The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers

Did Harry lie to Michael, or worse?

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Lady Inez:
The other thread on Michael and lies reminded me of something that's been bothering me since Skin Game. When he confesses to Michael what happened at Chichen Itza, does Harry intentionally lie about Martin having enraged Susan with knowledge of his betrayal when in fact Harry forced her to face that and thus set off her rage, leading to her death? Or, worse, is he lying to himself, possibly with the help of the mantle, and so he remembers the events in a way that makes him seem slightly less guilty? Is Harry ashamed of having weaponized Susan's condition in that moment, but craving Michael's approval and forgiveness, or has he insulated himself from what he did? I was really surprised that he didn't tell Michael the truth later in the book, forcing a moment of soul searching in Michael; that doesn't happen, so I'm not certain how to read his version of things.

Con:
I thought he was pretty honest about his guilt having to sacrifice Susan, and it was her choice to be sacrificed which Michael notes that theirs a price for Harry to pay with that. Honestly I think the topic was covered well in that scene and dealt with well. The 'soul' Uriel mentions isn't just about Nicodemus and the Squires it's Harry's soul as well, Murphy explicitly says so to Butters.

Lady Inez:
I agree, it is a great scene, probably my favorite in the book, but in it Harry explicitly blames Martin for having set off Susan's wrath when in fact Harry made her focus on what Martin had done in order to enrage her enough to kill Martin. Harry tells Michael almost exactly what happened, and is obviously racked with guilt, but he distorts that one detail (arguably the worst thing about what happened, because it intentionally caused Susan's death, however necessary it was to save Maggie). My question is why the distortion: shame or mantle-assisted self-delusion?

Bad Alias:
Harry clearly tried to manipulate Susan. He told her Lea's spellwork would protect her from iron. He knew that wasn't true. I say he was trying to manipulate Susan because I think Susan would have gone along with Harry's plan if she had been fully informed. Harry didn't need to manipulate her, but did so anyway because he had to do it to get anyone out of there.

Another explanation for Harry not telling Michael the whole truth is that he doesn't remember the whole truth. We know Harry doesn't remember a large chunk of that night. He is probably missing several smaller pieces. Memory is pretty unreliable in the best of situations.

Without getting into why I think so (happy to if anyone cares), the books we are reading are the case files written by Harry years later (in universe, not really because they're clearly fiction written by Jim). If this is the case, there are all sorts of reasons for continuity errors. In character Harry remembers less than author Harry or vice versa. Author Harry could remember more because magic. For example, the antechamber to the tunnels on Demonreach is for "MEMORY" "REFLECTION."

Also it could just be a continuity error, which is always an option.

Mira:

   It is tricky,  while Harry letting Susan know about Martin's betrayal set her off, it was still her choice to allow herself to be set off..  It was also Martin's betrayal in the first place that put everyone in the position they were in...  Bottom line all would be dead or vamps anyway if Harry hadn't acted.. Little Maggie would be dead, then Harry, then Eb.. Susan would have then gone postal and been turned in any case..  If anything Harry was taking on too much responsibility for something where the only good choice was to allow Susan to act to save their daughter... Then she willingly let him kill her as her final act of humanity to save their daughter.

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