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The Dresden Files => DF Spoilers => Topic started by: KurtinStGeorge on September 07, 2025, 12:53:31 AM
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Currently, there is no video posted on YouTube of Jim at this year’s Dragon Con event. Doing a brief search, I didn’t find video of any one person, TV show or movie panels from Dragon Con 2025. Maybe their rules have changed. Maybe such videos will get posted in the next few weeks. Lots of cosplay videos, of course, but that wasn’t what I was looking for.
However, all is not lost. One Reddit user did provide a brief summary of what Jim said. I will post a link so you can read everything I will skip in this summary. For the most part, I will only mention plot relevant information and writing updates.
Jim has finished two short stories and a novella which comes out next May. So that must be Out Law. It is a follow up to The Law. (I know there is a discussion about novella versus novelette in another thread. I’m not going to get into that discussion here.)
Jim has already started writing Mirror Mirror. Jim said he hopes to finish it before he starts his book tour for Twelve Months. I’ve got three things to say about that.
1. Wow! That’s great news. Apparently Jim is making good progress on the pace of his writing this year.
2. I am assuming Jim finished the next Cinder Spires novel, but I suppose there is also the possibility Jim is alternating between writing a few chapters in one novel and then going back to the other one, but that seems unlikely if he wants to finish Mirror Mirror before his book tour begins in January/February.
3. If Jim has finished the third Cinder Spires novel, I think there is a very good possibility it could be released before the end of 2026.
Here are some general plot points to look for.
Mouse will be Harry’s sidekick in Mirror Mirror.
Also in Mirror Mirror: Relating to the soulgaze scene in Proven Guilty between Harry and Molly. We will see how different choices could lead to different outcomes.
If Harry killed Nicodemus, Anduriel would not want Rudolph as a host. Nobody likes Rudolph, not even the Denarians.
Nicodemus is a main story villain. Notice that Jim didn’t say the main story villain. In any case, Harry will have to deal with Nicodemus until the very end of the story.
When Jim came up with D&D stats for Harry, he got a 16 for intelligence and an 18 for constitution. From this Jim knew Harry would get beat up a lot.
There will be three more novels after Mirror Mirror. One will be another heist story. The one after that will be Body Slam, the pro wrestling centric novel. There there will be a Kaiju / time traveling story. Followed of course by the Big Apocalyptic Trilogy.
Here’s a link to the entire post.
https://www.reddit.com/r/dresdenfiles/comments/1n4adeu/dragoncon_2025_an_hour_with_jim_butcher/
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To clarify, reddit report has Butcher saying that Nic would be "a" main villain to the end of the SERIES, and would be arround until near the end. Butcher wasn't speaking about Mirror Mirror specifically.
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To clarify, reddit report has Butcher saying that Nic would be "a" main villain to the end of the SERIES, and would be arround until near the end. Butcher wasn't speaking about Mirror Mirror specifically.
Sorry, when I said Nic will be around until the end of the story I should have been more specific. End of the story as in the end, or near the end of the BAT.
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From what I read from various reports, I think Jim is just so much in the Dresden flow after Twelve Months, that he directly went into Mirror Mirror and did not do his usual "other series" book in-between.
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I find it interesting that Mouse will be with Harry in Mirrormirror because he is now offically Maggie's service dog and pretty much stays by her side. Is this a hint that something happens to Maggie and Mouse and Harry go looking for her in an alternate universe?
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I find it interesting that Mouse will be with Harry in Mirrormirror because he is now offically Maggie's service dog and pretty much stays by her side. Is this a hint that something happens to Maggie and Mouse and Harry go looking for her in an alternate universe?
My theory: there is no Maggie in the Mirrorverse.
Susan & Harry's story was just very very different.
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My theory: there is no Maggie in the Mirrorverse.
Susan & Harry's story was just very very different.
That could be true, however it still doesn't explain it because Harry still wouldn't have taken Mouse away from Maggie. The only way it works is from the get go this is a different story about a totally different Harry. In other words there is no time travel or dimension crossing as speculated based on what happened in the original Trek story. Maybe it's a fever dream of some kind? Or it isn't Mirrormirror at all but more of "It's a Wonderful Life" with Uriel playing the role of Clarence the Angel? Harry wishes he'd never been born for whatever reason, and Uriel shows him just what life would be without him. For starters that would mean no little Maggie, and Mouse really is a mouse of a dog?
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That could be true, however it still doesn't explain it because Harry still wouldn't have taken Mouse away from Maggie. The only way it works is from the get go this is a different story about a totally different Harry. In other words there is no time travel or dimension crossing as speculated based on what happened in the original Trek story. Maybe it's a fever dream of some kind? Or it isn't Mirrormirror at all but more of "It's a Wonderful Life" with Uriel playing the role of Clarence the Angel? Harry wishes he'd never been born for whatever reason, and Uriel shows him just what life would be without him. For starters that would mean no little Maggie, and Mouse really is a mouse of a dog?
It could just be the Mouse from the other universe, maybe he's the only one that realizes that Harry is indeed a real Harry, a good Harry.
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It could just be the Mouse from the other universe, maybe he's the only one that realizes that Harry is indeed a real Harry, a good Harry.
That's a really good point, maybe Mouse will turn out to be the "Spock" in the story? However one other thing, Jim doesn't mention Lara. I am sure he doesn't want to give too much away for the up and coming story, but at the same time I won't be shocked to find at the end of Twelve Months, that both Harry and Lara figure out a way out of getting married.
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My guess about Mouse being with Harry in the Mirror Mirror world is pretty simple. Something takes Maggie out the room that she Harry and Mouse are in. Yes, it is rare for Maggie to go anywhere without Mouse. This can be in someplace she feels safe like in Harry's castle or the Carpenter Home. That is one solution. Perhaps Maggie has a cold and Harry takes Mouse for a walk because Maggie can't. The exact mechanism that separates Mouse from Maggie isn't important.
Harry gets summoned or pulled into Mirror Mirror World and power of the summoning pulls Mouse in due to his proximity to Harry. Perhaps the summoning opens up a portal and Mouse jumps through it to follow Harry, though that image is more like City on the Edge of Forever than the Mirror Mirror episode of Star Trek TOS.
Unlike traveling to the Nevernever where time moves forward even though it can move at a different rate, I don't see a reason why at the end of Mirror Mirror, Harry and Mouse might return moments or only a few minutes after they left.
Totally separate issue, but I wonder if Mab would notice that her Knight was missing and feel this loss almost instantly? This assumes the part of Winter that is within Harry travels with him to Mirror Mirror world. If that part of Winter remains behind it should go back to Mab which would probably make her believe that Harry is dead. Maybe Mab or Molly will perform a summoning spell that brings him back.
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That's a really good point, maybe Mouse will turn out to be the "Spock" in the story?...
I note that Mouse came to Harry in book 6, after "the choice" (divergence point) in book 3. There's no guarantee that mirror!Mouse is part of mirror!Harry's life... but no guarantee that he's not, either.
I can envision the mirrorverse where Mouse is despondently masquerading as "just a dog" even from his Harry (who has turned out to be more Sith than Jedi)... then Mouse gets exposed to _our_ Harry...
the Harry who can tap Soulfire...
the Harry who has befriended a bunch of KotC's...
the Harry who has worked directly with Uriel...
And I'm pretty sure Mouse can tell the difference; he's a Foo Dog, a servant of the Holy, a guardian, a detector of evil. Mouse discovers, to his joy, a Harry who is fundamentally one of the good guys.
... I won't be shocked to find at the end of Twelve Months, that both Harry and Lara figure out a way out of getting married.
I'm expecting exactly the opposite -- that a big part of their "courtship" process will be them twisting in the jaws of Mab's trap, trying to figure out how to get out of the marriage (without giving mortal offense to Mab); but the marriage won't go through because Harry gets ripped to the mirror'verse on the wedding-day.
(with the consequence (when he gets home) of having apparently publicly flouted Mab's orders (which she cannot tolerate in a WK) and having humiliated the White Princess by jilting her at the altar (which will enrage her))
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I fully expect Dresden and Lara to get married and while their union is not their idea and may only be done begrudgingly, it won't be done involuntarily. I expect Butcher to make their acquiescence logical and the 'least bad' alternative for them - and that's without considering Mab's wrath if they don't get married. Butcher is great at maneuvering Dresden into a place where a decision he makes isn't one that he wants to make but feels he must due to necessity from obligation or responsibility. I'd be surprised by romantic love between them, but certainly a high degree of respect (even though Dresden will likely always think of Lara as a monster; to him, 'she's a monster, but I can respect her, trust her word, and work with her').
The bigger question to me is whether there will be consummation. I expect so because Mab will demand it.
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I fully expect Dresden and Lara to get married and while their union is not their idea and may only be done begrudgingly, it won't be done involuntarily. I expect Butcher to make their acquiescence logical and the 'least bad' alternative for them - and that's without considering Mab's wrath if they don't get married. Butcher is great at maneuvering Dresden into a place where a decision he makes isn't one that he wants to make but feels he must due to necessity from obligation or responsibility. I'd be surprised by romantic love between them, but certainly a high degree of respect (even though Dresden will likely always think of Lara as a monster; to him, 'she's a monster, but I can respect her, trust her word, and work with her').
The bigger question to me is whether there will be consummation. I expect so because Mab will demand it.
Or they can't because Lara finds that she truly loves Harry. There was hints that it was possible between them.
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... The bigger question to me is whether there will be consummation.
I expect so because Mab will demand it.
Jim has said that the Whampire sex-mojo interfaces badly with the WK-mantle's sex/violence/territoriality thing. Things rapidly spiral out of control; it's more than the two "adding together," it's more like they multiply one another.
I expect only one of them would survive the attempt to consummate the marriage.
One resolution that seems possible: the MirrorMirror story will see the Harrys swap universes, and it'll be MirrorHarry (without a WK Mantle) who marries Lara and consummates the wedding (likely becoming Lara's thrall).
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One resolution that seems possible: the MirrorMirror story will see the Harrys swap universes, and it'll be MirrorHarry (without a WK Mantle) who marries Lara and consummates the wedding (likely becoming Lara's thrall).
That would be very weird, and I think out of character for Harry in either world.
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Jim has said that the Whampire sex-mojo interfaces badly with the WK-mantle's sex/violence/territoriality thing. Things rapidly spiral out of control; it's more than the two "adding together," it's more like they multiply one another.
I expect only one of them would survive the attempt to consummate the marriage.
One resolution that seems possible: the MirrorMirror story will see the Harrys swap universes, and it'll be MirrorHarry (without a WK Mantle) who marries Lara and consummates the wedding (likely becoming Lara's thrall).
I remember seeing that sex with the Winter Lady would likely kill one of them, but I don't remember their being a corollary for other beings of power. But I'm willing to listen.
As for the marriage, I've theorized all along that Harry and !mirror!Harry swap just prior to the ceremony saving Harry from the marriage, but not from the aftermath of everything !mirror!Harry screws up in our version of reality.
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As for the marriage, I've theorized all along that Harry and !mirror!Harry swap just prior to the ceremony saving Harry from the marriage, but not from the aftermath of everything !mirror!Harry screws up in our version of reality.
Oh I hope not.
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I remember seeing that sex with the Winter Lady would likely kill one of them, but I don't remember their being a corollary for other beings of power. But I'm willing to listen.
I think the Winter Lady is required by Winter to be a virgin; it's part of the mythic "Maiden/Mother/Crone" archetype she embodies. She would (even if involuntarily) fight to the death to prevent that changing (we saw it in the Molly novella, where she crippled Carlos).
But WOJ is that the Whampire sex-mojo combines with exponential force, when interacting with the WK sex-and-violence thing. Neither party is going to be able to control the resulting explosion, and death will be the outcome.
Thus, a non-WK alt!Harry could boink Lara without murderizing her (I suspect, fwiw, that other "creatures who do the succubus schtick" (as Harry & Bob discussed iirc during a prior case-file) would also combine very badly with the WK-mantle).
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I think the Winter Lady is required by Winter to be a virgin; it's part of the mythic "Maiden/Mother/Crone" archetype she embodies. She would (even if involuntarily) fight to the death to prevent that changing (we saw it in the Molly novella, where she crippled Carlos).
That's how it appears, my only question on that is when did Mab give birth to her twin girls? Also while the evidence is pretty good, on page at least that Molly most likely is a virgin for real when she became Lady, I doubt that Mab was. So maybe the requirement isn't that the Lady has to be a virgin to become Lady, just that she refrain from having sex once she becomes Lady?
But WOJ is that the Whampire sex-mojo combines with exponential force, when interacting with the WK sex-and-violence thing. Neither party is going to be able to control the resulting explosion, and death will be the outcome.
Or wizard Winter Lady thing as well as Carlos and Molly found out. The question is why didn't Mab explain something this important to Molly? I also see real problems if Harry and Lara do have sex for the above reasons you stated.
Thus, a non-WK alt!Harry could boink Lara without murderizing her (I suspect, fwiw, that other "creatures who do the succubus schtick" (as Harry & Bob discussed iirc during a prior case-file) would also combine very badly with the WK-mantle).
So just what is Mab up to insisting on this union?
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That's how it appears, my only question on that is when did Mab give birth to her twin girls?
I think it was some time in the 1700's/1800's; but it could have been earlier or later.
The only quote I found was this one:
Maeve and Sarissa were twin sisters, from Mab. Their father was an Austrian composer and musician who died young.
https://wordof.jim-butcher.com/index.php/word-of-jim-woj-compilation/woj-on-the-fae/
I've seen "1800's" confidently stated on Reddit, but AFAIK they were working from that same quote/WoJ (which has no date).
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I think it was some time in the 1700's/1800's; but it could have been earlier or later.
The only quote I found was this one:https://wordof.jim-butcher.com/index.php/word-of-jim-woj-compilation/woj-on-the-fae/
I've seen "1800's" confidently stated on Reddit, but AFAIK they were working from that same quote/WoJ (which has no date).
So Mab could have been Queen by that time. However wasn't it in either Peace Talks or Battleground it was mentioned how she used to ride with her lover before she became Lady?
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So Mab could have been Queen by that time. However wasn't it in either Peace Talks or Battleground it was mentioned how she used to ride with her lover before she became Lady?
Yes, Ethniu mocked Mab for -- iirc -- being a "pimple-faced" girl or somesuch, riding behind "the conqueror" and having some sort of romance/yearning/something with Merlin.
If we take the "pimples" literally, I think we can be sure she was a mortal then, not sidhe!
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Yes, Ethniu mocked Mab for -- iirc -- being a "pimple-faced" girl or somesuch, riding behind "the conqueror" and having some sort of romance/yearning/something with Merlin.
If we take the "pimples" literally, I think we can be sure she was a mortal then, not sidhe!
Which makes me think that Mab wasn't a virgin when she became Lady. It still doesn't explain why she never told Molly that sex was forbidden with mortals anyway was forbidden to her. Or did she think experience was the best teacher? If Molly knew she wouldn't have tried to have sex with Carlos. Maybe Mab fears that Molly could become the twisted voyeur that Maeve became.
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Also in Mirror Mirror: Relating to the soulgaze scene in Proven Guilty between Harry and Molly. We will see how different choices could lead to different outcomes.
Mirror Molly as Morgan's Warden apprentice, let's go!
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If that part of Winter remains behind it should go back to Mab which would probably make her believe that Harry is dead.
I believe there was a WoJ that Mirror Mab would be of the position that she's Winter, prime Harry is Winter, so he works for her while he's in that universe.
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I believe there was a WoJ that Mirror Mab would be of the position that she's Winter, prime Harry is Winter, so he works for her while he's in that universe.
Mirror!Mab will then have two WK's!!! How will she leverage this?
Also: ... WK Fix? WK Thomas? Still(again?) WK Lloyd Slate?
Is Maeve still Winter Lady? If not, is it now Sarissa? Or who?
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Mirror!Mab will then have two WK's!!! How will she leverage this?
Also: ... WK Fix? WK Thomas? Still(again?) WK Lloyd Slate?
Prime Harry's visit might be bringing her up to one active knight, if Slate still found his way to extended crucifixion via a slightly different path in the mirror universe. The divergence at the end of GP might not have really started spiraling a whole lot by SK's timeframe in that universe, so it's possible.
Although mirror Mab easily might have gone with another option already if she concluded mirror Harry was no longer a good candidate. Perhaps Thomas, although there are possibilities for the GP divergence where he wouldn't have survived. I don't see how Fix would go for it; he has too much bad blood against Slate.
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... I don't see how Fix would go for it; he has too much bad blood against Slate.
Remember: Slate had to die to give up his Mantle.
I think... Fix would be OK with that.
Just sayin'
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Remember: Slate had to die to give up his Mantle.
I think... Fix would be OK with that.
Just sayin'
Oh, I don't think Fix would have a problem with ending Slate. But Harry himself was worried about becoming the next Slate. What could even motivate Fix, who had first-hand experience of himself and his friends being Slates victims, to consider taking an offer to be the Winter Knight?
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... What could even motivate Fix, who had first-hand experience of himself and his friends being Slates victims, to consider taking an offer to be the Winter Knight?
In the alt!timeline, I can see Fix killing Slate to save Lily.
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My WAG - Harry kills Mirror Harry (MH) to reclaim the WK mantle.
Background WAGs - Harry's WK mantle can't cross out of the canon universe and into the Mirror universe. Canon WK mantle is irrevocably tied to the canon universe. In mirror universe, Harry finds out his back is sufficiently healed that he doesn't need the WK mantle to function as he did before his back was broken. WK mantle returns to canon Mab. MH crosses into canon universe and canon WK mantle flows to MH (or maybe Mab bestows it on him). When Harry returns to canon universe, he is free from the WK mantle and Mab, and can remain that way, back to how he was prior to Changes. But Harry concludes that he has to take the WK mantle back. Maybe Harry can't bring himself to break his pledge to only leave Winter with Molly and can't leave her alone in Winter, maybe he concludes he needs the WK power to deal with the Outsiders and Black Council, etc. So Harry knows he has kill the current WK - MH - to retake the mantle. And Harry does, and has to live with the fact that he has voluntarily chosen to kill to become the WK again.
But I don't think Alfred acknowledges the MH as the warden.
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Oh, I don't think Fix would have a problem with ending Slate. But Harry himself was worried about becoming the next Slate. What could even motivate Fix, who had first-hand experience of himself and his friends being Slates victims, to consider taking an offer to be the Winter Knight?
I agree, remember how Fix felt about WK Harry in CD? I'd expect that any choice short of saving lily, fix would turn it down.
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Thanks Curtin for posting all the informacion. Juicy information.
A few comments about things you have been commenting here:
I am delighted about Mouse being the sidekick. I agree about the fact that Mouse and Harry will be "randomly" taken together to Mirror Universe (MU). Perhaps the simplest explanation is that when the summoning or whatever happened, Mouse spidey sense activated and he ran towards Harry to protect him (because Maggie was probably safe). I imagine Maggie would be with the Carpenters anyways, so Harry won't be agonizing about her while he is in the MU.
If Mouse is with Harry in the MU he would be invaluable, not only protecting him from physical damage but also helping him to remain good and optimistic.
I am not sure about the power of the WK, I think Harry will take it to the MU.
I am still not sure about the plot of MM in the sense that I don't know if Harry will be summoned to the MU and that is all, or if Harry will exchange his place with Mirror Harry. If the latter is the case, I see two options. The easiest one, they exchange places just like that, or they change minds but their bodies remain in their places. In this case, Mirror Harry would have the mantle, and he would be a nightmare. Everyone will see what an unleashed Harry can be (and Mab will probably have to remove the mantle, crippling him. Another option will be that Mirror Harry won't know what Harry knows, so when they finally met, Harry will be tricking Mirror Harry to say something like "eff Wnter", and thus becoming a hurting cripple.).
I think in the MU there will be no Maggie, but another option is that things were so different that Harry's family was not targeted by the reds, so Susan is alive. Perhaps Harry finds a way to heal Susan and so she could be reunited with Maggie. That way Harry will leave the MU knowing that he did something good.
I am almost sure Mab was not a virgin when she became a Lady. Also, Austrian composer says 1800s somehow.
I miss Thomas, so I hope we can see some Mirror Thomas. Perhaps Harry helps him to stay away to Nemfected Justine.
Please someone save this thread, I like predictions (I am going to save it, but I do not trust myself to remember where I have it).