The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers
Can a Wizard's Powers be Stolen or Taken permanently?
groinkick:
--- Quote from: Mr. Death on June 26, 2017, 09:19:30 PM ---Don't look at the Blackstaff like a cop or an FBI agent. The Blackstaff is an assassin, a hitman, who makes problems for the White Council go away.
Without any kind of public process, no vote, no trial, nothing between the Council deciding someone is a problem -- or the Blackstaff himself deciding so -- and removing that problem.
So don't look at it like a cop who's allowed to kill when necessary in defense of the law and his own life.
Look at it like a shady-as-hell Man in Black who might just shoot you while you're going about your day to day business because the Senior Council decided you were a problem.
--- End quote ---
First, the Council itself has proven itself to go to incredible lengths to bring people to justice with the Wardens. They aren't going to simply see you as a problem, and send the Blackstaff after you. If they send the Blackstaff after you, you're an absolute nightmare, not some wizard who's irritated some council members.
Second, if the Council did send the Blackstaff after you, that was the process. The military, and CIA do the exact same thing. They don't hold a trial, or take a vote when killing a terrorist. They locate the terrorist, and drop a bomb on them, case closed. It has to be done, arresting and taking every terrorist to trial isn't realistic. War is dirty, it always has been, and always will be.
Third, the Blackstaff was granted these powers by the Council. That is also the process. It's no different than the military telling a sniper to remove any threat he see's. He's not going to radio back every target for confirmation to shoot. His job is to see a target, make a judgement call, and take the shot. No trial, no vote, it's the snipers call.
I think this conversation can be a good example of how the Council as a whole would respond. Some people would be upset, and some would not. I'm on the side of the people who wouldn't be upset.
Mr. Death:
You're speaking with the outside knowledge we all have as readers. Knowledge that the average white council member is not going to have.
They don't know that the Blackstaff is "only" for super monster cases. Hell, we don't even know that -- we know that one case of Blackstaffing was entirely personal, people who went after his wife.
All the average white council member suspects is that there's someone out there who's allowed to kill at whim, and break the laws that they themselves have always been told were cosmically important and an instant death sentence if they were to break them for any reason.
Remember, the laws of magic aren't like laws of a nation or a state. Killing is illegal in the US, too, but if you're defending your own life or property, you could do it without even being arrested.
Killing for any reason at all with magic is a death sentence, with the extremely rare case of someone else literally putting their life on the line to keep you alive. And even then, it's assumed you're going to end up doing it again and killed.
So it's not like a sniper being given discretion to kill on specific missions. It's like a secret agent being given total discretion to torture, rape, maim and terrorize whoever he wants, if he decides it needs to be done.
peregrine:
--- Quote from: groinkick on June 27, 2017, 05:27:56 AM ---Third, the Blackstaff was granted these powers by the Council. That is also the process. It's no different than the military telling a sniper to remove any threat he see's. He's not going to radio back every target for confirmation to shoot. His job is to see a target, make a judgement call, and take the shot. No trial, no vote, it's the snipers call.
--- End quote ---
The sniper doesn't get to browse the papers and watch the news, then gear up and go off to shoot whoever he thinks has it coming. The Blackstaff does.
--- Quote ---
I think this conversation can be a good example of how the Council as a whole would respond. Some people would be upset, and some would not.
--- End quote ---
Which is my point.
groinkick:
--- Quote from: peregrine on June 27, 2017, 02:29:57 PM ---The sniper doesn't get to browse the papers and watch the news, then gear up and go off to shoot whoever he thinks has it coming. The Blackstaff does.Which is my point.
--- End quote ---
It's the same thing. A sniper will watch an area within his visual capability and take down a target. That's no different than the Blackstaff watching for targets. It's just the Blackstaff's scanning the globe rather than a couple mile radius.
I still find it hard to believe the majority of the White Council is unaware of the Blackstaff. It's been around for a very long time, and wizards instinctively are curious, and gather knowledge. It's their nature. They also seem to associate with the supernatural community, again sources of information on the Blackstaff.
I think it's more likely that Harry personally didn't know for a number of reasons.
1. He's young for a wizard
2. He has been shunned by the Council, and seen a a security risk
3. Harry avoids the White Council
I think the 3rd reason is the biggest. Harry has gone out of his way to avoid everything to do with the White Council and only exposes himself to them when he has no choice. I think most wizard folk who are involved with the Council probably know of, or at least heard whispers of the Blackstaff. I doubt that they are 100% unaware. It's more likely that they suspect, but can't confirm.
Mr. Death:
--- Quote from: groinkick on June 27, 2017, 05:02:30 PM ---It's the same thing. A sniper will watch an area within his visual capability and take down a target. That's no different than the Blackstaff watching for targets. It's just the Blackstaff's scanning the globe rather than a couple mile radius.
--- End quote ---
It really, really is not. A sniper is sent to places where there are known or suspected enemies, his orders coming from a chain of command and only allowed to shoot in that specific instance, in that specific space, at that specific time and often, specific people that are pre-approved.
They don't just turn a sniper toward a village and say, "Oh, just blast whoever you think you need to blast and we'll pick you up later." They put him in a place with orders like, "You're waiting for the Grand Generalissississimo. If you have a clean shot, take him out."
The Blackstaff has no orders. He has no real oversight. He has full discretion to do whatever he wants (remember, "What's the point of having a license to ignore the Senior Council if I don't use it?"). He is not sent after a target -- he decides who to kill, when to kill, how to kill, and can do so whenever he wants to.
The comparison you're proposing just does not work. It's like saying a kidnapper is the same as the cop because, hey, they both handcuff people and put them in a locked room.
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