I'd use 2.
Introduction is the subject, and though how many people are involved it's the event that is being talked about here.
_______________________________
Neither an NES nor a teacher

English Teacher
In a fiction story which I am proofreading there is the following sentence:
1. "The introduction were soon over."
I am aware that the obvious alternative would be:
2. "The introduction was soon over."
However, is sentence 1 correct?
Background: A couple of people met and are in the process of introducing each other.
I'd use 2.
Introduction is the subject, and though how many people are involved it's the event that is being talked about here.
_______________________________
Neither an NES nor a teacher
When we're using "introduction" in the sense of people meeting, then even though their only only two people here, we would still stay, "The introductions were ..."
When someone is giving a talk or a lecture, there is usually a preamble, an introduction, and then we would say, "The light-hearted introduction over, he launched into the most boring/most erudite/ most enthralling discourse on the life cycle of fungi."
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