User blog:Tuckerscreator/Uncovering Metroid:Part 5

Today in “Uncovering Metroid”, we get into the REAL meat of things: The story! And this film’s story has been a LONG time in writing.

Format-wise, my script is divided into 2 acts, to use an expression, pre-Mission and During-Mission. Avid readers of my blog should know already that the first film’s plot follows through all of Zero Mission and that’s what these two acts cover.

Act 1 is divided into 3 sub-acts of its own: 7 years old, 14 years old, and 21 years old. In explanation, these are the ages that Samus is in each three acts of Act 1.

Sub-Act 1 takes place on K-2L, but concludes itself on Zebes. It chronicles the Chozo’s arrival there, the subsequent Pirate attack, and Samus’s adoption into the Chozo nation. Currently, it is most well-developed and polished of the sub-acts, but also the most complicated, as it must set the groundwork of all that is to come.

Sub-Act 2 takes place largely on our Moon, but both begins and ends at Zebes. Samus is 14 now, and it chronicles her training with the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, at a time where mass colonization and military propaganda has resulted in a MASSIVE drop of the enlistment age. Pretty horrifying. But that is foregone for Samus’s impromptu return to Zebes, when a hidden plot suggests that decades of work are beginning to pay off and the Pirates are getting ever closer to infiltrating Zebes! Sub-Act 2 functions at first largely as a filler, but its importance gradually grows more apparent as the film goes on. It currently has its highs and lows, but its writing is progressing in the right direction.

Sub-Act 3 is where the action picks up, as Samus ascends in both age and in status, but then Zebes is captured! Sub-Act 3 also serves largely as a introduction, as this is the form of Samus we’ll be following the most, and also to conclude the events at Zebes and the Federation’s actions following this sudden loss.

Act 2, meanwhile, is a little harder to categorize. It follows what we know as the events of Metroid Zero Mission, and such the mood changes much more quickly, making it difficult to divide what is what. But a degree of order can still be established, based on Samus’s own emotional state.

Sub-Act 1 of Act 2 is the “Discovery” phase. It covers everything from Samus’s landing all the way to Ridley’s defeat. Here she is the calmest, exploring about while searching for her way to Ridley. This where we get to see the most of Zebes, of its environment along with memories of its society before the great invasion. Sub-Act 1 of Act 2 is currently rather underdeveloped, I feel, but its goals have been set and its progress is steady.

Sub-Act 2 of Act 2 is the “Violence” phase. Samus turns her most monstrous here following her defeat of Ridley, and sets about destroying everything in her path, whether it be Metroids, Mother Brain, or even Weavel himself, who plays an important role in Act 1, Sub-Act 2, as Samus’s military coach and Federation defector to the Sangheili Pirates.

Sub-Act 2 is needing some work. Currently, it’s too long and bloated, and has trouble maintaining its focus when stretched out so far. But when Samus shows down with Mother Brain herself, a shocking discovery is made, segueing into…

Sub-Act 3, Act 2, “Despair.” Beginning conclusively with Samus’s escape into her gunship, Sub-Act 3 is where she really questions what she has become, and whether it was all worth it. It gets further trying for her when she is shot down and her Power Suit destroyed, forcing her descent into Ridley’s Flagship, and then to back into her ancient home to learn the truth for once and for all.

Sub-Act 4, Act 2, “Hope”, is where it all comes together. Restored, rejuvenated, and ready for anything, Samus makes her final assault, to escape so that she may go forth on her mission, and restore the Chozo to where they once were before. It’s where she learns about herself, and what her duty, and that of the Pirates, is ultimately to be.

Fhew, it’s been a long time in coming! But it is a journey that is certainly not to be missed. Now all that remains is to cut in the features. Next stop, Chozodia!