At the end of the story, most things are never the same. And then there are some things that must remain unchanged.
Events trigger these transformation, and affect characters, settings, organizations, and even motivations.
The Rebellion toppled an evil Empire and in the process, a boy became a Jedi, a smuggler fell in love with a princess, and a father found redemption in the eyes of his son.
But for characters to have integrity, certain truths must remain the same.
The Ring Bearer is persistent, his friend never fails to be by his side until they reach Mount Doom. The Wizard is never late and is always on-time, whether it is encouraging the Hobbit to be on a quest or rescuing Helm's Deep. The would-be King acts courageously and is constant for his love with the Elf Princess. And the Wretched Hobbit ever desires the One Ring of Power.
Like building a house, the foundation has to be constant and strong. After it has been laid down and tested, the excitement of seeing the actual house being built will take over. After finishing, it can be renovated, added to, taken away from, transformed from one shape to another. Each transformation is an exciting process. But the house is always, always built on a firm foundation.
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P.S. Maybe that's why some Star Trek movies are flops - they never have any permanent effects on either the characters or the state of things. The best Star Trek movies are those that had a permanent effect to the Star Trekverse - the Khitomer Accords and peace between the Klingons and the Federation; the death of Spock; Kirk travels to the past to get whales.
P.P.S. I was trying to find an example of a bad story with no firm truths or the truths always change and nothing ever is permanent. I haven't found one, but I'm sure there are some examples out there. I'll come back to this perhaps in another entry.
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