Deus Ex Machina and the Final Plot Point

Definition

Deus Ex Machina – “god from the machine”, when a seemingly unsolvable plot point is suddenly and abruptly solved by the unexpected intervention of someone or something. Also translated as “God made it happen”, it’s often used when an author has painted themselves into a corner and doesn’t know how to solve the problem.

EXAMPLE A) The bad guy has the heroes standing at the gallows, their necks in the noose, and a spaceship falls out of the sky and lands right on the villain and his entire squadron of blindly-obedient death squad, a single laser shot from the explosion slicing directly through the perfect location of each noose rope, releasing our heroes.

(okay, that’s a SUPER AWFUL example. Let’s go for a borderline one that’ll be more useful for our discussion.)

EXAMPLE B) The bad guy has the heroes standing at the gallows, their necks in the noose, and the heroine TRIES REALLY HARD and realizes that her heretofore maligned magical ability to perfectly knit socks also allows her to UNRAVEL the strands in the rope, releasing them so that the hero can eloquently argue his case to the watching masses, turning public opinion against the bad guy and saving the day.

Why’s that bad?

I’m going to avoid the easy answer of “because it IS” and actually attempt to explain here.

It’s cheating.

(Oh, you want a longer explanation. I can do that.)

Most of you have probably been exposed to a mystery story, either a tv show, or a movie, or a book … or even the game Clue, it doesn’t matter. You know what a mystery is.

Something happened or someone died. You’ve got a house full of suspicious suspects, and your clever protagonist tries to hunt down the guilty party using their wits and the clues they can find. You’re avidly following along, wondering if the flour-dusted footprint means it was the cook, or if the lack of fingerprints points to the satin-gloved society dame.

… at the end of the book, if it was the gardener who got less than a paragraph’s page time, because of some clue that you’d never be able to guess, you’d probably not be happy.

It’s not SATISFYING.

When you cheat with a deus ex machina, you’re cheating your readers out of that satisfaction of a story well told.

Real Life

If you are using the “but stuff like that happens in real life” argument to justify a Deus Ex Machina, I’m probably not going to like your book.

We all know that fiction isn’t real. I tell you Darth Vader force chokes some guy and you buy it because you’re buying the fantasy. You don’t think there’s actually a Darth Vader buying Happy Meals for his twins in the back seat of his minivan-speeder.

We all know that crazy stuff happens in real life. In real life, people go through their entire lives, loving and hating and struggling and celebrating … only to get hit by a car and die a young and entirely unexpected death.

Especially if someone reads for escapism, you cannot cannot cannot use “but it happens in real life” as an argument.

I want to read something that makes SENSE of the world, that tries to bring meaning to what often feels like a horrifically accidental world. Otherwise I’d just read newspapers.

Okay, but that second example didn’t seem SO bad…

You’re right. EXAMPLE B wasn’t bad …

…. IF AND ONLY IF, we are treated to some indication that her sock-knitting ability was more than just socks.

If we see her struggling with her abilities, accidentally tangling other natural-fiber materials, or her presence causing a basket to … un-basket itself. Then sure.

That’s the trick, see?

It’s not about how EPIC the reveal is.

… it’s about the timing of the last clue you reveal to the reader.

Timing?

Yup. Timing.

Basically, your final plot point (plot-revealing clue or event that changes the way the characters see the problem) should happen at aboooooout the 3/4 mark.

The closer you push that last reveal toward the end of the book, the more cheated the reader feels. The less satisfying the solution is.

You can even turn EXAMPLE A into a valid ending if you show our heroes communicating with a spaceship ahead of time.

Got Any Real Stinkers?

Any readers out there remember some truly awful Deus Ex Machina examples from any media (tv, movies, books)?

 

 

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