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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/47101
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/47101
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

In _Game of Thrones_ there were two sets of stakes: the magical Night King, and the mundane power struggle for the Iron Throne. The characters reasonably decided they had to deal with the magical, more immediately existential threat before handling the mundane one.

Honestly I agree with you, and I also think that visual stories in general are escalating the stakes too high too fast. TV and movies are becoming too invested in the idea of "kill 'em or go home." Everything has to end in a death or it's not sufficiently interesting. I think there is a lot of value in smaller stakes: something emotionally important but not life-threatening.

The best way to handle this, I think, is to focus on how important the last-act stakes are to the characters. That will help the last-act stakes be more important to _the readers._

If your protagonist is desperate to get the MacGuffin to the Place for Plot Reasons, then getting out of the burning building is just one more (albeit hair-raising) obstacle to overcome. If we've invested enough in her journey to get to the place, then the simpler tasks of navigating the streets after escaping the building will be just as compelling as "getting out of a building which is on fire." It depends on how much urgency you as the writer give it.

A sequel is a new story. The stakes are whatever you make them. As an audience member, I frankly often enjoy a breather in story rhythm. I don't _want_ every single story to risk the end of the world. I've walked away from TV shows because they can't stop escalating the stakes, and I'm tired of watching characters I love repeatedly tortured with no end or reward ever in sight.

Original score: 18