All of ndee's Comments + Replies

ndee10

And yes, it would kind of make him immune to dying... in cases where he could be accidentally rescued.


By a time traveler, who doesn't need to do much - only to appear and make the paradox possible. That makes the list of possible cases much more extensive than a first year student locking the door.


And here's the line I was referring to:


Correct me if I don't remember something, but that episode didn't imply that he would be able to create and manipulate tentacles like he did in the book's final.

And that partial transfiguration

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ndee10

The end of the book looks like Harry's worst case of self-assurance and indiscretion to me.

ndee10

it's entirely possible that if Harry hadn't gotten out to pass a note, someone would have gone back in time to investigate his death, and inadvertently caused a paradox by unlocking the door.

Sounds like too much of a stretch to me.

Doesn't this make Harry virtually immortal unless something so catastrophic happens that it destroys all the world at once?


in chapter 28 when he used transfiguration to apply force.

I don't remember that part, could point me to it?

1player_03
It is a stretch, which is why it needed to be explained. And here's the line I was referring to:
ndee10

Yes, but wasn't he supposed to learn on his mistakes rather than rely on miracles to save him?

2Pattern
ndee30

Ok will know. However, isn't it better to mark it for possible spoilers in the post's title? Just due to the general matter of the discussion.

3Ben Pace
For now, each comment appears on the frontpage of the site. I think that something like that, an option for each post to be “sensitive” and have comments autospoilered on the frontpage, could make sense.
ndee10

In this case the goal wasn't achieved, because the ending of the book was Harry's worst failure.

2Ben Pace
Hi, please use >! plus a space at the start of any comments that include substantial information about the plot of a work of fiction, especially one that many on LessWrong are likely to read.
ndee10
I'm sure you can provide an example, and in turn I'll point out reasons why it doesn't count as Deus ex Machina.

For instance, when Draco Malfoy decided to torture Harry to death and the only thing that saved him was time machine and time paradox. Very literal deus ex machina.

Another one is the end of the book in all its entirety. Without a very helping hand of the demiurg, Harry should have died (and teach us one very important lesson).

I can probably find a few more, but these two already look good enough.

ultimately it'll come down to
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1player_03
I don't mind the occasional protagonist who makes their own trouble. I agree it would be annoying if all protagonists were like that (and I agree that Harry is annoying in general), there's room in the world for stories like this. Now that you mention it, your first example does sound like a Deus Ex Machina. Except that This wouldn't have had to be a long explanation or full-blown lecture, just enough to confirm this interpretation. But since it wasn't confirmed and there are multiple valid interpretations of the mechanics, it does come across as a bit of an "I got out of jail free" moment. I... don't understand your second example. I think that part of the story works just fine. Harry's solution was plausible, and even foreshadowed