White screen of death on index.php page 3 and above?

Question

I am experimenting with custom loops and following the tutorial of the illustrious Chip Bennett, and I actually got everything to work on index.php!

...

Up to, that is, page 3.

Everything works lovely when I go to page 2. On any higher page, it's white screen of death time.

To my eye, my code is practically identical to the one provided in the link, but for completeness:

    $hero_args = array(
    "posts_per_page" => "1",
    );
$hero_args['paged'] = get_query_var( 'paged' ) 
    ? get_query_var( 'paged' ) 
    : 1;
$heroPost = new WP_Query($hero_args);
<div class = "blog_content_wrap">
           <div class = "hero_blog">
               <?php    $temp_query = $wp_query;
               $wp_query   = NULL;
               $wp_query   = $heroPost;?>
           &lt;?php if ($heroPost -&gt; have_posts()): ?&gt;
            Query contains something

            &lt;?php while ($heroPost -&gt; have_posts()):
                $heroPost -&gt; the_post();
                the_title();?&gt;


            &lt;?php endwhile;

           ?&gt;


           &lt;?php else:?&gt;
            No posts found, sucker
           &lt;?php endif; 

           wp_reset_postdata();


           print_r ($hero_args['paged']);
           previous_posts_link( 'Older Posts' );
            next_posts_link( 'Newer Posts', $heroPost-&gt;max_num_pages );
           the_posts_pagination();
           $wp_query = NULL;
           $wp_query = $temp_query;
           ?&gt;


        &lt;/div&gt;

I have a sneaking suspicion it has to do with the max_num_pages? But I'm not sure at all. It's a PHP error, but I have no idea how to ask the question more precisely. If someone has a good idea of where to look, I'd appreciate it.

TLDR localhost/blogname/ = fine localhost/blogname/page/2 = fine localhost/blogname/page/3 = total destruction

Probably not necessary, but here's my full index.php:

<?php get_header(); ?>
<!--replace index.php with the list, home.php for the 'main' blog? -->
<?php
$hero_args = array(
    "posts_per_page" => "1",
  /*  'meta_key' => 'meta-checkbox',
    'meta_value' => 'yes' */
);
$hero_args['paged'] = get_query_var( 'paged' ) 
    ? get_query_var( 'paged' ) 
    : 1;
$post_args = array(
    "posts_per_page" => "3",
    "offset" => "1",
);
$pag_args1 = array(
    'format'  => '?page1=%#%',
    'current' => $page1,
    'total'   => $query1->max_num_pages,
    'add_args' => array( 'page2' => $page2 )
);
$heroPost = new WP_Query($hero_args);
// the loop
?>
<?php
/*
if ( $heroPost->have_posts() ) {
    while ( $heroPost->have_posts() ) {
        $heroPost->the_post();
        if ( (int) $heroPost->current_post === 0 ) {
          // loop content for hero post
        }
    } 
}*/
?>
<div class = "blog_content_wrap">
           <div class = "hero_blog">
               <?php    $temp_query = $wp_query;
               $wp_query   = NULL;
               $wp_query   = $heroPost;?>
           &lt;?php if ($heroPost -&gt; have_posts()): ?&gt;
            Query contains something

            &lt;?php while ($heroPost -&gt; have_posts()):
                $heroPost -&gt; the_post();
                the_title();?&gt;


            &lt;?php endwhile;

           ?&gt;


           &lt;?php else:?&gt;
            No posts found, sucker
           &lt;?php endif; 

           wp_reset_postdata();


           print_r ($hero_args['paged']);
           previous_posts_link( 'Older Posts' );
            next_posts_link( 'Newer Posts', $heroPost-&gt;max_num_pages );
           the_posts_pagination();
           $wp_query = NULL;
           $wp_query = $temp_query;
           ?&gt;


        &lt;/div&gt;


       &lt;div class = &quot;blog_grid&quot;&gt;





            &lt;/div&gt;




        &lt;div class = &quot;blog_div&quot;&gt;
          &lt;h1 class = &quot;read_more_title&quot;&gt;Blog Navigation&lt;/h1&gt;
          &lt;form&gt;

            &lt;input type=&quot;text&quot;&gt;&lt;/input&gt;
            &lt;button&gt;Search&lt;/button&gt;
            &lt;button&gt;By Category&lt;/button&gt;
            &lt;button&gt;By Date&lt;/button&gt;
            &lt;button&gt;List&lt;/button&gt;



        &lt;/div&gt;





       &lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;/div&gt;

      &lt;?php get_footer(); ?&gt;

      &lt;!--&lt;div class = &quot;blog_div&quot;&gt;
          &lt;h3&gt;tit&lt;/h3&gt;
          &lt;h4&gt;Olivia Bennett&lt;/h4&gt;
          &lt;p&gt; ex&lt;/p&gt;
             &lt;a href=&quot;#&quot;&gt;Read more&lt;/a&gt;
        &lt;/div&gt;
        &lt;div class = &quot;blog_div&quot;&gt;
          &lt;h3&gt;My Day at the Spinster's House&lt;/h3&gt;
          &lt;h4&gt;Olivia Bennett&lt;/h4&gt;
          &lt;p&gt;Lorem ipsum dolor, sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit. Doloremque ad quae saepe dolorum. 
            Sequi quidem doloremque, explicabo, necessitatibus eum dicta perferendis
             totam ex dolor at eos quae aliquid iusto fugiat?&lt;/p&gt;
             &lt;a href=&quot;#&quot;&gt;Read more&lt;/a&gt;
        &lt;/div&gt;
        &lt;div class = &quot;blog_div&quot;&gt;
          &lt;h3&gt;My Day at the Spinster's House&lt;/h3&gt;
          &lt;h4&gt;Olivia Bennett&lt;/h4&gt;
          &lt;p&gt;Lorem ipsum dolor, sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit. Doloremque ad quae saepe dolorum. 
            Sequi quidem doloremque, explicabo, necessitatibus eum dicta perferendis
             totam ex dolor at eos quae aliquid iusto fugiat?&lt;/p&gt;
             &lt;a href=&quot;#&quot;&gt;Read more&lt;/a&gt;
        &lt;/div&gt;--&gt;