# What is deus ex machina? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 17, 2002, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-deus-ex-machina/98729 "2002-03-17T13:56:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-deus-ex-machina/98729/21 "2002-03-18T02:39:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > \*\* > > The calvary coming over the hill isn’t a deus ex machina if they settlers send someone to get them (or if someone has a line of dialog saying “the calvary usually runs patrols in this area”). \*\* In _Saving Private Ryan_, the cavalry (P51’s) appeared fortuitously, out of thin air so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@The\_Ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ryan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-deus-ex-machina/98729/22 "2002-03-18T02:40:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mephisto \* > \*\*So if I understand it, it’s sort of like, um . . . > > A hobbit got in trouble, and Gandalf appeared out of nowhere and saved him . . . and then the hobbit got in trouble again and a bunch of other hobbits saved him . . . and then the hobbits were stupid at the inn and a strange man called Strider appeared out of the blue and saved them . . . and then Strider saved them again . . . and then an elf that resembled Liv Tyler appeared magically out of the forest and saved them again . . . and then the wizard . . . . > \*\* Or a magician falls off a tower, but a huge bat-thing comes out of nowhere and rescues him? ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-deus-ex-machina/98729/23 "2002-03-18T02:54:16Z")
Just to follow up Reality Chuck’s post, my understanding is similar… say the book is about a little girl and her horse, and is written like a diary of any little girl in the real world who has a horse. Towards the end there’s a threat to the horse and the little girl is set to lose him, and as the book is drawing to a close, their parting is imminent - when suddenly a fairy godmother appears and waves her wand, and the girl and her horse live happily together ever after. If the whole book has been set in a real world type scenario, and there’s been no mention of magic or the possibility of magic or the existance of fairy godmothers, and the book seems to have leapt out of our dimension and into another, then that’s deus ex machina. It’s a twist of the realm of possibility - you need to let your audience know what is possible and what isn’t before suddenly springing a fairy godmother on them at the very end of the book. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-deus-ex-machina/98729/24 "2002-03-18T04:14:30Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by The Ryan_ > \*\*Or a magician falls off a tower, but a huge bat-thing comes out of nowhere and rescues him? \*\* Right, provided we don’t specifically see the magician sending an enchanted moth or some other means of signal for a rescue. Geez, even I got that, and I’m slow as a brick. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-deus-ex-machina/98729/25 "2002-03-18T04:40:51Z")
Heh. Anyone seen _A.I._ lately? If nobody has coined the phrase “plot-pun” yet, I think we might have to do it now. ---
**Author:** ![kuroashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9a140/32.png) [@kuroashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kuroashi)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-deus-ex-machina/98729/26 "2002-03-18T05:15:16Z")
Scene One: Terrorists blow up buildings with airplanes, kill thousands, linked to Jolly Old Tallybahn Scene Two: Leader of the Phree Whirled attacks the Tallybahn hideout in Topeka, Djibouti with tons and tons of twinkies. Scene Three: Headmen of the Tallybahn ask their god why they have been forsaken and ask for forgiveness. Scene Four: Leader of the Phree Whirled chokes on a pretzel. There is much glee and merriment among Tallybahn ---
**Author:** ![kuroashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9a140/32.png) [@kuroashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kuroashi)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-deus-ex-machina/98729/27 "2002-03-18T05:18:14Z")
I’d just like to add that I don’t condone blowing up buildings with airplanes, twinkie bombing or invoking deities with a penchant for pretzel torture. ---
**Author:** ![oliversarmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@oliversarmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oliversarmy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-deus-ex-machina/98729/28 "2002-03-18T05:30:49Z")
…and then, everyone on the SDMB gets hit by a bus. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-deus-ex-machina/98729.md?page=1)