Doylist analysis of the Scooby Gang at the climax of Cold Days

[Serack]

This is a Mac theory topic.

I was pretty pleased at the way my "Doylist analysis of LC fix timing" went, and came across a question about Cold Days that I think will benefit from a similar treatment.  F.Y.I. a Doylist (TVTropes warning) analysis essentially means, "theorizing from a writing perspective rather than from an in story perspective"

So here is the list of people that Harry lugged up the side of the hill (the "Scooby Gang") for the final climatic scene in Cold Days, along with my projected reasons why they were there from a perspective of what their presence accomplished for the story.

• Molly:  Pretty easy, her sole purpose on that hill was to be the victim of the Lady Mantle transfer
• Murphy:  She was the one to actually pull the trigger.  Because, youknow, Harry can't actually hurt a girl and all.
• Thomas & Mouse:  I lump these two together because IMO they served the same purpose of general muscle and a reconnection to his old loyal backup, pre GS and all that.
• Justine:  Her presence enabled Maeve to inform the reader that Lara is clean of Nemfection.^{-Second Aristh}
• Sarissa:  See Molly above.
• Mac:  Huh... Um why WAS he there?

So why was Mac on that hill?  This is the central question of this theory topic, and it assumes that Jim wouldn't have spent the ink necessary to include him without there being a significant reason for him to be there.

So what did Mac do and or what happened to Mac during that sequence?

• Firstly, Mac's general mode during this was "Passive" and "Victim."  Meaning he didn't appear to be an actor, but was instead acted upon.
• Harry dragged him up there, and generally grouped him with Sarissa as someone he didn't trust to let out of his sight, but may be good, bad or benign.
• Along with everyone else, he passed into the circle by covering himself in muck
• He was shot in the abdomen by Maeve with that little gun.
• Mab removed the bullet by hand.  This may be significant since she doesn't do "favors" without them being an exchange. (Although she may have been obligated to undo Maeve's damage to him^-peregrine)
• His healing from the wound probably falls under the heading, "supernatural"

Additional data that may be significant:  Both Vadderung and Mab have had verbal exchanges with him where it was demonstrated that one understood the other well enough to compliment or greatly amuse.  (Vadderung getting the extremely non-verbal Mac to laugh with his joke told off screen and seemingly proud to have done so, and Mab getting more than monosyllables that she considers high flattery.)

Potential answers to the central question:  These aren't necessarily exclusive.

• Mac's presence and grouping with Sarissa might have just been to prop up the need to bring Sarissa to be available for eventual Lady Mantle Victimhood.  Her slightly odd inclusion is less odd if they are both dragged along.
• Jim might have wanted a flashing neon sign pointing out to the readers that Mac ain't human, while maintaining Mac's passivity.
• Jim might have wanted to establish that Mab is concerned for Mac's wellbeing enough to remove the bullet so he can begin healing.
• Mac might be a token "male victim" to balance out Sarissa, Molly and Justine^-knnn
• Something we had hints about, but that I haven't been able to piece together
• Something off screen that we don't really have much to clue us in to

Final conclusions:  Reasons 1-4 combined might be enough to explain his presence on that hill, but Justine, Molly, and Sarissa were the other passive players on that hill and their Doylist reasons for being there were so significant that Mac's enigmatic presence makes me think there is something I am missing here.

Any suggestions?  (additions to the above due to replies below will generally be cited with the name of the contributor)

Edit:  Original post missed Justine's presence, and has been edited to account for her as well.  Thanks Tami and 2πr for the outstanding contributions.

[namkcas]

Not directly on the hill and I want to think about that more, but don't forget his whole presence Mac's with the Outsider.  The striking difference to me is the passivity Mac normally displays and then the fight in the bar.  I may have more later, but thought this might be a sharp contrast in the story itself.

[Tami Seven]

You can't have this discussion without also mentioning Justine. She was on the Hill as well.

[peregrine]

Possible ideas,

As you said, Mac was there to be acted upon.  Maeve shooting him shows that she's not just pretending, making her murder of Lily more believable.  And Mab could fix him because she is obligated to repair the damage Maeve did, as much as she can.

[Second Aristh]

Taking care of Mac also gives Justine something to do, and having her on the island lets Maeve clue the readers in on Lara not being infected.

[Serack]

You can't have this discussion without also mentioning Justine. She was on the Hill as well.

Thanks.  I actually built the topic without reviewing the scene, and was afraid I'd do something like that.  I'll have to rework that part...  it certainly weakens some of the arguments.

[Serack]

Taking care of Mac also gives Justine something to do, and having her on the island lets Maeve clue the readers in on Lara not being infected.

Boohyah, I remember thinking that way back when reading this, but certainly needed the reminder since I had forgotten all together that she was there when writing this up heh.

Edit:  I'd even go so far as to say that that is more significant than any one of the proposed Doylist reasons for Mac being there, maybe all of them combined.

[Second Aristh]

Boohyah, I remember thinking that way back when reading this, but certainly needed the reminder since I had forgotten all together that she was there when writing this up heh.

Edit:  I'd even go so far as to say that that is more significant than any one of the proposed Doylist reasons for Mac being there, maybe all of them combined.

Meh, I don't think it outweighs putting the spotlight on the mystery surrounding Mac.  Shooting Thomas could have served the exact same purpose.

[Tami Seven]

Meh, I don't think it outweighs putting the spotlight on the mystery surrounding Mac.  Shooting Thomas could have served the exact same purpose.

Thomas was already beat up pretty badly....though I think shooting him, if Mac wasn't there, coupled with what happened to Molly, would have raised the temperature of the situation much higher. Things would have worked out differently.

BTW - has it been resolved as to weather or not Mac owes Mab fro removing the bullet?

[Eldest Gruff]

BTW - has it been resolved as to weather or not Mac owes Mab fro removing the bullet?

Not for certain but I tend to favor peregrine's notion that Maeve shooting him enabled Mab to 'right the wrong' so to speak and undo the damage that a lesser being of her Court did. The favor if any, essentially, was owed BY Mab and she fulfilled it by removing the bullet.

[Tami Seven]

Not for certain but I tend to favor peregrine's notion that Maeve shooting him enabled Mab to 'right the wrong' so to speak and undo the damage that a lesser being of her Court did. The favor if any, essentially, was owed BY Mab and she fulfilled it by removing the bullet.

I thought it might be something like that. If not, then Mab may have owed Mac a favor for another previous encounter. But that would be too complicated.

[Serack]

Meh, I don't think it outweighs putting the spotlight on the mystery surrounding Mac.  Shooting Thomas could have served the exact same purpose.

Oh, certainly.  That was supposed to be more of a reference to the corresponding lameness of those attempts at justifying Mac's presence compared to your Doylist justification for Justine's presence.

[peregrine]

Shooting Thomas could have served the exact same purpose.

We know Thomas has supernatural healing abilities though.  Mac (maybe?) doesn't.

[knnn]

I like the idea Serack.   Frankly, even the first scene with Mac in the bar (where Sharkface smashes in) is a little weird.  Even Harry comments on how this was a mistake.

Still, it seems to me that 1+2+3 might be sufficient motive to introduce Mac in itself.  If you wanted to add something more, I suppose one could also say that Mac might simply be a token "male victim" to balance out Andi, Sarissa, Molly and Justine (and possibly Lily as well).

I guess another possibility is the by showing Mac's healing powers Harry has some sort of secret knowledge he can use in the future.  E.g.  Harry can now safely shoot Mac, knowing that he will eventually heal.   Perhaps this is a way to convince MM Mac that it's "good" Harry, or maybe Harry can show people he's serious by "killing" Mac?

All in all, an interesting analysis.  It might be interesting to apply the same tool on some other scenes.

[Foxed]

I think Jim wanted to introduce a little more about Mac, and used the attack on the bar, as well as the healing factor later, to do so. However, I think Jim just couldn't extricate Mac easily from the plot once he was involved.

So, Mac Watched the climax.