Gondolinian comments on Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, March 2015, chapter 117 - Less Wrong

2 Post author: Gondolinian 08 March 2015 07:00PM

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Comment author: William_Quixote 08 March 2015 08:00:02PM *  2 points [-]

I begin to wonder if we (the community) really found the best plan or if we are reading a sadder ending. Maybe there was a plan that saved everyone.

Comment author: Gondolinian 08 March 2015 08:04:46PM *  9 points [-]

According to a post on /r/HPMOR:

[EY] posted a comment a while ago that the short sad ending would have been Harry blowing himself up Transfiguring antimatter.

ETA: Found EY's relevant comment:

In the profoundly improbable event that I'd needed to write [a sad ending], it would have just been Harry suiciding via antimatter (that went off prematurely as soon as it started to Transfigure) and Hermione waking up among the flaming ruins.

Comment author: buybuydandavis 09 March 2015 02:42:26AM 2 points [-]

That's the "sad" ending?

The Disposable Male sacrificing himself for the Greater Good and wept over by the Fair Damsel is the classic "bittersweet", ennobling ending.

The Sad Ending is Voldemort taking over Harry's body and destined to rule Magical Britain, and the world. Or Harry being compelled by his Vow to twist the Universe to some Cthuluic purpose.

Comment author: Unknowns 09 March 2015 04:11:50AM 8 points [-]

If Eliezer had written the antimatter ending, it would indeed have implied that Voldemort would later take over the world, since the antimatter would not have been able to destroy his horcrux network.

Comment author: Velorien 09 March 2015 12:09:25PM 1 point [-]

To follow up on this, the sad ending wouldn't be the sad ending because Harry had to sacrifice himself to win. It would be the sad ending because Harry failed, as a result of not being able to think of a clever enough way to stop Voldemort (reflecting our own failure to do so in the exam).

Comment author: MathMage 09 March 2015 05:41:21PM 0 points [-]

That's the "sadder" ending, which is precisely what EY promised.

Comment author: Nornagest 09 March 2015 04:37:55AM 0 points [-]

True, but this is a fantasy story, and in fantasy stories where the villain has a seemingly foolproof way of guaranteeing his return (and especially if he's done it before), you can normally expect the hero to find a way to defeat it in N-20 +/- 10 pages, where N is the number of pages left in the book.

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