The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers
Does Molly still have her soul?
wardenferry419:
--- Quote from: Kindler on September 27, 2017, 12:47:05 PM ---I haven't read Cold Case yet, or any of the others that will be in Brief Cases, mostly because I refuse to buy a short story compendium (I don't particularly like short stories as a format; writing them was always a chore for me, so I stuck with novels with backstory notes; reading them tends to feel rushed to me) for one entry. I don't know what her inner monologue is like, but I'm excited to find out.
I'd argue that doing something worthwhile and having a purpose is great, but that doesn't mean you're happy about the price. No matter what, Molly is paying a price, and will continue to pay it, for a very, very long time (barring, you know, destruction of reality). It's made worse since this wasn't something Molly went into willingly, with any real grasp of the consequences. The Winter Lady's Mantle was shoved down her throat.
Being willing to pay a cost to make the best of a bad situation is different from being happy about it. She may not care about it in a hundred years when the Mantle asserts itself and pieces of Molly's personality get chipped away, but I'd be willing to bet she cares now.
I'd say that things may be turning out for the best with Molly as the Winter Lady, but that doesn't preclude it from being tragic.
--- End quote ---
Not reading the short stories is like saying no thanks to icing on the cake. They often tie into and expand many parts of the overall story. But, to each their own.
DonBugen:
Sir Stuart makes it actually pretty clear that he is not a soul, when Harry, Mort, and he are all riding out to Karrin's house. He identifies himself as another spirit, who is not the original Sir Stuart. This happens when Morty and Sir Stuart are discussing that the reason ghosts are created is usually because they have some unfinished business. Sir Stuart says that he chooses, then, to take comfort in that he is his own person, who came into being specifically with a purpose - presumably, to protect his family.
--- Quote ---I gave Sir Stuart the eye and then Mort. "That's what you do? Lay spirits to rest?"
Mort shrugged. "If someone didn't, this town would run out of cemetery space pretty fast."
I thought about for a moment. Then I said, "So how come you haven't laid Sir Stuart to rest?"
Mort said nothing. His silence was a barbed, stony thing.
Sir Stuart leaned forward to put a hand on Mort's shoulder, seemed to squeeze it a little, and let go. Then he said to me, "Some things can't be mended, lad. Not by all the king's horses or all the king's men."
"You're trapped here," I said quietly.
"Were I trapped, it would indicate that I am the original Sir Stuart. I am not. I am but his shade. One could think of it that way nonetheless, I suppose," he said. "But I prefer to consider it differently: I regard myself as someone who was truly created with a specific purpose for his existence. I have a reason to be who and what and where I am. How many flesh-and-blood folk can say as much?"
I scowled as I watched the snowy road ahead of us. "And what's your purpose? Looking out after this loser?"
"Hey, I'm sitting right here," Mort complained.
"I help other lost spirits," Sir Stuart said. "Help them find some sort of resolution. Help teach them how to stay sane, if it is their destiny to become a mane. And if they become a lemur, I help introduce them to oblivion."
I turned to frown at Sir Stuart. "That's . . . kinda cut-and-dried."
"Some things assuredly are," he replied placidly.
"So you're a mane, eh? Like the old Roman ancestral ghost?"
"It isn't such a simple matter, Dresden.
--- End quote ---
As to why Uriel is interested in Sir Stuart - simply because Stuart is a shade, does that mean that he has no use at all to someone like Uriel? I sincerely doubt it. But if this is something difficult to accept, then I also will mention that Uriel mentioned that in taking Sir Stuart on, he would be using his power - which is Soulfire, essentially - to rebuild him. And possibly, like the Six Million Dollar Man, better than he was before.
peregrine:
Doesn't Uriel also say something along the line of Sir Stuart is more than he's had to work with before?
DonBugen:
Yes, though Uriel still identifies him as a spirit; just a far greater one than most. And he also refers to the original Sir Stuart as a separate being.
--- Quote ---I went back over to Uriel to find him conversing with Sir Stuart.
"Don't know," Sir Stuart was saying. "I'm not . . . not as right as I used to be, sir."
"There's more than enough left to rebuild on," Uriel said. "Trust me. The ruins of a spirit like Sir Stuart's are more substantial than most men ever manage to dredge up. I'd be very pleased to have you working for me."
--- End quote ---
wardenferry419:
Many creations start out as simple ideas.
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