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Fake-outs & twists & betrayals

Ermol

Dreamer
So all I'm doing right now is some brainstorming and plotting. I have a few characters with 4 primary interwoven storylines, and I'm having some issues with 2 of them. All of them, really, but two of them in particular.

One of them details an unplanned journey of one of my MC's into the middle of an enemy kingdom. As the story progresses he comes in direct contact with the ruler, slays him. He then takes his identity and usurps his army (sounds jarring but this bit is possible & plausible). The army was ready as the ruler was about to march them against the MC's home. So the difficulty is to convince the reader that this (hopefully) awesome char I was developing is in fact dead, so that we have the OMG moment at the final battle where this army arrives and is presumed to be enemies, but in reality save the good guys.. Then at the end he takes his helm off and embraces his brother. Yep. One solution is to switch his POV with that of a companion's, who is to be separated from the MC shortly before his presumed death at the hands of the bad guy. Then portray the march of this supposed enemy army from a POV of a someone unaware. Alternatively we have the MC's POV till halfway through, and then we switch to another one. However, I wonder if there's a better way.

Different question for the second plotline. A high-ranking noble together with a political rival discover that the noble's previously assumed deceased father is behind some dodgy stuff. The rival kills the father, which the noble agrees was necessary, but then murders the rival and blames his father. He then takes over the father's criminal underworld operation, with only a couple of trusted advisers even aware of the altercation. This MC needs to be a very canny political operator. So for him the overall plot that he becomes king, but I haven't completely charted out the clever way he does that. There is some justified fear-mongering and arranged riots, and he places placing some of his own men into the military structure, but not much else. He prefers not to actually assassinate, and the one I mentioned above is in fact the only one. Historically (and I appreciate this maybe belongs to a different forum), are there any good examples of double-crossers in history, people playing both sides against each other and coming on top. Certainly Stalin, Hitler to an extent. But is anyone aware of someone older who has been particularly notorious for their politicking?
 

Gurkhal

Auror
In regards to POV my idea is that you could take away the POV of the one who kills and usurps the enemy ruler just as he's about to engage the king, and only tell how it came about and such when the army proves itself to be allies.

Here's someone who might be what you were looking for a politiking guy although he did not come out on top for his entire life.

Zhao Gao - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
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