There has been a lot of talk about Murphy in the Barabbas Curse thread.  I thought I'd add a different angle to that conversation and give it a more appropriate setting.

Yes, Karrin Murphy is dead; but I'm calling it now, we will see her again.  Jim has already given readers who were upset at her departure the cryptic remark that they will have to "see what happens."  Of course, some of them my decide not to wait and stop reading the series.  That's their choice to make, what I'm writing is for those who will continue reading the series.  So how will Murphy return to the Dresden Files beyond being a memory?  I see at least three possible scenarios, besides a possible appearance in the Mirror Mirror world.

1.  Ragnarok is not as far in the future as you; and apparently Ms. Gard, thinks it is.  In this scenario Odin knows his time is coming to an end and calls in the favor that Harry owes him to take care of some unfinished business.  The rule about einherjar not being seen until after the memory of them has disappeared goes out the window because it's an all hands on deck situation.  So Einherjar Murphy works as Odin's liaison with Dresden, helping him accomplish whatever it is Odin wants to get done.  The problem with this scenario is built into Norse mythology.  When Ragnarok occurs, all the einherjar die along with Odin.  So, Harry would get to lose Murphy twice.  Yea, I'm not seeing that as a fan favorite idea, and I'm pretty sure Jim would realize that and not go there.

2. Ragnarok will not take place anytime in the near future, but Odin needs to get something done in the near term and the person best qualified is the Winter Knight, so Odin calls in his favor.  Ordinarily, this wouldn't involve Harry getting to see Murphy, but this favor can only be accomplished in Asgard or maybe Valhalla.  Harry has been to one afterlife, so why not another one?  Odin's rule isn't violated because Murphy doesn't go back to earth, Harry goes to her and gets to work with her again.  This is a rather bittersweet scenario because it's a one and done affair.  This scenario could happen, but I don't think it would make fans very happy; plus, I don't really see the point of having Murphy back one last time.  I doubt Jim would consider it.

3.  This should be really easy to guess.  Sure, an einherjar can't return to earth until their memory has faded from living memory, but I don't remember Gard saying anything about this rule applying to valkyries.  Karrin Murphy doesn't really fit the berserker stereotype.  I can't picture Murphy ever joyfully charging into battle against Jotuns, even with a rocket launcher.  Murphy as a valkyrie, that I can picture.  I even have a long scenario how this could happen, but there's no need to go into that.  The beauty of this scenario is Murphy doesn't have to be in every book.  She can be off doing jobs for Odin most of the time.  When she gives Harry advice it could be practical advice because she is now a real player in the supernatural game.

What do you think?       

Anyone else see this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP8Yf2bv7FE&ab_channel=ExileVideoProductions

It's not perfect, but it's an interesting attempt.  I wouldn't mind seeing different versions of a trailer for Storm Front and eventually, the other DF novels which don't have trailers.

This isn't a who would win in a fight scenario.  I've been thinking about the Fomor; as one of the major powers in the story, and also looking at the few individuals we have seen of them, and I've come to a sad conclusion.  They are second rate villains, at least compared to the Red Court.  This is true if we look at the Fomor both as individuals and as a major power.  This makes the Fomor something less than compelling for me to read about.  There's an old saying that your story is only as good as your villain and the Red Court were pretty good at being villains.  That's true even if there is a greater power or powers that manipulated the vampires for their own ends.  To me the Red Court seemed to be scarier, more formidable and more compelling to read about, both as individuals and as a major supernatural power. 

Look at the major Fomor players we have seen so far.  (I don't remember their names, which IMO is a bad sign.)  There was the one that Marcone killed with a magic bullet in the short story Even Hand.  This Fomor managed to fight his way through Marcone's goons and get past Ms. Gard, but you would expect a supernatural heavy hitter to be able to do that or at least get close to doing that.  However, he was rather stupid; and with Gard's help Marcone suckered the Fomor Lord into a death trap. 

Then there was the one who set a bomb to go off at the Swaralf's party, whose plan was foiled by Molly.  OK, while Molly gained some experience working with Harry she was really taught how to think and fight by Lea, so Molly had at least one really good and ruthless teacher and an example of a mentor who never gives up.  However, Molly was still something of a newbie in the kind of covert mission Lea gave her, but despite the risks, setbacks and close calls she underwent, Molly thoroughly defeated the Fomor Lord's plan and publicly exposed his treachery.  Plus, he was something of a sniveling coward when he faced Mr. Etri's wrath.

Then there's King Korb.  I don't have to the exact quote, but Mab told Harry that Korb was more powerful, dangerous and treacherous than Harry, or words to that effect.  (If anyone wants to find the quote and post it here, I'd appreciate it.)  Personally, I found King Korb to be something of a joke.  Openly making himself Ethniu's slave wasn't much of a power move.  I'm surprised that Mab, or any of the major players at the peace talks didn't call him out for that, or Harry make some snarky comment on the subject.  Korb was cruel and vicious, but his henchman Listen is clearly smarter than he is.  Korb just wasn't impressive or really all that scary.  When the action was at it's hottest, King Korb was mostly overconfident, petulant or both.

The Fomor henchman Listen has been good at his job, but he's not really in Harry's league yet.  Listen would need a major power upgrade or have access to supernatural assets we have yet to see in order to make him into a truly dangerous and interesting foe.

The Fomor priest that Murphy fought in the short story Aftermath was a pretty dangerous opponent, but Murphy was just a vanilla mortal, so that bad guy was only a compelling enemy in that situation.  In a larger situation like we saw in Battle Ground, he would have been nothing more than another Fomor grunt.

The creatures that the Fomor can create are disgusting and have some sick and scary qualities, but by themselves they're just cannon fodder.

Now I don't want to look at everyone we met from the Red Court.  Mostly because I've written a lot already, but also because I don't think there are any really weak or boring Red Court characters.  So I'll focus on just one character, Bianca.  Bianca was the first sentient and dangerous nonhuman supernatural enemy we saw Harry match wits with.  For some time we have been able to discern that Bianca was manipulated by beings and powers smarter and far more powerful than herself, but that doesn't really matter.  At the time she went up against Harry, Bianca was scary, her motivations seemed fairly logical and her plan to take Harry down was a pretty smart one, overall. 

The beautiful person who is really giant blood sucking bat like creature underneath its pretty exterior camouflage was a really well developed idea that Jim came up with.  Add in that its saliva was addictive, so Red Court victims were often not just drained out, but made into willing vassals and slaves, made Bianca and her type both disgusting and frightening at the same time.

Bianca had been humiliated by Harry in her own home, at the very seat of her power.  Even if she hadn't been haunted by the ghost of her assistant and lover that she killed, Bianca still would have had good reason to want to get even with Harry.  And the thing is, Bianca's plan was a pretty good one.  Her chosen allies were properly distracting in the case of the Nightmare and powerful in the case of Mavra.  She also couldn't have known just how stubborn Harry could be.  A lot of other wizards would taken her deal to escape with their lives at the cost of someone else, especially if that someone else had already been half turned into one of the Red Court.  In their final confrontation, there was almost no way that Bianca could have figured out that Harry would make an inspired decision to call up the ghosts of her past victims to use against her, or that it would work, and no way she could have countered it.  Bianca just had really, really bad luck that day.  One more minor point.  Even her henchman and henchwomen, Kyle and Kellie Hamilton were pretty freaking creepy in their own right.

Finally, as a major power, the Fomor are somewhat nebulous.  They don't have a solid feel to them.  On the other hand, a nation of blood thirsty vampires is something truly nightmarish.  I don't think I need to say more than that.   

Mostly, I wrote this because I want to see if others agree with me, or if anyone thinks the opposite; sees things that I've missed that make the Fomor more compelling as villains than I do.  Also, I guess I'm hoping Drakul will be more interesting than what we've seen so far.  Drakul was in just a few brief scenes in BG so there's no way for us to know where Jim is going with this character, I just want something better than what we've had (so far) as a replacement for the creepiness', terror and fun that the Red Court brought to the table.     

Harry seems to have embraced being Maggie's father, but IMO he seemed a bit hesitant in his interactions with Bonea.  Harry knows Bonea has access to a vast amount of knowledge, but she lacks the context to safely use much of it.  In other words, Bonea is capital D dangerous.  (And maybe more interesting to watch as the series goes forward.  We might see Maggie display the beginnings of her magic ability and then get shuffled off to school, but Bonea might reveal things which will produce dramatic effects in the near term.)

Now there are lots of books on child rearing; some from respected authors, some from crackpots, and many in between the two extremes.  Plus, there are always people who will make their opinions on how to raise a child, known.  Unfortunately for Harry, there is literally no one person or source of information he can read which might help him with Bonea.  I doubt Lea or Mab would have any useful advice either.

Well, there is one possible source of information Harry could turn to, though he'd be loathe to let this individual interact with Bonea.  Of course it's Bob.  (Plus, there is a WoJ on Bob's parents.  We've already met them, I think.  Can anyone find the exact quote?)  So, my guess is that Harry will start pumping Bob for information about his early development.  Sooner or later Bob will figure out why.  I don't know what will happen after that but it could become interesting.  Well, there is one thing I'm fairly certain of.  At some point Bob will tell Harry that he's doing a terrible job as Bonea's parent.  Also, my guess is that a spirit of intellect has the potential to mature much faster than a human, but that's just a guess.   

I suppose I'm asking what do you think will or should happen with Bonea?  I think this character has lots of potential but Jim hasn't given us a clue where he's going with her.         

There have been a few times in the series when I thought Jim missed an opportunity for Harry to say something cool or funny.  Though mostly, there are times when I wish Harry would get off the guilt trip or just share something, because the wizard secrecy thing can be a drag too.  Of course, then it wouldn't be the Harry Dresden we know.

In Battle Ground I thought there were a couple times Harry might have said something different that might have been fun or interesting, so I'll tell you one of them.  When Ebenezer and Harry first talked in Battle Ground, Eb said to Harry, "You look a little green, Hoss."  Instead of telling Ebenezer that he got seasick, Harry should have said, "It was a little rough on the lake coming back in, and I had to fight a kraken.  I don't think I would be here to tell you this Sir, if I hadn't had a White Court vampire around to help me."  It wouldn't improved Ebenezer's mood any, but he had it coming after the crap he gave Harry in PT.

So, was there anything you would have liked to have Harry say or do in either Peace Talks or Battle Ground?

Exactly who was watching Justine and why?

We know Lara had her people watching Justine.  That makes sense.
Harry hired Goodman Grey to watch Justine.  That makes sense.
People from the Chicago PD and the local FBI office were watching Justine.  Why?

Goodman Grey told Harry that Agent Tilly wasn’t involved; as far as he good see, but it was people from the same local FBI office.  Could these FBI agents have been doing surveillance for the benefit of the Librarian’s?  I imagine these “Men in Black” are small in number and might occasionally need help from other more traditional Federal agencies, but that’s just a guess.

That still doesn’t tell us why the Librarians or any mortal agency would be interested in Justine.  Someone would have to have some pretty detailed records about the White Court to want to put surveillance on her or at least know that she was Thomas Raith’s lover and that he was involved in a hit of a major supernatural power.
 
However, that knowledge could only come from someone well connected within the supernatural community.  So not someone like the Alphas or most paraneters, with the exception of Paranoid Gary.  It could have come from within any of the major powers, but that doesn’t tell us why someone in the know would share that information with mortals.  However, for the sake of argument let’s say someone traded this information with the Librarians.  What about the Chicago PD?

My guess is that whoever started the investigation against Harry and Murphy was the same group or person who put Chicago PD personnel to watch Justine, but why?  She had nothing to do with the break in at Marcone’s bank.  Originally, I thought that whoever was working for the Outsiders was behind Rudolph and his partner, but why would HWWBs put surveillance on itself?  This suggests another party is involved.  Just a guess, but we haven’t heard anything about the late Wizard Peabody’s partner; the one whose presence Harry felt on Demonreach, since Turn Coat.  Whoever was responsible, it doesn't explain how they gained enough influence within the Chicago PD to get the investigation started.
 
These are just rough guesses.  They are not even deeply worked out WAG’s. 

Another name for this thread was:
Battle Ground secrets - What should Harry do about them

1.  Of course, the big reveal was that Marcone is now a Knight of the Blackened Denarius.  I suppose if Butters or Sanya need to know this, their boss will point them at Marcone.  However, it seems rude for Harry to keep this knowledge to himself, especially as Butters and Sanya are friends, not someone he would have to trade favor for favor with.  Plus, it wasn’t information Harry learned in confidence, Harry doesn’t owe Marcone anything. 

You’d think Lara Raith would like to know about this, seeing that her and Marcone are rivals even if they are not outright enemies.  If Harry; as a representative of Winter, is supposed to play nice with the White Court of Vampires, it might be a piece of information he should be willing to trade with Lara, if not tell her outright.
 
Mab really, really doesn’t like Thorned Namshiel.  She knows a lot, but I wonder if she knows who Marcone’s new friend is.  All Harry would have to say to Mab is “I know who holds Thorned Namshiel’s coin” to see if Mab is interested.  She may already know, but if Mab didn’t know it would be nice trading chip for Harry to have.
   
2.  Mab sees some benefit to an alliance between Winter and the White Court. (This isn't the secret.) Somehow, I don’t think the White Council will be happy about this.  Related to this, there is an old secret Harry has kept; he knows the weakness of the White Court of Vampires.  Harry knows that Lara and every other member of the White Court (or at least House Raith) can’t feed on him; for the time being, because of his love protection. 

My feeling is this information was something Thomas told Harry in confidence.  It’s not something Harry should tell the White Council, not that they want to talk to him anyway.   Even if Harry did tell anyone on the Council, they wouldn’t believe him.  I have to admit I would like to see Harry try to explain to Eb or Carlos why Lara isn't a threat to him, especially if the arranged marriage between Harry and Lara takes place.

3.  Harry met the third Walker, HWWBsd and he knows that the Walker has possessed Justine and has done so for some time.  I thought it was interesting that Lara understood this.  She didn’t want to say the name Nemesis out loud so she’s fully clued in.  I wonder how Lara found out.  Did Harry tell her or had she known for years?  I figure Lara knew about HWWB from listening in to the encounter Harry had with her father in Blood Rites, but I don’t think the Walker’s name was said out loud.
 
The problem with this information is there is no useful way to convey it to the Swartalfs.  Harry doesn’t know if Etri knows about Nemesis and the Walkers, and even if Etri does know, Harry doesn’t have any proof he could offer in order to get the Swartalfs  to back off Thomas, assuming Thomas gets freed from Demonreach anytime soon and assuming Etri would see it as a valid reason to back off.

4.  Harry has learned that the Redcap works for Mab.  As a side note, the Redcap’s a more interesting character now, he's no longer a two-dimensional bad guy.  While I expect Harry to warn Molly at some point, my guess is that after being trained by Lea and having seen how Mab works, Molly already knows.

5. Harry knows that Listen and Drakul are also Starborn.  Maybe that's important, maybe not.  Maybe Harry can figure out a way to feed Listen to Drakul.  Drakul likes to eat Starborn.   

6. The Stars and Stones. No one seems to want to clue Harry in on what that expression means.  Outside of asking Bonea; which would probably be a really stupid and dangerous thing to do, there isn't much Harry can do with this information.  Then again, now that Harry is out of the Council where else can he go to find out?  Sooner or later Harry is going to have to tap into the well of knowledge that Bonea possesses.  Perhaps Harry will think that is the only way he can find out.  Unless, Harry can find out what Stars and Stones means in the Mirror Mirror universe.

7.  The Librarians.  OK, the bigwigs in the supernatural world know about them, but Harry had never heard of them before.  (Unless they were mentioned in a short story.  Harry briefly tangled with some men in black in one of the short stories.)  Sooner or later, Harry's going to have to meet with one or more of the Librarians.  Maybe they'll talk about the Dewey Decimal system.  Probably not.   

8.  Harry's a wolf.  Not really a secret, a lot of people call Harry a wolf.  Ebenezer, The Erlking, Mab; I mean you'd think the Alphas would be jealous seeing as they really become wolves.  I'm looking forward to see Harry howl at the moon or do some other wolf like things.