# Fictional works where revealing something mysterious ruins everything **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 30, 2012, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-works-where-revealing-something-mysterious-ruins-everything/611160 "2012-01-30T05:17:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-works-where-revealing-something-mysterious-ruins-everything/611160/21 "2012-01-30T22:53:44Z")
I think, “never” is a good way to go about revealing mysterious mechanisms. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-works-where-revealing-something-mysterious-ruins-everything/611160/22 "2012-01-30T23:02:24Z")
I agree completely. Which is why I predict the complementary thread looking for good examples will be pretty brief. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-works-where-revealing-something-mysterious-ruins-everything/611160/23 "2012-01-30T23:06:41Z")
> [@Apocalypso](#): > > Why does everyone keep saying that? It _wasn’t_ a spider, it was some sort of inter-dimensional being or something. The mind perceived it as spider-shaped because there was no way to comprehend what it really was. > Sheesh, didn’t anyone actually _read_ it? Honestly, I think we were all too scarred by the pre-adolescent gang-bang in the last chapter to remember the rest clearly. Ye gods, what was King thinking? ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-works-where-revealing-something-mysterious-ruins-everything/611160/24 "2012-01-30T23:52:10Z")
> [@Apocalypso](#): > > Why does everyone keep saying that? It _wasn’t_ a spider, it was some sort of inter-dimensional being or something. The mind perceived it as spider-shaped because there was no way to comprehend what it really was. > Sheesh, didn’t anyone actually _read_ it? > [@JohnT](#): > > Just FYI, IT wasn’t a spider, it just took the shape of something scary from one of the kids minds. It could have just as easily been a 50-foot Staypuff marshmallow man. I know, I know. It still sucked. Seriously, look at the Losers, _everyone_ of those kids was traumatized (everyone before the orgy) and the most terrifying thing they could imagine was a giant spider? Pennywise was more frightening by his damn-self. Don’t get me wrong I love the book and even the tv movie. Still, an f-ing spider ☹ ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-works-where-revealing-something-mysterious-ruins-everything/611160/25 "2012-01-31T00:49:08Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > The way I remember them being described, they are like messengers of the force. The more you have, the more powerful you are, and they also relay the will of the force to the people they inhabit. > > So instead of Jedi knights directly in contact with and controlling the force, they get their power from, and communicate with Midichlorians, which then communicate with the force. Or some such B.S. They didn’t really say flat out “they cause it” in the movies, though maybe it was implied, but they later clarified it (forget if it was in the EU or the word of George) saying that it’s just an indicator, the things are drawn to those with the affinity for the Force, they don’t actually cause it. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-works-where-revealing-something-mysterious-ruins-everything/611160/26 "2012-01-31T01:14:58Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > They didn’t really say flat out “they cause it” in the movies, though maybe it was implied, but they later clarified it (forget if it was in the EU or the word of George) saying that it’s just an indicator, the things are drawn to those with the affinity for the Force, they don’t actually cause it. Is that right? I remember Anikan, mark 1, asking Qigon Liam something like, “Mr. Qigon, sir, I heard Master Yoda talking about midichlorians, and I was wondering, what are midichlorians?” The inanity of the line and it’s wooden delivery combined to the thespian feat of out-Keanuing Keanu, so it was hard to hear over my silent shrieks of pain. I thought though that Liam went on to say that midichlorians were the root of the force. ---
**Author:** ![sco3tt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@sco3tt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sco3tt)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-works-where-revealing-something-mysterious-ruins-everything/611160/27 "2012-01-31T15:53:03Z")
_Citizen Kane_ was basically over for me after they revealed the meaning of “Rosebud”. I could only stand to watch it for another minute or so after that. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-works-where-revealing-something-mysterious-ruins-everything/611160/28 "2012-01-31T17:59:09Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > The way I remember them being described, they are like messengers of the force. The more you have, the more powerful you are, and they also relay the will of the force to the people they inhabit. This is my interpretation. Midichlorions are how you interact with the Force. People with low midi counts are essentially “blind” to the Force. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-works-where-revealing-something-mysterious-ruins-everything/611160/29 "2012-01-31T18:03:46Z")
> [@sco3tt](#): > > _Citizen Kane_ was basically over for me after they revealed the meaning of “Rosebud”. I could only stand to watch it for another minute or so after that. Wow, exactly the same for me! ---
**Author:** ![punch\_line\_loser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e7dd6/32.png) [@punch\_line\_loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/punch_line_loser)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-works-where-revealing-something-mysterious-ruins-everything/611160/30 "2012-01-31T19:10:35Z")
> [@OtakuLoki](#): > > Audrey Niffenegger’s attempts to provide a semi-scientific background for her time-traveling protagonist in _The Time-Traveler’s Wife_ actually made me focus on just how impossible her scenarios were. She tied his jumps to a genetic ‘clock’ that if you think about it has to be encoded with all the information of the universe, ever. Leaving the jumps as a mysterious, magical, series of events would have worked better than trying to provide that explanation. I agree completely. The first time I read the word “chrono-impairment” in that book it lost a lot of its hold over me. Also, I have to make the obligatory mention of **Twin Peaks**. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-works-where-revealing-something-mysterious-ruins-everything/611160/31 "2012-01-31T19:35:57Z")
> [@Shawn1767](#): > > Re: Midichlorians, does the Star Wars Universe actually say that they “carry” the Force? Or does having them in your blood merely an indicator? Having high blood sugar doesn’t give me diabetes, it’s a sign I have diabetes. I always looked at midichlorians in this way: a lot of friends doesn’t give someone charisma. But if you see someone with a lot of friends, you know that person has charisma. The more friends, the more charisma. It’s an indicator, not a cause. The original scene is [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF7mlRDyA5Y). “Without midichlorians, life could not exist, and we would have no knowledge of the Force. They continuously speak to us, telling us the will of the Force.” So it seems to me that they’re the cause of the force, not just a symptom of it. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-works-where-revealing-something-mysterious-ruins-everything/611160/32 "2012-01-31T20:37:55Z")
What was the smoke in Lost anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-works-where-revealing-something-mysterious-ruins-everything/611160/33 "2012-01-31T21:29:15Z")
> [@Sister\_Vigilante](#): > > What was the smoke in Lost anyway? At first it was a security system of sorts and then in later seasons they said it was Jacobs brother. Also the island is a cork in a bottle keeping all the evil bottled up in the bottle. ---
**Author:** ![punch\_line\_loser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e7dd6/32.png) [@punch\_line\_loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/punch_line_loser)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-works-where-revealing-something-mysterious-ruins-everything/611160/34 "2012-01-31T21:31:12Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > At first it was a security system of sorts and then in later seasons they said it was Jacobs brother. Also the island is a cork in a bottle keeping all the evil bottled up in the bottle. There’s no one satisfying explanation for it. It’s more of a metaphor for the pained philosophizing the writers of _Lost_ attempted after they forgot what made the series so interesting in its first season. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-works-where-revealing-something-mysterious-ruins-everything/611160/35 "2012-01-31T21:45:31Z")
> [@punch\_line\_loser](#): > > Also, I have to make the obligatory mention of **Twin Peaks**. I could not disagree more, revealing Laura’s killer(if thats the mystery you have in mind) did not spoil the show. What spoiled the show was the refusal to move forward into exploring the rest of the very interesting plot(the black and white lodges, the guardians of the town’s secret, the entities escaping into the world) and instead wasting time becoming a soap opera parody or something. I think Laura’s murder should have been used only to get Cooper to the town, the rest of the show should have been spent exploring the lodges and the people guarding them. ---
**Author:** ![punch\_line\_loser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e7dd6/32.png) [@punch\_line\_loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/punch_line_loser)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-works-where-revealing-something-mysterious-ruins-everything/611160/36 "2012-01-31T21:50:35Z")
> [@grude](#): > > I could not disagree more, revealing Laura’s killer(if thats the mystery you have in mind) did not spoil the show. What spoiled the show was the refusal to move forward into exploring the rest of the very interesting plot(the black and white lodges, the guardians of the town’s secret, the entities escaping into the world) and instead wasting time becoming a soap opera parody or something. > > I think Laura’s murder should have been used only to get Cooper to the town, the rest of the show should have been spent exploring the lodges and the people guarding them. Well in that sense you could be right, but the way I see it, the only reason the show had to take half a season to figure out where the hell it wanted to go was because a) the producers of the show forced Lynch and Frost to reveal the killer much sooner than they wanted to and b) Kyle MacLachlan vetoed a relationship between Cooper and Audrey Horne, which was originally intended to be the focus of season two. The forced reveal also began Lynch’s slow slide into disillusionment with the project and, out of my desire to blame something for it, the franchise’s unceremonious demise in the form of a wildly disturbing movie. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-works-where-revealing-something-mysterious-ruins-everything/611160/37 "2012-02-01T15:15:33Z")
This far and no mention of \* Battlestar Galactica\*? I’m not sure it completely ruined the show for me, since IMHO the whole point of BSG wasn’t the mystery, but the show’s willingness to put its characters in situations where there was no clear morally right choice. However the cheesy deux-ex-machina (or maybe machina-ex-deux?) for Starbuck, etc. definitely lessened it. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-works-where-revealing-something-mysterious-ruins-everything/611160/38 "2012-02-01T15:25:35Z")
What bothered me about BSG wasn’t the reveal but the cheat. Not the central draw, but part of the game the show set up originally is “There are 12 and only 12 human cylon models. Some of them are among you.” So especially early in the show every hint they gave you about somebody’s past led to speculation - “does that mean that \_\_\_ can’t be one of them?” And then they entirely threw that out the window. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-works-where-revealing-something-mysterious-ruins-everything/611160.md?page=1)