Open Channel: What’s Your Favorite Redemption Story?

Peacemaker got here to an finish this week, and with it, the redemption story of John Cena’s DC antihero has come to an in depth. (Well, for now.) With this and The Suicide Squad, director/author James Gunn has finished for DC what he did for Marvel again in 2014 with the Guardians of the Galaxy: give attention to a number of unlikable jerks (at greatest), peel again some layers on what makes them tick, and hopefully give them one thing of a redemption story, or at the very least a second act whereby they will do higher.

Geek media loves themselves some redemption tales. Superhero comics are crammed to the brim with them, providing villains a chance to be a good guy (even when it finally will get undone), and so they’re throughout shonen manga to at least one diploma or one other. In gaming, it’s a nicely worn trope narratively, however can even metatextually be concerning the developers behind the game and an opportunity to rehabilitate their image. It’s maybe commonest in fantasy and sci-fi: be it a legal haunted by the issues they needed to do to outlive, or a drifter shaken by their previous and getting totally wasted, we do love seeing individuals rise to the event and attempt to eke out a win.

On paper, these redemption arcs can work pretty nicely, however it’s the execution that may at all times journey of us up. It’s pretty straightforward to see how Zuko from Avatar or Star Wars’ Ahsoka Tano can redeem themselves, however different characters obtain deeper scrutiny. The shadow of making the Krogan genophage looms over Mass Effect’s Mordin Solus and the way you understand him, and the best way Star Wars was pretty inconsistent with how conflicted or villainous Kylo Ren was has been the supply of a lot ire and debate. (To be extraordinarily beneficiant about it.)

For this week’s Open Channel, we wish to learn about a few of your favourite comebacks or redemption tales. (Other than Final Fantasy XIV, should you’re a gamer.) What makes a very good redemption story, what makes them laborious capsules to swallow? Let us know within the feedback beneath.

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