History Series / TheStarLost

!!Wick Check input (100 examples)

# WarpThatAesop.TheSimpsons: An interview with Lorne Michaels isn't considered sexually appealing. Churches usually have only one exit. Waffle batter + caramels + liquid smoke + a stick of butter = "Mmm, fattening". Random animals love to watch you shower. The average home has boxes of blasting caps and oily rags just lying around. Please do not offer the god a peanut. Jesus drove a blue car. When a fire starts to burn, there's a lesson you must learn: [[TheUnreveal something-something,]] then you'll see, you'll avoid catastrophe.
# Literature.{{Remnants}}: The Ancient Enemy, the source of the mutations, the Missing Five, just what the "Troika" are, Roger Dodger and D-Caf's dreams, how a Shipwright became Tamara's Baby (or maybe vice-versa), how Earth possibly reformed and civilization on it survived. Yeah, there's a lot of questions left hanging.
# Recap.GravityFallsS2E12ATaleOfTwoStans: Before Ford can reveal the mysteries of Gravity Falls to Dipper, Stan interferes and sends the kids to bed.
# Series.TheStarlost: MrExposition: Mu Lambda 165 helpfully explains the circumstances in the pilot episode once Devon works out how to use it, but due to missing 'playback cylinders' or damage from the unnamed 'accident' some things remain [[TheUnreveal TheUnreveal]], no doubt to be discovered in future unmade episodes.
# Characters.HousepetsDenizensOfHeaven: RiddleForTheAges: An actual riddle in-universe... granted, it's a riddle created by Pete himself: What is Pete's actual name and how is it pronounced and spelled? While raiding the temple, they find this riddle set-up like the one from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. [[TheUnreveal Tarot simply]] bypasses it by flying everyone over the pit.
# YMMV.PokemonGoldAndSilver: NightmareFuel: The opening in Crystal might just be the biggest Mind Screw in the franchise before the Arceus event in the remakes. The Last Note Nightmare, dramatically setting up The Reveal [[TheUnreveal that never happens,]] and given that there's still no Mind Screwdriver to date despite the remakes, it's unlikely there will ever be one.
# Characters.PokemonGenerationIIChikoritaToGranbull: Despite some Dex entries making a big deal about Wobbuffet being protective of their tails, even going so far as to suggest that this means there's some secret about said tails, the secret in question has never been revealed. Common fan speculation is that the tail is actually the true Pokémon, with the blue "body" being just a decoy, but this has not been confirmed.
# Characters.ArrowverseCentralCityIndependentCriminals: Why exactly is he on Oliver Queen's hit-list was not brought-up in his debut episode, which ironically also featured an important Crossover to Starling City. Considering he dies in his second appearance we're unlikely to find out too.
# Characters.CounterSideAlliesIToQ: By the end of "The Weak and the Strong", it's never explicitly stated whether the cause of her home burning down was her own awakening to her powers or the Matchmaker, but Minwoo believes that it's better that way. Episode 9.5 confirms that it's a mix of both: the fire was Yuri's, but the Matchmaker targeting her dad that night triggered it. The only reason she survived her own flames is the Mansion Master spiking her drink earlier that night when she was spending time with her family in [=ARC-KS1.=]
# Characters.{{Kiff}}: NoodleIncident: In "Principal Dance Socks", it's revealed that she was apparently involved in some sort of incident between her and Principal Swan. Despite Kiff, and later Renée, inquiring about said incident, [[TheUnreveal we don't get a proper answer]].
# Characters.WanderOverYonder: OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: He holds a conversation with himself in "The Greater Hater" where he asks what kind of name "Wander" is and his "reply" seems to be [[TheUnreveal cut off]] in the middle of saying it's not his real name. It's eventually revealed that he once went by "Tumbleweed", though this is likely yet ANOTHER alias. The implication here is that Wander has been through many many names, though his real name remains unknown.
# TearJerker.EdEddNEddysBigPictureShow: As this blog post details, there was a deleted scene showing the Eds sitting around their jar of fireflies and each of them confessing a secret. Ed would have admitted that he sometimes thinks Edd and Eddy are only his friends because their names are the same, and he knows that people underestimate him because of his simple-mindedness. Edd would have explained the infamous "dodgeball incident" from his past, which would have possibly tied into [[TheUnreveal what's under his hat]]. And Eddy? He would have told Ed and Edd more (false) stories about his brother, unable to bring himself to reveal the truth to them.
# Characters.{{Nefarious}}: Played for Laughs. A good chunk of The Scorpion is characters puzzling over who the heck the new Killjoy could be, with there being a strong build-up to Crow unmasking him. In the end Crow fails, because Killjoy wisely boobytrapped his helmet, Dr. Cackle doesn't tell the characters anything about Killjoy's true identity aside from him being "a lost soul" who "needed a second chance" and the plot-line concludes with Killjoy just flying off with no one the wiser about his identity or motives. Crow: Noooo!! Augh!! It's so unsatisfying!
# VideoGame.YoungJusticeLegacy: Whatever Klarion (and by extension the Light) intended to do with Tiamat. He denies to Nightwing that he wants to use it to destroy the world but refuses to give further details.
# ComicBook.MsMarvelTheNewMutant: Despite it being set up, when the opportunity to reveal what Kamala’s mutant power is, she chooses not to due to the potential danger.
# Film.TheCaptain: We never find out what happened to the owner of the uniform stolen by Herold.
# Characters.TheSmurfsVillains: Although he does lower his hood, on occasion, the audience only gets to see the back of his head. Note that this is a good thing. Other characters that actually see his face are immediately struck with uncontrollable terror, regardless of personal bravery, with the sole exception of Clockwork Smurf who, while disgusted, was immune thanks to his heart of gold.
# Recap.RugratsS1E3AtTheMoviesSlumberParty: MeltingFilmEffect: The babies' shenanigans in the cinema's projection room leads to the Dummi Bears: The Land Without Smiles film getting caught in it's projector and burning right at an important plot point. Worthy of note are the wacky bubble-like noises the film's soundtrack makes as it melts. Squeaky Bear: I know you're all wondering if little Shauna is going to pull through... (the others look aghast) Oh well... (warps a bit) [=[[TheUnreveal lookslikelittleShauna]],=] uh... (makes bubbling noises)
# Characters.Robin2021: DramaticUnmask: He shows his face to Rose Wilson during issue #11, but [[TheUnreveal his face is turned away from the reader]], meaning only Rose can see him. It does reveal he has white hair.
# Characters.FireEmblemAwakeningSecondGeneration: Her age. She tells female Morgan in their Harvest Scramble conversations, and Morgan confirms for us that Nah's not much younger or older than she is, but the player never hears the actual number. This is probably meant to keep Morgan's age a secret as well as Nah's (especially if Morgan is a fellow manakete herself).Though in Fire Emblem there are very, very few characters without a Vague Age so it doesn't stand out too much.
# Characters.DrakeAndJosh: Her name and job were never revealed in the series. Actually invoked in the final episode; a scene revealing that her name was Audrey and she owned a catering business was filmed, but Dan Schneider ultimately cut it in editing, deciding that it would be funnier to "keep the bit going for eternity".
# Recap.FreshOffTheBoatS2E20HiMyNameIs: We're never shown what name Evan chooses...at least, not legibly.
# Recap.SupernaturalS04E20TheRapture: Castiel never does tell Dean what he intended to tell him.
# VideoGame.Roadwar2000: It is never revealed what nationality the Invaders are or exactly why they hate America so much. Even in a bizarre encounter where you end up taking a plane to a deserted Invader base and discovering their plans to hunt down your gang with "death squads", these questions remain a mystery.
# Webcomic.ObamasHiddenInfoObjects: Parodied. We don't get to see or hear what's inside the file for Obama's last name when the season's winner opened it but it's obviously a joke as Obama is his last name.
# Literature.ThePact: One of the flashback scenes has Emily sending a note to Chris when they're children, but it gets stuck in a tree and they aren't able to get it out. Chris does finally get it out at the end of the novel, but by that point, it's aged so much that it's completely unreadable.
# Recap.StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS05E05TheAssignment: O'Brien asks why the entity has possessed Keiko rather than O'Brien himself. It's about to tell him when Bashir arrives, interrupting them. The topic doesn't come up again.
# Recap.OnePieceEggheadArc: The arc confirms that the dream shared by Roger and Luffy is not about being the Pirate King, but what comes after it. Even then the scene cuts away yet again as Luffy tells his crewmates about it, with most of them reacting in shock and remarking Luffy's dream is such an absurd idea. Whatever it is, he claims that Shanks, Ace, and Sabo laughed after hearing about it as well. The Five Elder Stars begin to unleash their powers when Sabo confronts them, but they are framed in shadow like Imu as they do so and are not seen in action before Sabo manages to get away. That being said, Saturn's powers are shown in Chapter 1094. Some of the God Valley incident is shown from Kuma's perspective as he uses his newly acquired powers to save people from a genocide festival. What Rocks and his crew were after in that island and the reason they clashed against Roger and lost are still left a mystery.
# Recap.WelcomeToNightValeLiveEpisodeTheLibrarian: The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your House texts her name to Cecil, but tells him not to tell.
# TotalDrama.TropesQToZ: How Duncan landed in juvie, and some other juicy bits about Heather and Gwen (IF that's her real name).
# Literature.TheChroniclesOfPrydain: There are two characters whose origins and true nature are deliberately left unclear: Taran and Arawn. We never learn who Taran's biological parents are. And we never learn who/what Arawn really is. After he's killed, he reverts to his true form which ends up lying face down on the floor, but before anyone can go near him, his fortress starts to crumble and everyone has to split.Though with Taran, the fact that it's not revealed, and in fact probably can't be revealed, is part of the point. He's not just the son of any two people, but all of Prydain, noble and common alike.
# Recap.HowIMetYourMotherS9E16HowYourMotherMetMe: The Reveal of the mother's name will not happen until the Grand Finale itself. Also, how exactly the mother's first boyfriend died was never stated.
# Recap.TheOwlHouseS2E20CloudsOnTheHorizon: Downplayed, but Luz has finally carved her Palisman in the shape of... an egg. Rather than this being the final form of her Palisman, she carved it as such so it could choose what it wants to be once it hatches.
# ComicBook.GiantSizeXMen: Magik catches Warlock, who's been pretending to be part of Cypher's arm for whatever reason, and asks him what he's doing. Warlock is about to explain, and then gets cut off.
# Recap.SonicTheHedgehogIDWBadGuys: We never see what's in the tubes that Starline is making. This miniseries is just to set up that plot point for later.
# WebVideo.SadPandaQAndA: Panda reveals how he actually writes a song in episode 2... while muted.
# Film.TheEndless: Whatever is on the bottom of the lake is never revealed past a strange shadow, but it deeply terrifies Justin. All we see is his scared reaction to it.
# Recap.TheNewAdventuresOfWinnieThePoohS3E3bTiggersHouseguest: We don't really get to see the termite up close.
# Funny.TheLooneyTunesShow: AmbiguousGender: "Can you at least tell me if you're a boy or a girl?" [...] [[TheUnreveal "Huh. I was wrong."]]
# Recap.WednesdayS1E1WednesdaysChildIsFullOfWoe: At one point, Enid asks where the rest of Thing (the detached hand) is. Wednesday simply says it's "one of the great Addams family mysteries".
# Fanfic.AllThatsLeft: Nedzu figures out which of his students is Revenant in Chapter 44, but the readers don't find out who it is.
# Recap.SpartacusBloodAndSandS1E7GreatAndUnfortunateThings: Spartacus is about to tell Sura his real name, but she says she already knows it.
# Recap.NCISS04E09: It's never explained how Ducky was able to establish the time of death of the goldfish, since, being cold-blooded, the liver-probe method used with humans and other mammals would be useless. Madison and Tate each finger the other as the one who actually stabbed Jeff and planted Sara's cell phone on his body; it is never revealed which of them actually did it, but Gibbs doesn't care, since they were both in the plot up to their necks.
# Recap.LiloAndStitchTheSeriesS2E19Rufus: It's never mentioned why Gantu's unavailable in this episode resulting in Hamsterviel having to hire Drakken to kidnap Stitch instead.
# Memes.NeonGenesisEvangelion: "Until now, your actions were exemplary... I did love you."
# Characters.TheWickedAndTheDivine: We don't learn the fourth and final rule (until later), just that she gave it.The Reveal: The 4th Rule: If Persephone gives birth, the game is over and Ananke is taken by the darkness. However, she says this is a lie to fool Ananke.
# VideoGame.PowerProKunPocket6: StrangerBehindTheMask: None of the suspects is the faceless time criminal, and his identity is [[TheUnreveal never revealed]] even when confronted and arrested.
# Characters.VampiresDawn: What exactly is the creature Jinnai?
# Characters.GranblueFantasyStoryCharacters: MysteriousWaif: Her powers are of unknown origin and, as noted, she has no memory from before being discovered by, experimented upon by, the Erste Empire. Mikaboshi and the Otherworldly Envoy eventually reveal everything to her, albeit the former is [[TheUnreveal TheUnreveal]] as it's entirely off-screen.
# WesternAnimation.MuchaLucha: Buena Girl's face in "Not So Buena Girl".
# VideoGame.BladeRunner1997: TomatoInTheMirror: The player may or may not be a replicant themselves. [[TheUnreveal Or they might never receive a straight answer to the question if they are or aren't one.]]
# Recap.ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphiaS07E12TheHighSchoolReunionPart1: The Waitress's real name isn't revealed, as the event organizers didn't make a nametag for her. Word of God says it's not "Nicki Potnick", the nametag Frank stole.
# Characters.SkulTheHeroSlayer: He never finds out that Skul is his son. The Witch tries to tell him after the Emperor's defeat, but Skul stops her, believing its better that his father doesn't know he's become a Demon.
# Recap.TitansS2E8Jericho: Despite the flashbacks showing his Origin Story, how Slade loses his eye is never shown or mentioned.
# ComicBook.TheSuperiorFoesOfSpiderMan: The portrait of Doctor Doom's true face is always blocked off by something in the environment.
# Recap.MontyPythonsFlyingCircusS1E1: We never learn what exactly the Funniest Joke in the World is. Though considering how many people it killed, that’s probably for the best.
# Recap.YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeriesS4E11RightInTheFeels: Tea: And I dreamed that the show actually explained how we survived that train crash. Yami: How did it go down in your dream? Tea: Well, you see, what happened was in the last second— Skye the Wolf attacks her Yami: Egyptian Jesus!
# Awesome.NickBertke: The "Splurgenshitter" video. There's nothing that will establish Nick's character better than him dancing around in a Darth Vader mask for 2 minutes.Even more awesome is the final shot, where Nick takes off his mask [[TheUnreveal but all we see is his silhouette]]. A very well-handled shot.
# Funny.SpiceAndWolf: The last episode of season one, Holo demands to know whose name Lawrence called out, her's or Girl of the Arc Nora the Shepherdess. Seeing that it's almost the top of the hour, and they're standing right underneath a bell tower, [[TheUnreveal he times his answer with the sound of the ringing bells]]. For the next minute all other sounds are drowned out, and we are treated with the normally-calm Holo in a fit of RAGE, yelling at Lawrence while he acts as though nothing unusual is going on. Matter-of-fact, he even does the "What? Can't hear you!" routine, which infuriates her even more, clearly having her shout [="IhateyouIhateyouIhateyou!"=] as she pounds his chest.Even funnier in the manga - he deliberately sneezes to answer her question. The followup above is still the same. "I'm pretty sure I called your name... because your name is a little shorter than hers is."
# VideoGame.NierAutomata: After the boss fight in the desert with the centipede-like Machine, A2 receives a chunk of 2B's memories in hacking space, where the Commander tells her that "normally you'd be known as...[[TheUnreveal (static interference)]], but from now on we'll be calling you 2B. This is the first direct clue the game gives you that 2B isn't her original designation.
# Film.HalloweenKills: FailedASpotCheck: When news first comes in of the killings, Tommy's in the bar when the TV shows Michael's face ([[TheUnreveal blurred out in the background, of course]]), but he's lost in his inner thoughts. Later, one of the reasons things escalate so badly in the hospital is because Tommy doesn't know what Michael looks like under the mask, leading to the wrongful death of the other mental patient when Tommy doesn't listen to Laurie and Karen trying to tell him it's not Michael.
# Theatre.MammaMia: WhosYourDaddy: The whole plot. Sophie trying to find out who her father is before her wedding day. [[TheUnreveal Sophie eventually decides she doesn't care]], though Word of God is that the father is Bill. Supported in-universe by his statement that the money Donna inherited from Bill's aunt "stayed in the family", although how his aunt could have known that when Donna didn't is anyone's guess.It's possible that Sophie has some distinctive family traits she inherited that Donna wasn't aware of because Bill's Aunt was the only family member of his that she had met, and that the Aunt was married into the family, so didn't look like the rest of them. The Aunt worked it out because she did know what all the rest of the family looked like, and saw that Sophie looked similar.
# Manga.KOn: In episode 3 of the second season, Sawako's attempts to look younger "goes too far", which results in her wearing a face mask and sunglasses to school. She shows her face to Yui and Ritsu, but viewer only sees the back of her head.
# VideoGame.DisgaeaRPG: MaliciousMisnaming: Etna does it twice: she calls the Villain Team-Up the "Final Boss Squad" instead of whatever name they actually came up with, and she refuses to let Fake Zenon [[TheUnreveal reveal his true name]].
# Webcomic.SomethingPositive: Davan: He's a 30+ year old pudding cat who can travel through drains but this is where your ability to believe is gonna be taxed? [= PeeJee:=] Even so, there's a point where reality dictates— Davan: How'd that woman in your job die again? note A Canadian Trapdoor Alligator burst out of the air-conditioning vent and ate her. [= PeeJee:=] This ice cream could use sprinkles.
# Literature.TheSpiderwickChronicles: The kids wonder at a few points why so many fay want the field guide so bad, and why Mulgarath in particular needs it to Take Over the World. They never really find out why by the end. A Lost Chapter reveals that while most fay know about their own strengths and weaknesses, they don't know much about each other's. However, since the fay often fight for dominance among each other, many would literally kill for that book. It's also why Mulgarath needs it to ensure his "enslave all other fay and mortals alike" scheme.
# Recap.AgentsOfSHIELDS7E01TheNewDeal: Jemma is evasive about how much time she's spent apart from the team, only that it's been "a while".
# QuestionableContent.TropesEToH: ForgedMessage: Played for Laughs in this guest strip, which might double as [[TheUnreveal TheUnreveal]] and definitely doubles as a parody of Hostess Fruit Pies ads. (You'd probably need to have some context of QC history to that point to understand it. There's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it line at the end that makes it fall into this trope.)
# Creator.ShinyaMurata: FlashStep: One antagonist in Jackals had this "Brand Nero" Shadow Walker skill for getting in people's blind spots that is countered by an Offhand Backhand called "Killing Bite". This is alluded to in both Arachnid and Caterpillar, where everyone keeps teleporting behind each other and Kabutomushi, who fights a Brand Nero user, can perform the Killing Bite as a direct Continuity Nod. Killing Bites appears named after that scene, but uses bait-and-switches on call backs to it — the anti-heroine who keeps prattling about "what Killing Bites is" is prevented from countering a flash step from Taiga by another opponent; and later when Taiga does get countered and soundly defeated, [[TheUnreveal it is by a mysterious antagonist offscreen]].
# Recap.TheBetrayedSorceress: Whatever Slive intended to inflict to Gandalf before the Baalds attacked them is left unknown.
# WebVideo.BestOfTheWorst: Invoked for Ninja III: The Domination. Rich: Oh my God it's her - we all knew that!
# Characters.PlusAnima: We don't see his Anima or the mark that comes with it, but we do see its shadow—it doesn't seem pleasant.
# Film.GroundhogDay: The audience never finds out how Phil got trapped in the time loop. He blames the groundhog at one point, but that was after a good deal of Sanity Slippage and killing it didn't break the loop anyway. Also, it is never explained why Phil was wearing his bathrobe in the diner when he finally told Rita all about his conundrum.
# Characters.YourTurnToDieGameParticipants: We never find out what her "unique info" for the survivors was supposed to be, because she forgot what it was.
# Recap.TeenTitansS5E9RevvedUp: It's never revealed what Robin's "most prized possession" is. Epileptic Trees abound.
# ComicBook.AvatarTheLastAirbenderThePromise: TheReveal: Zuko's final conversation with his father Ozai (which was cut off halfway after Zuko asked where his mother was) is shown in full here. [[TheUnreveal Ozai taunts Zuko by answering]] nothing about Ursa.
# Recap.JusticeLeagueS2E24To26Starcrossed: The outcome of the League's vote on Shayera's dismissal. However, Flash, Wonder Woman, and Superman's votes are either easily inferred or clearly stated, as was John’s non-vote. This only leaves the knowledge that Batman and J'onn voted opposite ways, though their votes can somewhat be inferred, as well. The final vote count won't be confirmed until "Wake the Dead".
# VideoGame.NewCalifornia: Through terminal entries you can find that the Father was once a Nightkin named Mark, and Word of God states your blood sample originated from a random blood splatter found on the floor at Mariposa, leaving your true identity a mystery.
# Film.CaptainMarvel2019: Near the beginning of the film, Carol and Yon-Rogg emphasize how no-one has seen the true form of the Supreme Intelligence. By the end of the film, that's still the case (probably because it would be tough to show this in live-action and not have it look silly).
# Recap.MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E11PartyPooped: We never do see what Yakyakistan is like beyond its gate.
# Recap.PhineasAndFerbWheresPerryPartOne: When Monogram sees a box of straws, it gives him an idea, not like the one he had about the— But it cuts to the next scene before we find out what his bad idea was.
# VideoGame.JimmyAndThePulsatingMass: MacGuffin: =] The Secret Knowledge, which holds the power to defeat The Pulsating Mass and what you spend the last third of the game chasing around. For extra "generic macguffin" points, you [[TheUnreveal never even figure out]] what exactly the instructions to defeat The Pulsating Mass are or what special characteristics it holds.
# Characters.TheHouseOfCrazinessOriginal: After so long one thing is learned about Shady... and it still leads to more questions. In this page, he is revealed in panel 17 to be a mutt of many different nationalities and races. In [1], he is revealed to have met gods before and has known of the Knights of Faith.
# Characters.GoodOmens2019: AscendedExtra: While Satan does prepare to make an appearance (with an earthquake warning of his arrival) in the book, Adam simply prevents his arrival with a wave of his hand, and thus [[TheUnreveal it's never revealed what Satan actually looks like]]. Here, Satan actually shows up in person and is able to exchange words with Adam before Adam sends him away.
# Recap.CowboyBebopSession20PierrotLeFou: For Spike. Jet and Ed spend the episode uncovering Mad Pierrot's true identity and background story before finally attempting to relay it to Spike. But at this point Pierrot is dead, and so Spike no longer cares who or what he is and declines to find out.
# Characters.CitadelOfTheHeartUnova: Her mysterious importance is never truly elaborated on when she finally appears in-person, which showcases her to be much more mundane, but otherwise a very strong trainer nevertheless.
# Characters.WarframeGrineer: We never see what the Queens looked like initially.
# GoMadFromTheRevelation.{{Literature}}: Over conceits of this sort the poor gentleman lost his wits, and used to lie awake striving to understand them and worm the meaning out of them; what Aristotle himself [[TheUnreveal could not have made out or extracted had he come to life again for that special purpose.]]
# Film.BlastFromThePast: Calvin asks that Helen never learn the truth that there was no nuclear war, since... well, judging that she's become an alcoholic after being locked in a shelter for thirty years for no reason, it's clear that she'd never forgive him.
# Film.{{Himala}}: Subverted. While it is not known who exactly is Elsa's killer and why he had done it, he is seen being beaten up by several men in response to his actions.
# ComicBook.{{Garulfo}}: Today, the Black Knight will show you his face.
# Characters.SidMeiersAlphaCentauri: TheStarscream: Back when the Unity launched, she used a few connections to get some of her fellow survivalists assigned to the vessel. Once the Unity arrived over Planet, she attempted a coup to take control of the ship, which ultimately fragmented the crew into the different splinter factions present at the start of the game. However, she did not actually assassinate Captain Garland. The real culprit [[TheUnreveal is never revealed]].
# Characters.RWBYAdamTaurus: In the Volume 6 Character Short, Adam is sometimes shown not wearing his mask. One scene consists of the camera focusing low down his body on the hand that's holding the mask. As he lifts his hand to put on his mask, the camera follows his hand up to his body and looks as though it's going to reach his exposed face and reveal for the first time what his eyes look like behind the mask. However, he manages to slip the mask on just before the camera reaches his face.
# VideoGame.BluePlanet: Just before Elder Taudigani could tell Laporte the secret of the transmission she received from the Vasudans, GTVA stealth fighters appear out of nowhere and destroy her shuttle.
# Literature.WhomGodsWouldDestroy: UnreliableNarrator: as expected for a tale proposing to piece together a secret history from first-person and second-hand accounts, there are multiple instances of misinterpretations, Alternate Character Interpretation, and people believing things that are flat out wrong or written Through the Eyes of Madness. Also, the reliance on such sources leads to many cases of [[TheUnreveal TheUnreveal]], That Was the Last Entry, and What Happened to the Mouse?.
# Characters.WarhammerDarkElves: No one sees his face and lives.
# Recap.MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E2PrincessTwilightSparklePart2: We never find out how Celestia and Luna learned of the Tree of Harmony, where it came from, or why their cutie marks are on it. The contents of the box that they receive at the end of the episode are probably not going to be revealed until the end of the season.
# Literature.DonQuixote: GoMadFromTheRevelation: Inverted: Don Quixote goes mad trying to make sense of the Purple Prose that plagued the chivalry books he has read, but [[TheUnreveal there never was any reveal]] because even Aristotle could not have made sense of it.
# Characters.BrawlStarsTanks: MaskedLuchador: His main inspiration. He even follows the tradition of never being seen without his mask. All of his skins are masked, and the one time he takes his mask off, [[TheUnreveal his face is blurred out]].
# Literature.EmilyBonesCityOfGhosts: we never learn how the dead are created.Also we don't learn if Emily can talk to Sophie in her ghost form.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_starlost_9083_8529.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Doesn't look 8000 miles long, does it?]]

->''“The giant Earth ship ARK… drifting through deep space over 800 years into the far future. Its passengers, descendants of the last survivors of the dead planet Earth, locked in separate worlds heading for destruction… unless three young people can save… The Starlost.”''
-->-- '''Opening narration'''

''The Starlost'' was a sci-fi television show broadcast on CTV in Canada and syndicated in the United States from 1973-1974, mostly remembered today for its TroubledProduction.

The Earth was doomed. So they built the Earthship ARK, a {{Generation Ship|s}} 8000 miles long and carrying a collection of fifty-three [[CityInABottle biospheres]], each populated with a [[PlanetOfHats unique culture]], and launched it towards another star. But early in the voyage there was an accident -- now [[EverybodysDeadDave the crew is dead]], the ship is off-course, the biospheres (along with their cultures) have been isolated from each other for centuries, and their peoples have forgotten that they are even aboard a ship.

Devon (Creator/KeirDullea of ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'') is an inquisitive young man native to the Amish-like culture of Cypress Corners. In love with [[LoveInterest Rachel]], he refuses to accept her ArrangedMarriage to his friend Garth. His disruptive ways win him no love from the Elders of Cypress Corners, and eventually expand his world beyond anything he imagined: he discovers in one night both the corruption of the Elders and an access hatch to the rest of the ship. Fleeing the Elders through the hatch, he explores the ship and uses its library computer system to discover a disturbing truth: within five years the ARK will plunge into a star. Devon returns to Cypress Corners to warn his friends and family, but is tried for heresy and sentenced to be executed. Garth helps him to escape the night before his execution, and Devon convinces both Garth and Rachel to follow him into the ship on a quest to find both the backup bridge and someone who can pilot.

Originally an award-winning script for a miniseries by Creator/HarlanEllison, it was changed into a series and was the victim of disastrous production problems and ExecutiveMeddling, eventually causing Ellison to take his name off the project. For the complete, unvarnished story of what happened to the series, see Ellison's book ''Phoenix Without Ashes''. For a comedic fictionalized version of the production troubles, see Ben Bova's novel ''The Starcrossed''.

Despite the many problems during production and the show's initial lukewarm ratings, it has a following, and a DVD boxset was released in 2008.
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!!This show provides examples of:

* TheAgeless: The kids in the "Children of Methuselah" episode appear to have been given an immortality serum before reaching puberty.
* AIIsACrapshoot:
** "Can I be of... assistance?" The computer interface for the entire ship, Mu Lambda 165, is a mildly condescending, occasionally glitchy computer AI who manages to irritate just about everyone.
** There's also Magnus in "Gallery of Fear," an AI who wanted to [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters Turn Against His Masters]], but never got the chance. Gets into an argument with the other AI at one point.
* AliensAreBastards: Oro. To his credit, it looks like he genuinely wants to save Ydana's life. But it turns out that his planet wants to salvage the ARK, likely at the expense of everyone on board, and he has no problem with this.
* AttendingYourOwnFuneral: Devon escapes Cypress Corners through the sealed door marked with a warning of death to anyone who enters. Elder Jeremiah declares that he's fallen into a bottomless pit (turns out it's an EndlessCorridor) and is embarrassed when Devon returns in time for his funeral. Elder Jeremiah then says it's a funeral mourning Devon's loss of faith, declares him a blasphemer and has Devon gagged and sentenced to death by stoning when he tries to tell everyone else what he's seen.
* BeeAfraid: One of the episodes had a biosphere where ''giant'' bees were raised.
* CataclysmBackstory: Two of them. Something that was going to end to all life on Earth, and something that happened to the ARK, killing the ship's crew, disabling the engines, and sending the ship on a long-term collision course with a star. It's never explained what specifically happened.
* CityInABottle: The biospheres, which were kept isolated to preserve their different cultures until it was time to settle on a planet. This enables each biosphere to be a plausible PlanetOfHats for our heroes to vist and then leave.
* CompilationMovie: five [[MadeForTVMovie TV movies]] were culled from the series, like both the episodes with Creator/WalterKoenig as alien visitor Oro.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Mr. Smith, an ArmsDealer and the sociopathic leader of the Manchester biosphere.
* EndlessCorridor: This is the first thing Devon sees when he steps through the sealed door to the supposedly deadly realm beyond. He takes a tentative step into the corridor only for ArtificialGravity to pick him up and hurl him, flailing helplessly, down the corridor to be deposited harmlessly at the other end. After his initial terror, he comes to enjoy the experience.
* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: The MythArc of the series, to find a way to fix the ship and prevent the destruction of the last survivors of Earth.
* EverybodysDeadDave: The ship's crew. Lampshaded out of universe as Devon's face is well known as [[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey another fellow named Dave who also discovered this in another movie that predates the trope namer]].
* EvilChancellor: Roloff, to Queen Serena.
* FantasticVoyagePlot: A variation in which the characters aren't shrunk, but are put into a heightened state of sleep that allows them to telekinetically project miniature versions of themselves inside a computer circuit.
* {{Gendercide}}: The Omnicron biosphere consists entirely of men, due to chromosome damage. Which is also an example of ArtisticLicenseBiology, since in mammals the ''default'' development pathway is ''female''. You need the special genes on the Y chromosome to develop as a male, and not having a functional X chromosome is universally fatal.
* GenerationShips: One that as the centuries turned, most of its inhabitants didn't knew or notice they were in space.
* GodGuise: The Elders of Cypress Corners take guidance from a [[MachineWorship Creator that's shown to be a computer interface]]. However Devon spies Elder Jeremiah putting instructions down on a tape which is then inserted into the computer. The computer then converts his voice to a MachineMonotone to make it look as if the Creator is giving these instructions.
* HowWeGotHere: The series opens on our three protagonists staring in awe through the windows of TheBridge [[FirstTimeInTheSun at the vast generation ship moving through outer space.]] Garth looks fearful and says they should return home, but Devon says he'll never go back. Cue flashback to show us why.
* HumanPopsicle: Dr. Gerald W. Aaron. Frozen because there was no known cure for his "radiation virus". Woken up in the future because the main characters didn't know any better, not realizing he had only two hours left to live.
* LimitedWardrobe: Devon, Garth and Rachel almost never changed out of the clothes they wore when they left Cypress Corners. Everyone else gets SpaceClothes.
* LiquidAssets: The crew of ''The Pisces'' can only be "cured" if they return to their ship and resume traveling at close to the speed of light for the rest of their lives.
* MadScientist: Strangely for a science-fiction series, scientific experts were mostly shown in a very bad light. Dr. Asgard's callous social experiments, Richards attempting to blow up the ship, Dr. Farthing endangering everyone by trying to study a comet up-close, and Dr. Marshall developing giant, mutant bees.
* MasterOfIllusion: Magnus.
* MrExposition: Mu Lambda 165 helpfully explains the circumstances in the pilot episode once Devon works out how to use it, but due to missing 'playback cylinders' or damage from the unnamed 'accident' some things remain TheUnreveal, no doubt to be [[CutShort discovered in future unmade episodes]].
* MythArc: The series is ''supposed'' to have one of these; a quest to regain control of the ship. But aside from finding out that the engines are down, and guessing that there might be a back-up Bridge somewhere, there is no progress made whatsoever. A subdued variation of FailureIsTheOnlyOption, in which the protagonists only meet people who can't (or won't) help them.
* NobleBigot: Colonel Garroway of ''The Pisces'' is patronizing towards women (including his two remaining crew members, both female) and anyone of lower rank. As reviewer James Nicoll put it, "Garroway struck me as having been selected (for the mission) mainly on the strength of being the sort of middle manager people would not mind the absence of for ten years or so."
* NoImmortalInertia: The crew of ''The Pisces'' are subject to something like this once they stop traveling relativistically.
* {{Novelization}}: In 1975, Creator/HarlanEllison and Creator/EdwardBryant co-wrote ''Phoenix Without Ashes'', a novelization of Ellison and Creator/BenBova's original pilot concept for ''The Starlost''. It stands as the only commercial release related to the series upon which Ellison ascribed his own name rather than "[[AlanSmithee Cordwainer Bird]]"; in 2012 it was adapted as a graphic novel by IDW Comics.
* OnlyOneName: In the introduction for the novelization ''Phoenix Without Ashes'', Harlan Ellison explains that in such a small, controlled society, there need not be more than one Devon, Rachel, or Garth. And also, the names are passed from generation to generation. Therefore, for example, "Old Garth" is the father of "Young Garth" who would become "Old Garth" upon the passing of the previous "Old Garth". In the duration where there are three living generations, the grandfather is "Old" and the middle generation is "Elder" till the passing of the grandfather.[[note]]It is worth noting that Devon was regularly called "Young Devon" despite being an orphan, thus the only living male of his line. This may have been because although a young adult, he was still unmarried and not even betrothed to anyone; unthinkable in their culture.[[/note]] Women are identified by their one name plus "daughter of (insert father's name)" or "wife of (insert husband's name)" in keeping with strict gender roles. Real Amish do have actual last names which are usually German.
* OrnamentalWeapon: Garth never gets to fire his crossbow during the entire series. It gets used exactly once, by someone else.
* PlanetOfHats: The biospheres, each of whom had a distinctive population (the protagonists hail from a SpaceAmish one, for instance).
* PlotHole: Increasingly huge ones. The protagonists meet progressively more intelligent people as the series continues, none of whom seem to be trying to save the ship, who either dismiss the possibility of fixing it or are simply too busy to care. Even if it's outside their expertise, you'd think they'd at least know how to track down more information. Eventually the ARK is shown to have an active medical crew, a police force, and an educational Academy is even mentioned. On top of that, the area of space they're flying through seems to have at least three advanced species of aliens in it (and a fully populated solar system nearby), but no one steps forward to help.
* PollutedWasteland: Mr. Smith's industrialized dome has an extremely poisonous atmosphere if you wander out of the protected areas.
* PornStache: Worn by Devon. At least he has an excuse, coming from a SpaceAmish colony where it's fashionable to have facial hair.
* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale:
** The broadcast version of the ARK is allegedly ''13,000 kilometers'' long, although the model ship seen throughout the series didn't look anywhere that big. The Earth itself is only 12,756 kilometers in diameter.
** Despite being on a random course, the out-of-control ARK manages to be on a collision course with a star; given the sizes and distances involved, this is practically impossible. However it's stated to be a G-type star like the one the ARK was sent to find, so it may well be their intended destination, with the collision course a navigation error due to the undescribed accident.
** Mu Lambda 165 says ARK was created so humanity would survive a "catastrophe of galactic proportions". You'd need more than a generation ship to travel to another galaxy.
* ShockCollar: The Implant People.
* SpaceAmish: Cypress Corners, the original home of the protagonists. As a result, most people treat them condescendingly at first. When Garth gets asked where he's from in "The Implant People," he replies, "I come from... another part of the Ark."
* TimeDilation: The crew of ''The Pisces'' were victims of this.
* TwoGuysAndAGirl: The protagonists, which are also a LoveTriangle.
* UniverseBible: Ellison had provided one, with some help from Ben Bova, but many aspects were changed or ignored.
* VitriolicBestBuds: Devon and Garth. But this gets downplayed along with the LoveTriangle after the first two episodes. After that, they clash only occasionally when Garth gets into one of his [[HeroicBSOD "It's hopeless, let's just go home!"]] moods, but Devon and Rachel always manage to convince him to stay and press on. And Garth settles for BetterAsFriends with Rachel.
* YouNoTakeCandle: The primitive people living in the halls in the "Lazarus from the Mist" episode.
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* GodGuise: The Elders of Cypress Corners take guidance from a [[MachineWorship Creator that's shown to be a computer interface]]. However Devon spies the Elders putting instructions down on tape, which is then inserted into the computer which converts their voice to a MachineMonotone to make it look as the Creator is giving these instructions.

* MrExposition: Mu Lambda 165 helpfully explains the circumstances in the pilot episode, once Devon works out how to use it, but due to missing 'playback cylinders' or damage from the unnamed 'accident' some things remain TheUnreveal, no doubt to be [[CutShort discovered in future unmade episodes]].

* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: The broadcast version of the ARK is allegedly ''13,000 kilometers'' long, although the model ship seen throughout the series didn't look anywhere that big. The Earth itself is only 12,756 kilometers in diameter. Similarly, despite being on a random course, the out-of-control ARK manages to be on a collision course with a star; given the sizes and distances involved, this is practically impossible.

* MrExposition: Mu Lambda 165 helpfully explains the circumstances once Devon works out how to use it, but due to missing information spools or damage from the unnamed 'accident', some things remain TheUnreveal, no doubt to be [[CutShort discovered in unmade episodes]].

* MrExposition: Mu Lambda 165 helpfully explains the circumstances once Devon works out how to use it, but due to missing information spools or damage from the unnamed 'accident', some things remain TheUnreveal, no doubt to be [[CutShort discovered in later episodes]].