Author Topic: New Drop Chapter Three  (Read 12793 times)

Offline morriswalters

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New Drop Chapter Three
« on: June 16, 2020, 07:11:30 PM »

Offline Mira

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Re: New Drop Chapter Three
« Reply #1 on: June 16, 2020, 07:54:09 PM »
https://www.jim-butcher.com/books/dresden/peace-talks-16/peace-talks-chapter-3

That was kind of disappointing.

  I didn't find it so, but the big question is,
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Offline 123Chikadee

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Re: New Drop Chapter Three
« Reply #2 on: June 16, 2020, 08:25:41 PM »
Ok so that's who it was. Neat.

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Offline morriswalters

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Re: New Drop Chapter Three
« Reply #3 on: June 16, 2020, 09:07:48 PM »
Shades of Summer Knight.

Offline knightedbishop

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Re: New Drop Chapter Three
« Reply #4 on: June 16, 2020, 09:50:15 PM »
Whelp, I got that guess wrong.

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Offline Uriel_spook

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Re: New Drop Chapter Three
« Reply #5 on: June 16, 2020, 09:56:54 PM »
That end of chapter cliff hanger brings 3 candidates to mind for me if what is referenced ultimately happens (unclear how to do spoiler tag when typing on phone so attempting to be vague):

Molly // Thomas // Eb himself.

I feel that Eb would be the most impactful from a story perspective. It also makes me reflect on a scene in the wonderfully done trailer that was released.

I’ll look forward to next week’s release. Does anyone know if it is extending beyond 4 pre-release chapters?  For some reason that # is what I recall being done in the past but we would still have 3 weeks to go from next Tuesday so I wasn’t sure. Thanks.

Offline 123Chikadee

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Re: New Drop Chapter Three
« Reply #6 on: June 16, 2020, 10:52:01 PM »
I'm with knightedbishop on the svartalves. But I dunno where that's gonna go. Hopefully we'll get to see more of them just to balance things out.
@Uriel_spook: I'm not too sure, but I'm fairly sure that we're just getting snippets of a chapter or two. I can't imagine that these are the full chapters. So I bet we'll get at least one more of them.

Offline knightedbishop

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Re: New Drop Chapter Three
« Reply #7 on: June 16, 2020, 11:41:41 PM »
I’m confident these are the full chapters, not snippets. I think last time we got a total of five chapters before the book release.

Offline toodeep

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Re: New Drop Chapter Three
« Reply #8 on: June 16, 2020, 11:54:21 PM »
After reading this I was left the very strong feeling that it was going to be Eb who betrayed him.  After all, how else could Eb be so sure and so sad about it?  Harry had seen through the distraction this was, which Eb was hoping would have Harry running off to the council while Eb set something up that Harry wasn't supposed to see.  Since Harry saw through that/refused to do that, it means Harry is going to have to deal with Eb's betrayal.

What I don't understand is why 1.  Harry doesn't tell Eb about their relationship with Thomas.  and 2.  Why Harry doesn't tell Eb about the probably Black council - nemesis connection.

Eb deserves to know he has another grandson (or in his opinion maybe grand-thing) running around, and as we know from the trailer, this might have been important information for him to have had, since Thomas is going to need a lot of help in this book.

As for the nemesis, we know people are wary about naming it and "attracting its attention" or "letting it know you know about it" but Harry literally had a conversation with Nemesis directly when it over-wrote Cat Sith.  He tried to talk Cat Sith into fighting it and failed and then talked with Nemesis.  Nemesis knows Harry knows about it, so what's the point of not telling others about it now.  It is important to know that the black council probably consists of people infected by it or convinced to people infected by it into what they are doing, and that they probably have a wide range of nemesis infected allies.  As a matter of fact, a discussion of that nature with the Merlin, if he is in the know about the nemesis/outsider threat, may be what brings him around to support/protect Harry.

Offline Walter the skull

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Re: New Drop Chapter Three
« Reply #9 on: June 16, 2020, 11:58:05 PM »
I just reread Christmas Eve which takes place after Peace Talks and Battle Ground.  Harry seems to be on good terms with Molly, Mab, and Kringle, so i think its safe to assume that they aren't in on whatever the plot against Harry is.  In the story he refers to himself as a wizard of the White Council, so the plot isn't successful. 

Let's look at some people that it might be.

I think Carlos is being shown as a likely candidate since he ask Dresden to help with security, which means he won't able to be at the upcoming council meeting.  I don't think its him.  He's Harry's peer, so he can't really order Harry to be involved in the security operation.  He couldn't stop Harry from going to the council meeting.

Luccio is someone Harry trust who could definitely screw him, if she wanted to.  I don't see that happening.  She was the unwilling black council pawn in book 11, so I doubt she would be an unwilling pawn again.  As for her joining the black council of her own free will, after what they did to her, I don't see that happening. 

I don't know why Ebeneezer would betray Harry.  If he wanted Harry out of the way all would need to do is...nothing.  He could just let the Merlin and Ancient Mia get rid of him.

I wonder if we'll see Elaine, she could easily screw Harry, and she's shady as hell.

Lara would throw Harry under the bus if she thought it would benefit her.  I don't think he's stupid enough to let his guard down around her. 

Murphy would be a gut punch, and she wouldn't do it willingly.  Note that she isn't mentioned at all in Christmas Eve.

Thomas has a kid on the way, if the Black Council threatens Justine, he may feel he has no choice but to help them.  Note that he isn't mentioned at all in Christmas Eve.

It could be Native American Joe.  He definitely doesn't want a civil war within the council and was willing to let Morgan die to avoid that.  He fights the Black Council at the island,and he does come to Harry's aid at the council meeting at the end of Turn Coat.  He could go either way.

Fix might turn on Harry he may blame him for Lily's death.  Maybe he went after Nemesis and ended up getting turned. 

It could be a minor character like, Yoshimo, Wild Bill, Chandler, or Martha Liberty.  We know very little about them.

Offline Snark Knight

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Re: New Drop Chapter Three
« Reply #10 on: June 17, 2020, 12:48:50 AM »
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Offline morriswalters

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Re: New Drop Chapter Three
« Reply #11 on: June 17, 2020, 01:00:23 AM »
Eb is dead meat walking.  The minute someone in the D Files is going to give Harry some useful information then dead they become.
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“Harry, I want to get caught up, too. I want to talk. Clear the air. And we will. But right now is no moment to let your emotions run your life.”
That talk isn't likely happen.  But the use of the phrase clear the air is interesting.

If Jim is going to kill off Thomas then he is the one most amenable to pressure.  That way he can die heroically.  Early look is that somebody is putting all the bodies in the same basket so they can be killed off. Note that Cristos is attending the Peace Talks.  Who knows? 

They should give us five chapters since one has been out forever, but that is just me.

Offline RitaJune

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Re: New Drop Chapter Three
« Reply #12 on: June 17, 2020, 01:56:25 AM »
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Offline Yuillegan

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Re: New Drop Chapter Three
« Reply #13 on: June 17, 2020, 03:13:51 AM »
Eb is dead meat walking.  The minute someone in the D Files is going to give Harry some useful information then dead they become.That talk isn't likely happen.  But the use of the phrase clear the air is interesting.
Exactly my thoughts. Probably saving Harry tbh. I don't think he will be the traitor or person who tries to off Harry but I do think he is withholding some big time information.

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If Jim is going to kill off Thomas then he is the one most amenable to pressure.  That way he can die heroically.  Early look is that somebody is putting all the bodies in the same basket so they can be killed off. Note that Cristos is attending the Peace Talks.  Who knows? 
I don't think he will kill off Thomas but I do think he and Harry's relationship is about to be shaken badly. Thomas always keeps stuff from Harry and I do think he has been hiding something for a long time now. However, if Thomas were to die I guess I would wonder why now? What purpose does that serve. I don't think it would both be him and Eb. I think one is the betrayer and one is going to die. But the betrayer likely will kill the other one while attempting to kill Harry (or perhaps as a final insult).

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They should give us five chapters since one has been out forever, but that is just me.
Agreed. Especially as we have another book coming it doesn't seem like much. But hey, I don't run the show. Also what did you mean by "shades of Summer Knight"? It does smack of that last big event, I agree but I am interested to hear your thoughts.

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I know right? Eb knows about at least one of his great-grandchildren so I imagine he would want to say hey. Maybe in the next chapter she will come out. Real question is whether he will meet Bonea.

toodeep - I know what you mean. I did wonder about that and I guess I am not entirely sold that Eb isn't a traitor. But from a Doylist perspective it makes more sense for him to die. The truth is if Eb wanted him dead Harry would be dead by now. So I think it's more likely he is just tired as he has seen it many times before.

And I agree it is strange Harry didn't discuss "the Adversary" with Eb. I guarentee he knows of it. My only conclusion is Harry isn't sure who to tell as even Eb is a possible sleeper agents. I think this is what Rashid was talking about when he told Dresden to look for signs. Don't give the game away if you're not sure type of thing. As for why Harry hasn't told Eb about Thomas...mostly for story telling impact. WOJ is that Eb is in denial about it which suggests he has figured it out. In-universe though, maybe Harry is worried how Eb might react. As much for Thomas' wellbeing as anything else.

Regardless, it is always frustrating when characters don't talk about all the things they definitely should. Mostly they don't because authors want the biggest impact possible and so save things up. But sometimes I think to myself "If I were in Harry's shoes, I would just ask all the big questions and to hell with the consequences". Which is probably why I would be a crap author.

123Chikadee - Yeah, I think you're on the money about Carlos. From his perspective he (Carlos) is going to think that Harry is the one who has been betraying him. The trailer certainly seems to push that idea. So I wouldn't be surprised if he and Harry tango...which isn't to say that they don't make up either.

Knightedbishop - Probably you are right on all counts. But I guess Eb knows a trick or two about how to get past a fortress. Traditionally that is part of an assassin's role. So I wouldn't be so surprised he could waltz in. All the same, I wouldn't be so sure about the security of that building. Something weird though is that EVERYONE seems to know about Eb being the Blackstaff. What happened to it being a secret role? It's hardly all that useful if it isn't. It's exactly the kind of thing you DON'T want people to know. An ace in the hole. As for the Molly thing, he was talking about from the perspective of the Council. I doubt he was too worried she would find out anyhow. And Mab would hardly care. She thinks of good and evil as silly mortal notions.

Jim has massively forshadowed things in this chapter. We know a big sucker punch is coming. Harry is going to focussed on security and worrying about Mab (and who knows what else) not to mention trying to keep his Wizard status that he will be sufficiently distracted from the knife in the ribs. Dresden is often least logical around women so I wouldn't be surprised if that's how it happens. However, Dresden has also been pretty cunning the last few books so I expect he will plan his own sucker punch. We know he survives this all and maintains his good relationships with Molly, Mab, Michael and Kringle. We also know he keeps his Wizard and Winter Knight status' (as of Christmas Eve). And Molly mentions in Christmas Eve he gets a lot in "everyone's" (whoever they are) faces after it all goes down.

There is of course someone else Dresden wouldn't expect to kill him. Someone he wouldn't see coming.
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. Hell of a sucker punch.

Offline Dina

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Re: New Drop Chapter Three
« Reply #14 on: June 17, 2020, 05:12:52 AM »
That was kind of disappointing.
Yes, it has! I've read most of the chapter mentally shouting "stop talking nonsense and go to speak with
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". I am very angry.
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When is Christmas' story happening? After PT or after BG?
Missing you, Md 

There are many horrible sights in the multiverse. Somehow, though, to a soul attuned to the subtle rhythms of a library, there are few worse sights than a hole where a book ought to be. Someone has stolen a book (Terry Pratchett)