Dissecting Dragons: Episode 227: Fighting Fire with Fire - When Good Guys Dabble with Dark Arts

A trope which regularly crops up in speculative fiction is that of the hero or protagonist being forced to confront the temptation to use power which has been designated as 'bad'. Whether the author likes to test their main character to destruction or whether it's the reader enjoying watching a protagonist examine their own morality and how flexible or rigid their sense of ethics is, the trope appears in everything from children's fiction to sci-fi to horror to epic fantasy. This week the dragons delve into why it's so appealing to have the good guy flirt with bad magic. How does this enrich a story? Where can it go wrong? And can power ever be described as truly good or bad? 

On the slab this week - Star Wars, The Whitby Witches by Robin Jarvis, The Untamed, The Moon of Gomrath by Alan Garner and many more.

 

Title Music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic