EB McCoy after the BAT

[wardenferry419]

I am worried that Eb doesn't even make the BAT. I see him doing a big sacrifice in last casebook and going out guns blazing. Which may be how Eb would want to go.

[exartiem]

I see Eb going out a different way.  He is stripped of the Blackstaff title and executed by the White/Black Council.

[Kindler]

I see Eb going out a different way.  He is stripped of the Blackstaff title and executed by the White/Black Council.

I could see that; the Merlin (not Arthur Langtry) has to get rid of him somehow, and convinces the rest of the Senior Council (at this point replaced) that there is no Blackstaff, and he's therefore guilty of being a warlock, perverting the Laws in exactly the kind of way the Blackstaff is supposed to prevent. Eb locks eyes with Dresden, tells him to run, and drops his death curse, somehow circumventing whatever precautions they had taken, and pretty much nuking Edinburgh, taking down the corrupted White Council (at this point mostly Black) while he was at it.

I don't see Eb going down without massive collateral damage. I can picture someone like Harry making a deal and dying quietly, but Eb... strikes me as a True Scotsman, if that makes sense.

[wardenferry419]

Yep, that makes sense.

[exartiem]

Actually, I see Eb going along with it.  Allowing himself to be executed in order to save Harry and the rest of the Grey Council.  Perhaps this would be the time we see a Death Blessing.

[Maz]

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.

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...

[Arjan]

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.

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...

The obvious choice is Christos but maybe it is not Christos himself but someone in his direct entourage.

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

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.

[Arjan]

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.

[groinkick]

I could see Eb going down guns blazing, and if he does go out I hope that's how.   However I think what will push Harry over the edge will be that Eb doesn't go down that way.  He will go down with his hands bound, and head cut off.  Hope I'm wrong.

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

That is quite difficult if he is the one who decides you are the one to be sacrificed.

Harry's refusal to trust the Merlin's judgement in that case does not make it entirely wrong.

If we had any evidence that any warlock, ever, in the DV, had been redeemed, it would be easier for me to have some sympathy for Harry here.  Harry not ultimately going really bad is a long way from proven (and I suspect that which way he ultimately goes won't be clear until the end of the BAT) and neither is Molly.

Harry's net effect on the DV since not being executed includes; getting into a fight with another warlock in ways that got the Doom on him lifted(SF); starting a war with the Red Court we have convincing evidence was not in the White Council's interest (GP) and scuppering two different attempts to end it (SK and DM) for which we know the casualties are at least forty thousand (nerve gas bomb in DB); joining the Wardens only under extreme protest and doing so in a way that wins him a lot of support from some quarters (DB); then using that political influence to prevent the execution of another warlock (PG); going to work for Mab, which is conflict of interest if not outright treason, and destroying the Red Court which may yet prove to have enabled significantly worse events than leaving it be (Changes).  And this is leaving out things like the whole Lasciel's coin story which the Merlin probably does not know about.

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.

[jonas]

Hell man, if PT is the 'council' book it could be earlier than that... I have a theory on what his 'gun' might be,

(click to show/hide)

the blackstaff manifestation of himself in the mantle of death visa vi, farmer/reaper.

[Kindler]

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.

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.

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.

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

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.

Now, if JB wanted to really give Harry an interesting challenge, Mirror Mirror would show us a world where Harry made different choices and the end result came out a lot better.

[wardenferry419]

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.