Writing

This question was asked elsewhere by geneaux and is copied here in accordance with the CC BY-SA 4.0 license there.

Right before the climax of my SciFi novel, there's a big reveal about who the bad guys really are and how they influenced the magic system -- throughout history. This reveal will be the much-wanted answer to a big mystery arc, so I want to maximize reader payoff.

1) Is not happening in real time, i.e. walking in on the bad guys to see them in action.

2) Also includes technical information about the magic as it relates to the bad guys.

The plot involves the MC finding a lost civilization who guards this secret. One of those people will deliver some of the information. In addition, I can use a hologram room to show other parts of the history.

My main concern is that delivering the reveal through something other than live action might diminish it.

What other ways to dramatize the delivery of historical reveals can I use to maximize excitement/payoff?

This question does not ask how to build a plot twist, or how to write the mystery leading up to the reveal. The mystery already exists; there is foreshadowing, there is buildup, bits of info are seeded. This question regards narrative techniques I can use for delivering the reveal other than dialogue, holograms/recordings (i.e. showing but not in real time), and exposition, if any others exist.

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How do I deliver a historical plot reveal?

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