Well, enough about WRE for now. Now i'd like to talk about another cliche: Gunpowder Rome
In other words, a civilization creates a new technology of some kind and survives because of it. It is easy to see, why this won't work nearly as well as believed, but the question is, how should it play out?
I'll use an analogy of Archimedes inventing gunpowder (note that Archimedes was not a chemist IOTL, this is purely an example)
Possibility 1: Archimedes discovers gunpowder, but never comes up with the idea of using it for weaponry
Possibility 2: Archimedes discovers gunpowder and comes up with the idea of using it as a weapon, but the gunpowder is not effective enough to be used for projectile launching. All he can make are primitive flamethrowers ,which are not nearly as useful.
Possibility 3: Archimedes discovers gunpowder, comes up with the idea of using it as a weapon and perfects it so that it can be used for bombs and cannons. However, they are not enough to save Syracuse from the Romans and the city is conquered.
What would be the best scenario to use?
And for that matter, should this be a serious TL or would a parody sound better?