It’s Thoughtful Thursday, and I want to reflect a bit on late starts. One of my favorite arcs in storytelling is the redemption arc, and the motif of it’s never too late to start doing some good is *muah* chef’s kiss.

Jamie Lannister (until they ruined him), Kylo Ren, Vader, Loki, Prince Zuko — these are all popular examples of the redemption arc in our zeitgeist. You might notice that these are all fan-favorite characters. Coincidence? I think not, nerfherders! I’m no expert on psychology, but watching a character change is a powerful thing, and it is a story with a built-in arc of excitement. A never too late to start mentality goes leagues beyond this story stuff, but let’s start here for fun!

When a character starts as an antagonist (the main villain or obstacle for the main character or characters), they start with an advantage: they are innately tied to the lightning or the heat of the story. Among the many reasons, we read stories for adversity and the situations that arise from conflict. Now these conflicts vary greatly, but a redemption arc involves a character that the audience sees a lot of. They are often a main villain who causes incredible pain and difficulty for the main character, which then adds excitement as we watch the protagonist fail, grow, and try again against said villain. This advances the antagonist’s negative traits and desires while adding interest to the main narrative.

Until eventually, the hero wins, displacing the antagonist. Sometimes the redemption is short — looking at you, Mr. Skywalker — and the character dies shortly after their turn towards goodness. This is still impactful if the villain was significant, but the more interesting story asks, what happens after the villain fails and survives? What does guilt drive a character to do in the name of redemption?

I think this is such an important narrative archetype because it teaches an important lesson that our society forgets. We can come back from our mistakes and reconcile our misdeeds and failures. Forgiveness is so sparse in modern life that I think this message really resonates with us. I think audiences hunger for it. We love to see bad characters get better. If Jamie Lannister can confront his past and seek forgiveness and penance, why can’t we? And the redemptive hero usually fails all along their journey as they tangle with the demons of their past life. This is so fun to watch as viewers get to see the character “get what’s coming to them” while growing in a more heroic capacity.

Now, in day-to-day life, most of us aren’t in need of a major redemptive arc. But we can take the never too late to start mentality into almost all of our practices. If you are a person who is inclined to yelling and emotional outbursts, it is never too late to start a mindfulness practice. If you’ve never volunteered your time, but you’ve thought about it for years, it is never too late to start. If there’s someone in your past who you’ve hurt, it is never too late to apologize, as long as that is welcomed.

The redemption arc shows that it is never too late to choose goodness. And while karmic actions don’t balance out that cleanly, it is better to do good in recompense than nothing at all. The Loki character has greater moral ground to cover than Thor, but that makes their growth interesting and their decisions important. And the journey is rarely a straight line — Loki still betrays Thor, Zuko betrays Aang and Katara, etc. Watching these characters succumb to their old natures resonates with the audience, as that is a central trial of humanity. We often struggle against our nature and passions, and to see a beloved character fail in such a way connects the story to reality.

This has gone off the rails, but I wanted to bring in one more piece here. The never too late to start mentality applies to goals and passions as much as anything else. It is better to start learning the guitar now than never. It is better to start reading and improving my mental practices than to stay zombified by my phone. This is the most important takeaway from the redemption arc, by far. Start doing what you want now, not later. You’ll never get your time back, not in this life. Nothing is too late to start — not a degree, not forgiveness, not an artistic practice, not altruism — and you’ll never grow into the person you want to be unless you couple your desires with action.

Anyways, I could write a doctoral dissertation about this stuff, so I’ll cap it off here. Happy Thursday to you all, and may you find peace in your practice. 🙂 Stay crunchy Battlesquad.

With love,

Kyle