The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers

Role of Murphy going forward

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dspringer1:

--- Quote ---The next book is Peace Talks (#16). Mirror Mirror is the book after that (#17).
--- End quote ---

You are correct.  I should have said the next book where Murphy is likely to be able to participate would be Mirror Mirror.  We left Skin Game with her having months of recovery and I understand peace talks is just a few weeks at most after the end of Skin Game.    It is hard for her to take any role while bedridden. 




--- Quote ---Well, first, I don't think Murphy's physical condition is nearly as bad as many keep saying. Dresden says that she can get back to 90% eventually. That just won't be by Peace Talks. I think by Mirror, Mirror or Body Slam she'll be in fine condition. She didn't get Michael Carpentered and won't require a cane just to move around. And 90% of Karrin Murphy is like 300% of most people.
--- End quote ---

But 90% is sufficient to take her out of the supernatural combat role that she has played in.    That 10% is the difference between dying and living in that game.   




--- Quote ---Second, I've always pictured Murphy working as a supernatural consultant for vanilla law enforcement. I've said for years that she'd end up working with Tilly, basically taking on Dresden's role from Storm Front, but for the FBI. Lots of ex-cops go into consulting. Hell, she could end up apprenticing for Vince Graver (though I doubt it).
--- End quote ---



--- Quote ---If Murphy is in charge of organizing and integrating different organizations, it should be integrating supernatural factions with mortal law enforcement. That's where her experience is, not with White Council politics.
--- End quote ---

Very true - and a real possibility.   But a lot of the secrets she knows are just that - secrets that she would be very uncomfortable sharing even though the government would really like to know them.  Not sure she will be comfortable taking on the role with divided loyalties. 




--- Quote ---Third, Murphy will never become anything supernatural at this point. It would totally undermine her entire character if she has to deal with being mortal and get a get-out-of-mortality-free card.
--- End quote ---

Probably correct. 





--- Quote ---This seems extraordinarily unlikely. Murphy isn't even a member of the Paranet or the White Council--what makes her more qualified for this than, say, Harry? Or Elaine, or Luccio, or Ramirez, or other wizard-level talents with ties to the Paranet and who can demonstrate the advantages of integrating the two organizations. If Murphy just came in and fixed everything after these guys spent years trying, it would feel extremely unrealistic.
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I would argue that Murphy has already been coordinating Paranet actions across the country.  Based on events in Afterwards and Cold Days, it is pretty clear that Murphy is a big player in the Paranet - and that Chicago has been playing a major role in the national Paranet response to the Formor.   Sure she is not a wizard and has no magical talent.   But she does the job -- and it is not as if the White Council is going to respect the magical talents of anyone in the paranet.  They are all feeble talents in their eyes. 

groinkick:
Well Peace Talks she won't play much of a role I don't think.  She will be recovering from surgery.  Then in Mirror Mirror we will probably see a lot of the alternate Murphy (if she's still alive).  So that will be two books without much of Prime Karren. 

It's difficult to predict what will happen.  If Jim wants her to be a more background character, she is fine as she is now.  However if he wants her to be fighting alongside Dresden, it becomes more and more unrealistic as the threats get bigger and bigger while she's is only getting weaker and weaker with age, and injuries.

So if she's going to fight alongside him she will either need a Sword, or some kind of power up which I think Jim said she's not gonna get another boost so I don't really know.  I think it's possible she will die, and be raised by the Valkyrie to join the ranks of Odin, and his soldiers. 

huangjimmy108:

--- Quote from: dspringer1 on May 08, 2019, 05:09:23 PM ---We left skin game with the fate of Murphy somewhat up in the air. 
*  She is clearly NOT going to be a knight of the cross - or at least the odds are a lot lower than they were prior to Skin Game
* She is clearly seriously injured and will have a long recovery -- and her final physical condition will be noticably "less combat effective" than previously was the state. 
*  Dresden and Murphy are dating seriously
*  Next book is Mirror Mirror, which is unlikely to involve This Murphy to any extent. 


So what Role with this character play in the remaining 8+ books?
*  Clearly Murphy will be a trusted confidant and adviser.  She is already playing that role in both Cold Days and Skin Game
*  Clearly Murphy will not be a cop or part of SI.  That ship has sailed and is not going to come back.
*  I would not be surprised if Dresden has some revelation about murphy in Mirror-Mirror. 


Possibilities  (with highest probability options on the top)
*  Murphy will become/continue as one of the top national/world leaders in the paranet -- and take the lead in integrating the Paranet efforts with that of the White Council.  She becomes a politically powerful figure.    [moderate probability - evidence is that she has already been doing this, jim has already foreshadowed that paranet will be more important, who else is will situated to do this?]

*  Dresden gets the cup to heal Murphy, restoring her her full physical abilities and/or some other magical means of achieving same outcome.  Becomes Dresden's full partner in his business and in life.   [moderate probability, but the outcome will not be a return to the Murphy of Cold Days.  There will be some significant changes in her life].

*  Murphy will become the support spouse for Dresden - take care of the home, family, advice, detective partner, support - basically Charity with cop skills added on.   [Low probability, although real possibility in the post injury environment] 

*  Murphy will work for the government supernatural agency [very low probability -- just not seeing it as Murphy would see it as betraying confidences with Dresden ] 

*   Murphy dies [very low probability - if only because it would not appreciably add to the story, at least in the next few books]

Other possibilities?

--- End quote ---

We need to make a few assumptions.

1. The entire series is no more than 25 books including the 3 books final trilogy..
2. There is no plans to create a spin off series base on Murphy or making Murphy appear prominently in other spin off series of Dresden like the one featuring Maggi as the protagonist.
3. JB is still that lazy writer that we know.

Assuming the 3  above assumptions held true, Murphy can only stay on the background either as someone like Charity or as a consultant for the paranet. Even if JB intended to grant Murphy a powerup, giving that to Murphy at such a late stage is too abrupt andd feels like forcing it too much. The only reason why I do not think that JB will kill Murphy off or remove her from circulation entirely because of his habbit as a lazy writer. JB do not write new material or discard old writing materials so lightly. He tends to recycle them. Butters is the best example. Butters is suppose to be a throw off character but do to JB's tendency to use what is already there, this throw off character is develop untill now.

If the above 3 assumptions no longer held true, then the possibilty of Murphy getting a power up or being killed off would grow exponentially.

nadia.skylark:

--- Quote ---I would argue that Murphy has already been coordinating Paranet actions across the country.  Based on events in Afterwards and Cold Days, it is pretty clear that Murphy is a big player in the Paranet - and that Chicago has been playing a major role in the national Paranet response to the Formor.
--- End quote ---

I had not gotten that impression at all. She seemed to be coordinating actions, yes, but I had thought she was a leader of the Chicago Alliance (https://dresdenfiles.fandom.com/wiki/Chicago_Alliance). She was working with the Paranet, yes, but not notably more so than other organizations like the Alphas, the White Court, and Marcone's people. In the meeting we saw in Ghost Story, the Paranet was represented by Abby, not Murphy.


--- Quote ---Sure she is not a wizard and has no magical talent.   But she does the job -- and it is not as if the White Council is going to respect the magical talents of anyone in the paranet.  They are all feeble talents in their eyes.
--- End quote ---

...Harry is a feeble talent? Elaine? Luccio? Ramirez? Of all the people I listed, only Elaine is not known to be a wizard-level talent, and I'd gotten the impression that Ramirez, at least, suspected by this point that she was faking.

Once again, how is Murphy, a vanilla mortal with some connection to the Paranet but no connection to the White Council beyond Harry and no expressed interest in working with the White Council beyond Harry, a better choice for bringing the Paranet and the White Council together than the four people I brought up--all of whom are wizard-level talents, all of whom have seen the advantages of the White Council working with the Paranet, three of whom are members of the White Council, three of whom are actively working with the Paranet, two of whom are founding members of the Paranet, and two of whom have been actively lobbying to get the White Council to work with the Paranet on a grander scale? Because I'm not seeing it.

Kindler:

--- Quote from: nadia.skylark on May 09, 2019, 03:34:04 AM ---Once again, how is Murphy, a vanilla mortal with some connection to the Paranet but no connection to the White Council beyond Harry and no expressed interest in working with the White Council beyond Harry, a better choice for bringing the Paranet and the White Council together than the four people I brought up--all of whom are wizard-level talents, all of whom have seen the advantages of the White Council working with the Paranet, three of whom are members of the White Council, three of whom are actively working with the Paranet, two of whom are founding members of the Paranet, and two of whom have been actively lobbying to get the White Council to work with the Paranet on a grander scale? Because I'm not seeing it.

--- End quote ---
There's a big difference between combat ability and connections and organization. Murphy is one of a handful of characters who has experience leading a complex organization. Dresden states outright that she's seen more action than most Wardens had before the war. She's smart.
And, most importantly, Elaine, Luccio, Ramirez, and most of the White Council are busy managing the White Council and the Fomor incursion. Elaine is helping with the Paranet, but she's actively combating supernatural threats. She's a weapon; she doesn't have time to handle the bureaucratic stuff that comes with running an organization. What we see from Murphy in Ghost Story is, indeed, her running the meeting for the Chicago Alliance. But she's rattling off orders, and everyone there is following them. And, for the most part, they're competent directions, from what we can see. She's negotiating, making deals, issuing threats, and basically holding onto Chicago mostly through stubbornness and a whole lot of preventative planning.
Finally, what makes you think the Paranet is going to trust the White Council? The same White Council that's been ignoring the hell out of them while they're getting snatched off the streets in broad daylight? Luccio would NEVER be trusted by most in the Paranet. You've already seen how most of the lesser talents reacted to Harry in White Night. Imagine a Warden (or most wizards, I'd imagine) they didn't already know trying to organize them. They'd be met with distrust instantly.
Murphy's a great choice to manage the Paranet. She's got the experience and the knowledge to lead an organization like that. Most importantly, I think the members would actually trust her judgment, for the most part, because she has demonstrated that she actually gives a damn about them at every opportunity.

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