Choices

[Mira]

You forget:  Michael has some extra guidance! 
Without Harry's assistance, SI & Murphy will have needed some extra help... help that Michael is well-situated to provide!  Obviously, that's no guarantee Jim will have written it that way; but it'd be  a nice exemplar of God's Providence, with Michael's multiversal presence situated to support Murphy (or in a different Alt!Universe, Morty?) when that alt!Harry does not.

Unless Murphy is closed minded about the supernatural, there is no guarantee that she'd be receptive to a so called "Holy Knight."

I don't see any way for Mirror!Murphy to have buried her head in the sand and deny the supernatural; and Harry will *very* much be on Mirror!Murphy's radar -- as a Bad Guy(tm)!

Actually you make my point very well.. Murphy sees things in black and white, if all she sees is an "evil Harry" how do you think she will see the supernatural in general?  Also remember how quickly she was to jump to conclusions in the first couple of books because she did not understand Harry's world at all.

[g33k]

... there is no guarantee that she'd be receptive to a so called "Holy Knight."

Michael doesn't often introduce himself as a "Holy Knight," though:  he just steps up to help.
And Murphy actually has amazingly-good "people-sense."
It'd make good sense in both Doylist & Watsonian terms.

If Michael is guided to aid her in time of need -- and I allege that (in an Evil!Harry universe) this is likely to happen -- Murphy will take the help, and (cautiously) begin trusting Michael, as he becomes a good source of supernatural intel & an ally in protecting Chicago.

[Mira]

Michael doesn't often introduce himself as a "Holy Knight," though:  he just steps up to help.
And Murphy actually has amazingly-good "people-sense."
It'd make good sense in both Doylist & Watsonian terms.

If Michael is guided to aid her in time of need -- and I allege that (in an Evil!Harry universe) this is likely to happen -- Murphy will take the help, and (cautiously) begin trusting Michael, as he becomes a good source of supernatural intel & an ally in protecting Chicago.

Will she?  Or will she take the attitude that whatever it is, it is a law enforcement issue so some civilian carpenter can butt out? 

[g33k]

Will she?  Or will she take the attitude that whatever it is, it is a law enforcement issue so some civilian carpenter can butt out?
 

Remember:  at the point of divergence, it's the exact same Murphy, with the exact same attitudes.  So yes, there may be some suspicion/distrust, just as she wasn't yet to the point of trusting Harry.  Also remember:  Murphy doesn't need to "call Michael for help" in order for Michael to show up via his own guidance.

But she'll be just as in-need of assistance from Michael as she was from Harry.  How many times will Michael need to selflessly risk himself to pull her (and other SI) out of danger, before she trusts him ... at least a little bit?

Michael's fundamental goodness is something that will speak to Murphy; and his free and ready faith (which Harry *never* displays) will do so too.

= = =

In the end, of course, it will depend 100% on how Jim writes it; the whole point may be moot; maybe one or both of them die in the stories between GP & MM...

[Mira]

Remember:  at the point of divergence, it's the exact same Murphy, with the exact same attitudes.  So yes, there may be some suspicion/distrust, just as she wasn't yet to the point of trusting Harry.  Also remember:  Murphy doesn't need to "call Michael for help" in order for Michael to show up via his own guidance.

You are assuming that nothing around Harry changes, that all the people around him remain the same..  That's the mistake I think, because Harry's choice and his change in this other universe doesn't happen in a vacuum. 

[g33k]

You are assuming that nothing around Harry changes, that all the people around him remain the same..  That's the mistake I think, because Harry's choice and his change in this other universe doesn't happen in a vacuum.

No, I agree:  things around Harry will begin changing, from the moment of "the Choice."  Harry changes, so what Harry does changes -- how he acts, how he reacts -- and everyone in  his orbit will in turn be changed.

But Michael's northstar isn't Harry; it never was.  He'll be among the less-changed (at least for the first few books); I don't expect any of Harry's changes will affect Michael's faith, or status as a Knight, or his Divine Guidance to help others in need.

And because there is a confluence in Chicago -- all of the same "dark powers" that Harry noted are still coming to bear, there -- I think Michael will more-often be Guided to Murphy's aid, than he originally was in the first few books.

[Mira]

And because there is a confluence in Chicago -- all of the same "dark powers" that Harry noted are still coming to bear, there -- I think Michael will more-often be Guided to Murphy's aid, than he originally was in the first few books.

Or not, Michael wasn't guided to her aid in the first few books..  I go back to the original assumption that everyone seems to have, and since I don't keep up with them I don't keep up very well with WOJs, is the other Harry is an evil counter point to our Harry.. If nothing if changed because of that, shrug of shoulders, Harry in the other universe is evil..  However I don't think so.. If one goes by "It's a Wonderful Life," all matter of things go wrong because our hero was never born... One prime example is at the age of 10 he saved his brother, who grew up to in the Medal of Honor because he saved hundreds of men on board a ship if I remember correctly... If he hadn't been saved, then not just he would have died, but the hundreds that he saved would have died, and maybe hundreds more children who would have done great things were never born.... It goes on and on like that..  It isn't about the now evil Harry, it's about the wrong choice that was made that really screws things up in both timelines.

[g33k]

Or not, Michael wasn't guided to her aid in the first few books...

No, of course not!  It's the Dresden Files, not the "Carpenter Files;" the Scooby Gang forms around Harry.

But in an Alt!Verse -- where Alt!Harry isn't a suitable nucleus for Scoobies -- Michael looks like he might be a more-active part of the Chicago scene.  "God will provide..." and in lieu of Harry, Michael looks like a damned-good candidate!

... I go back to the original assumption that everyone seems to have, and since I don't keep up with them I don't keep up very well with WOJs, is the other Harry is an evil counter point to our Harry.. If nothing if changed because of that, shrug of shoulders, Harry in the other universe is evil..  However I don't think so ...

The "evil Harry" idea comes from the older WoJ's; new ones are much less readily available/searchable, in that nobody AFAIK has taken the time to transcribe interview/etc videos... or even collect them.

From 2016:

When are we going to see Mavra again?
Um… 19?  *pondering*  Wait, I’m sorry we’ll definitely see her in Mirror Mirror.  She’s a fast ally of Dresden’s in Mirror Mirror.

^{-- https://wordof.jim-butcher.com/index.php/word-of-jim-woj-compilation/woj-on-vampires/}
 

[Mira]

   At this point we have put in so many ideas of our own in anticipation that I think there will be a lot of disappointment when it finally comes out.

[g33k]

    At this point we have put in so many ideas of our own in anticipation that I think there will be a lot of disappointment when it finally comes out.

<shrugs>  Odd theories & alternatives are fine!


"Why,  sometimes I've believed six impossible things before breakfast!" -- the White Queen

[Mira]

<shrugs>  Odd theories & alternatives are fine!


"Why,  sometimes I've believed six impossible things before breakfast!" -- the White Queen

No, actually that was Alice... 

[Talby16]

   At this point we have put in so many ideas of our own in anticipation that I think there will be a lot of disappointment when it finally comes out.

The author has been talking about mirror mirror for a long time. I dare say that book has been discussed more pre-writing than any other book he has written. There is a danger of the book not living up to our expectations. That being said, theories are fun!

[g33k]

No, actually that was Alice...   

 

No, actually that was the White Queen.

(I just re-read the passage to confirm; I can quote the full context, or link you an online copy, if desired)
 

[Mira]

No, actually that was the White Queen.

(I just re-read the passage to confirm; I can quote the full context, or link you an online copy, if desired)

You are right, I was thinking of the movie where it is Alice who says it, but the passage is confusing in the book..