Has Carlos sided with the merlin against Harry

[prince lotore]

I was rereading the series and it seems to me that Carlos is no longer Harry's friend. Carlos knows that harry is "working the problem" of the black council from the other side but is constantly suspicious of him. He puts a tracker on harry then gets Harry's only other friends that are wizards to accuse him of being disloyal. The whole time giving the Morgan line if you have nothing to hide let me interrogate you until I believe you. When Harry needs to talk to people to prevent from being thrown out of the council Carlos puts him on a security detail so he can't. And when Harry asks where this is coming from he is told Anastasia. But if he switched sides to team merlin after the beating that Molly gave him it could be part of a plan to isolate harry to either take him off the table for whatever the upcoming starborn event is or to force harry to tow the line for the white council. Either way I expect that it will be Carlos who comes after harry next and will probably be in charge of monitoring harry now that he isn't a wizard anymore. I also expect that Carlos now blames harry for what happened to the other wardens with dracul

[g33k]

I find Carlos very "Schrödinger's Loyalty" right now.

He may have given up on Harry; or it may all be an act.  We don't know, for sure.

But please note:  when they spoke privately at the end of White Night, Carlos expressed very strong support for the idea that Harry would embed himself with the Black-Hat crew and work his way toward the White-Council traitor(s) from that side.  And everything he's done since then to "alienate" Harry could equally be seen as working to support Harry in that mission.

It occurs to me that maybe Jim himself hasn't decided which way to write it, and is holding off to see which way will work better.

[OutsideIn]

Yeah they went South on the Carlos character. Without any justification. At least not as yet. We might need a book with carlos's viewpoint

[magnuskn]

I assume getting his spine bent into directions it shouldn't go by Molly in an act of treachery (which it has to be from his viewpoint, despite us knowing that Molly had no control over her actions) just may have colored Carlos's viewpoint.

[vincentric]

The worst injuries of Carlos' life have come at the hands of the White Court and when he's been involved with Winter as an ally.

His injuries in the Wraith Deeps were his first as a mage. Molly messed him up badly and he was helping her. The PT/BG action led to his embarrassment during the meeting, a traumatic battle where he lost his two closest friends besides Harry and a climactic battle where he was merely a living shield instead of a major player. To him, being involved with the Winter and White Courts, is one of the worst places that a mage can be.

So now we have his relationship with Harry to consider. He still thinks of harry as a friend, but he can't completely trust him. He's wrong about Harry not telling him all his secrets, but Harry is beholden to Winter and is very friendly with the White Court. Blaming Harry for Kimiko and Wild Bill can be excused as trauma but even with his doubts he did argue against Harry's expulsion.

His warning talk with Harry at the end on BG wasn't handled well, but he had been thru nearly as much stress and trauma as Harry during that time. He wasn't thinking clearly and running nerves just as raw. I think he'll give Harry the benefit of the doubt when next they meet, but he'll be wary and Harry needs to be a tad more tactful himself.

[forumghost]

It's also worth noting that Carlos... actually kinda has a point?

Like, Harry is acting sus as fuck in PT/BG.

Carlos: "Yo Man, we're kinda worried that you've be enthralled by the Totally not White Queen™. Can you talk to us about what's going on"

Harry: *Grounds staff and begins Channeling Magic* "FUCK YOU, I'M NOT SUS, YOU'RE SUS. FUCK OFF OR FIGHT ME".

Like, actually what the fuck dude. You treat your frenemies/enemies with less venom then you do you supposed friends/allies, and then go all 'boo hoo woe is me, why don't they believe me' when they don't trust you.

Trust is a two way street Harry, you learned this in like, book 3 with Murphy, remember?

[prince lotore]

I think after you are almost killed 15 times for random strangers who just asked you to save them you get a little credit in the could I have become evil bank. Now granted harry could say that he is protected from the white court because of Murphy but is there really any proof that the council will accept from harry that he is his own man

[vincentric]

If they don't give you credit for having the last 4 Knights of the Cross as close friends ...

[g33k]

If they don't give you credit for having the last 4 Knights of the Cross as close friends ...

THIS.
Being friends with the KotC's is about the closest thing you'll ever get in the Dresdenverse to overt, external, objective proof.

[Mira]

THIS.
Being friends with the KotC's is about the closest thing you'll ever get in the Dresdenverse to overt, external, objective proof.

Indeed, I think the injury Carlos got when he tried to make love to the Winter Lady did more than physical damage to him.  Since Molly never warned him of possible severe physical injury if he made love to her, he not only blames her but now suspects the whole Winter Court.  That makes him very vulnerable to any negative suggestions about anyone connected with the Winter Court.  Thus the paranoia that the White Council feels about Harry is underscored in this case by the experience that Carlos had.