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BeerBaron
Since: Mar, 2012
8th Dec, 2023 07:42:14 AM
The "big battles" in many of those works are examples of Hold the Line, as winning isn't the goal so much as holding out until the "smaller battle" can be won.
Return of the Jedi is the tricky one in that list, as the "big battle" (in space around the Death Star) hinges on the success of the smaller battle (down on the moon to destroy the shield generator).
Edited by BeerBaron
MetaFour
MOD
(Old Master)
8th Dec, 2023 01:46:50 PM
Also often involves a Keystone Army.
At the end of an eventful, epic adventure, thousands of good-guy soldiers meet thousands of bad-guy soldiers in a huge, epic battle that will invariably involve lots of rousing speeches, war cries, bravery, and a heroic sacrifice or two. It will feel like it should be the climax of the story, except . . . the outcome of this battle will have little or no effect on the war. Somewhere away from the action there is a smaller, hidden duel happening between the main hero and the main villain, and it is the outcome of THAT smaller fight — the REAL battle — that will determine the course of the story. The big showy battle doesn't really matter. In fact sometimes the good guys ultimately lose the big battle, but nevertheless everything is okay because the hero prevailed in the smaller fight.
Examples of this troupe include: Return of the Jedi, Willow, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.