So, there was this magician, OK?
He made a trick, and it was kinda cool and impressive, and people said "hey, neat".
Half a year later, he had another trick. People said "that's actually pretty good". One year later, he had another trick. People went "whoa". Two years later, he had developed yet another trick. It looked kind of like the previous trick, but people were happy because they also got a book.
The fifth trick was long in the coming. People said "that's enough tricks for now. the magician should just quit while he's ahead". But the fifth trick finally arrived, after almost four years. At the end of the trick, the magician bowed and said "now you are all magicians. take this trick and do good in the world".
And the people discovered that, indeed, they were now also capable of performing magic themselves. They went "this is so awesome! I'll never need another magician again in my whole life. the fifth trick is all I ever wanted!"
The fifth trick spread all over the world and people did great good with it. People got used to having magic, and used it every day like it was a wrench or a screwdriver. The amount of available magic for various purposes grew and collected. It grew not only in quantity, but also in refinement and precision. People got better and better at wielding it. Some became great magicians on their own.
But then, six years later, the magician came back and said "I'm going to make a sixth trick. It's going to be like nothing you've ever seen. It's the trick that will dominate all other tricks. It will be amazing magic, as yet unseen. It will take time. I'm going to need your help."
Well, since people had seen the magician's previous tricks, they were all enthusiastic and excited about this sixth trick. They knew it was going to be the greatest one yet. So they all set to work.
Five years passed. There were all these tomes and runes and incantations written, but nothing that amounted to the sixth trick yet. People had tried and mostly failed. It wasn't possible to see an end to the tunnel. Then one disciple said "hey look, isn't this like, really easy? you just..." and then she unleashed massive amounts of the sixth trick upon everyone. People were awed at this. For a few years, the disciple stood in the eye of a storm of magic, disposing Trick 6 upon the world. Then she faded away, and all was calm again.
Now twelve years had passed. There was still no fully formed sixth trick around. A dedicated group was still working on putting the sixth trick together, and making it ready to meet the world. The original magician was still working at their side. More of Trick 6 was collected and understood than at the time of the disciple, but progress was steadier and less chaotic. The whole world had mostly moved on and stopped caring. Individual voices were sometimes heard, saying "you go, guys! we know you can do it!" The fifth trick was still going strong, and had even gotten new attention lately as people realized that it was actually pretty good and wasn't going away soon.
The tipping point, when it came, came slowly but surely...