Do the Work: Ultimate Boon

The Ultimate Boon marks the climax of the story, when the hero has accomplished the task he set out to complete. It’s the moment that the protagonist finally becomes a true hero and puts the god-like status he achieved in the previous stage to use. All the knowledge, skills, and abilities gained throughout the journey are brought to bear in one final battle of good versus evil. This is where the hero is fully tested and emerges victorious.

In The Lion King, this moment is presented as Simba ascending Pride Rock and triumphantly roaring to assert that, after years in exile, the rightful king has returned. The ultimate boon is Jake Sully leading the Na’vi to victory in battle against the humans in Avatar. It’s Tony Stark defeating Obadiah Stane at the end of Iron Man. In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, it’s when Indy brought the Holy Grail back to his father. At the end of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, when Luke defeats Vader, but does not kill him, it marked the conclusion of his passage through various trials and temptations to go from ignorant farm boy, to brash warrior, to balanced Jedi Knight. The moment of triumph in these stories represent the application of the personal ascension the hero undergoes in the preceding stage of Apotheosis. This is where the ephemeral concept is coalesced into a true meeting of rubber and road, and this is where we must pay the most attention for our own…