666 years and what follows - The Cycle

[KurtinStGeorge]

Not sure what year the Dresdenverse is currently in, 2020 or 2019?  But 666 years ago was 1354 A.D.
 
Doing at little research about the Black Plague, I found it petered out in Europe around 1353 - 1354 A.D.  Now the plague went back into China in the 1350's but the White Council was probably a very European-centric organization back then.  It's likely that in the Dresdenverse, Nicodemus and company had a hand in getting the plague really going so my guess is that a Starborn wizard of that era helped bring Nic's larger plans; whatever they were, to an end.  Everything that I've read about the Black Death tells me that it shook European civilization (such as it was) and its major institutions; especially the Catholic Church, to its core.  So Nic might be credited with a major tactical victory, but his larger goals were probably even more destructive, if such a thing was possible. 

This would also mean that the 1354 Starborn wizard was likely working with one or more of the KotC of that time.

[vultur]

Not sure what year the Dresdenverse is currently in, 2020 or 2019?  But 666 years ago was 1354 A.D.

Probably 2013-2015 or so. The RL publication gap isn't reflected in the in-books timeline.

The timeline on the website suggests 1999 for SF, in which case PT/BG are 2013.

I tend to think a year or two later, as in SF the end of the millennium is referred to as a past event.

So that pushes it back 5-7 years so the beginning of the Black Death fits better, IMO.

So Nic might be credited with a major tactical victory, but his larger goals were probably even more destructive, if such a thing was possible.

Given how the Denarians are apparently empowered by pain and suffering, and just how enormous the toll was (something like a third of Europe's total population, more in some countries), that might have been a 100% victory for Nic; I don't see any reason to think he was necessarily stopped from completely achieving his goals in that instance.  As Nic says in SmF, it's not all about bringing about the capital-A Apocalypse.

[KurtinStGeorge]

I did the math on this wrong and in correcting my mistake I think I've found a possible parallel between Harry and the previous Starborn wizard.   If the previous Starborn wizard was born 666 years before Harry was born I have to subtract 666 years from when Harry was born, not 666 years from the current date in the Dresdenverse.  According to the official Dresden Files timeline Harry was born 26 years before the events in Storm Front.  That's probably Oct. 31 1974 or 1975.  So, that would mean the previous Starborn wizard was born in 1308 or 1309 A.D. 

This is well before the Black Death hits Europe.  It first enters Italy in 1347 and ravages Europe for about nine or ten years.  So that Starborn wizard was around 38 or 39 years old at that time.  This must be when Nicodemus made a major power move.  Did Nicodemus spread the Black Death around 2/3 of the world simply to create despair, to bring on the apocalyptic mind state or did he believe he was "saving the world," as Dierdre put it, from an even greater Outsider threat?  My guess is the earlier Starborn wizard was dealing with an Outsider threat at the same time.  This person was able to defeat the Outsiders but not before Nicodemus got involved. 

We know there is a disease; known only as Wormwood, which is being held by Mother Summer.  Harry knows too, but right know he's facing a more immediate threat and will likely face others.  Even if Harry defeats the last Titan that doesn't mean he's stopped the Outsiders.  We can guess that Harry will one day have to face off against HWWB.  I don't know if a direct one on one confrontation with Nemesis is possible.  Maybe it can't be killed, who knows?  But at some point Nicodemus will comeback and he will have a plan when he does so.  Nic's plan will go way beyond getting revenge against Harry, Marcone or Mab, though that will probably be a part of it.  I think Nicodemus is going to try to save the world from the Outsider threat by killing everyone on it, with Wormwood.

So the question is, "Will Harry be able to do better than the previous Starborn wizard, who defeated that Outsider threat, but at the cost of allowing Nicodemus to kill between 1/3 and 1/2 of the population of Europe?"

   

[TheCuriousFan]

We know there is a disease; known only as Wormwood, which is being held by Mother Summer.  Harry knows too, but right know he's facing a more immediate threat and will likely face others.  Even if Harry defeats the last Titan that doesn't mean he's stopped the Outsiders.  We can guess that Harry will one day have to face off against HWWB.  I don't know if a direct one on one confrontation with Nemesis is possible.  Maybe it can't be killed, who knows?  But at some point Nicodemus will comeback and he will have a plan when he does so.  Nic's plan will go way beyond getting revenge against Harry, Marcone or Mab, though that will probably be a part of it.  I think Nicodemus is going to try to save the world from the Outsider threat by killing everyone on it, with Wormwood.   

 

Still holding out hope for HWWB to be the final straight up fight of the series (with something else as the overarching threat).

And Nicodemus successfully breaking out one of those plagues with the grail would explain why there was a scene showing that she has the plagues lying there at all.