodrim.
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This would happen only if the audience sees Glaurung in bodily form, which I'm not advocating for.
 
Faelivrin said:
It seems like part of the difficulty comes down to Morgoth's plans unfolding over centuries, which isn't normally how these things happen (or are depicted) in TV. Glaurung's appearance in the season finale, as big as it seems to the Elves, is itself only a teaser for the Dagor Bragollach... which won't necessarily be hinted at again until the Season 5 finale.

Can anyone think of any example of an arc-heavy show that had a major enemy come as a total surprise to the protagonists? How did they convey it?

What we don't want is for it to feel like Glaurung came out of nowhere (the way Ungoliant feels in the Silmarillion). We'll convey that he's from Angband, and part of Morgoth's overall plans. But we also need to make it feel more connected to his other plans?

Can we make it feel more tied to the existing plots by having a vision of fire and smoke in the foreboding visions Turgon and Finrod receive? Both of their kingdoms will be destroyed by Dragons, and Ulmo at least knows Gondolin "shall be in peril of fire" someday.
Click to expand...
The Star Wars animated micro-series Star Wars: Clone Wars debuted General Grievous in the first season finale, Chapter 20. He fights six Jedi, killing two or three, deals severe injuries to all but one of the rest, and is just about to finish the last standing Jedi off when he is interrupted by a gunship of clone troopers, who have already proven their mettle earlier in the series, and he is a match for them until the gunship shows up and forces him to flee.
Here’s a video:
 
Faelivrin said:
Can anyone think of any example of an arc-heavy show that had a major enemy come as a total surprise to the protagonists? How did they convey it?
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There are indeed quite a number that do this, as I think we should here.

Ange1e4e5 said:
So would he be a voice in the darkness, per se
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Darkness, shadow, flame, the direction in which the camera is not pointed, there are a number of ways to do this, and we should not feel limited to using only one.1
 
Ange1e4e5 said:
The Star Wars animated micro-series Star Wars: Clone Wars debuted General Grievous in the first season finale, Chapter 20. He fights six Jedi, killing two or three, deals severe injuries to all but one of the rest, and is just about to finish the last standing Jedi off when he is interrupted by a gunship of clone troopers, who have already proven their mettle earlier in the series, and he is a match for them until the gunship shows up and forces him to flee.
Here’s a video:
Click to expand...

Correct me if I'm wrong, did this not release after Grievous was introduced in Attack of the Clones EDIT: Revenge of the Sith?
 
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Nicholas Palazzo said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, did this not release after Grievous was introduced in Attack of the Clones?
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No, he doesn’t show up onscreen in Attack of the Clones. This micro series was created in 2003-2004, with Season 2 in 2005 as a direct bridge into Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.
 
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Faelivrin said:
Can we make it feel more tied to the existing plots by having a vision of fire and smoke in the foreboding visions Turgon and Finrod receive? Both of their kingdoms will be destroyed by Dragons, and Ulmo at least knows Gondolin "shall be in peril of fire" someday.
Click to expand...

We could, but that is once again pointing to events of another season.
 
Ok, aside from the controversial Glaurung plot (which I'm only really envisioning as 3-4 scenes through the season), feel free to peruse the completed chart. Bear in mind that everything in the first column must be established in the first 3-4 episodes, the second column is a bit more fluid, and the third column must happen no earlier than the last 3 episodes. If we want to maintain continuity of flow, anyway.
 
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