History Main / GoBackToTheSource

** Its sequel ''VideoGame/{{Riven}}'' has a telescope as the first thing you see when entering the world. [[spoiler:After finding the code to open the hatch, you end the game (albeit with many possible endings) by lowering said telescope to crack the glass under said hatch and reopen the star fissure to signal Atrus.]]

** Its sequel ''VideoGame/{{Riven}}'' has a telescope as the first thing you see when entering the world. [[spoiler:After finding the code to open the hatch, you end the game (albeit with many possible ones) by lowering said telescope to crack the glass under said hatch and reopen the star fissure to signal Atrus.]]

* Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses: In ''SuburbanKnights'', Malachite's Hand is [[spoiler:hidden in the same place the quest started from]].

* In ''{{Halo 3}}'', the humans [[spoiler: and Elites]] must travel to the [[spoiler: Ark, where the titular Halos were constructed, to find the "solution" to the Flood. Turns out, the solution is a brand new MacGuffin it just coughed up.]]

->''[[TropeNamer Go back! To the first room!]] He'll show you... the Source!''
-->-- '''[[MadOracle 6]]''', ''WesternAnimation/{{Nine}}''

* ''FinalFantasy'':

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben10}}'', the Omnitrix has an artificial planet called Primus that holds the universe's DNA bank, it must return to, on occasion.

* If you live in a developed country, then it's likely that you were born in a hospital,and are going to die there.

* ''{{Earthbound}}'': Ness and the others must fight Giygas at its weakest point in time, which is when it was first created.

* ''IceAge'': Manny, Sid, and Deigo must take the baby Rosham back to his village.

* ''LordOfTheRings'': Frodo must take the One Ring to its place of creation, Mount Doom in the land of Mordor, in order to destroy it and rid the world of its evil power.

* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', the major of the series is to return to the [[DoomedHometown ruins of Eren's home]] and find out what his father hid in the basement.

* At the end of ''HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'', Harry invokes this trope outright:

* ThatGuyWithTheGlasses: In ''SuburbanKnights'', Malachite's Hand is [[spoiler:hidden in the same place the quest started from]].

* Moses in ''ThePrinceOfEgypt'' must return to Egypt in order to free his people.
* Simba from ''TheLionKing'' returns to his home of Pride Rock in order to dethrone Scar and claim his place as king.

* In the ''Manga/SoulEater'' manga, [[spoiler:Maka]] eventually finds [[spoiler:Crona]] in [[ChurchShoutout the place]] where they first met.

* ''{{Digimon}}: TheMovie'' involves Kokomon repeatedly telling Willis to "go back to the beginning", which Willis and the others try to figure out the meaning of.

A situation in which a character (usually the MacGuffin of the plotline) must return to the place where they or an important plot device originated from. This can involve taking the character back to where they came from, or going to the literal source of something, such as the place where an object of power was created..

Related to NowDoItAgainBackwards (Wanna destroy something? Then go back to where it was created), BookEnds, and ItWasWithYouAllAlong. Also could be a supertrope to WhereItAllBegan.

!!Examples:
[[AC: Anime/Manga]]

* ''{{Film/Pokemon}}'':

* ''IceAge'': Manny, Sid, and Deigo must take the baby Rosham back to his village.
* Moses in ''ThePrinceOfEgypt'' must return to Egypt in order to free his people.
* Simba from ''TheLionKing'' returns to his home of Pride Rock in order to dethrone Scar and claim his place as king.

[[AC: Film -- Live Action]]

* ''TheMatrix'': "Returning to The Source" were ArcWords about returning to the heart of the Matrix's mainframe, where everything originated and hitting a ResetButton (or something like that).
* Luke Skywalker has to return to Tatooine in ''ReturnOfTheJedi'' to save Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt.

[[AC: Literature]]
* ''Literature/HarounAndTheSeaOfStories'': Haroun and his friends on the moon of Kahani must go to the place in the Sea of Stories where all the stories originate, in order to stop Khattam-Shud from plugging it and corrupting all the stories with his "anti-stories". This part of the Sea of Stories, the Wellspring, is also appropriately called "the Source".

* ''LordOfTheRings'': Frodo must take the One Ring to its place of creation, Mount Doom in the land of Mordor, in order to destroy it and rid the world of its evil power.

[[AC: Live-Action TV]]

[[AC: Video Games]]
* ''{{Earthbound}}'': Ness and the others must fight Giygas at its weakest point in time, which is when it was first created.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'': Link has to return the Master Sword to its pedestal in order to gain access to the Temple of Time.

[[AC: Western Animation]]

[[AC: Real Life]]
* Several animals, such the Alaskan Salmon, travel back to their place of birth to spawn.