So the problem is basically adding more stress on top of a mountain that the MC is buried under. I don't know whether to just pull the band aid now, or wait until the end. Another MC has information that the aforementioned doesn't know about. To add weight to the information would really drive the first absolutely mad, or worse. I will list all the things that the MC has on his plate, and would like to know when would be a better time to deliver the bad news. It has to deal with the first in the list. 1. Confronted old lover and former fellow officer, made her kill herself with his weapon to avoid the red tape. 2. Gets betrayed from inside his own ranks, and has a loyal friend and captain hunt down the traitor. They warned the enemy of a plan to take them out. 3. Went after another officer that was sent out on a recon mission. This officer is close to him as he pulled her out of a warzone, and took care of her when she was a child. She gets captured due to an inside betrayal by the enemy. After finding her, he learns she was raped by an enemy general. 4. Questioning the arrival of a second battleship comes to join the fight. Unsure of their intentions, despite meeting with the commander and working out the delicate situation. 5. Sitting on the cusp of an all out war, that is swiftly drawing to a nearer. Putting the final details into the plans. So should the other MC tell the other MC before or after? Keep in mind the news would completely wreck the former, and could go very badly if he finds out.
I think it first depends on how you want to handle the story. If you drive the first MC to madness, you'll have to deal with that for a while and/or it would take the character out. Does the reader have the information the second MC has? In that case, I would prefer to have him tell in the end. Just knowing what's at stake builds up the suspense of how the first MC will deal with it. Then again, a character that's driven to the edge can be really interesting too.
Yes the second does allude to the reader that he feels it is best to withhold the information. Seeing as how he feels the other might completely lose it. He was also a witness to what happened before finding out the information. So you think that is should be shared near the end. Interesting.
It really depends on what you want to write. Whichever you choose will have a lot of effect on where the story goes. Do you have ideas for both possibilities?
I do, though IDK how well thought out they are. One way things could go is if it is at the end, they might just get emotionally wrecked and fall into a self destructive depression. Or if I pull the Band-Aid where they are now. Then well lets just say that whatever his plans for the enemy are now will grow tenfold and all restrictions will be lifted (we are talking really nasty and gruesome, as it would become far more personal).
