"There was no long-term, and trying to cling to one would only spoil it all."
This article contains spoilers regarding the ending of Worm and plot of the sequel.
Interludes are chapters narrated from the point of view of a different character to the main narrator, Taylor (excepting two arcs, all normal chapters are from her point of view). This is not always the same character throughout the interlude. They are normally in third person as opposed to the usual first person. Interludes occur at the end of each arc, and Wildbow has added more in the middle as Donation bonuses, released whenever a certain donation milestone is reached.
Generally characters only feature in one interlude, making a return if they have gone through a significant shift in characterization, with structural exceptions for multi-part chapters and whole arc interludes,[1] see below.
They are important to the main storyline - Cauldron was first revealed in an interlude, and the interlude from Scion's POV is incredibly relevant to the following chapters. Often, they are used to further the plot in ways the main characters don't realise, or simply to add colour to the Wormverse. Many interludes feature characters who were considered as protagonists for Worm, and so they are very detailed and have interesting backstories rather than simply being plot dispensers.
Worm Interludes
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Ward Interludes
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Trivia
- An early interlude is from Brutus' point of view, and is written as though it were a transcript of his thoughts.
- There is an interlude that is written as a series of extracts from forums on Parahumans Online, where many of the posters are thinly-disguised versions of commentators on the main story.
- Often, interludes are where some of the biggest reveals happen. Some very spoilery examples (in no particular order) are Dragon being an AI, Defiant leaving to fight the Slaughterhouse Nine, Scion's story told from the perspective of the homeless man who influences him, Scion's story from the perspective of Scion, Cauldron's goals and motivations, the Triumvirate working with Cauldron, Eidolon's powers fading, and Eden's existence.
- Had Wildbow not received more donations, Ignis Fatuus would have had a larger role in the story, serving as a catalyst for Skitter investigating the setting's lore earlier than she did in the canon story-line. Consequently, Worm would have been far shorter.[2]
References
- ↑ My rule for interludes is to have one interlude per character - if the person changes sufficiently that they aren't the same person in terms of intrinsic identity anymore, they're clear to have another interlude. Lady is different from Emily, and we don't really focus on her throughout. Armsmaster is distinct from Defiant, Golem from Theo, endgame Rachel from post-S9 Bitch, endgame Imp from S9-era Imp, and most prominently, the ghost of Taylor from the 1,500,000 word interlude from Skitter/Weaver/Khepri's perspective.
Exceptions for things like Trickster for the Traveler's arc and Golem parts I and II, just for the sake of me not being able to write 40k words in a single installment, or 20k for Golem. - We’ve Got WARD: Arc 4 - Shade (Part 3) (Wildbow, Reddit.com, 2018-02-21) - ↑ Had there been no donations, it would have been a much smaller story. I probably would have killed off Tattletale, to gut Taylor's access to information she shouldn't have and keep her more on the same page with the reader, and I would have gotten more in depth with the whole 'figuring stuff out' bit. Clone-Eidolon's (Ignis Fatuus') big speech would have made her flip the fuck out. I probably would have driven her out of Brockton Bay to just get her out there and interacting with more setting elements (with a lot more emphasis on Faultline). The story would have been far shorter. - Comment by Wildbow on Spacebattles