The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers
New Blackstaff discussion
dspringer1:
The Blackstaff is not an assassin or a black ops "capability". I think too many people are labeling him as such -- and then using that label to justify their explanation of how he operates.
Let us be clear.
1) the White council does NOT need an assassin. They can kill their enemies pretty easily without a Blackstaff. The only exception would be human enemies which are covered by the laws. Renegades warlocks can be hunted down within the laws. White Council has procedures to deal with lesser issues within their ranks. So really we are talking about vanilla humans -- and issues with vanilla humans that require a Blackstaff have to be extremely rare.
2) the Blackstaff is not some super duper secret black operative that allows the White Council to act without consequences. Anything the Black Staff does will be assumed to be Council policy by any of the supernatural powers -- even if they do not know of the position. A wizard did it -- and the wizard is not a hunted warlock - so White Council is responsible.
3) What the Blackstaff is an exception to the laws of magic. If an enemy "uses" the laws of magic to protect themselves from the White Council, the Blackstaff can still act. By definition, actions that break the laws of magic are not "good" actions and probably involve a lot of death and destruction. For example, there are dozens of wizards who can cause a volcano to explode, but only the Blackstaff can do so if it involves significant risk of human death. That is why Harry labeled Eb an Assassin -- as his actions as Blackstaff often involve the death of humans by magic. (which is true of the examples Kincaid gave). But other examples like mind raping a prisoner to get intelligence or opening the outer gates to achieve some important objective or using necromancy to disrupt a major dark hallow ritual.
4) the Blackstaff is not some super adept with dark magic. They can do dark magic, but I doubt they do so much of any one type that they become highly skilled. One of Kemler's disciples is probably a way better necromancer than Eb could possibly be (unless you believe he is Cowl of course).
Zaphodess:
--- Quote from: Mr. Death on June 28, 2017, 02:25:46 PM ---3. He killed 200 mercenaries working for the people who were trying to kill Maggie.
...The third is something that the Merlin had specifically told Harry he didn't want done.
--- End quote ---
As had Ebenezar himself before he knew it wasn't just about the life of the little girl. And who she was, admittedly.
Eb had to convince a couple of other wizards to join him, so we can safely assume that the scope of what the RC had planned at CI justified a reevaluation of that order. Some people believe that the Merlin might actually have joined them. I don't believe this, but it's not impossible.
The mortals Eb killed there were mercenaries working for the enemy. Who must have seen what the RC did to humans. I don't feel too sorry for them.
As Snark Knight pointed out about Casaverde, his personal motivation wasn't the only one. There were good reasons to do it apart from them. The same holds true for CI. They managed to exterminate the RC that night, ending the war. Probably ending Cristos' gamble for political power. And a blood-line curse used against a powerful wizard is a threat to the whole White Council. They can't allow this to happen to any member. Because lots of them have family and those kinds of tactics must not be encouraged.
Zaphodess:
--- Quote from: dspringer1 on June 28, 2017, 03:43:35 PM ---2) the Blackstaff is not some super duper secret black operative that allows the White Council to act without consequences. Anything the Black Staff does will be assumed to be Council policy by any of the supernatural powers -- even if they do not know of the position. A wizard did it -- and the wizard is not a hunted warlock - so White Council is responsible.
--- End quote ---
Not disagreeing, just wanted to add that this might be exactly why the Council needs the Blackstaff. Whether you want to call him a black-ops person or not isn't the point. The fact is, he allows them to act when their own rules - which they enforce with a vengeance - wouldn't. They can't afford to appear to be weak and enemies using mortals to hide behind them might occasionally make them look stupid, incompetent and weak.
I haven't seen this new WoJ about Eb's wife yet, so I can't base too much on it. Imo, Eb might have been able to justify his actions with pointing out that the Council can't afford to allow their enemies to use a wizard's family members as a means to make a wizard do what they want. As in any wizard, not just he himself.
Snark Knight:
--- Quote from: Zaphodess on June 28, 2017, 08:57:14 AM ---Like he did with Simon (Paranet papers). He issued a couple of friendly warnings and veiled threats and Simon understood them perfectly well and behaved after that. ;)
--- End quote ---
I don't have the RPG to have read the Paranet material. What was Simon dabbling into that got him a warning?
Because maaaybe he didn't so much behave himself after that as get sneakier about about dissociating his research interests from his public pesona ... (cough - Cowl - cough)
Zaphodess:
--- Quote from: Snark Knight on June 28, 2017, 04:19:02 PM ---I don't have the RPG to have read the Paranet material. What was Simon dabbling into that got him a warning?
Because maaaybe he didn't so much behave himself after that as get sneakier about about dissociating his research interests from his public pesona ... (cough - Cowl - cough)
--- End quote ---
He was friends with Tsar Nicolas and the WC suspected that he assisted him with magic. The final straw apparently was that he accompanied the Tsar to the front lines during WWI. There were no open accusations and no proof, but there were suspicions that Simon broke the Laws to help his friend. Eb handled the situation by writing him a couple of letters with 'friendly' advice. Veiled threats really, that while there wasn't officially a case against him, the Blackstaff could always handle matters. The threats were enough to convince Simon to retreat to Archangel and be a good boy afterwards. Whether he really behaved or just became more proficient in keeping a low profile is anyone's guess. The fact that the Tsar and all his family were murdered and the political situation in Russia became very 'interesting' could indicate either, imo. There's a lot of room for speculation and conspiracy theories left in the material. Probably intentionally. ;)
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