The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers
"Talk To Me..." Had Carlos Already Drank the Kool-Aid?
Mira:
A lot has been made that Harry should have trusted Carlos more and should have talked to him about what was happening in Peace Talks.. Really?
First chapter of Peace Talks when Harry and Thomas are jogging on the beach etc. Carlos shows up
and tells Harry about the peace talks with the Fomor and that he gets to choose his team and he wants Harry to be a part of it. All very friendly banter, except for a small thing, Carlos asks Harry how much his weighted vest weighs.. Then he kind of eyes Harry.. Given what we know now, was Carlos already sizing Harry up as a possible monster? Also supposedly they are friends, but no "FYI from Carlos that there is some crap coming down about Harry from the Senior Council and to be on his guard.. None, we also know now that is when Carlos put the tracker ink spot on him.. He also knows Thomas was on the beach, he too has worked with Thomas, some idea how close Harry and Thomas are, but not that they are brothers.
So events move along, the ink spot isn't a listening device, so he might not know about Eb's visit, unless it was preplanned between Carlos and Eb..
Carlos knows Harry spent considerable time at Murphy's place, but unknown if he knows what their relationship is.
Knows about the return to the apartment , the events there..
He knows of the visit to Justine..
At some point Harry picks up Murphy and they head to the Raith Estate to find out more information, because Harry hasn't a clue as to what is going on except that his brother is in deep poop...
On the way back they are stopped by the Wardens.. Now it gets interesting..
Harry finds out some interesting facts, he already knows from Eb that the Senior Council wants him gone,
1] Carlos had put a tracking dot on ink on him at the beach.. Harry's response;
--- Quote ---"Wow," I said in a level tone. "Mistrusting me from the get-go, huh?"
--- End quote ---
Carlos replies about doing shady things , shady times and shady people... But when he put that dot on Harry, he was merely running on the beach.
2] Yoshimo scans Harry for recent sexual contact... "Talk to me..." Oh yeah, Carlos knew Harry had spent lots of time at Murphy's place.. Maybe he didn't know they were a couple, but maybe he did, if he and Harry were such good friends. But because Harry visited Lara, Thomas's sister, well, did you have sex with the vampire? Did she put the whammy on you? Chandler explains very honestly why Harry is suspect in the recent events... "Talk to me..." "We don't understand, we are all friends."
--- Quote ---The way he said wewas something new. He wasn't using the word as an inclusive one, like, we are all friends. He was using it as an exclusive term We, but not you.
--- End quote ---
But Chandler didn't feel good about this at all, because he attempted to telegraph a message to Harry with his eyes.
--- Quote ---I saw recognition flicker in them as he saw me process what he was actually saying: Be advised, Harry. The White Council now considers you a threat.
--- End quote ---
Harry got the message, odd don't you think the warning came from Chandler, not from his good friend, Carlos.
"Talk to me..." Yet, Carlos put a tracking dot on Harry before any of this hit the fan.. No FYI, no heads up at all.. Except a well, you should have known type thing, get down in the mud with pigs you get muddy type thing...
Harry's dilemma... He likes Carlos, he knows he is a good man, yet Carlos pulled that crap with the tracking dot. Harry trusts he'd do the right thing, but really? Where are his loyalties really? To Harry, who he thinks might have turned into a monster, he thinks Molly did, why not Harry? Or to the Senior Council? To whom he is sworn as an arm of the law.
Harry wanted to talk to Carlos, but alone.. But that got complicated in the intrigue of was Carlos subverted by the Senior Council, isolated... But if talked to Harry alone would be suspected of being subverted by him and isolated.. Did Carlos really think Harry was a sock puppet of someone? If Harry did come clean, would Carlos go back and tell the Senior Council everything and make things worse? Then the Council might think that Harry was giving some misinformation, all of which had to be verified... And Harry didn't have time for any of that..
So after everything goes down, Harry is kicked out, and Carlos says,
--- Quote ---"You made the call when you didn't talk to me. And sixty thousand people died."
--- End quote ---
Really? Carlos bought into the argument on the beach when he put the tracking dot on Harry's wrist and asked how much weight his running vest was. From his look he had already bought into the idea that Harry was Mab's personal monster.. Now he is trying to rationalize the fact that he had betrayed a friend.. "You didn't talk to me. And sixty thousand people died." Really? Harry didn't arrange for the Fomor to come with a Titan with the goal of wiping out the City of Chicago for starters.. Carlos had drunk the Kool-Aid, and had drank it from the beginning.. Call it PTSD from his encounter with Molly.
The_Sibelis:
One thing I thought of, Carlos put a spell on Harry. Harry finds a reason, a valid one perhaps, of putting one on Carlos. Felt like there was a hidden fae balance thing going on with that one. It's not something I feel Harry would so lightly to a friend... But Carlos had earned it.
Snark Knight:
In fairness to Carlos, there's really no reason for not explaining that the extreme exercise is precisely to keep the mantle exhausted, when he knows damn well that Carlos is wondering about whether he's being overtaken by it. Maybe he'd believe it, maybe not, but creating doubt about the "he's already a monster" narrative is worth sharing something harmless.
Telynn:
--- Quote from: The_Sibelis on October 29, 2020, 04:31:03 PM ---One thing I thought of, Carlos put a spell on Harry. Harry finds a reason, a valid one perhaps, of putting one on Carlos. Felt like there was a hidden fae balance thing going on with that one. It's not something I feel Harry would so lightly to a friend... But Carlos had earned it.
--- End quote ---
That is an interesting thought. We know there have been times (at least one that I can remember reading about) where Harry actually felt a twinge when scales were unbalanced. (Just can't remember exactly where and when though...). Maybe Harry doesn't even realize that some of the things he does right now is a subconscious 'balance' thing. Something to be watching for more closely.
Bad Alias:
When has Carlos exercised the kind of trust he has asked of Harry? They've had each other's backs in fights. Carlos has pointed out he knew something fishy was going on with both the Council and Harry in WN. That was the closest. He exposed himself to danger. If Harry was part of the Black Hats, then Carlos would have been in danger. If Carlos was in the Black Hats, he was risking exposing himself. That was Harry's opportunity talk to Carlos. Carlos might not have been trustworthy, but that was the time. PT was too late. As Mira points out, Carlos was already pretty suspicious of Harry at that point.
We're all assuming Carlos is a good guy because he comes off that way. I think he was well liked by most of us. Most of us understand why he's so suspicious of Harry. He's got plenty of reason to be. He seems like he's actually mad at Harry and thinks Harry's in the wrong. A member of the Black Council probably wouldn't. He might be able to fake it. My point is, while I don't think so, Carlos might be Black Council. A lot of his actions could be explained through that lens, but some others don't make much sense unless we're looking at a left hand doesn't know what the right is doing kind of situation.
On that note, Chandler's warning to Harry, escape from detention in Changes, and maybe not dying in the fight with Drakul could also be taken as hints he's not on the up and up. His warning to Harry could have been meant to push Harry into being defensive.
--- Quote from: Telynn on October 29, 2020, 04:54:03 PM ---That is an interesting thought. We know there have been times (at least one that I can remember reading about) where Harry actually felt a twinge when scales were unbalanced. (Just can't remember exactly where and when though...). Maybe Harry doesn't even realize that some of the things he does right now is a subconscious 'balance' thing. Something to be watching for more closely.
--- End quote ---
In one of the recent interviews Jim mentioned something about how Harry's "totally not acting like a fairy" by immediately paying off debts and such. Jim's tone implied he meant the opposite.
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