New Drop Chapter Three

[Mira]

Yeah, I think it is weird that he didn't speak with little Maggie..  But maybe in the next chapter?  He hasn't left yet and given the fact that Mouse bounded out to say hello..

[Maz]

Reading all this got me thinking (related):

What if the betrayal involves Eb setting up Thomas for political purposes of the White Council?
It would fulfill several of these loose ends and cause one hell of a kerfuffle amongst all the parties.

[Walter the skull]

Dina:  When Christmas Eve dropped, Peace Talks was still one book, so I think it takes place after Battle Ground.  We don't have definitive evidence either way.

Maz:  I wonder if Ebeneezer thinks Harry and Thomas are an item.  That would definitely make him want to take Thomas out, given what happened to Maggie Sr at the hands of Lord Raith.

[Dina]

I like that

about Christamas story, I have the same idea, that it is after BG. I think it is a little weird to publish such spoilerific story (I mean, we know Harry still has his titles)

[Mira]

I like that

about Christamas story, I have the same idea, that it is after BG. I think it is a little weird to publish such spoilerific story (I mean, we know Harry still has his titles)

My impression is BG is just part two of Peace Talks because Jim didn't want Peace Talks to be longer than War in Peace..

[g33k]

Dina:  When Christmas Eve dropped, Peace Talks was still one book, so I think it takes place after Battle Ground.  We don't have definitive evidence either way ...

I think Jim & his editor had already decided on the split, as of Christmas Eve dropping.  There was a LOT of extra writing & re-writing to be done to carry out the split.  They just weren't ready to announce the split.
 

[Walter the skull]

Ok I had some to go look at Jim's twitter.  Christmas Eve dropped on 12/25/18.  Jim tweeted The End on  7/22/19.

I don't know if the decision to split it into two books happened after he finished the manuscript or some time during the process of writing it. 

I think Christmas Eve was written before the decision to split the book was made. 

[TrueMonk]

About Harry not telling his visitor about Nemesis. Just because they are all striving for the same target and working together it might not mean that they selflessly communicate all of their failures to each other. If the attack on Demonreach was one groups action they might not painstakingly describe to the others how much they failed.

Their communication could also be slow or fast, maybe secure communication requires travelling to some far away place in the never-never?

It is just, as far as we know, they are all working together does not nessecarily mean hivemind coordination.

The most important part of guessing a potential traitor is whether he is working with nemesis or not. If he/she is then I think everyone helping to stop the attack on Demonreach can be ruled out. Unless they are manipulated I guess :-)

[123Chikadee]

Yeah, I'm thinking that Christmas Eve might have been written before the split happened, mainly b/c if he had already decided to split the book, then CE would need to be tweaked a bit and I think he would do that before putting it up.
@Maz: Oh that's a cool idea. I bet Eb wouldn't feel too bad using Thomas de to how protective he is of Harry. Even more so, if he thinks Harry and Thomas are together romance wise. You couple that with the fanon that Eb has a feeling that Thomas might be Maggie Sr's daughter, and yeah I can see why Eb would think Thomas is horrible.
@TrueMonk: All good points, but why wouldn't Nemesis' agents have a good way of communicating w/ each other just so they don't step on each others toes at least. 

[Mpol]

Given what I know go the timeline for PT, the split happened well after THE END was written. I remember there being a very long wait between the end and the release date announcement, many were very irritated over at Reddit.

Christmas Eve was done well before the split.

[Walter the skull]

Maybe Harry didn't have Maggie come out and say hi to Ebeneezer he didn't want Bonea's existance to be common knowledge.  Maggie's 10 she could've easily slipped and told Ebeneezer that she was making pancakes with her friend.

I think he definitely thinks somethings up with Harry and Thomas.  Think about it, he walks in and Harry is making breakfast for Thomas.

Ebeneezer also says, “Look, Hoss. Your business is your own. I don’t come riding in here all the time trying to run your life. And I shouldn’t have thrown a wrench in whatever you had going with the vampire. But you’re young, and I got experiences with them and perspective on them that you don’t. I don’t want you to figure it out the hard way, that’s all.”

Whatever you've got going on?

[123Chikadee]

@Walter the Skull: Yeah exactly. Which means if he 'knows' who Thomas is, then that's probably one of the biggest reasons that he dislikes Thomas. So maybe the scene will be that Harry thinks he's dropping a bombshell on Eb, when really Eb can just turn around and say I know, which makes it worse that Thomas is trying to sleep with you. Cue Thomas and Harry being grossed out.

[KurtinStGeorge]

Reading all this got me thinking (related):

What if the betrayal involves Eb setting up Thomas for political purposes of the White Council?
It would fulfill several of these loose ends and cause one hell of a kerfuffle amongst all the parties.

Wow!  This makes a great deal of sense to me.  It also explains the scene in the trailer when Eb says to Harry, "Boy!  Tell me, you ain't dumb enough to try this." and Harry not only responds that he's dumb enough, he pulls up a shield or is drawing up his power.  I don't mean that Harry is directly squaring off with Ebenezer, I mean he's going against the plan Eb set into motion.

About Harry not mentioning Nemesis; well, Harry has to be very circumspect about how he brings up this topic with anyone, even Ebenezer.  Also, Nemesis isn't the direct threat in this situation.  In some deeper discussion about the Black Council it might be worth bringing up, but right now Harry has to worry about who might stick the knife in his back and the person or faction on the Council that is giving them their marching orders.  That Nemesis might be or probably is the ultimate string puller is almost irrelevant.  Even if Harry knew that; just as an example, Cristos had been turned by Nemesis and was behind the plot against him, Harry can't do anything to Nemesis; at least not yet, he can only move against its agent. 

Om the topic of preview chapters; sure, it would be nice if we got five preview chapters, but I remember there was one book where we only got Jim reading three chapters at a book signing that was posted on YouTube and nothing more until the book was released.  So even if we only get one more preview chapter that's better than just three.

Disappointment:  I really wanted Harry to say to Ebenezer:

(click to show/hide)

"Sir, about the vampire.  He's my half-brother,... and your grandson.  I thought you should know, if you didn't already"  Harry did have enough time to say that much.

[g33k]

Wow!  This makes a great deal of sense to me.  It also explains the scene in the trailer when Eb says to Harry, "Boy!  Tell me, you ain't dumb enough to try this." and Harry not only responds that he's dumb enough, he pulls up a shield or is drawing up his power ...

It does look like a sensible theory!  Another idea has occurred to me, too ...

It could be that Eb just thinks Harry is overmatched in whatever he's preparing to fight.  Maybe Harry is about to rescue Thomas from Svartalven "justice."

Maybe it's moments after the scene teaser'ed earlier, with the cornerhound(s?) -- Eb doesn't think Harry can face them.

Etc.
 

[Arjan]

Wow!  This makes a great deal of sense to me.  It also explains the scene in the trailer when Eb says to Harry, "Boy!  Tell me, you ain't dumb enough to try this." and Harry not only responds that he's dumb enough, he pulls up a shield or is drawing up his power.  I don't mean that Harry is directly squaring off with Ebenezer, I mean he's going against the plan Eb set into motion.

About Harry not mentioning Nemesis; well, Harry has to be very circumspect about how he brings up this topic with anyone, even Ebenezer.  Also, Nemesis isn't the direct threat in this situation.  In some deeper discussion about the Black Council it might be worth bringing up, but right now Harry has to worry about who might stick the knife in his back and the person or faction on the Council that is giving them their marching orders.  That Nemesis might be or probably is the ultimate string puller is almost irrelevant.  Even if Harry knew that; just as an example, Cristos had been turned by Nemesis and was behind the plot against him, Harry can't do anything to Nemesis; at least not yet, he can only move against its agent. 

Om the topic of preview chapters; sure, it would be nice if we got five preview chapters, but I remember there was one book where we only got Jim reading three chapters at a book signing that was posted on YouTube and nothing more until the book was released.  So even if we only get one more preview chapter that's better than just three.

Disappointment:  I really wanted Harry to say to Ebenezer:

(click to show/hide)

"Sir, about the vampire.  He's my half-brother,... and your grandson.  I thought you should know, if you didn't already"  Harry did have enough time to say that much.

That might make things worse and he did not consult Thomas either.