Into the Forest

Inevitably in stories darkness has a part to play.  It is in a measure what makes the story worth telling.  It is the darkness that provides the emotional weight necessary for an audience to care about the characters in a meaningful way.  It is because of this, because stars are only visible in darkness, that I often say that a story is only as good as its villain.  If there is a villain that is no real threat, then the hero is never really in any sort of peril.

Sometimes in order to keep the darkness at bay, or for the hero to even survive it, it requires something of the hero that they would rather not give.  This is called sacrifice.  It is among the most powerful of story plot points.  What is the character willing to give up in order to achieve his goals?  It is the mark of the greatest of heroes, that they value the lives of others more than they do their own.

This can be sacrificing an object like the holy grail in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, a boatload of treasure in Treasure Planet, a wish for a genie's freedom in Aladdin, a prophecy for the lives of friends in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the Black Suit in Spider Man 3, or immortality for Jack Sparrow on more than one occasion in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.  This is usually the hero learning not to be selfish, or the villain has someone they care about at gunpoint.

Sacrifice becomes more powerful when it is not an object that they have to give up, but a relationship with someone they care about.  Some examples of this would be Thor destroying the Bifrost even though it's his only way back to Jane, Harry breaking up with Ginny at the end of Half-Blood Prince, Peter Parker severing his connection to Mary Jane at the end of the first Spider Man movie, or Hermione's relationship with her parents in Deathly Hallows.  They can sacrifice their reputation like Batman at the end of the Dark Knight, or Dumbledore in Order of the Phoenix
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In the end for the hero, the only true conclusion is death.  The hero does not cower to death.  That would belittle life.  It is the final thing that can be done.  Sometimes those who know the hero deem his quest too important to fail, and so become heroes themselves by laying down their lives.  Examples include Obi-Wan Kenobi in A New Hope, Boromir in the Fellowship of the Ring, the Potters in Harry Potter, Harry Osborne in Spider Man 3, Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy, Dobby in Deathly Hallows as well as Neville and pretty much everyone else in that book, and many more.

Then the last of all is where the main character is willing to pay the ultimate price.  Examples include Batman from the Dark Knight Rises, Thor, Captain America, Iron Man in the Avengers, Harry Potter,  Cooper in Interstellar, Hercules saving Meg, Aslan from Narnia, Gandalf from the Lord of the Rings, Jack Shepard from Lost, Robert Neville in I Am Legend, Anna in Frozen, Baymax in Big Hero 6, Wall-e, Flynn Rider in Tangled, and many more.

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."  The reason such sacrifices resonate is that it is the most powerful act of love that anyone can achieve.  But also, such sacrifices often reflect the last and greatest sacrifice of the atonement of Jesus Christ.  He is represented so often, most recognizably as Aslan, Gandalf, and Harry Potter, as they all came back from the grave.

It is Harry Potter in particular that I want to focus on.  He found that after all his efforts, Dumbledore's plans did not include him surviving.  He was to be sacrificed for the greater good to bring Voldemort down.  The worst part was that Harry would have to be told that he was raised as a lamb for slaughter, and he was expected to walk willingly to his death.  It is a testament to his character that he walks without a weapon willingly into the dark forest.  He willingly gives up his life.  His only comfort is to talk to those who have gone before.  After that bravery his sacrifice has magical power that the dark lord knew not.  His sacrifice for his friends made it impossible for Voldemort to hurt any of his friends.  It was essentially an atonement.  That's why I compare his story to the Savior.

These are the stories that really matter, where things seem most dark, but in the end the sun shines out the clearer.  These stories and many others stick around with you because they mean something.  That there is some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for.