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The Dresden Files => DF Spoilers => Topic started by: ClintACK on July 28, 2020, 05:42:49 PM
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They say history never repeats, but it rhymes.
We've now got a large number of important characters in the Dresdenfiles who have lost an eye and gained power thereby.
The classic Odin image of a scar running through the empty socket is even echoed in the scar Harry Dresden gets over his right eye from the Naagloshi fight: "I had two beautiful scars, though, one running down through my right eyebrow, skipping my eye, and continuing for an inch or so on my cheekbone..." (Turn Coat) -- although Dresden hasn't actually lost an eye... yet.
- Rashid, the Gatekeeper: "One of his eyes was dark. The other had a pair of horrible old silver scars running through it, from his hairline down to his jaw. The injury had to have ruined his natural eye. It had been replaces with something that looked like a stainless-steel ball bearing." (Turn Coat) Here, we see him use the eye to somehow harness his Foresight in a safe manner or let him calculate future probabilities or something. Later, in Cold Days, we get to see that the eye is made of the substance of the Outer Gates and helps to detect Nemesis, making it possible for the Gatekeeper to do his job.
- Donar Vadderung, CEO of Monoc: "A black cloth patch over the other eye combined with a vertical scar similar to my own..." We've never seen under the eyepatch (although, interestingly, Kringle has two normal eyes...), but the legend is that Odin sacrificed his eye for Wisdom. And he talks about having excellent foresight, when he meets Harry in a room made of stainless steel (just like Rashid's eye *appeared* to be).
- Ethniu, Last Titan, Daughter of Balor: "One of her eyes was a crystalline emerald green. The other... On that perfect bronze face, the mutilation of her eye stood out like a gallows in a public park. The orbital ridges around the socket were covered in white, granite-like scars, as if the biggest ugliest cat you'd ever seen had scratched it out. It wasn't sunken, though the lid was closed. That mangled eye bulged ever so slightly, as if it had been meant for a being considerably larger than she was."
Of course, she didn't get foresight or wisdom, but rather a WMD.
Did I miss any?
Do we think Harry's going to lose that right eye at some point? Perhaps in a rematch with the Naagloshi in Battle Ground?
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All kinds of stuff, history in the DF repeats itself specifically so. I'll come back to this post later I assure thee.
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I suspect in Mirror, Mirror, Harry gets an eye injury requiring him to wear an eyepatch, and no he won’t be granted wisdom.
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Or in Mirror, Mirror, Harry will have to wear an eye patch because mirror Harry *did* lose his eye...
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Or in Mirror, Mirror, Harry will have to wear an eye patch because mirror Harry *did* lose his eye...
this is what I think too, an eye patch and a goatee... And a Black Hat...
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There has definitely been a lot of foreshadowing about eyes...but to what that means is very much ambiguous.
In mythology eyes were often windows to the spirit or weapons of magical might. As humans are creatures primarily focused by sight, we have always placed great significance on eyes and the loss of them. Eyes were also far more commonly lost in older times and the removal of eyes was often a form of punishment most cruel and horrific, but the self-removal was also considered an incredible sacrifice.
Many myths have beings who lose an eye or both eyes but often get greater gifts as compensation (mostly gods and supernatural beings, mortals often just had a worse time). In Egyptian mythology, Horus lost his eye in battle with his uncle/brother Set, and gained an eye made of moonbeams. The Eye of Horus is often associated with magic and protection (even Father Forthill has it tattooed on him!) In Greek mythology, the Cyclops' were giants only with a single eye and in the story of Perseus, the Grey Women also had a shared eye (which allowed them to see anywhere in the world). In Hinduism, the god Shiva is said to have a third eye in the middle of his forehead that burns whatever it looks at. In some versions, the belief is that he burned of the head of his own son Lord Ganesha in a fury and had to cut off an elephant's head to replace it (hence why Lord Ganesha has the head on an elephant). Shiva is also mirrored in Celtic mythology (there may have been some cross-cultural meetings) with Balor the Baleful (father of Ethniu) having either three eyes (on of which was the Evil Eye), one eye in the front of his head and one in the back (which was the Evil Eye) or sometimes just the single eye (rather like the Cyclops). Indeed, Celtic myths often intersected with Greek ones as there was some cross-cultural meetings and Balor was both associated with the Chimera (a beast with the head of a Lion, the body of a goat and the tail of a serpent who breathed fire - and was associated with storms), which the hero Bellerophron slays mounted on a winged Pegasus (the connection is Bellephron could mean "slayer of Belleros" which can mean Chimera, another being that spews flame or thunderbolts like Balor).
Obviously the tale of Odin is well known so I won't get into it here but it isn't surprising that many characters have eye related injuries or significant magical eye objects.
What I think is rather telling is that Butcher always references that people in the "darker" Mirror Mirror storyline will have goatees and eye patches. There are several characters with goatees but only two come to mind that are darker - Harry's Id and Justin DuMorne. In terms of eye patches the only character with one is Vadderung. I'll start another thread on this but maybe Butcher is laying some strong hints about the real motives of some characters.
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Nico has a short cropped goatee, at least the first time you meet him iirc