It is. Which is why I would like to have it fully explained in the books because maybe we are missing some information like maybe the Old Ones have different subgroups like pretty much everybody in the series.

 

Hell, it could even be a throwaway line Butcher threw out and then forgot about when Demonreach et al was introduced. He's usually at least somewhat on the ball with that kind of thing, so I'm not sure I buy that entirely, but it's very possible.

 

I must admit that in the past few days I really got back in DF series when I really wanted to avoid it. It just a perspective of 10-20 years, assuming it's going to be between 23 to 26 books in total and no 6 years breaks, before we get to the end is a lot easier to accept when you're not that much engaged with what will happen to the series' characters.

 

So, a couple weeks ago, Butcher and Pat Rothfuss did a Zoom confab, answering some questions. I just love watching Rothfuss fanboy over the DF so hard.

 

Chapter Four is up.

Spoiler

And it is as adorable as it is gut wrenching. Harry and McCoy really setting the tone for all the peaceful diplomatic talks going to be happening in this book.

 

Spoiler

I'm using Dwight Schrute logic here, but Ebenezar was sending such strong antagonist potential betrayer vibes that I suspect him less now. It's never the person you most suspect. It's also never the person you least suspect, since anyone with half a brain would suspect them the most. Im looking for who I most medium suspect.

 

Yeah...

The Tunguska Event was in the middle of nowhere Siberia, so the official death toll is "maybe there are a couple of people who might've been in the area." The New Madrid earthquake however killed over twenty thousand people, and between the eruption itself and the tsunami it caused, Krakatoa killed somewhere in the range of thirty thousand. WoJ also has it that New Madrid wasn't council business, but his personal response to the enemies that managed to kill his wife. We can speculate until the cows come home as to what other events might be on the list, but that gives a reasonable sense of scale for just how bad it is to be in the general vicinity of an angry Ebenezar McCoy, or whatever made him angry.

There's definitely precedent for "pissing off McCoy" being a big enough deal to be what kicks off Battle Ground.

Edit: Remembered and found an old reddit thread on speculation disasters that might be attributed to McCoy.

 

McCoy's sheer level of badassery is the level we've all been hoping Dresden himself would approach before the BAT and we're running out of books. Soulfire and Demonreach are two pretty big buffs but to me it makes sense that while this might not be the betrayal, it might be the first step along the road to getting the Blackstaff.

Assuming the power is tied to the item and not the mantle because it's becoming increasingly likely the council will break entirely and then what happens? Is the power of the Blackstaff tied to the council or the idea of the role?

Like, you can say that the Blackstaff is just a title and job given to someone already powerful but I'd be very surprised if it didn't have an Elder Wand thing going for it.

 

I'm pretty sure the 'blackstaff' is mother winters walking staff. I always figured that even if Harry did end up with it, he'd give it back to her. He doesn't like the position of blackstaff in the council.

 

I know that's been hinted at before but until it's canon I'd be suspect of it.

On the other hand, it being related to Winter makes it all the more likely that Dresden would pick it up.

Butcher said himself, the new Blackstaff is the "Guy who picks it up."

 

Dresden manages to become more insufferable by the book. I'm at the point where I actively wish for bad things to happen to him.

 

Nah, McCoy isn't going to be a betrayer. But, the fact that he shows up here but doesn't show up in the Christmas special doesn't make me believe that he still has a long life in front of him, I'm afraid. Either him or Murphy, but I'd be surprised if Butcher kills off two of the most important people in Dresden's life back to back.

 

That passage is one of the times I've felt I was cheering him on actually.

 

Changes was originally planned to be book 10 or so IIRC, and it ended up being 12, so...

 

23-24 max book number + BAT was the figure I'd always heard, but I'm pretty sure that was from a point when Butcher wasn't even sure what his long term odds of staying published were. I rather doubt that's a serious concern now, even if the copies sold ends up being lower for these two novels then the previous, so who knows what Butcher's plans could be now.

On the argument between Dresden and McCoy, honestly, I mostly read that as two people who have different deeply held values/lived experiences butting heads with each other over love; personally, I think I can empathize with both sides of their argument pretty well. But, that is one of the big reasons I'm concerned this may be the last or second to last time we see McCoy in a book, because either there's going to be a resolution/revelation involving him, Maggie, Dresden, and Thomas, or he's going to die. Or both, one followed by the other, for the biggest impact.

I'm concerned about Murphy, but not so much because it's said that she was based off his ex-wife. I don't think Butcher is that petty. No, it's that whenever Dresden finds love, it tends to end tragically, and Murphy is getting old. She's always been among the most vulnerable of Dresden's superfriends, and that's only going to become more true. She might come back as a valkyrie, but I think that'll end up being a bittersweet ending at best.

 

To be fair to Harry, the last time someone tried to hurt his daughter he genocided their entire species. Not many people are likely willing to go up against that reputation, which is a shield all of its own.