The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers

Mac's Possible Identity

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Salusen:

--- Quote from: Flemlord on February 07, 2019, 03:31:31 AM ---> Which story was that about the beer though??

The story is an entire book, Drawing of the Dark by Tim Powers. It was published in 1979, right around the time JB was sick with strep throat as a child. It’s a great book and stuck with me for a long time.

This would fulfill all the WoJ requirements for Mac. “Plain vanilla mortal”, “dangerous”. Also an easy explanation for why he knows Mab and other high-level characters.

It explains why Harry hasn’t been able to get rid of Excalibur, we’re waiting for book 20 or the trilogy when he hands it back to Arthur. I wonder if Harry ever had the Swords in MacAnnallys, I don’t think so. Were there 13 knights of the round table, like 13 tables? I may be misremembering that.

To speculate on how he came to his current situation, maybe he was one of the signatories of the Accords, and agreeing to be “out” was a tradeoff for MacAnnallys accorded neutral ground. The Denarians wouldn’t sign unless Mac agreed to retire or something. When the outsiders call him “watcher” they are mocking him because they know he can’t do anything without violating the agreement. That’s also why he wasn’t tied up in Cold Days. Incidentally in Cold Days he is familiar with Sidhe bargaining.

--- End quote ---


I remember that there were 25 knights of the round table, based on general folklore pulled on the internet. But I've always thought the the significance of the 13 in Mac's pub was so that magic and bad vibes wouldn't mess his place up. At least that's how Harry explained it in the book.  Forgot which one. I think it was Storm Front.

Mac as Arthur FITS. And I'll read that book, thanks for recommending it!

Bad Alias:
It's explained that the bar is set up the way it is to protect against the effect practitioners have on tech in several books. I always took it to mean that 13 was part of it.

Wikipedia's round table page says that the number of knights is anywhere from 12 to "150 or more," which you gotta love for vagueness. In some stories, the table was built because the barons were arguing over matters of precedence, so that table would have as many seats as there were barons. If there were only 12 knights of the round table, the table would have 13 or 14 seats because I don't think Merlin and Arthur would count as "knights," but Arthur definitely would have a seat at the table and I imagine Merlin would to. (I've never been able to get into an Arthur book, so I'm probably not the best guy to get specifics from).

DonBugen:
Gregori / Nephilim / former Angel makes sense for several reasons.  He's called "Watcher," specifically, and there are few "watchers" who are also 'out', in the supernatural/religious sense.  Jim Butcher has stated that he's already told us what Mac is, but that you have to be a bit nerdy to really know, and so I'm assuming religious nerd counts.  Being one of those myself, I think that this is pretty on the ball.

Furthermore, it's worth mentioning, in a meta sense, that Jim's described in detail his method of characterization, and especially how he describes characters.  He chooses a bunch of different words and phrases that not only describe the character, but put in your mind a sense of who they are.  Kind of like how Karrin is described as "someone's favorite aunt" a bunch of times, or how words describing Thomas routinely have a slightly more sensual tone.

Mac's descriptive language is often heavenly in nature - or, at least, how Mac's ale is often described.  God is often referenced when Mac is described for the first time.  He's always described as a man of unknown age, bald, wearing "spotless" white.  He shows deference to Mouse, who is "little brother" to Uriel, and in all ways acts honestly, respectfully, and with integrity.   

Kindler:
Here's one: Nicholas Flamel, mortal alchemist who discovered the secret to immortality. It gives him regenerative immortality, which kicks in every night when he goes to sleep. Since becoming immortal, he got involved with a whole lot of stuff on the spooky side, eventually helping out against the Outsiders. As a mortal, there was little he could do to fight the Outsiders, instead keeping an immortal "Watch" against their attack. After decades or centuries of witnessing horror after horror, "Mac" had enough, and settled down in Chicago to ply his alchemical trade brewing awesome beer instead of concoctions against the enemies of reality.

See, there you go. You can make so many existing fictional characters (though Nicholas Flamel was real) fit that the suspect pool is too wide and deep to be much functional use.

Nightfall:
All I know is this...
When I first saw Mac and the bar, and since, I was immediately reminded of Callahan's Crosstime Saloon. It also has such an enigmatic bartender, who has influence all out of proportion to what he actually does.

If it is based on that, and you want to know who, or even what, Mac is, all I gotta say is, get used to disappointment.

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