For the second time in as many years, Greater Western Sydney have played the fall guy in a Melbourne football fairytale. Readers had to get through to the last page for last year's ending - this time they could put the book down well before the finish.
The Giants will have to wait another season for their turn on football's stage after being blown away by a ferocious second-half onslaught from Richmond.
The home of football will be bathed in yellow and black on grand final week after the Tigers finished all over the tiring Giants to storm into their first grand final since 1982 with an emphatic 36-point victory in front of 94,258 fans.
The fears in football heartland of a Giants dynasty have not eventuated and based on the club's 2017 campaign they could yet prove unfounded. Premierships are hard to win and, as the club has learned, so too preliminary finals.
Richmond's win could come at a huge cost with captain Trent Cotchin facing a nervous wait to see if he will be free to lead his team onto the MCG.
Cotchin will come under the scrutiny of the match review panel for a bruising clash with Dylan Shiel that left the Giants on-baller concussed and out of the game from early in the second quarter.
He would be incredibly stiff to miss the biggest game on the football calendar but head-high contact is closely monitored in the modern game.
Shiel's absence was a cruel blow for the Giants, who were out on their legs in the third term when the Tigers surged clear with six goals to one.
Beating Richmond would have been hard enough with 22 fit men, let alone down a rotation and with one of their best midfielders out of the game.
The Giants had more of the ball but the Tigers were better organised, rapidly closing their space.
Callan Ward and Josh Kelly were influential in the first half but ran out of puff after half-time.
Their forward line, apart from an opening cameo from Harry Himmelberg, lacked potency. Jonathon Patton failed to impose himself on the game.
It was a dirty last day at the office for Steve Johnson. He was not only held goalless but the game for the Giants seemed to unravel around him in a woeful third term.
The Giants' defence was resolute before half-time but then cracked under the stress of wave after wave of yellow and black.
Two minutes in and the Giants were already under the pump. The Tigers, with two goals in as many minutes, were rampant and their army raucous.
At times like these coaches look to their senior players for intervention. For Leon Cameron, it came not from a leader but from Himmelberg - one of their least experienced players and possibly the last man into the 22.
The Giants had taken the ascendancy in general play. Their midfield ball magnets were winning the ball and finding space but the Tigers' defence was hard to break down.
They had a chance to level the scores after the quarter-time siren but Patton, with no idea how much time was left, opted to handball to an unmarked Toby Greene rather than take the shot.
The Giants appeared the more threatening in the second term but both sides struggled to land blows on the scoreboard.
After absorbing the Tigers' opening flourishes, the Giants were given another barrage to start the second half. This time they were clinging on for dear life.
It took Daniel Rioli to break the game open. In a match where goals were hard to source, Rioli made the most of half chances. His fourth for the game sparked a flurry from which there was no coming back for the Giants.
The Giants were out on their legs. When they did not have the ball, they could not match the pace of the Tigers, who stormed forward with purpose and in numbers.
When they had it, their ball carrier invariably was met with a sea of yellow and black, both in close laying pressure and at their exits. The Giants, meanwhile, were two kicks away, unable to get to the contest.
