Quote:
Originally Posted by surrealmind
Ah, the false dilemma. You could always go the Jack Bauer route and have your hero try to intervene indirectly (e.g. by not using his super powers) somehow. Then, perhaps, some of the friends escape and some are killed in the rescue attempt, creating angst for the hero while providing at least a modicum of relief and a good chance to retain his powers.
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That's what I was going to suggest. As a reader, if he just let his friends die ("the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one") then it will diminish the hero in my eyes because he didn't even
try to save them, no matter that he might have a perfectly good reason for not doing so. It is just so antithetical to my perception of what a hero should do, that it will color my reading of the rest of the story. Having some of the friends die in the attempt is an acceptable loss because at least he didn't abandon them to their fate; he tried to change it. Future events can always change and other opportunities present themself as a solution to a problem, but if he lets his friends die without attempting to save them, he loses part of his humanity.