#like ok yeah its fun to have mysterious antagonists and suspense /tension etc but its also fun to feel like you deeply understand them too

[13eyond13]

love it when a character that's hard to read intuitively for you has like a dedicated fandom interpreter who can just glance at their blank face in a panel and then give you a 3k word essay on their innermost thoughts & desires & fears and neatly tie it back into the themes & whatnot as if it's the most obvious thing in the world

[odrseasonone]

Pilot Outline??

So imma do it - I’m gonna try something I rarely do...a story outline!!  Something I hate doing!!  That’s how PUMPED I am aklsdjflkdjsf ;DDD  Also, I feel like I need it to get my thoughts in order bc basically the inside of my skull is just incoherent screaming on a constant loop ;DDDD  WARNING: this is gonna be a long post!!! ;D

main purpose of pilot: to introduce main characters (main protagonist: roran; main antagonist(s): cassius, rowena, dmitrei, dezód), world, & general plot

must establish what is normal vs what therefore is not

also the foundational relationships, which are roran & arya (at end), roran & charles, roran & cassius, charles & cassius, cassius & rowena, the resistance

things to consider: the 5 w’s

who

what

where

when

why

main action of the pilot episode (which must, itself, act as the inciting incident for the action of the entire series): 

additionally each primary character, as well as the episode plot, should have some sort arc a la:

beginning/inciting incident/set-up: 

start:

inciting incident:

middle/rising action/confrontation:

obstacle to overcome:

midpoint:

tension rises:

end/climax, resolution/resolution:

climax:

dénoument:

so roran is our main character, but since his story doesn’t really start until the end of this episode (finding the egg), he is not the protagonist of this particular episode.  in fact, as i’m thinking about it, he might not even be fully introduced until a later episode - finding the egg could essentially serve as his introduction?????? bc im finding it a bit jarring to try and introduce both his thread and the ~political thread at the same time in terms of keeping things happening and not just focusing on exposition??????

i’m struggling to narrow down what to focus on in the pilot and what i’m starting to wrestle out of all of this is that...maybe alexandir or alaric or even cassius or rowena is the protagonist of the pilot episode??????

So here are some potential outlines as a result of this line of thought!!  I also 100% feel we could overlap all of these and, if we go that route, that should make a nicely full episode!!  I’ve isolated 6 (w a possible 7th in Roran??) potential focal characters for the pilot that I think, woven together, could form a pr coherent story for the pilot.  Whatcha think?

focal character: ALEXANDIR GODIVA

INCITING INCIDENT: The war is won

start: establish alex’s experience in the war!! show the flow of his life and how he feels to see it come to an end

inciting incident: alex’s fifteen years of life must now change as he leaves behind combat and returns home

to a family who wants him dead - a fact of which he is utterly aware and doesn’t particularly expect to survive

RISING ACTION: alex returns to the imperial city

obstacle to overcome (that is, particular incident w/ which the episode will deal): ???????????? maybe he helps GUIN????

establish character arc obstacle: his family wants him dead!!! he wants to change aragoth for the better...and survive it

also wants to find and help the rebels!! and throne HELENA

his bio states that he would’ve returned earlier, but he spent time looking for aalis - i’d forgotten!

no one at home is particularly happy to see him besides some kids who he doesn’t really know!! #goodtimes

midpoint: alex tells CASSIUS just what he thinks and that sort of clears the air even tho alex is probs like ‘yup im 100% dead now’

tension rises: the possible helping of GUIN????????? something else????????

END: ????????????????

climax: more to do w the possible helping of GUIN???????

dénoument: he may or may not suspect guin’s involvement w the resistance but he at least knows there are other good ppl at court

resolution: alex decides he’s gonna do everything he can do to help aragoth here at court && even goes to coucil meeting

focal character: ALARIC DE MONTFORT

START: we spot alaric helping out some beggars, giving them bread and coin tho we see he doesn’t have much, himself, see his forest home, etc.

we don’t know anything about his background tho we only know what we see today

except for a loose sprinkling of little clues

we also see his relationships w the various members of the resistance tho probs focus most on GUIN for this ep

and also CEDRIC just bc they’re so tight but GUIN’s def the bigger character here to focus on!!

INCITING INCIDENT: tax collectors come to town to further clamp down on the ppl!! no thanks!! #getoutofmycounty

alaric quickly sees that he can turn this to their advantage, however, as all the gold that’s been collected has to be transported

and they can 100% make that work for them

we also see through this, not only that he’s done this before, but also that he has a history w the roads, the county, the laws...

OBSTACLE TO OVERCOME: ppl!!! starving!!!!!

ok he doesn’t have any permanent fix but he’s got some impermanent ideas to help things along!

and he’s working towards a better future so there’s that!!

MIDPOINT: setting the plan in motion i guess???????

TENSION RISES: receives info from CASSIUS via GUIN!!!! 

CLIMAX: the whole burning village scenario

DENOUMENT: handing out all the $$$$$$$ to the ppl successfully but knowing that ppl have been hurt and killed 

and things could easily have gone ever WORSE

‘if only we had a dragonrider on our side too hmmm’ ~alaric, probs ;D

RESOLUTION: resolution is a really strong word for the end of a pilot ep ;D but i guess he knows better what the stakes are 

and can plan accordingly

focal character: CASSIUS MONTAGU

start: cassius is tasked w the v happy task of getting to tell ROWENA her uncle is coming back!! yay!! not a dreaded thing at aLL!!!

inciting incident: returns the imperial city to find that the privy council is meeting w/o him rudE!!!! 100% convinced they’re plotting

(lbr he’s probs right)

acts! like! an! ass!

++ a fun meeting w ROWENA #notweird

obstacle to overcome: aLEX is baCK!!!!! & this is weird bc cassius likes him which is worSE then when he doesn’t like ppl!!!! 

also keeping the status quo, in general, on an even keel despite the resistance

esp bc 50/50 chance he’ll have to kill alex asp too

also fun bc asp they’ll be the two (2) suspects for JON’s murder and cassius be like [ x ]

midpoint: he and alex reach a weird understanding in that alex tells him exactly what he thinks and cassius is like ‘...yeaH’ 

and weirdly pleased to learn that at least one (1) person is still honest

even tho it sucks bc alex is like ‘yo i know what you did and whY’

also use this confrontation to build up cassius’ bad rep ;D

tension rises: something w the resistance and getting the queen’s tax???????????? and alex??????????????

climax: an adventure scene!! someone/something 100% gets set on fire and cassius walks through it like the bad, bad badass he is

dénoument: the resistance still gets the $$$$$$$ tho even tho like a town or something has been burned to the ground

and obv the privy council spins this to their benefit likE ‘those evil rebels burned ur village!! by summoning the fury of cassius!’

resolution: mah boy knows he needs to stay on his toes 

but honestly pr much things’re the same for him as they ever were 

so i guess this is basically a ‘the hero’s journey’™ ep for him that way ;DDD jk jk

focal character: GUINEVERE FONTAINE

start: we start out w her at the resistance camp as someone fighting to make a better world!!

not ready to show too much of her life, that’ll come later, she’s mostly a bridge between plots here

we can probs infer tho from her dress and ofc her court connections that she’s of rank

also the fact that at court she’s ‘lady fontaine’ might give some of that away aldjfklsdjfkljdsf

inciting incident: the meeting w ALARIC at camp where they hatch their possible redistribution of wealth scheme ;D

obstacle to overcome: she’s a spy!! her whole situation is just terrible!!

mostly tho trying to get info to the resistance from court w/o getting caught herself

esp bc she’s exploiting CASSIUS and that’s just...noT the position you wanna be in

esp when you watch him walk out of a fire unhurt and ur like ‘im gonna piss off THAT guy’ isabella does NOT approve

midpoint: guin uses a moment of CASSIUS’ tenderness to get some precious info...

tension rises: that she then has to get to the resistance w/o being caught!!

cue a whole sneaking around scene(s) && ahhhhh suspense stuff probs

what is this precious info you may ask???? NO! CLUE!

climax: deF a scene where she almost gets caught and maybe even thinks she’s been recognized for a moment

dénoument: it turns out she’s scott free buT she now knows she needs to be v, v careful

resolution: she’s still alive AND still in danger but she decides to continue anyway bc she’s a brave babe and believes in good <3

focal character: ROWENA GODIVA

start: the mysterious gracious queen enjoying her regal splendour!! its good to be queen!! 

esp a dark queen 

beautiful, and terrible as the dawn, treacherous as the sea, stronger than the foundations of the earth! all shall love her and despair!

inciting incident: CASSIUS brings her some bad news that not only is her uncle NOT dead, he’s also coming back home a hero

making the political situation untenable for offing him quickly

instead she has to reward him!!! gross!!!!

ofc she decides to use this v reward to kill him AND warn AVELINA but we don’t know that yet

or really anything she’s thinking!!

obstacle to overcome: rowena’s got a few! but she thinks atm that she’s stopped the prophecy (which she believes was about her not dezod)

her main thing now is mostly maintaining her own power: a goal troubled by alex’s reappearance esp w/ ROMAYNE

++ the pesky resistance situation but mostly she just sicks CASSIUS on them

and (eventually) she turns both political situations to her own favor...as always

AND punishes CASSIUS for letting things get out of hand by arranging her wedding to someone else!!

midpoint: announces her intention to wed ROMAYNE, thus helping to neutralize him as a political opponent, etc.

and essentially making him a glorified hostage yay!

tension rises: ?????????????????

climax: ?????????????????

dénoument: good help is really hard to find, these days, but at least CASSIUS isn’t 100% useless ;D

he’s still just as good at burning down villages and instilling the fear of GODS in the populace as ever so that’s something ;D

resolution: everyone’s in line atm...but rowena knows well and good that won’t last and she has to remain vigilant as ever...

focal character: ROMAYNE ‘i was a male war bride’ VITALIS

start: romayne decides to change EVERYTHING by helping aragoth overcome his bro and subjugate the southern isles

inciting incident: this plan quickly backfires

not only is he ~not king, or even governor, but he’s now a pawn in an entirely foreign game of chess on someone else’s board...again

but romayne’s nothing if not resilient and he determines to find a way to adapt to this, too

obstacle to overcome: basically everything in his life tbqh ;D

jk mostly surviving the imperial court and esp his bride-to-be who he’s 50/50 sure means to do away w him soon after marriage

also arriving at court and learning he’s def noT gonna be the governor of the southern isles like he’d imagined

also, like, trying to understand them and their customs etc - makes him a good exposition tool too ;D

midpoint: ?????????????????

tension rises: ?????????????????

climax: is informed, w the rest of court, the queen’s intention to wed him, 100% considers this to be a death sentence

dénoument: realizes that, tho virtually a prisoner here, he does still have some power 

his situation now isn’t so v different from how things were under his bro so he knows he can live w this

resolution: invited to join the privy council as ROWENA’s future consort && begins feeling out fellow players in this game...

focal character: RORAN DEGREY

start: has a pr nice life w his surly uncle at his boring farm, being a town menace tbh

inciting incident: ?????????????????

obstacle to overcome: ?????????????????

midpoint: ?????????????????

tension rises: ?????????????????

climax: ?????????????????

dénoument: ?????????????????

resolution: that awkward moment when you stumble upon ur uncle’s hidden dragon eggs (but don’t know their his) and one hatches...

possibly the v end shot of a boy finding dragon eggs and one hatching is the v first we see of roran?????

and delve into him in the next ep???????

OVERALL (if we throw this all in together...)

start: things suck in aragoth

inciting incident: things still suck in aragoth but now they suck a lil less bc there’s no more war and alex is coming home

the resistance develops a plan to steal back $$$$$$$$

obstacle to overcome: the starvation of the populace!!

midpoint: guin pries info out of cassius

tension rises: alex helps guin somehow??????????

climax: getting the info to the resistance just in the nick of time (and thereby saving their lives?????) but failing to save a village

cassius burns down a village in a face off w the resistance (idk how this works exactly tho????????)

dénoument: somewhat pyrrhic victories on both sides

the money’s gone to the ppl but a village has been burned and the area’s scared shitless of the gov again

resolution: things still suck in aragoth but at least we know what aragoth is ;D no, but actually, there’s a new dragon rider on the rise...

So what do you think??????  also,~ if we do like this format for an ep, is it a better ep2 than pilot or is it good pilot fodder??????