{"id":7244,"date":"2012-05-01T08:48:43","date_gmt":"2012-05-01T13:48:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/?p=7244"},"modified":"2012-05-01T08:51:52","modified_gmt":"2012-05-01T13:51:52","slug":"trope-tuesday-the-cavalry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/trope-tuesday-the-cavalry\/","title":{"rendered":"Trope Tuesday: The Cavalry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EmTz7EAYLrs\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"500\" height=\"254\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Things look bleak: the <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/BigBad\" target=\"_blank\">Big Bad<\/a> is on the verge of <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/TakeOverTheWorld\" target=\"_blank\">conquering the world<\/a>, and the heroes have gathered for one <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/LastStand\" target=\"_blank\">last stand<\/a>. \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/JustInTime\" target=\"_blank\">Just when it looks like all hope is lost<\/a>, a horn sounds in the distance, and <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/TheCavalry\" target=\"_blank\">the cavalry<\/a> arrive to save the day. \u00a0Whether a <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/RagtagBunchOfMisfits\" target=\"_blank\">ragtag bunch of minor characters,<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/ArmyOfThievesAndWhores\" target=\"_blank\">an army of unlikely heroes<\/a>,\u00a0or <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/EagleSquadron\" target=\"_blank\">the ultra-heroic Eagle Squadron<\/a>, the timely reinforcements use their\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/GunshipRescue\" target=\"_blank\">overwhelming force<\/a> to crush the villains and save the day.<\/p>\n<p>When done right, this trope can be one of the <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/SugarWiki\/MomentOfAwesome?from=Main.CrowningMomentOfAwesome\" target=\"_blank\">defining moments of greatness<\/a>\u00a0of the entire work. \u00a0When done wrong, however, it becomes little more than a <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/DeusExMachina\" target=\"_blank\">Deus Ex Machina<\/a> of the most unsatisfying kind. \u00a0How, then, can this moment be done right?<\/p>\n<p>As with any Deus Ex, one of the keys is to adequately foreshadow the end. \u00a0This often takes the form of <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/GondorCallsForAid\" target=\"_blank\">Gondor Calls For Aid<\/a>, when the heroes petition <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/TheCavalry\" target=\"_blank\">the cavalry<\/a> for assistance before going into battle. To make things interesting, the relationship between the two parties is often <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/EnemyMine?from=Main.StrangeBedfellows\" target=\"_blank\">complicated and ambiguous<\/a>, making it doubtable that the cavalry will actually show up.<\/p>\n<p>However, I think it goes deeper than this. \u00a0In order for <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/BigDamnHeroes\" target=\"_blank\">the arrival of the cavalry<\/a>\u00a0to be satisfying, it needs to not invalidate everything that the heroes have already gone through. \u00a0If the cavalry shows up <em>after<\/em>\u00a0the heroes have defeated the Big Bad, and essentially rescue them from a <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/HeroicSacrifice\" target=\"_blank\">heroic sacrifice<\/a>, that&#8217;s satisfying. \u00a0If the heroes are still fighting the Big Bad and the cavalry comes out of nowhere to hand them an <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/EarnYourHappyEnding\" target=\"_blank\">unearned victory<\/a>, that&#8217;s cheap.<\/p>\n<p>In English 318R, Brandon Sanderson often used the film versions of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy to illustrate this. \u00a0The Battle of Helm&#8217;s Deep was satisfying, because the entire premise was to hold out until the third day. \u00a0When Eomer arrived with the Rohirrim on the morning of the third day and swept away the Uruk-Hai, that didn&#8217;t invalidate King Theoden&#8217;s efforts because all he was trying to do was survive.<\/p>\n<p>In the Battle of Minas Tirith, however, Aragorn&#8217;s arrival with the unbeatable army of the dead was kind of cheap, because the premise was to defeat the orcs, not to hold out for reinforcements. \u00a0Gondor could have just stood down and let the orc army capture the city, and they still would have won in the end.<\/p>\n<p>The two genres where you&#8217;re most likely to see this trope are westerns (trope namer) and heroic fantasy. Just about every David Gemmell novel involves a cavalry moment of some kind, and I <em>looove<\/em>\u00a0it. \u00a0It&#8217;s also quite common in military science fiction, too&#8211;basically, any story where war is a major part of the narrative.<\/p>\n<p>The variations on this trope are also quite fascinating. \u00a0For example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/CavalryBetrayal\" target=\"_blank\">Cavalry Betrayal<\/a>: When the cavalry switch sides in the final battle, utterly crushing all hope of victory.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/TheCavalryArrivesLate\" target=\"_blank\">The Cavalry Arrives Late<\/a>: When the heroes defeat the bad guys on their own, and the cavalry cleans up the mess.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/ComeWithMeIfYouWantToLive\" target=\"_blank\">Come with Me If You Want to Live<\/a>: When the cavalry rescue the heroes from danger midway through the story.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/CavalryRefusal\" target=\"_blank\">Cavalry Refusal<\/a>: When the only ones who could save the heroes refuse to do so.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/RedshirtArmy\" target=\"_blank\">Redshirt Army<\/a>: When the cavalry is utterly useless.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/BolivianArmyEnding\" target=\"_blank\">Bolivian Army Ending<\/a>: When everything goes terribly, horribly wrong.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Things look bleak: the Big Bad is on the verge of conquering the world, and the heroes have gathered for one last stand. \u00a0Just when it looks like all hope is lost, a horn sounds in the distance, and the cavalry arrive to save the day. \u00a0Whether a ragtag bunch of minor characters, an army&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/trope-tuesday-the-cavalry\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Trope Tuesday: The Cavalry<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[78,715,222,94,682,1005,700,202,641,565,626,621],"class_list":["post-7244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-brandon-sanderson","tag-deus-ex-machina","tag-endings","tag-english-318","tag-foreshadowing","tag-heroic-fantasy","tag-lord-of-the-rings","tag-military-science-fiction","tag-trope-tuesday","tag-tropes-and-cliches","tag-tvtropes","tag-westerns","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7iXK-1SQ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7244"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7244\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7246,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7244\/revisions\/7246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}