The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers
Ebenezars journal
Con:
Ebenezars journal.
"...seems clear that he had no idea of the islands original purpose. I sometimes can't help but think that there is such a thing as fate - or atleast a higher power of some sort attempting to arrange events in our favour despite everything we in our ignorance do to thwart it. The Merlin has demanded that we put the boy under surveillance at once. I think he's a damned fool.
Rashid says that warning him about the island would be pointless. He's a good judge of people but I'm not so sure he's right this time. The boys got a solid head on his shoulders generally. And of all the wizards I know he's among the three or four I'd be willing to see take up that particular mantle
I trust his judgement.
But then again I trusted Maggie's too."
So The Merlin's a dick but I can understand his fear.
Ebenezar thinks fatw may have given Harry the island but also he thinks he could be another Maggie.
Rashids doing his usual let events unfold.
But the points I want to home in on.
1. Whose the other 2 or 3 wizards eb would trust?
2. Ebenezar specifically says 'mantle'
Confirmation Demon Reach is a MANTLE!
g33k:
--- Quote from: Con on September 23, 2022, 06:32:26 AM ---Ebenezars journal.
"...seems clear that he had no idea of the islands original purpose. I sometimes can't help but think that there is such a thing as fate - or atleast a higher power of some sort attempting to arrange events in our favour despite everything we in our ignorance do to thwart it. The Merlin has demanded that we put the boy under surveillance at once. I think he's a damned fool.
Rashid says that warning him about the island would be pointless. He's a good judge of people but I'm not so sure he's right this time. The boys got a solid head on his shoulders generally. And of all the wizards I know he's among the three or four I'd be willing to see take up that particular mantle
I trust his judgement.
But then again I trusted Maggie's too."
So The Merlin's a dick but I can understand his fear.
Ebenezar thinks fatw may have given Harry the island but also he thinks he could be another Maggie.
Rashids doing his usual let events unfold.
But the points I want to home in on.
1. Whose the other 2 or 3 wizards eb would trust?
2. Ebenezar specifically says 'mantle'
Confirmation Demon Reach is a MANTLE!
--- End quote ---
Maybe he was using "mantle" in a colloquial sense, but that seems unlikely.
I think it's "Warden" that's a mantle, specifically "The Warden" (of the Island & of the Well beneath).
And I think The Warden is the (only legitimate) leader of all the White Council Wardens.
The Senior Council is gonna lose their collective shit when they realize that Harry Dresden is "legally" -- and magically! -- entitled and empowered to give the Wardens orders; orders that supersede any others.
I think the OG Merlin set things up that way, and generations since have forgotten what The Warden could do, and what all the little Wardens were really about; and it's more than just politics & bureaucracy enforcing that, I think there are Warden-specific oaths & rituals enforcing the structure.
Because really: The Warden needs some staff to be able to patrol & investigate the whole F'ing world, it's too sprawling a job for any single person with a single timeline/lifetime.
morriswalters:
Butcher has never explicitly stated what a Mantle is. So a Mantle is whatever we think it is. Such is the beauty of fiction. And what Eb thinks about it matters not at all. He doesn't choose the holder. And after Peace Talks his judgement is questionable. What matters is doing that silly challenge and hoping that Alfred doesn't throw you in the drunk tank on level 3 for imitating a drunk. Which is a cute way of saying that Alfred is looking for something only he can see.
Mira:
In my opinion, Warden of the Island can be considered a mantle. Why? Because with Alfred's cooperation Harry can jail Titians, and a real gain of power derived from the island as long as he is on it, it isn't just a title.
I also think that normal White Court Wardens when Luccio was still able to custom make a sword for each also gain a power of sorts but not enough to be considered a mantle.
g33k:
--- Quote from: morriswalters on September 23, 2022, 04:59:13 PM --- Butcher has never explicitly stated what a Mantle is. So a Mantle is whatever we think it is. Such is the beauty of fiction ...
--- End quote ---
It's pretty clear, though: a "mantle" is a semi-sentient magical suite of powers, motivations/drives, and restrictions. This may not be exactly right, but it's a reasonable approximation. (n.b. there's also the DF RPG; Jim was involved in that, so the "Mantle" there is probably a good game-rule approximation of the novels' use of "Mantle," too)
--- Quote from: morriswalters on September 23, 2022, 04:59:13 PM --- ... And what Eb thinks about it matters not at all. He doesn't choose the holder ...
--- End quote ---
Ebenezer, as one of the most-senior WC wizards, is an authority on magic. If he calls such-and-such a thing a "mantle," then it probably is (except for the vanishingly-small chance that a technical expert like Eb would use a technical "term of art" in a sloppy fashion when writing for future generations).
And while he doesn't get to choose a new Warden, the Blackstaff could probably manage -- eventually -- to kill most any Warden that he disapproved-of strongly-enough (I imagine there's a fair bit of gray-zone between the "three or four [Eb would] be willing to see take up that particular mantle" and those he'd see as automatically needing removal-with-prejudice.
So it's not utterly irrelevant who Eb thinks should be the Warden of the well on the island...
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