I didn’t really check the LessWrong thread earlier, but I am happy to see that people here are a lot less willing to accept the unsatisfying solution than at r/HPMOR.
I used to really enjoy HPMOR, but it is now basically ruined for me—Voldemort holding the idiot ball, the one time where things really matter, and this is also when Harry’s untested strategies work like a charm on the first try without him being noticed? I guess I was too quick to praise Eliezer on being able to write more believable scenes than Rowling.
What disappoints me almost as much is that the original answer was (from all that I can gather) to mainly just use the swerving hex. Hahahaha.
I’m pretty sure the original answer always had the partial transfiguration / nanotubes / garotte element. Consider the bit at the very start of chapter 1 (fraction of a line, robes falling, blood); the fact that in H&H’s transfiguration experiments they use nanowires, verify that they’re very strong, and verify that their length can be changed by transfiguration; arguably the bit in chapter 7 where Harry thinks what a good idea it would be just to decapitate all the Death Eaters; Dumbledore’s insistence that partial transfiguration, being a power the Dark Lord knows not, may be vital to his victory.
While I am inclined to agree with the general spirit of your comment, I think you’re being a little harsh. This is still miles more believable than much of Rowling’s work. For one thing, recall that her Voldemort achieved the same terrifying results during the Wizarding War while being an idiot all the time.
Yes HPMOR has been generally more believable, except for the one scene that matters in the whole book. At any rate, I am not sure if defeating Voldemort by use of an artefact—the Elder Wand is any less believable than using transfigured nanowires in secret against a much smarter version of Voldemort who forgets to use shields/wards/attention in order to catch harry this one time, and lets him have his wand when he doesn’t need it.
I wouldn’t make that assumption. There are several chapters left and a bunch of things left unresolved, some of which seem like they could be important. Is he going to make further progress on defeating Death? Will we discover why there’s a prophecy that he’ll tear apart the stars, empty the skies, and end the world?
Maybe not; there might be nothing left now but wrap-up. But I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion.
I didn’t really check the LessWrong thread earlier, but I am happy to see that people here are a lot less willing to accept the unsatisfying solution than at r/HPMOR.
I used to really enjoy HPMOR, but it is now basically ruined for me—Voldemort holding the idiot ball, the one time where things really matter, and this is also when Harry’s untested strategies work like a charm on the first try without him being noticed? I guess I was too quick to praise Eliezer on being able to write more believable scenes than Rowling.
What disappoints me almost as much is that the original answer was (from all that I can gather) to mainly just use the swerving hex. Hahahaha.
I’m pretty sure the original answer always had the partial transfiguration / nanotubes / garotte element. Consider the bit at the very start of chapter 1 (fraction of a line, robes falling, blood); the fact that in H&H’s transfiguration experiments they use nanowires, verify that they’re very strong, and verify that their length can be changed by transfiguration; arguably the bit in chapter 7 where Harry thinks what a good idea it would be just to decapitate all the Death Eaters; Dumbledore’s insistence that partial transfiguration, being a power the Dark Lord knows not, may be vital to his victory.
While I am inclined to agree with the general spirit of your comment, I think you’re being a little harsh. This is still miles more believable than much of Rowling’s work. For one thing, recall that her Voldemort achieved the same terrifying results during the Wizarding War while being an idiot all the time.
Yes HPMOR has been generally more believable, except for the one scene that matters in the whole book. At any rate, I am not sure if defeating Voldemort by use of an artefact—the Elder Wand is any less believable than using transfigured nanowires in secret against a much smarter version of Voldemort who forgets to use shields/wards/attention in order to catch harry this one time, and lets him have his wand when he doesn’t need it.
I wouldn’t make that assumption. There are several chapters left and a bunch of things left unresolved, some of which seem like they could be important. Is he going to make further progress on defeating Death? Will we discover why there’s a prophecy that he’ll tear apart the stars, empty the skies, and end the world?
Maybe not; there might be nothing left now but wrap-up. But I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion.