I’m interested in finding scenes where character A, who is apparently the bad guy, is suggesting that character B needs to take the consequences of something they’ve done. You think that A would not take that responsibility him/herself and is being hypocritical but later it’s clear they would and they do.
Two I can think of: In Star Trek: TNG Wesley’s areobatics group has an accident, and the guy (played by actor, and the original template for Tom Paris) in charge pressures him to take one for the team. You think he’s just covering his back, but when Wesley chooses not to, NotTomParis willingly takes the full consequences himself.
In In Bruges one of the main guys kills a child accidentally. His boss declares that a death sentence. Later when the boss kills a midget who appears to be a child, he doesn’t hesitate and kills himself.
Les Miserables. Javert is a stickler for upholding the law to the letter. When he is caught between the dilemma of letting Jean Valjean go free (after Valjean acted honorably) and his duty to the law, he cannot resolve the two, so, in order not to carry out his duty, he drowns himself.
Milady: “I do not like to lose.”
Richelieu: “As you wish, milady. But when you do, try to do so with a becoming grace.”
Later, after the musketeers have foiled his plotting -
D’Artagnan: “Begging you pardon, your Eminence. I have a warrant.”
Richelieu: “By whose hand? The Queen cannot; the King would not.”
D: “By your hand, Your Eminence.” (hands over warrant) “By my hand and for the good of the State…”
R: “…the bearer has done what has been done. Richelieu.” (taps paper) “One should be careful about what one writes…and to who one gives it.” (tears up warrant) “This is a commission in the King’s Musketeers. The name is blank, but it is to you I give it. You and your friends are free to go.”
Depending on how you see things in Watchmen, the way Rorschach (if you accept that he’s a bad guy),
stands there and takes it from Dr. Manhattan at the end could be seen as acknowledging he has to do die for what he’s done, or rather for what he might reveal if given the chance. He certainly seems to accept the consequences of all that has come before, even though it means his death.
Hm, I don’t recall this in any of the cozies that I’ve read. This cliche comes from the British military – when some officer has disgraced himself and his unit in some way (diddled the Colonel’s wife, stolen the mess funds, spied for the enemy), in order to avoid scandal, he is left alone in a room with a pistol and one bullet.
In Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik, this happens repeatedly with the Staryk King. He imposes impossible tasks, but if someone can perform them by what the reader might term “cheating”, he still gives the full reward.
When he is tricked into battling a demon (and loses), he is not offended that he’s been betrayed. He acknowledges that he has insulted the betrayer repeatedly, and accepts the consequences of his actions.
When Nomad declares that its directive to sterilize imperfections allows no exceptions, Kirk points out that Nomad itself is imperfect, since it has mistaken Captain Kirk for its true creator Roykirk. He then claims that Nomad has committed two other errors, by not discovering its own mistake, and by not sterilizing itself as imperfect. Nomad begins to analyze the implications of Kirk’s claims, a process that causes noticeable stress to its systems. Kirk and Spock then transport it to deep space where it explodes in a puff of logic.
In The Postman, Kevin Costner challenges the big bad general to a duel for control over his army, which was one of the ground rules that the enemy had laid out: anyone could take over by besting him in a duel. And the general agrees rather than having his henchmen simply kill The Postman.
Yes, and an even stronger example from Christie is And Then There Were None, where the judge has been carrying out vigilante justice against the other “guests,” then finally vigilantes himself to death.
In my favorite flop Superhero series, Once a Hero, the schoolyard bully was extorting protection money: “pay me and you won’t get hurt.” One boy mouths off after paying the money and the bully’s henchman knocks him down. The bully gives some of the money back calling it a “rebate” for hurting him.
On a more whimsical note, there’s one of these moments at the end of the joyous The Beiderbecke Affair (known in the US?) where the grizzled old (corrupt) career cop Chief Superintendent Forrest is brought to justice by the young snot Sgt Hobson. The confrontation between the two ends with Forrest offering his hand:
“Well done, Sergeant”
“Thank you, Sir.”
“I like to see my lads doing well.”
I’ve been reading Francis Vivian’s Inspector Knollis series. In eight of the ten books, the murderer offs himself when his guilt is revealed. :rolleyes: