Save the Cat Breakdown Series - All is Lost

In the previous article, we explored the Save the Cat story beat of the Bad Guys Close In, and how this is when both the external threats and the internal conflict increase their threat level. In this article, we are exploring the story beat of All Is Lost.

What is the All Is Lost story beat?

This story beat, unlike many that have come before it, literally is as it says it is. This is the moment when everything goes wrong for your protagonist. They see no hope ahead for them, no way out, and absolutely no way to achieve their ultimate goal. And worse? At least part of the problem was of their own making. It typically occurs at the 75% mark, or at around 60,000 words.

All Is Lost is usually one scene, or maybe two, that shows the reader everything going wrong. It is gripping and heart-wrenching, and the reader is pulled right alongside them in this downward spiral. It taps into one of the reader’s primal fears.

In the Hunger Games, this occurs the moment that Rue dies and Katniss fails to save her. Even throughout all the horrors Katniss she has remained strong and even detached. But then she makes a friend with the much younger Rue, who represents the innocence of the children sent to die in the games, and, despite her best efforts, she fails to save her. At that moment, in that single beat, the innocence dies.

The moment isn’t so dramatic in Star Wars: A New Hope, perhaps because there is an ensemble of characters at this point in the story, but it is only really Luke who really suffers it. The All Is Lost moment occurs when Darth Vader strikes down Ben Kenobi, killing him, removing the safe mentor figure from the equation. Luke feels his loss and is upset with it, but the rest of the cast, while sad, are not directly affected and they successfully escape the Death Star.

All Is Lost in Disney’s Mulan

In Disney’s Mulan, after appearing to defeat the Huns with a stroke of ingenuity and then surviving the avalanche and saving Li Shang, Mulan is seriously injured and loses consciousness. When she regains it, she learns that her secret has been revealed: everyone now knows she is a woman pretending to be a man. Her father’s worst fear—that if she is found out, she will be killed—is about to come true.

She hurries out of the tent to try to explain herself. When she says, “I did it to save my father,” we can see understanding in Li Shang’s expression; having just lost his own father, no doubt he understands that he would do anything to save him, which is exactly what Mulan did. So, instead of killing her as the law dictated, he declared, “A life for a life,” since she was responsible for saving his own life after the avalanche. He then leaves her there in the snow. She is no longer welcome.

In that moment, Mulan has lost everything: her friends and fellow soldiers, her honour and her family’s honour, and, perhaps most crushing, Li Shang, a man she loves.

All Is Lost in Flewelling’s Luck in the Shadows

In Luck in the Shadows, the All Is Lost moment comes when, during a party, Seregil is arrested for treason and Alec is ordered not to leave the city. What’s worse, it’s revealed that, due to the severity of the charge, it is likely he will be tortured. This revelation, that his mentor and closest friend Seregil is in such peril, completely destroys Alec, who is left feeling lost and helpless.

This part of the novel occurs at around 69%, a little earlier, but still close to Snyder’s recommendation of 75%. It also includes the Whiff of Death that he says often occurs at this point, the hint that the heroes could be forced to pay the ultimate price.

Final Thoughts

The All Is Lost story beat is the moment when everything goes wrong for the protagonist, both with internal and external forces. There appears to be no hope.

Next time we will look at the Dark Night of the Soul story beat, where the protagonist reacts to this devastation and all seems lost. I hope to see you then!