The Third Act: The Underworld

The third act represents the final quarter of a story, from 75% to 100%. After that moment, the story's conflict is resolved one way or another and the story ends. In stories with transformative character arcs, readers will get to witness this transmogrification close up. But even in stories in which the action is primarily focused on the external conflict, we can still see the overtones of this underworld simply in the high stakes the character faces.