The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers
Murphy in Peace Talks (WoJ spoilers)
dspringer1:
--- Quote ---I think it's completely possible, even likely, that later in life Harry will become the leader of the Council. But I can't picture a Wizard as young as he is being Merlin within the time span of the series. Maybe he might lead the Council very unofficially and very temporarily, in some freakish emergency, but he's not even freaking 100 yet. From the Council POV, he's a barely out of 'new recruit' status.
One of the biggest flaws of the Star Trek movie reboot is that in the first one, Cadet Kirk gets promoted to Captain and put in command of the most important ship in the fleet, right out of the Academy. That threw a lot of people's WSOD, and for good reason. I would have the same sort of reaction if Harry became the Merlin within the time-span of the series.
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In the normal course of events, you are absolutely right. Harry would need to be several hundred years old before he could ever be a senior council member, much less the Merlin. But the rules change in a major crisis (political or survival). Very dramatic changes can occur in how people are governed in a very short period of time. If the leadership if the white council is disgraced and/or dead, and the white council as a whole faces the very real possibility of eminent destruction, then very dramatic changes in leadership are very possible.
In that scenario, Harry Dresden can be a very attractive leader. It was Harry to revealed the corruption of members of the senior council (speculating). It was Harry who had the power to destroy the Red Court and save the White council. Harry has close alliances with several powerful supernatural nations. It was Harry who even the Senior Council and old Merlin feared. It was Harry who people whisper was born to fight the outsiders. It was Harry who is the poster child for the younger wizards -- who seems able to navigate the modern world with ease. It was Harry who founded the Paranet to save wizards. It was Harry whose deeds are legend within the White Council. The old leaders have failed. People are scared. It is quite possible that Harry gets enough support to take the position, especially if the other candidates are uninspiring or proven to be traitors and Harry gets endorsed by a few old and respected wizards like Gatekeeper.
Yes there is no way he would win against McCoy or Luccio, but he could win against noticeably less impressive candidates. It may not even be close.
Kindler:
--- Quote from: magnuskn on August 10, 2017, 01:58:48 AM ---That is actually not peace and happiness, as was noted in Ghost Story. Purgatory (or whatever you want to call the in-between) is for people who can't pass on, because they are not at peace with their fate.
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I'd think, on her way through Purgatory, she picks up her dad, and they move on together. If, you know, it happens at all, which I really doubt.
I also doubt she'll be turned into a Valkyrie, or anything supernatural. There's not much to be gained narratively by doing so, except to screw up her relationship with Dresden. At this point, if that happens, why bother even writing the relationship at all? It'd be a staggering anticlimax to happen in the next book or two.
No, I expect Murphy's role to be significant, but not on the front lines. She doesn't need to be fighting at Harry's side; he's done the Battle Couple thing with her, Susan, and Luccio often enough that it doesn't bring anything new to the table. And, as I've said in way too many threads already, I fully expect her to be involved with Tilly forming an FBI version of SI in Chicago, as Tilly's liaison with the supernatural community.
Aside from that, don't discount her role with Maggie. Dresden's daughter is going to need someone a bit more stable around, like she had with Michael and Charity. Harry's first experience with a stable environment was with Ebenezer, and by then he was sixteen and already had two burned building under his belt. I fully expect Murphy to become the "favorite aunt" she's frequently described as. She is, after all, the second person shown holding Maggie, and the only one Dresden relinquishes her to after Chichen Itza. I'm not saying she settles down to be a stereotypical housewife or anything, because that isn't Murphy, but I'd like to see how that relationship develops, and if she has any involvement in the YA series, maybe as the person Maggie calls instead of Dresden because she knows Murphy won't blow a whole through the school if she needs help.
Kind of the reverse of the Molly-Harry relationship, where the firstborn daughter sees a normal person show up and do normal things instead of a wizard showing up covered in blood.
After The Warrior, where Jim kind of hammers home the idea that the Fight doesn't stop because the soldier isn't increasing his body count, I really, really doubt he'd have Murphy get powered up.
Mira:
--- Quote ---No, I expect Murphy's role to be significant, but not on the front lines. She doesn't need to be fighting at Harry's side; he's done the Battle Couple thing with her, Susan, and Luccio often enough that it doesn't bring anything new to the table. And, as I've said in way too many threads already, I fully expect her to be involved with Tilly forming an FBI version of SI in Chicago, as Tilly's liaison with the supernatural community.
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I don't think that would work at all. Mainly because Murphy has always been a front line type of fighter, prided herself on that fact. That was a lot of her charm, not just steadying Harry, but pulling his cookies out of the fire on several occasions.. I doubt she'd ever be happy as a desk jockey...
DonBugen:
Folks, the bottom line is that Jim can't keep Harry happy for long. If he's finally started up a relationship with Murph, then she can't be long for this world.
I actually really, REALLY like this Valkyrie (or at least einherjar) theory. It's the kind of foreshadowing that fits Jim. Oddly, I don't think that her Catholicism would be a barrier, mostly because we've slowly been seeing her faith being worn down. Dresden's Sight of her in White Night, for example, is far more tattered than in GP, and she's had the world ripped away from her several times. She may not realize it yet, but I think that Dresden's death and the aftermath fundamentally changed her - no longer capable of welding the Sword, but still believing she could.
To be honest, in this "God is like three blind men describing an elephant" world, I think that Dresden is by far more the follower of TWG than Karrin is. And that's my two cents, controversial as it may be.
nervousenergy:
--- Quote from: magnuskn on August 09, 2017, 02:58:40 AM ---Saying that Murphy is the last true blue mortal on the team is a good point. However, her getting so badly wounded by Nic that she'll never recover 100% is also a point where you got to wonder what her future role as "the normal" is going to be in the series. It's fully possible that she'll transition into another role, but given how much her identity has been to be this tough woman, I bet it would trigger even more of an identity crisis than she already had after having to leave the CPD.
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This is the key point I don't see discussed all that much. The blow to Murphy at the end of Skin Game was profound, and has come on top of a long series of blows. As others have noted, she can't hang... not on the physical level that she's spent so much time training for. And now she's physically broken, and has taken a huge guilt hit by being the catalyst that destroyed one of the holy swords. Yes, it got remade almost immediately, but it's human nature to feel a huge sense of personal failure for the first event. Physically broken, morally broken, all of her lifelong personality anchors ripped away. When I finished Skin Game I thought for sure she was being set up to be tempted by a Coin, given how bad of a place she was going to be in.
Sure, she can do all of these roles that folks are postulating... but look at it from the point of view of her character. What can she do from the depths of the despair that's *got* to be crushing in on her after the events of SG? JB can write this sooo many ways...
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