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The Dresden Files => DF Spoilers => Topic started by: SerScot on April 10, 2025, 12:35:32 AM
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Seriously.
Merlin is said to remember the future the way other man remember the past. We know, given how Demonreach was created, that Merlin played with time… hard. We also know Harry will at some point break the law against time travel. We know Harry felt a kinship to Demonreach even before he claimed it… why is that?
It makes sense for Harry to… be… Merlin.
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Seriously.
Merlin is said to remember the future the way other man remember the past. We know, given how Demonreach was created, that Merlin played with time… hard. We also know Harry will at some point break the law against time travel. We know Harry felt a kinship to Demonreach even before he claimed it… why is that?
It makes sense for Harry to… be… Merlin.
I believe Luccio explained what Harry experienced on the island as "wizard's foresight." I agree there is a connection to Merlin, it was strongly hinted that Eb has his journals. Now while it is possible that they have been handed down from master to apprentice over the centuries, I still think there may very well be a remote blood connection.
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I really think Harry… is… Merlin… we will see.
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I really think Harry… is… Merlin… we will see.
What if Merlin is a Mantle? And no not like the title in the White Council.... though in thinking that, maybe Merlin is a Mantle that was forgotten (on purpose or by accident) but though lore/history the White Councile adopted it a title.
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I really think Harry… is… Merlin… we will see.
I think that'd have to be an off-stage event. Harry is a long, long way from doing Merlin-caliber work. Centuries at least; maybe even millennia (n.b. wizards don't have millennia-long lifespans). Also, the Harry we have seen is frankly not smart enough; he's not stupid or anything, but (for example) Butters in a few months' tutelage from Bob had figured out a bunch of magic that had never occurred to Harry. But Merlin-caliber magic is (that we've seen) extraordinarily complex.
The only way I could see it happening is if he gets some sort of extra magical knowlege, an Intellectus of magic or etc; and not on a "lab assistant" basis like Bob, as the struggles Bob has educating Harry are well-known. He needs something internal. As I recall, though, Bob wouldn't be enough -- not even Bob understood most of the rune-work, when Harry took him out to look at the island.
Merging with the Archive might do it; or with Demonreach itself (though AFAIK the Archive is bound to a female-descent bloodline, & likely has extremely-potent magic to prevent anyone else from interfering; and a Demonreach-merger would cause a tautological paradox: Merlin creating Demonreach who creates Merlin).
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I believe Luccio explained what Harry experienced on the island as "wizard's foresight."
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Yes; Luccio apparently recognized the phenomenon well.
I'm working with that idea as provisionally the correct explanation.
But... we should recall that Luccio was (iirc) under Peabody's influence at the time, and so it's possible Peabody implanted some memories/explanations to feed misinformation to Harry. I think it's VERY possible that the Black Council has paid enough attention to the island & the Warden role to have a very clear idea what to expect. Having a ready explanation that side-tracks Harry might have been something Peabody had planned in advance.
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Yes; Luccio apparently recognized the phenomenon well.
I'm working with that idea as provisionally the correct explanation.
But... we should recall that Luccio was (iirc) under Peabody's influence at the time, and so it's possible Peabody implanted some memories/explanations to feed misinformation to Harry. I think it's VERY possible that the Black Council has paid enough attention to the island & the Warden role to have a very clear idea what to expect. Having a ready explanation that side-tracks Harry might have been something Peabody had planned in advance.
I don't think her answer in this case was influenced by Peabody's ink simply because her answer was straight forward and didn't affect Harry's future behavior in any way significant.. She simply told Harry that he had the wizard's version of deja vu, and Harry accepted that. She could have said that it meant he had a future close connection with the island, however she didn't elaborate.
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I don't think her answer in this case was influenced by Peabody's ink simply because her answer was straight forward and didn't affect Harry's future behavior in any way significant.. She simply told Harry that he had the wizard's version of deja vu, and Harry accepted that. She could have said that it meant he had a future close connection with the island, however she didn't elaborate.
Given the vast power available to the Warden of the Well (undoubtedly known to the BC) I think it very possible that Peabody would have had her downplay the importance / significance, just so that Harry would put it lower on his own priority-list for figuring-out.
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Given the vast power available to the Warden of the Well (undoubtedly known to the BC) I think it very possible that Peabody would have had her downplay the importance / significance, just so that Harry would put it lower on his own priority-list for figuring-out.
That's possible, but was Harry even on Peabody's radar at that point? I doubt it, now it might be that Harry got lucky because he rarely went to headquarters, had few if any run ins with Peabody, and never signed anything or was in a position to sign anything using Peabody's ink until Turncoat.
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That's possible, but was Harry even on Peabody's radar at that point? I doubt it, now it might be that Harry got lucky because he rarely went to headquarters, had few if any run ins with Peabody, and never signed anything or was in a position to sign anything using Peabody's ink until Turncoat.
Harry -- as a notorious maybe-warlock -- was undoubtedly already on Peabody's radar.
As soon as Harry began refusing to sign Peabody's forms (which is to say, immediately-following Dead Beat, when Harry became a Warden), he likely became a major target for Peabody to figure out & try to get some other leverage on.
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Harry -- as a notorious maybe-warlock -- was undoubtedly already on Peabody's radar.
As soon as Harry began refusing to sign Peabody's forms (which is to say, immediately-following Dead Beat, when Harry became a Warden), he likely became a major target for Peabody to figure out & try to get some other leverage on.
That was the point of Luccio allowing herself, plus her now young woman body, to become Harry's girlfriend though it violated ethics. On the other hand it doesn't mean that what she explained to Harry was a lie, or would be of much use to Peabody.
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I don't think Harry is Merlin. That's not where he ends up IMHO. My prediction is that he ends up as some kind of immortal power that people can call on for aid.
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... On the other hand it doesn't mean that what she explained to Harry was a lie, or would be of much use to Peabody.
No, you're right: that's not at all an automatic thing.
I'm just pointing out that:
(a) Peabody was in control of Luccio at that point, so anything she said/did is potentially suspect/false
(b) Jim loves to drop minor details that become critically-important later (have we ever seen anything else regarding wizards' supposed "foresight"?)
(c) The "Black Council" and/or Peabody undoubtedly knew much more about the island than Harry, and plausibly would want him misdirected on the matter.
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What if Merlin is a Mantle? And no not like the title in the White Council.... though in thinking that, maybe Merlin is a Mantle that was forgotten (on purpose or by accident) but though lore/history the White Councile adopted it a title.
Lord… I hope not.
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What if Merlin is a Mantle? And no not like the title in the White Council.... though in thinking that, maybe Merlin is a Mantle that was forgotten (on purpose or by accident) but though lore/history the White Councile adopted it a title.
I don't think the WC has the mojo / know-how to create a Mantle.
I could believe they were using the role of "the Merlin" to explore doing so, however...
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I really doubt Harry is literally a younger version of THE Merlin. I don't want him to be that, either. It's too simplistic, it's almost the classic time travel time loop story.
But I do think that there is some strong connection of some sort between Merlin and Harry, and I suspect that Harry might, way down the road, master magic at Merlinian levels. But that would probably be off-stage and post-story. I suspect Harry will eventually meet Merlin, too, either because he's still out there somewhere or through time travel.
(Another possibility that I've toyed with, though I don't think it likely, is that the culmination of the series will end with The Magic Goes Away, i.e. the world becomes non-magical and the supernatural powers fade away. But I don't expect that.)
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(Another possibility that I've toyed with, though I don't think it likely, is that the culmination of the series will end with The Magic Goes Away, i.e. the world becomes non-magical and the supernatural powers fade away. But I don't expect that.)
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I hope not, too much like a variation of the Terry Goodkind series, "The Sword of Truth."