Who is Thomas talking to?

[morriswalters]

@Mira
Anything is possible.  However per Peace Talks getting out is dependent on the Warden being willing to release you. Whereas you chose sanctuary and could leave when you wished, assuming that you were prepared to deal with what awaited you.

If he is a soul destroying villain then placing Thomas in with him seems relatively silly. Per the text Harry doesn't seem to be trying to actively identify him and if Alfred has an index he doesn't appear to be sharing.

And like everybody else in the books currently Alfred is keeping secrets. That he has the capability has been apparent since Ghost Story. Now the author has made it explicit as of Peace Talks.

The crystal is marked as the size of a coffin. The section of the prison is the only one where sleep is available. This suggests that the prisoner is human and human sized.

[seanham]

The crystal is marked as the size of a coffin. The section of the prison is the only one where sleep is available. This suggests that the prisoner is human and human sized.

Just because the crystal is the size of a human coffin doesn't mean that the prisoner is human. There are plenty of monsters in mythology that are human-sized, in the Dresdenverse we have vampires that are human-shaped, and many consider them to be monsters but they are not human.

[morriswalters]

In and of itself you are correct, however dark gods and monsters don't need sleep.

[Mira]

In and of itself you are correct, however dark gods and monsters don't need sleep.

I'm not so sure of that..

[morriswalters]

Then I stand corrected, say instead,

There was one prisoner held below in a kind of unique stasis, something that could most closely be considered sleep, though he could also awaken and perform limited communications for short periods of time. It was, as best as I could understand, the only protocol with sanity-saving sleep built into it.

Butcher, Jim. Peace Talks (Dresden Files) (p. 322). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

If you ran across this in SF the prisoner would be a sleeper in suspended animation or in an area where time is suspended.

[Mira]

Then I stand corrected, say instead,If you ran across this in SF the prisoner would be a sleeper in suspended animation or in an area where time is suspended.

Which makes him unique from the others, the question is why is he unique?

[morriswalters]

I gave my answer in my first post on this subject. I think it's Harry. Butcher says not. It's his book.

[Mira]

I gave my answer in my first post on this subject. I think it's Harry. Butcher says not. It's his book.

Then it is Merlin..

[morriswalters]

It's like Schrödinger's Cat.  Until you look into the box you don't know. The idea comes from Vadderung's dialog in Cold Days when in an exchange where Harry asks if he can do it, ie save the island, Vadderung responds that perhaps he already has. This prose would normally indicate that the protagonist had done this before.

[Mira]

It's like Schrödinger's Cat.  Until you look into the box you don't know. The idea comes from Vadderung's dialog in Cold Days when in an exchange where Harry asks if he can do it, ie save the island, Vadderung responds that perhaps he already has. This prose would normally indicate that the protagonist had done this before.

Or it hints that at some point Harry was Merlin.. Or Vadderung already knew about what Harry could do if he wanted with the jewel he inherited from his mother.  It also fits with Harry's feeling that he had been on the island before in Small Favor.  Only problem with your theory that the "British Prisoner" is Harry that I can see is I think there are "rules" about about that cannot be gotten around, or bad things happen.

[morriswalters]

By any measure outside of fiction time travel is impossible because it violates causality. Which means that cause and effect gets broken. The only way to get around it is to cheat or just flat out ignore it. Butcher is trying to cheat in my opinion.

He creates a character that has been around since the White God said let there be light. Then he puts restrictions on what those characters can do.  He then creates a new character that is no longer bound by those restrictions. That's the cheat. It may not be his intent but it's what he wrote.

[Mira]

By any measure outside of fiction time travel is impossible because it violates causality. Which means that cause and effect gets broken. The only way to get around it is to cheat or just flat out ignore it. Butcher is trying to cheat in my opinion.

He creates a character that has been around since the White God said let there be light. Then he puts restrictions on what those characters can do.  He then creates a new character that is no longer bound by those restrictions. That's the cheat. It may not be his intent but it's what he wrote.

Only if the prisoner is Harry, which I doubt.

[morriswalters]

Only if the prisoner is Harry, which I doubt.

Such is your privilege.

[TrueMonk]

On whether it was a good idea to let Harry communicate with the British prisoner. I guess 7t was a chance. If Harry can get Thomas out quickly it probably won't matter much. If Harry had died an Thomas was stuck there for 50+ years, maybe talking with a possible villain a couple of times a year is better than nothing.

[morriswalters]

Not knowing who or what he is I wouldn't have any idea.