The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers
WOJ search for Uriel/Odin deal for Murphy.
Mira:
--- Quote ---Come on guys, this "she can't come back as long as mortals remember her" is a thing Jim made up on the spot to avoid having to bring her back immediately (because he clearly was planning to write out his own personal pain of the last years in the next book and you can't have Harry happy for that). And it's in the series of books where Jim himself has said that Harry will have broken all the laws of magic by the end of the series. If Jim wanted Murphy out of the series permanently, he wouldn't have built in this backdoor.
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Or he is merely giving himself an option..
magnuskn:
--- Quote from: Mira on January 24, 2024, 01:32:45 PM --- Or he is merely giving himself an option..
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Given that he had the entire arc of his Dresden books planned out since the first one got published, I doubt that.
Mira:
--- Quote from: magnuskn on January 24, 2024, 07:24:26 PM ---Given that he had the entire arc of his Dresden books planned out since the first one got published, I doubt that.
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A good author always gives himself wiggle room because characters often have a way of taking on a life of their own. If an author is too wedded to his timeline he often ends up ruining the series.
magnuskn:
--- Quote from: Mira on January 24, 2024, 08:33:46 PM ---A good author always gives himself wiggle room because characters often have a way of taking on a life of their own. If an author is too wedded to his timeline he often ends up ruining the series.
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Right. But even in the case you posit, Jim clearly decided to bring Murphy back at some point, otherwise there's no point in killing her off to leave a huge "however!" at the end. It basically undermines the drama of the whole plot point just to leave a theoretical "option" Jim would then have decide to use in the future.
To me, that means the point of killing off Murphy at that particular point of the story (which was a bit too soon after she got into a serious relationship with Harry, IMHO) and then adding a clear sign that she'll be back at some point in the future was to transition her into a new role in the group, rather than to just get her out of the story "because Harry must always suffer".
g33k:
--- Quote from: magnuskn on January 24, 2024, 07:24:26 PM --- Given that he had the entire arc of his Dresden books planned out since the first one got published, I doubt that.
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But a lot of the details weren't decided in advance.
Waldo Butters was meant to be a 1-use throwaway character, or maybe a very-minor recurring one, not become one of Harry's key allies.
Jim didn't decide (until just beforehand) which of Denarius/Darkhallow/Mantle Harry would pursue when he needed to power-up to get Maggie back.
I'm pretty sure there are other examples, too.
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