I see Eb going out a different way. He is stripped of the Blackstaff title and executed by the White/Black Council.
As much as we all dislike the Merlin, I don't see the Merlin being a black hat. If he wanted to, he could have let the Council die time and time again.The obvious choice is Christos but maybe it is not Christos himself but someone in his direct entourage.
LTW likewise isn't corrupted, I would suspect, though his linkage is mostly to the fact he could have let Harry die several times, both in books and now in comic. And the Gatekeeper, the same.
Not saying the Council isn't infiltrated but I think those four (McCoy, Langtry, GK and LTW) can all be excluded.
This would leave Martha Liberty (who seems to garner the trust of LTW and Eb), Ancient Mai, and Cristos, if it is indeed infiltrated...
I expect Eb to go out heroically sometime soon, death of mentor as a Hero's Journey thing, but I also expect the Merlin to go out heroically sometime soon as part of Harry learning that it's possible for people who sincerely believe in the greatest good of the greatest number to sacrifice themselves in the name of that good and he should stop being so damned cynical about them.That is quite difficult if he is the one who decides you are the one to be sacrificed.
That is quite difficult if he is the one who decides you are the one to be sacrificed.
I do not think it is at all a sure thing that Harry continuing alive is a greater good for a greater number of people in the DV, but whether it is or not, the Merlin has an entirely solid basis for believing it not to be, and a responsibility to act accordingly, just as the Wardens had a responsibility to take down Kemmler.
As far as Harry staying alive for the Greater Good, I fully, absolutely, entirely expect an "It's a Wonderful Life" sequence from Uriel at some point, which shows Harry precisely what would have happened to the world if he had died or never been born. In fact, I think that's part of what Mirror, Mirror will be, though in a different way, showing the consequences of different choices.
There's also standing in public support for a "traitor," and rather than providing the evidence to the Merlin before the trial, opts for showmanship that results in an Outsider being released in a crowded amphitheater and fifty (50!) wizards getting dusted.He did not foresee that but neither did Ebenezar.
As far as Harry staying alive for the Greater Good, I fully, absolutely, entirely expect an "It's a Wonderful Life" sequence from Uriel at some point, which shows Harry precisely what would have happened to the world if he had died or never been born. In fact, I think that's part of what Mirror, Mirror will be, though in a different way, showing the consequences of different choices.
If things turn out better in Mirror Mirror world for everybody but Harry that would kill Harry's drive to do his best in bad situations.
Or maybe make him do some much-needed re-examining of what doing his best actually means; trying his hardest in the wrong direction is less use than it could be.If Harry does any more self-examining, he'll turn into Hamlet.
Now wouldn't him getting past that be a whole different scale of interesting and challenging from yet another long-drawn-out brawl ?
If Harry does any more self-examining, he'll turn into Hamlet.
If you think that's off-putting, you're talking to the wrong person. Me, I just get frustrated that all that reflection is so slow to turn into actual serious change of approach.Ditto. Was so Happy he actually pre-empted the Baddie in SG, way to wizard it up..
Ditto. Was so Happy he actually pre-empted the Baddie in SG, way to wizard it up..That part I was all for. Harry had ran across Nico twice prior to SK; so, him predicting some of Nico's behavior was well within his purview. Guessing Lash would have been a stretch due to his usual behavior with women.
That's alot for one book.
Like a Black Court revival and whatever plan Nico has going?
Like a Black Court revival and whatever plan Nico has going?Just one I think... and revival is a very good word. Cause of the whole you are what you eat thing, the idea of Mavra eating a bunch of hereness, some honest to goodness life, might make here more than she currently is as undeath. What if mavra's whole gig is how to properly return herself to, well, not so much life as existence beyond stuck in a decaying corpse?
He did not foresee that but neither did Ebenezar.
And given that Peabody unleashing a Mordite-enhanced Mistfiend and mindwhammying the Wardens wound up not being sufficient to exonerate Morgan in the end, the LaFortier block must be really strict about what constitutes sufficient evidence (when it's politically expedient to fo so).
Some of us are still not entirely convinced Morgan was innocent, fwiw.
Yeah, once Ebenezar had seen the evidence on Peabody, responsibility for how to play it kind of is on the SC member rather than Harry.
Politically, they couldn't really have the Merlin just go "hey, trial on Morgan is cancelled" anyway. The spectators from LaFortier's bloc had to be convinced that Peabody was responsible because of how much suspicion was going around that Langtry would subvert the process to rescue his favourite attack dog. It wasn't just Harry that failed to anticipate the "bureaucromancer" posing a physical threat - Ebenezar and Carlos also missed that.
I agree that it never set well with me that they weren't prepared for Peabody to run, but ...
We know that Eb is the junior member of the Senior council, and he's at odds with the Merlin. I can totally see Langtry ignoring Eb's warnings (if there were any) not believing them. After all, Peabody had been on the staff for a LONG time.
Basically, they under-estimated what a perceived paper-pusher would do even though he was also a wizard. I was a military clerk, so I know the mentality, even if I was a soldier as well.
Ebenezar and the merlin had a long antagonistic relationship probably made worse by Peabody. Ebenezar wanted to judge everyone's reaction.
I'm trying to remember back to my last reading.Enough to search Peabodies quarters for evidence.
Was there time between Harry revealing to Eb, and the trial, for Eb to sucker punch Peabody?
Enough to search Peabodies quarters for evidence.
Enough to search Peabodies quarters for evidence.
Have we some reason to think he'd be sloppy enough to not cover his tracks?
“Working on the evidence Dresden found,” Ebenezar said, “Warden Ramirez and I searched Peabody’s chambers thoroughly not twenty minutes ago. A test of the inks he used to attain the signatures of the Senior Council for various authorizations revealed the presence of a number of chemical and alchemical substances that are known to have been used to assist psychic manipulation of their subjects. It is my belief that Peabody has been drugging the ink for the purpose of attempting greater mental influence over the decisions of members of the Senior Council, and that it is entirely possible that he has compromised the free will of younger members of the Council outright.”
I don't think Eb will survive the BAT... I also believe that, at some point, Harry will be sent to get Mother Winter's cane back.
Eb, as Blackstaff, is allowed to use mind magic... We will find out that Eb rewired Harry's brain in Hog's Hollow after the incident with Justin. He has been asked a couple times why he does what he does and he doesn't really give a good answer - I think they were trying to clue him in that his brain was altered. I also think that Eb influenced Susan's thinking to keep Maggie away from Harry, since Eb was with them during Dead Beat and I doubt that was a coincidence.
I think Eb will succumb to the corruption of Dark Magic and the Outsiders, causing Mother Winter to send Harry after him.
Disclaimer: I have been wrong each and every time I have predicted anything. If I said Monday would be followed by Tuesday, I would expect the flow of time to suddenly change just to make me wrong. Jim Butcher has come up with better stuff than me every time I think I know what's going on, so I'm sure that trend will continue and I look forward to finding out how wrong I am.
I don't think Eb will survive the BAT... I also believe that, at some point, Harry will be sent to get Mother Winter's cane back.
Curious question. What would happen if the Black Staff is broken or can it be broken?Im going to go with: No, It cannot Be Broken. Or Rather, to do so would require and.or result in the Breaking of Winter's Power as a whole; I think one is too primal a symbol of the other.
Im going to go with: No, It cannot Be Broken. Or Rather, to do so would require and.or result in the Breaking of Winter's Power as a whole; I think one is too primal a symbol of the other.So, the Black Staff is an under-used object of power?
on the other hand, per WOJ "just really, really, really powerful and tapped into like some serious elemental powers in the universe. But basically all it really is is insulation from using those powers." So maybe it's jut a tap into that Power, and loosing it would just close off that access. It might have all kinds of implications to the overall function and Balance of things, but perhaps not any direct (ie explosive) fallout.
So, the Black Staff is an under-used object of power?Keep in mind this is the same description used for the hexxenbelts, Mantles, ect. Insulation. I think it's all insulation, and all from the same things, spiritual entities.
So, the Black Staff is an under-used object of power?
Could the Blackstaff itself be the conduit to black magic? Meaning, if it is destroyed, could all access to it be closed permanently? Assuming it's tied to the Outside, the Blackstaff may have existed as long as the Gates—as Gungnir, for instance—passed down from guardian to guardian. If black magic comes from Outside, as many have hypothesized on this forum, then it may be the reason wizards and others can tap into it at all. Like a Yin/Yang; you have to have a little Black inside the White, if you catch my meaning.-.- nobodies allowed to say that but me lol. yin yang represents pretty much all of creation in the DF, right down to the original divides between existence and non existence, which then became layered excessively. (ying and yang into greater and lesser, 4 majors into the 8 elemental manifestations down into the 5 elements themselves.) DR is the little black dot that is at the center of our world... Angels perhaps are the White dot in the black... Think about their existence on Archangel level, multiple galaxy destruction, only dips toe into our sandbox, pancake existence. both are beyond space and time, ergo outside, even if not outside existence in the critical sense everyone seems to get stuck on(variations, VARIATIONS!), mordite is an example in extreme of the idea of NOTHING being too simply translated.
So, the Black Staff is an under-used object of power?Depends on your perspective.
Depends on your perspective.
On the one hand, it does not actually let you do anything at all that you could not already do (other than summon a really cool stick made of black smoke, I guess); there is no power boost or additional special abilities granted.
On the Other Hand, it lets you do ALL THE BLACK MAGIC without having to worry about turning your psyche into swiss cheese from what amount to the spiritual equivalent of Brain Damage. If you're already down that swiss cheese road it's probably not going to give you much you didnt already have. Im not sure it would have any appeal to your Kemmlers or Cowls, for example.