Discussion Main / TheRestShallPass

This name is a terrible snowclone. "You Shall Not Pass" is a line addressing the thing being stopped, so the name implies that ONE attacker "shall not pass," but anyone else is fine. But it seems to be that "the rest" is meant to refer to members of the party of the one doing the stopping. So what are they "the rest" of, and what are they "passing"?

EDIT: Actually, reading it again, I misunderstood it. It's not about someone stopping only one member of the party, it's about him trying to stop the whole party and one of them keeping him occupied. I don't think the name makes this remotely clear.

If it must be a snowclone, something like "One Of You Shall Not Pass" might be better.

Is it just me, or is this trope completely missing?

I've removed the Belgariad section, the quoted section below clearly shows it doesn't meet this trope

"It's been a long time, hasn't it, Garion?" Brill said quietly with an ugly chuckle. "Stay back," Garion warned, holding his sword with its point tow as Barak had taught him. "I knew that I'd catch you alone someday," Brill said, ignoring the sword. He spread his hands wide and crouched slightly, his cast eye gleaming in the starlight. Garion backed away, waving his sword threateningly. Brill bounded to one side, and Garion instinctively followed him with the sword point. Then, so fast that Garion could not follow, Brill dodged back and struck his hand down sharply on the boy's forearm. Garion's sword skittered away across the icy flagstones. Desperately, Garion reached for his dagger.

Then another shadow flickered in the darkness at the corner of the tower. Brill grunted as a foot caught him solidly in the side. He fell, but rolled quickly across the stones and came back up onto his feet, his stance wide and his hands moving slowly in the air in front of him. Silk dropped his Murgo robe behind him, kicked it out of the way, and crouched, his hands also spread wide. Brill grinned. "I should have known you were around somewhere, Kheldar." "I suppose I should have expected you too, Kordoch," Silk replied. "You always seem to show up." Brill flicked a quick hand toward Silk's face, but the little man easily avoided it. "How do you keep getting ahead of us?" he asked, almost conversationally. "That's a habit of yours that's starting to irritateBelgarath." He launched a quick kick at Brill's groin, but the cast-eyed man jumped back agilely. Brill laughed shortly. "You people are too tender-hearted with horses," he said. "I've had to ride quite a few of them to death chasing you. How did you get out of that pit?" He sounded interested. "Taur Urgas was furious the next morning." "What a shame." "He had the guards flayed." "I imagine a Murgo looks a bit peculiar without his skin." Brill dove forward suddenly, both hands extended, but Silk sidestepped the lunge and smashed his hand sharply down in the middle of Brill's back. Brill grunted again, but rolled clear farther out on the stones atop the wall. "You might be just as good as they say," he admitted grudgingly. "Try me, Kordoch," Silk invited, with a nasty grin. He moved out from the wall of the tower, his hands in constant motion. Garion watched the two circling each other with his heart in his mouth.

Brill jumped again, with both feet lashing out, but Silk dove under him. They both rolled to their feet again. Silk's left hand flashed out, even as he came to his feet, catching Brill high on the head. Brill reeled from the blow, but managed to kick Silk's knee as he spun away. "Your technique's defensive, Kheldar," he grated, shaking his head to clear the effects of Silk's blow. "That's a weakness." "Just a difference of style, Kordoch," Silk replied.

Grill drove a gouging thumb at Silk's eye, but Silk blocked it and slammed a quick counterblow to the pit ofhis enemy's stomach. Brill scissored his legs as he fell, sweeping Silk's legs out from under him. Both men tumbled across the frosty stones and sprang to their feet again, their hands flickering blows faster than Garion's eyes could follow them.

The mistake was a simple one, so slight that Garion could not even be sure it was a mistake. Brill flicked a jab at Silk's face that was an ounce or two harder than it should have been and traveled no more than a fraction of an inch too far. Silk's hands flashed up and caught his opponent's wrist with a deadly grip and he rolled backward toward the parapet, his legs coiling, even as the two of them fell. Jerked off balance, Brill seemed almost to dive forward. Silk's legs straightened suddenly, launching the cast-eyed man up and forward with a tremendous heave. With a strangled exclamation Brill clutched desperately at one of the stone blocks of the parapet as he sailed over, but he was too high and his momentum was too great. He hurtled over the parapet, plunging out and down into the darkness below the wall. His scream faded horribly as he fell, lost in the sound of yet another shriek from the Temple of Torak. Silk rose to his feet, glanced once over the edge, and then came back to where Garion stood trembling in the shadows by the tower wall.

"Silk!" Garion exclaimed, catching the little man's arm in relief. "What was that?" Belgarath asked, coming back around the corner. "Brill," Silk replied blandly, pulling his Murgo robe back on. "Again?" Belgarath demanded with exasperation. "What was he doing this time?" "Trying to fly, last time I saw him." Silk smirked. The old man looked puzzled. "He wasn't doing it very well," Silk added. Belgarath shrugged. "Maybe it'll come to him in time." "He doesn't really have all that much time." Silk glanced out over the edge. From far below - terribly far below - there came a faint, muffled crash; then, after several seconds, another.

"Does bouncing count?" Silk asked. Belgarath made a wry face. "Not really." "Then I'd say he didn't learn in time." Silk said blithely. He looked around with a broad smile. "What a beautiful night this is," he remarked to no one in particular.