Murphy

[peregrine]

I hope Murphy never dies, and lives a long and happy life with Harry and Maggie.

[Wolfeyes]

I hope Murphy never dies, and lives a long and happy life with Harry and Maggie.

Tbf, that's my preference too. If she does, it won't surprise me if she still keeps ties to Odin's side though.

[Arjan]

Tbf, that's my preference too. If she does, it won't surprise me if she still keeps ties to Odin's side though.

It is clear the narrative sees her as a warrior and respects the choices she made. We never see her dragging Harry down in the book. We see her making valuable contributions. If she is set up for her death as the story runs now it will be a heroic death saving Chicago. Not a foolish one as a piece of luggage that shouldn’t be there.

After the Titan is bound Harry introduces her to River Shoulders and he knows even more about healing than Listen to Winds does.

[forumghost]

It is clear the narrative sees her as a warrior and respects the choices she made. We never see her dragging Harry down in the book. We see her making valuable contributions. If she is set up for her death as the story runs now it will be a heroic death saving Chicago. Not a foolish one as a piece of luggage that shouldn’t be there.

After the Titan is bound Harry introduces her to River Shoulders and he knows even more about healing than Listen to Winds does.

Honestly though she should. Like, a Murphy that is crippled and still working her way up to normal functionality (let alone fighting strength) should not be manhandling a Muck-fothering Valkyrie. She's fresh out of a cast and should barely be able to walk long distances.

Either she's already accepted some Faustian Deal off screen or she's running on even more Plot-Armour then usual.

[Arjan]

Honestly though she should. Like, a Murphy that is crippled and still working her way up to normal functionality (let alone fighting strength) should not be manhandling a Muck-fothering Valkyrie. She's fresh out of a cast and should barely be able to walk long distances.

Either she's already accepted some Faustian Deal off screen or she's running on even more Plot-Armour then usual.

We don’t know exactly how crippled she is and the story might be colored by Harry’s concern for her. And Jim obviously likes to keep her around.

[forumghost]

We don’t know exactly how crippled she is and the story might be colored by Harry’s concern for her. And Jim obviously likes to keep her around.

Yes, we really do:

“Round two can start next week,” she continued, speaking in her professional voice, the detached one that didn’t have any emotion in it, used mostly when something really, really upset her. “Then it’s just three more months of casts and stupid braces and then I can start six months of therapy while they wean me off the painkillers, and after all of that is done, if it goes very, very well, he thinks I might be able to walk without  a cane. As long as I don’t have to do it very fast.”

I frowned. “What about your training?”

“There was damage,” she said, her voice becoming not so much quiet as . . . dead. “In the knee, shoulder, elbow. They’re hoping to get me back to fifty percent. Of basic function. Not athletic activity.”

So yeah, apparently Murphy, with careful physiotherapy, will in 9 months be up to less then half as physically able as she was before. If she's lucky. And yet she's beating down supernatural warriors with decades to centuries of experience on her. Somehow.

[Arjan]

Yes, we really do:

So yeah, apparently Murphy, with careful physiotherapy, will in 9 months be up to less then half as physically able as she was before. If she's lucky. And yet she's beating down supernatural warriors with decades to centuries of experience on her. Somehow.

So apparently we don't know.

Maybe the docters were too pessimistic, they often are to prevent hopes rising too high and patients forcing themselves too much and too fast. After all when they say everything will be all right and it doesn't they have a far bigger problem than the other way round.

Which might be exactly what she is doing now. We just don't know.

[Wolfeyes]

So yeah, apparently Murphy, with careful physiotherapy, will in 9 months be up to less then half as physically able as she was before. If she's lucky. And yet she's beating down supernatural warriors with decades to centuries of experience on her. Somehow.

Tbf, it's not like Murphy is beating down Freydis into a crater. The first time was because she was quick with the gun. The second time she had grenades prepped to deal with the situation and didn't need to move much. That's very different than if she was sparring like she was before her injuries and even after she made Freydis take her seriously, she still needed help holding things and adjusting herself after.

She's not going to be running around with a sword but she can still point a gun and act within limitations if she fights smart. We see that with things like her having gun in position while she was waiting on the boat.

[Mira]

Tbf, it's not like Murphy is beating down Freydis into a crater. The first time was because she was quick with the gun. The second time she had grenades prepped to deal with the situation and didn't need to move much. That's very different than if she was sparring like she was before her injuries and even after she made Freydis take her seriously, she still needed help holding things and adjusting herself after.

She's not going to be running around with a sword but she can still point a gun and act within limitations if she fights smart. We see that with things like her having gun in position while she was waiting on the boat.

  Which is believable, barely...  However that isn't how it is going to go down in the next book.  Also
she isn't invincible either, the reason she is in the condition she is in is because Nic beat the holy crap out of her.  He did that with his fists, skills, and strength, nothing else..   Yeah, he has a coin, but I don't think fighting power is one of Andriel's skills, and he had the noose.  So they will be fighting a lot of Nics on steroids, my point still is while I understand where her heart is, her head should rule, she is a liability on the battle field in her current condition.  Harry gave her a vital option and she rejected it. 

[ClintACK]

It's perhaps noteworthy that the one time she does "beat" Freydis, her victory is based on her willingness to die to win.

If she dies in Battleground, it seems likely that she'll go out in suicide-bomber style -- not a good end in Catholicism, but perhaps honored by Valhalla.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Murphy like Dresden serves the greater good, Harry doesn’t shy from taking on the Titan even if it will kill him, he is acutely aware of this and won’t stop even for Maggie (but he will make arrangements in the event of his death) for goodness sake being nearly dead didn’t stop Harry in Ghost Story, so being crippled won’t stop Murphy, she will do what she can, which will likely be leading SI and CYPD into battle. Her fate has always been to come back with her shield, or on it. She will never surrender.

This is why she will either go Valkyrie (depends on whether they can find a winged Shetland Pony or not) or Einenjaren, but will probably still end up serving the City.

[Arjan]

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/0e/c9/da/0ec9da8cfbd7c98b58e96c5adbb82a32.png

[Mira]

It's perhaps noteworthy that the one time she does "beat" Freydis, her victory is based on her willingness to die to win.

If she dies in Battleground, it seems likely that she'll go out in suicide-bomber style -- not a good end in Catholicism, but perhaps honored by Valhalla.

  It was a surprise and over in seconds, not clear how hard Freydis was fighting back or at all.  She might have been merely testing, also it really wasn't the time to have a knock down drag out, her
current boss Lara needed Harry or at the very least wanted to talk to Harry at that moment.

I know everyone thinks it, but I doubt that Murphy will become a Valkyrie for a number of reasons. First one she doesn't respect authority, not a good idea to argue with Vadderung...  Yes, she has worked with him in the past, but as a mortal she was also free to walk away.. As a Valkyrie, not so much, not sure she'd like the idea of knowing in advance who was going to live and who was going to die, especially if she didn't agree with it.  Yeah, I know Gard fudged with Harry back in Dead Beat, and perhaps Michael in Small Favor.. Yes, it does go against her religion.. Nor does it mean she can remain at Harry's side.   So she may become it in the end, but it may not work out as everyone thinks it is going to be.

Murphy like Dresden serves the greater good, Harry doesn’t shy from taking on the Titan even if it will kill him, he is acutely aware of this and won’t stop even for Maggie (but he will make arrangements in the event of his death) for goodness sake being nearly dead didn’t stop Harry in Ghost Story, so being crippled won’t stop Murphy, she will do what she can, which will likely be leading SI and CYPD into battle. Her fate has always been to come back with her shield, or on it. She will never surrender.

Harry in Ghost Story isn't the same, or even close.  He was trying to find his own killer for starters. Second of all an archangel arranged for his walk about..  Also if you will remember there was very little he could do to help those who were very much alive. 

[ClintACK]

If Murphy *does* become a Valkyrie or Enherjar...

Can you imagine her hired out to Lara or Marcone and taking their orders?

(Or would Harry use her share of the diamonds to hire her from Vadderung on a long-term contract? --- That does feel like quite a cheat.)

[Arjan]

I don’t think so either because I do not see her swear fealty to vadderung. But there is a reason they all like her so much and her actions make sense viewed from that mindset.

And I found you a winged Shetland pony.