The Man in the High Castle: 20 things you need to know about the Amazon Original Series
By Bryce Olin
14. The Man in the High Castle is the “inception” of Alternate History
Possible Spoilers!
As mentioned, the book is slightly different than the TV show. In the book, which I haven’t read, there is a book that tells the story of a different future where America and the Allies won the war. It’s often described as a “novel within the novel.” That’s not really a spoiler because it’s central to the plot of the novel.
In the TV series, there’s no book that tells the end of the war, but there is something better and fits the medium, as well. A film reel exists that shows the end of the war as if the Americans and the Allies had won the war. This is crucial to the plot of the series and creates an “inception” of a “show inside of a show.”
The cool thing is that the characters don’t know if the footage is real or fake, which leads some to use the reel as a symbol for hope, that America can rise again from the ashes and defeat the empires that now control it. Obviously, in the right hands, a film like that can be very dangerous for the Nazis and Japanese.
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