PEACE TALKS SPOILERS Rashid/Starborn Theory

[cleoslemonade]

[This is a Peace Talks spoilers thread, proceed at your own risk ]

Rashid = Starborn. There's been a bunch of great threads talking about this idea, but I wanted to re-open it with the new info we got from Peace Talks.
What do you guys think?

So, there's a WOJ that Rashid killed Mad Arab, Abdul Alhazred. And he died ~738 AD. This puts Rashid's age at 1300+ (assuming no time travel shenanigans there).
So, 666 + 666 = 1332. That puts Rashid in a probable Starborn birth time.

If the big Starborn advantage is resisting dirt when dealing with outsiders, that would make him a perfect candidate for being the Gatekeeper. If you had someone in that position that got tainted by the outsiders, it would turn into a reality-ending liability real quick. So, they couldn't accept any non-Starborn applicants for that job (unless they were immune in some other way).

WOJ also that "Rashid was Harry last time around, and didn't enjoy it much." It clicks that this means that Rashid was the Fulcrum, the Starborn, the person who was in the right place at the right time.

River Shoulders offers to mentor Harry in Peace talks.
Then, he says,

“Lot of the wizards who matter are near the end. Hanging on hard.”
I tilted my head at him. “Why?”
“Not the right person, time, or place to tell you, starborn.”
I pursed my lips. “Six hundred and sixty-six years,” I said experimentally.
River’s craggy brows rose, itself a feat of superhuman strength. “Huh,” he said. “You learned some things.”
“I learned that,” I said.
“We pretty close to that time,” he said.

I would interpret this as, "Our current Starborn is about to die of old age so it's pretty close to that time when you need to be well trained to pick up the baton."
Rashid has been hanging on hard, through Nevernever time dilations (and who knows what else). He's got to be close to his end.

But what about the Starborn that was born 666 years ago?
Perhaps this is why things are so desperate in contemporary times. Maybe the Starborn from 666 years ago died young / went evil / etc, making him/her unable to take on the Gatekeeper/Fulcrum role, leaving Rashid to juggle things for much longer than he really could or should.

What are your thoughts? Any other clues here? What does this really mean in the bigger story?

[Grifter]

I found it interesting that we saw the elder Senior Council members appearing... Elder. 

(click to show/hide)

Eb seemed ancient, like an old man raving against this new millennial wizard outlook on vampires being more than just monsters.  We saw Liberty injured and hobbled, and we saw Listens ask for help getting out of the car/looking tired and being called all but dead by Rivers.

It seems like the comment about the older wizards was about all of them.  Given that we've also got literal "Ancient" Mai, 1,000+ Rashid, and Old Man Langtry... I'm wondering just how many of them are going to survive the next few books.  My money's on Rashid outlasting most of them.

[Mira]

I found it interesting that we saw the elder Senior Council members appearing... Elder. 

(click to show/hide)

Eb seemed ancient, like an old man raving against this new millennial wizard outlook on vampires being more than just monsters.  We saw Liberty injured and hobbled, and we saw Listens ask for help getting out of the car/looking tired and being called all but dead by Rivers.

It seems like the comment about the older wizards was about all of them.  Given that we've also got literal "Ancient" Mai, 1,000+ Rashid, and Old Man Langtry... I'm wondering just how many of them are going to survive the next few books.  My money's on Rashid outlasting most of them.

I hope so, Rashid is one of my favorite characters.

[Yuillegan]

Good theory! Almost certainly true too. Although remember older Wizards get naturally better at resisting the effects of Outsiders. Eb even recovered faster than Harry. But I also think Rashid will be replaced. But not necessarily by Harry. It could well be Elaine after all. Or perhaps another unknown Starborn. It is certainly possible that more than one is out there.

Grifter - I definitely think it's all over for most of the Senior Council. Grifter is quite right in noticing their age - I agree it was deliberate of Jim. I suspect that they all will be replaced (something Rashid is likely aware of). The set-up as the young Wardens (Ramirez, Yoshimo etc) as replacements of a new "Senior" Council is possible due to an accelerated learning curve. At least in Harry's eyes. It's also obvious just from Ebeneezer they have a lot of learning to do in terms of magical skill (and he is the least subtle of the Senior Council, the most blunt).

Part of what will solve that is Harry's learning. Jim has been setting up Harry for additional education for some time now. I think initially he intended Listens-to-Wind to fill that role, but clearly River Shoulders is lined up the replacement. I also suspect a mentorship from Vadderung/Beowulf/Kringle/Whoever else he really is. He did train the original Merlin after all.

[BrainFireBob]

My 2 cents, it was Kemmler.

[ClintACK]

Sounds right.

The most recent starborn would have been in the mid-1300's, around the time of the Black Death and the creation of the Black Court. Completely random theory -- Mavra was the starborn of the 1300's, killed and turned by the first BCVs.

Also, notice that 3 x 666 years ago puts us right around the Crucifixion, from which the coins, the swords, and the "weapons" all spring.

[Arjan]

My 2 cents, it was Kemmler.

The Kemmler Lucio met in the short story was too young I think so the time frame is off. He can not be a star born.

[Yuillegan]

Actually, Kemmler technically could be. Rashid is supposed to be about 1000 years old. In theory, another one would have been born around 1666. So it's possible. Remember Kemmler is also a body switcher so the age of his meat suit doesn't factor in.

I also think the Original Merlin Emrys was too. But that's much harder to tell as his birth date is all over the place.

Curiously, some other beings could be. Ancient Mai for one.

And a lot of interesting things happened in 1666. Just to correct you Clintack, mid 1600s. The Plague/The Black Death. The Great Fire of London. Almost certainly planned by Jim to be relevant.

And Clintack you are right about the Crucifixion, I think it's all connected. Outsiders, Hell, Heaven. The whole works. And plagues.

[Arjan]

Actually, Kemmler technically could be. Rashid is supposed to be about 1000 years old. In theory, another one would have been born around 1666. So it's possible. Remember Kemmler is also a body switcher so the age of his meat suit doesn't factor in.

I also think the Original Merlin Emrys was too. But that's much harder to tell as his birth date is all over the place.

Curiously, some other beings could be. Ancient Mai for one.

And a lot of interesting things happened in 1666. Just to correct you Clintack, mid 1600s. The Plague/The Black Death. The Great Fire of London. Almost certainly planned by Jim to be relevant.

And Clintack you are right about the Crucifixion, I think it's all connected. Outsiders, Hell, Heaven. The whole works. And plagues.

It is not about his body age. I got the impression that in the short story Kemmler did not have his reputation yet and was still building up.

It was a relative small operation.

[whitelaughter]

I would think that the wizards would aim for their children to be born as starborn. Fairly safe guess that Harry's mother crunched the numbers, and probably chose precisely the right spot on the globe to give birth to exactly the right sky.

I suspect most of the council are starborn.

[ClintACK]

Yuillegan-

I'm counting back from the present. 2020-666=1354, about three years past the peak of the Black Death in Europe.

[Arjan]

I would think that the wizards would aim for their children to be born as starborn. Fairly safe guess that Harry's mother crunched the numbers, and probably chose precisely the right spot on the globe to give birth to exactly the right sky.

I suspect most of the council are starborn.

Not if it is only a short window once in a 666 year. Nobody waits that long for a child.

[Yuillegan]

Clintack, that's fair enough. Although Peace Talks isn't in 2020. I think it's still 2015 or something. Jim said something about it in a recent interview.

[Grifter]

Either way, it would be 1975-666.  So 1309, 643, 23 BC, 689 BC, etc, etc

[ClintACK]

@Grifter -- Yep. It depends whether you're looking at the year when the Starborns are born, or the years in which they are active adults, or the year of the Big Apocalyptic Thing that we've been ominously told is Coming Soon for Harry and for which the starborns are born.

Another random speculation -- could Nicodemus be starborn, from 23 BC or so?