Oh, boy, I read through another of my Image Arcane scripts earlier, and it happened to be that "angst, angst, angst" episode I mentioned before. I'm not the most well-educated or well-read person in the world, but I am SO glad I'm a more competent critic and writer now than I was back then. That episode had such a fantastic Act 3, but the problem is that NOTHING in Act 2 leads up to it. It's just everyone yelling at each other constantly, and Chancey going bonkers. I could probably rewrite that episode, slightly alter Act 1, completely replace Act 2, and keep Act 3 mostly the way it is and have a much better, more coherent episode. It was really a lost opportunity to expand more on Kraken's background, and that's the route I'd take if I rewrote it now.

In some ways I can almost see why an episode like that occurred, though. There was an earlier one where the "non-human" characters (Nucleo, Christopher, Snakeroot, Jack, Deuce, and Tomi) were mad at the human characters (Chancey and Sesa) over something, and it was a similar situation - they were spending the night in a cave while on a long journey and the two groups were arguing a lot. The difference in the earlier episode is that they were arguing valid points and there was humor in it. But in the second case, it's like I tried to take that same exact situation and elevate it to a new level of seriousness. It just didn't work.

Anyway, one thing I think I will do is cut the Seven Towers Saga down to maybe about 4. There was at least one tower in the old series that I never got around to writing any stories for. I had a battle planned for that tower, but decided against it because it was where an important development for Stefan was supposed to take place, but I decided that would be best left for the very end. The most important of the towers to keep are the Nispatia Tower (the one near Chancey and Sesa's hometown where Snakeroot came from), the Aridian Tower (where Nucleo and Image fought Karma and lost), the Grimmora Tower (which Nucleo was excavating when he got possessed by Darkona), and the Main Tower in Phainein. I think the story should focus mainly on those towers and the connections between them.

I might consider one more, though. In the old series, the continent of Spochella was the one place in the world that still had "modern" technology and civilization, and that was because they struck a deal with the entity controlling the Spochellan Tower - he'd give them energy if they made certain sacrifices to him. (I wonder if I got that idea from the Shining Wire Warren in Watership down?) You've probably already guessed who got sent there to be a sacrifice. That could be one possibility.

The other possibility might be the Sky Tower that was ruled by Aira. Aira was the one Elemental Lord who wasn't all that bad. (Come to think of it, those Elemental Lords are a lot like the Ancients in Eternal Darkness. Most of them are evil, but Aira is sort of like Mantorok.) Maybe I could include both, but I don't want the series to get drawn out and repetitive. I think the water tower will be skipped.