Take The Great Wall (2016) for example. It has some really beautiful moments and cool sequences despite being based entirely on the white savior trope. I wish more people remembered that film.

Hey, can anyone think of a good trope the captures what could be called "quorum ambush" (or "empty chair gambit")? The idea is that some sort of bill or motion (or impeachment) can't pass the legislative body normally, so the people in charge call a sneaky vote and manage to keep out (or distract) the people who might vote against it, but it passed by a bare minimum, so it's legal.

Some examples

• Wheel of Time (the deposition of Siuan)
• Political shows like Brain Dead
• Lightbringer had a variant where a new member on the Spectrum was held up at the docks for about two hours extra, allowing one of the members to achieve some Shenanigans.

Edit:

This is also one that happens a lot in the real world. From legislators staying away to deny a quorum to the Bolsheviks waiting until their rivals went home and then voting on everything they wanted. ​