THE SUPREME ORDEAL: ELIXIR THEFT

(NOTE: The top section of the SUPREME ORDEAL repeats itself, scroll down for new info.)

"You cannot pass.  I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the Flame of Anor...the dark fire will not avail you, Flame of Udun!"

- Gandalf the Grey, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

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"Only after disaster can you be resurrected.  It is only after you've lost everything that you're free to do anything."

- Tyler Durden, "Fight Club"

The SUPREME ORDEAL is usually the central crisis in the story.  (Not the climax...that comes later in Act III).  In an action movie, it will be the big action set piece of the movie.  The key is that there is a central theme of death and change.   The hero will be submitted to death in some way or form.  It could be the failure of their mission, the end of a relationship, the loss of their mentor, or facing their greatest fears.  This is usually where the hero will face the Enemy for the first time in full form.  Prior this stage the hero has been battling cronies and THRESHOLD GUARDIANS, the Enemy was not truly out to stop the hero.  But now the worst the Enemy has will be thrown the hero's way.  Whatever the outcome, the hero will emerge changed.  Joseph Campbell breaks the SUPREME ORDEAL into four different categories (SACRED MARRIAGE, FATHER ATONEMENT, APOTHEOSIS, and ELIXIR THEFT).  All of them may take on a physical nature and yet they are all deeply psychological, so to understand these fully you may need to brush up on your Freud and Jung.  Not all of them take place in every SUPREME ORDEAL and sometimes more than one takes place, and they can be mixed and matched.  I will cover ELIXIR THEFT in brief below.

ELIXIR THEFT

"Old fool!  Why there is a large patch in the hollow of his left breast as bare as a snail out of its shell!"  After he had seen that, Mr. Baggins' one idea was to get away.  "Well, I really must not detain Your Magnificence any longer," he said, "or keep you from much needed rest.  Ponies take some catching, I believe, after a long start.  And so do burglars," he added as a parting shot, as he dashed back and fled up the tunnel.

- Bilbo Baggins (while speaking to Smaug the dragon), The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien

ELIXIR THEFT is just what it sounds like.  The Powers-that-be have something that the Hero wants or needs, and they aren't giving it up.  So the Hero has to bypass all of the Powers' THRESHOLD GUARDIANS, get into the inner sanctum, and steal what he needs.  This is Prometheus stealing Fire to bring to mankind.  This is Bilbo creeping into Smaug's den to return with the information of the dragon's only weakness.  This is Neo breaking into the Agent headquarters to steal Morpheus (and the Zion codes) back from the clutches of the Machines.  This is Luke escaping from the Death Star, not only with the Princess, but with the Death Star plans as well.  The hero will incur great wrath on the part of the enemy Powers arranged against him.  And it will not go well at all if he or she is caught.  Having stolen the elixir, the hero needs to take the road back to the ORDINARY WORLD as soon as he can.  But the Powers will not let the Hero escape so easily, he or she will be chased all the way back.