The Approach

Step 7 is where our hero is faced with a serious of tests and challenges. These are small battles and conflicts where the hero either alone or with help must overcome an obstacle. Each obstacle reveals a new strength, or skill to our hero. These encounters do not always appear to be victories what is important about each encounter is that the hero learns something either about him/herself, or something about the enemy. All of these small battles will reveal the be important in the next two steps

Now that the hero has been tested and has found their allies we must approach the “innermost cave”. In some works it means that the hero literally enters a cave like in Lord of the Rings, or Harry Potter. Other more figurative “caves” could be an inner struggle with what a hero must choose to do. It could be a mental cave of depression, grief, of sadness. At the end of this approach to the innermost cave the hero learns of the “treasure” at the end. There is something that will make everything better but there has to be a big battle before achieving that.

The Ordeal

You have fought the henchmen, and defeated the threshold guardians, been to the innermost cave and now must face The Ordeal. That’s right this is the ultimate battle of good vis. Evil… The Main Event. The hero squares off with the biggest baddest mortal enemy. What makes a final battle compelling though is when the hero picks up and uses the skills and tactics from the previous battles and uses them to defeat the ultimate enemy.

It is predictable that the hero ultimately wins the final showdown. What makes this story compelling is what happens in the process for the ultimate victory. Spoiler alert! Harry actually dies in order to defeat Voldemort. Tony Stark sacrifices himself to defeat Thanos, and almost everyone in Star Wars loses a hand. The final battle has to include the hero losing something or someone in order to defeat their greatest foe.