Who will hurt more emotionally for Harry?

[Cats_are_evil]

Jim is full steam ahead writing 12 months which got me thinking. Who would cause Harry the biggest emotional punch, Susan or Murphy? Because we all know how much Harry's life is one big punching bag for life.
1. Susan. Let's be honest, the bad moments involving her are heart wrenching. I mean at the end he had to kill her. Plus every day he sees their child. How much time was pent looking for a cure?
2. Murphy. It most likely will still be fairly recent that it happened. There's a long history before they even started dating. He knows her murderer is running free.

 

[LaraBeck]

Jim is full steam ahead writing 12 months which got me thinking. Who would cause Harry the biggest emotional punch, Susan or Murphy? Because we all know how much Harry's life is one big punching bag for life.
1. Susan. Let's be honest, the bad moments involving her are heart wrenching. I mean at the end he had to kill her. Plus every day he sees their child. How much time was pent looking for a cure?
2. Murphy. It most likely will still be fairly recent that it happened. There's a long history before they even started dating. He knows her murderer is running free.

Did you read Little Things, The Law or the first chapter of Twelve Months? Because the answer is right there. It's Murphy, for whatever reason you want to attribute to it, but that's how things are going for Harry right now, we've never seen him in such pain, not even with Susan.

IMO, it's pretty simple why, from Susan's death he got to save his child, and Susan knew what was happening, from Murphy's death he's won exactly nothing, there's nothing that could counterbalance the loss. And that's a 20 year (in-universe) relationship that supported him through a lot, I mean, even when Murphy doubted him and sure, they had their rough moments, but everything built to her being an integral part of his support system, at the end she was (maybe wrongfully) his ride or die. So, that kind of thing leaves a hole like the grand canyon in your life.

[Mira]

Did you read Little Things, The Law or the first chapter of Twelve Months? Because the answer is right there. It's Murphy, for whatever reason you want to attribute to it, but that's how things are going for Harry right now, we've never seen him in such pain, not even with Susan.

I think it's a bit more complicated than that for a number of reasons.  Harry had just witnessed Murphy's violent death and he was very much in love and involved with her at the time.  The wound is fresh from her death, and Harry is also physically weak from his wounds, plus the emotional and mental strain he has been under.  Harry is deep in the process of mourning for Murphy.  In the case of Susan, Harry actually did his mourning for her when she still was alive.  After she was half turned and left him he went into a deep depression and almost drove himself mad trying to find a cure for her.  By the time of Changes, he had gotten past that for the most part, when she fully turned she was no longer Susan, it was a mercy in one sense, and it saved his child, himself and his grandfather.  Remember shortly after that happened Harry was shot and was in a coma for a few months with his soul doing a walk about because Uriel wanted to teach him a lesson.  In that time period Harry wasn't exactly in any shape to mourn Susan.  Then when he returned he refused to see his child for some time out of guilt because he had killed her mother.  Guilt in this case is another aspect of grief, Harry took all the guilt upon himself.  Superficially he is right, he did goad her into turning and cut her throat, but in truth Susan bares a lot of that responsibility herself, from the moment she stole the invitation  to that party and forged it in spite of Harry's warnings that she in over her head and she ended up half turned.  So one pain greater than the other?  I don't think they can be equated nor one seen as more than the other, they are different, but pain is pain.

[Cats_are_evil]

See, here's the thing. What if the mirror mirror version of Susan was a simple homemaker with kids. She than offers Harry a chance to just give up and have a storybook life. No monsters. No courts. A family life that he could raise his daughter. He'd be free of the winter knight contract. Think how painful it would be to turn that down. Remember in Summer Knight I think when the summer lady gave him a brief moment free from his pain. Think how much more pain he's in now. That's why I think the Susan one will be harder. Because he KNOWS Murphy will hurt to see.

[Mira]

See, here's the thing. What if the mirror mirror version of Susan was a simple homemaker with kids. She than offers Harry a chance to just give up and have a storybook life. No monsters. No courts. A family life that he could raise his daughter. He'd be free of the winter knight contract. Think how painful it would be to turn that down. Remember in Summer Knight I think when the summer lady gave him a brief moment free from his pain. Think how much more pain he's in now. That's why I think the Susan one will be harder. Because he KNOWS Murphy will hurt to see.

I don't think you can quantify which pain is greater, it's only different.  By the time we see Susan in Changes, Harry has already mourned for her, he has just begun the process for Murphy, and he may never fully get over it.  Also with Susan, he has little Maggie now, that takes some of the pain away, with Murphy he is only left with memories.

[g33k]

See, here's the thing. What if the mirror mirror version of Susan was a simple homemaker with kids. She than offers Harry a chance to just give up and have a storybook life. No monsters. No courts. A family life that he could raise his daughter. He'd be free of the winter knight contract. Think how painful it would be to turn that down. Remember in Summer Knight I think when the summer lady gave him a brief moment free from his pain. Think how much more pain he's in now. That's why I think the Susan one will be harder. Because he KNOWS Murphy will hurt to see. 

Susan was half-turned, though, and that will likely still be true in the Mirror'verse (unless she got all the way turned there).  The "simple homemaker" future isn't possible for her.

Nor can Harry escape HIS contract:  he's still got a WK-mantle inside him, and both Mab & Maeve thus have hooks deep into him (I can only imagine Lloyd Slate will be bewildered and even-more violently psychopathic if confronted with another WK).

Moreover, Harry (being Harry) isn't capable of just laying down all his worries and chilling.  Not when the monsters are out there preying on mortals.  And WoJ states that the Mirrorverse is in worse shape than Dresdenverse-Prime.

[KurtinStGeorge]

Susan and Murphy will not only be different in the Mirror Mirror world, their individual attitudes towards Harry will be heavily colored by the decisions and actions of Alt-Harry.  Seeing Susan and Murphy alive will elicit a reaction from Harry, but then he will find out what each of them thinks of him; well, actually what they think of his doppelganger.  For example, it's possible Alt-Murphy will draw a weapon and start shooting at Harry the moment she sees him, because Alt-Harry is one of the bad guys. Harry will have to deal with those reactions, whatever they may be.  I think it will heavily effect his longer term emotional reaction.

Imagine a worse case scenario for Harry.  He is forced to kill Alt-Red Court Susan.  She won't be the youngest vampire any longer.  There won't be a noble cause behind Harry's actions, just Harry surviving a terrible situation.  Something like that would change what Harry feels in big way.  For this reason I don't think we can easily predict what will hurt Harry more.

[Cats_are_evil]

Plus, we are looking at Harry a year later. He's had time to heal. We have no idea what state he'll be in after 12 months. Maybe he finally admits Molly is the best choice for him. That's my opinion BTW. Maybe he and Lara seal the deal on wedding night. We just don't know.

[Mira]

Plus, we are looking at Harry a year later. He's had time to heal. We have no idea what state he'll be in after 12 months. Maybe he finally admits Molly is the best choice for him. That's my opinion BTW. Maybe he and Lara seal the deal on wedding night. We just don't know.

  "Heal" in the case of grief is often complicated and is never simple.  Yes, over time the loss becomes less front and center, but like some injuries, never fully goes away.  I think that will be the case of Harry, he will get to the point where he can function again, even function well, but the scars are real and Harry isn't one to forget or not feel the pain.  The question becomes is Lara capable of understanding that?  Is Mab?

[g33k]

...  For example, it's possible Alt-Murphy will draw a weapon and start shooting at Harry the moment she sees him, because Alt-Harry is one of the bad guys...

100% this.
We know that the decision causing the MM divergence happens "at the end of Grave Peril," but not what that decision is, or how close to the end of the novel.

But we know that Murphy got trapped by the Nightmare who Fake-Harry'ed its way in.  A year later in SK, she's still combining drugs & alcohol to damp things enough to get a night's sleep (that was a huge trauma for her) and if Mirror!Harry isn't as supportive after SK, this could be the souring of their relationship... Harry turns to darker paths, makes deeper compromises; Murphy trusts him less and less; and by the time Harry!Prime gets to the Mirrorverse, Murphy sees him solidly as a BadGuy.

That said, not a shoot-on-sight target; but certainly an armed-and-dangerous / hand-on-holster / do-not-trust individual.

Imagine a worse case scenario for Harry.  He is forced to kill Alt-Red Court Susan.  She won't be the youngest vampire any longer.  There won't be a noble cause behind Harry's actions, just Harry surviving a terrible situation.  Something like that would change what Harry feels in big way.

One of the very-real possibilities of Harry's "decision" is that he decided to trade Susan to Bianca, when Bianca made that offer (at the beginning of the climactic fight).  In that case, "Susan" is gone and only another blood-sucking monster exists in a Susan-shaped fleshmask.

Or, Bianca could have spent the intervening years using the Rampire's time-honored "Jaguar Warrior" training-methods to brainwash Susan into fanatic loyalty.

Either of those would be their own whole serving of trauma for Harry!