It's the Journey That Counts: Difference between revisions

So they find the ancient tomb. They open the sarcophagus. And what do they find inside?

And it's true. The legends may have been greatly exaggerated, but all of our heroes have become better people as a result of their experiences. What they found at the end of their journey may only have sentimental value, but its message is clear: these are lessons they would only have learned by setting out in search of it.

When [[It's the Journey That Counts]], the object of the seeker's quest turns out to be materially worthless, but also constitutes a revelation that the seeker has grown or developed in some meaningful way during the course of their journey. Of course, if the protagonist's development is [[Snap Back|nullified]] or [[Ignored Epiphany|ignored]], then you have a [[Shaggy Dog Story]] on your hands.

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== Anime & Manga ==

* In ''[[Sakura Wars]],'' Sakura Shinguuji receives a scroll purporting to carry the secrets of her family's sword-fighting style. It turns out to be blank. She spends a good long while looking for secret writing before figuring out it means she needs to look within herself for the secrets.

* In ''[[Negima]]'', Negi and the "Baka Rangers" (the five worst students in his class) go looking for a magic book that will make them smarter in time for final exams. In order to get the book, a giant statue quizzes them on translating English words into Japanese. Then they get stuck in a lower level of the library, and pass the time by studying. Then the giant statue shows up again, and chases them up a stairway barred by review questions. Then they end up [["Friend or Idol?" Decision|throwing the book away to make the group light enough to take the only elevator to the surface]]. And in the end, {{spoiler|the whole thing turned out to be a [[Secret Test of Character]] designed by the headmaster.}}

== Fan Works ==

* ''Circle of Iron''. The protagonist Cord goes on a quest for the Book of All Knowledge. When he finally finds it, he opens it and discovers...a mirror.

** And then laughed at the monks who guarded the Book when they practically begged him to tell them what was in it - they were forbidden to look, after all.

** A more metaphorical read on the same concept: Dorothy uses the ruby slippers to get back to Earth; she's always had the power, but it took the events of the story to teach her the true value of her Kansas home.

* ''The Last Dragon'' starts with Leroy Green's master telling him there is no more he can teach him. "Bruce Leroy" insists on learning more. His master gives him a dragon-shaped amulet and tells him to seek out a master of "The Final Level" in Chinatown. Throughout the film, Leroy protects his friends, family, girlfriend and neighbourhood from villains, and unlocks [[Dangerous Forbidden Technique|"the glow"]], but returns to his master in shame, never finding the hidden master of Chinatown. Whereupon his master informs him he learned everything he needed to in his struggles, and the amulet was merely a belt buckle.

* Subverted in [[National Treasure]]. When they enter the {{spoiler|fake treasure room,}} Ben's group starts into this to him. {{spoiler|Then they find the real treasure.}}

== Literature ==

* The former [[Trope Namer]] is the Mirror of Llunet from ''The [[Prydain Chronicles]]'', which (similar to the Time Magazine cover), was basically a mirror. After Taran's journey, it showed him exactly as he was: his faults, his strengths, and how much he's grown. It was a revelation that made him [[Take a Level In Badass]].

* ''Marauders of [[Gor]]'' had the tomb of a great hero, which turned out to contain nothing but an arrow. The protagonists realize that the arrow means they need to step up and become heroes themselves.

* Geraldine Harris' ''[[Seven Citadels]]' series plays this trope mostly straight; after an arduous quest by the main characters to acquire [[Plot Coupon|seven keys to unlock the prophesied savior]], the hero unlocks and enters the cave of the savior, only to see his own face reflected in the mirror that is the only thing there. Toyed with by the fact that he has been religiously forbidden to see his own face (until now), so it takes him a moment to realize who that face is... and then the wife of his god shows up to hammer the point home in case he couldn't figure it out himself.

* The ''[[Redwall]]'' book ''Loamhedge'' had a few of the main cast go on a journey to find a cure for another main character's paraplegia. After a long arduous journey (where one of them nearly dies from thirst and two others ''do die'' in battle), they discover that there's nothing there but a poem, and that the main character they did the quest for learned to walk on her own. On the bright side, all three of the younger members of the questing group were immature, rude, and spoiled, and they came back from the journey much more matured. Two of them grow up to be the Abbess and Recorder respectively.

* ''Day of the Dissonance'' by Alan Dean Foster has the apprentice making a lonnnnng journey to find medicine for the very ill mentor. The apprentice is not amused by the lesson, but does understand it. Extra: The apprentice, Jon-Tom, is a UCLA law student pulled into the magical world, which are the setting for 8 books, called the Spellsinger Series. This is the third. {{spoiler|The medicine is aspirin, which Jon-Tom had with him in his college backpack at the mentor's house when the wizard first started feeling poorly.}}

== Video Games ==

* During Aqua's quest in ''[[Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep]]'', she ends up with [[Peter Pan]] and his Lost Boys on a quest for treasure. Eventually, it turns out that the treasure map simply led them all on a circle around Neverland to the same space they started--at which point Peter points out that the supposed treasure didn't matter, what ''did'' matter was that the boys pushed themselves to overcome obstacles in order to get to it.

** In the episode "Something Wall-Mart This Way Comes," the boys are told that in order to destroy Wall-Mart, they have to find and destroy its heart. Stan and Kyle make their way to the TV section (where the heart is said to reside) and encounter the [[Anthropomorphic Personification]] of Wall-Mart itself, who directs them to a small door. They open the door and find a mirror, which Wall-Mart says is "the heart" of Wall-Mart, i.e. the consumers. Stan and Kyle, however, take the instructions to "destroy the heart" literally, and smash the mirror, causing the building to implode.

* Parodied, like many things, in ''[[The Simpsons]]''. In an alternate future with Lisa as president, Homer decides to run around the grounds of the White House in search of Lincoln's gold. He eventually finds a chest, with a note saying that his gold is in the heart of every American. Homer isn't amused.

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