Battle Ground foreshadowing

[Basil]

So did Christos really die? If he did I guess  he wasn't in the Black Council ( or the Circle if you prefer) then he just was a stupid politician probably being used as a catspaw by them at least..

So if he's actually dead then whose up next? Klaus the Toymaker finally?

Where did Christos die?  I thought he had been badly injured -- burned, actually.  Personally, I suspect that Christos is NOT Black Council and I also suspect that he is not particularly anti-Dresden.  He is, of course, monumentally self-important as all wizards are. 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

My reading has Christ’s died, the Merlin was holding onto LTW and Ebs proxies whilst in surgery, with the Gatekeeper at the Gates he held three votes out of five, leaving Mai and a badly shaken Martha Liberty. The Sprites display didn’t do Harry a favour in that respect with Martha.

Christos I think was Jim’s attempt at a Pratchett Wizard, and he was definitely being used by the Merlin as a stalking horse. He wasn’t Black Council, if he had been he wouldn’t have been in Chicago.

[Mira]

  Just because he isn't mentioned doesn't mean he is dead. 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

His utility to the narrative is at an end. There is no point to internal White Council politics now they have thrown Harry out.

[Mira]

His utility to the narrative is at an end. There is no point to internal White Council politics now they have thrown Harry out.

My question is did he ever have any utility?  Oh we readers did a lot of speculation about him, but as a character he was almost nil to begin with.  Of the Senior Council, the members that have had any significant interaction with Harry are, Eb, the Merlin, Rashid, and Listens to Wind.  Martha Liberty got a few lines, but between Summer Knight and Battle Ground she may well have never existed, the same goes for Ancient Mai

[Conspiracy Theorist]

His utility was as a Pratchett type wizard, (a homage I believe to the late Sir Terry) exactly the butt of Drakul’s jibe, and which played off beautifully in Peace Talks when Lara manipulates him in to bringing Thomas to the Castle.

Butcher had a lot of time for Pratchett as did Harry, the adage “make a man a fire and he is warm for a day, set a man on fire and he’s warm for the rest of life.” Could have been made for Harry. There are a large number of Fomor not in a position to argue with it.

Sometimes a character is just that, the set up of a joke.

[g33k]

...  Though from Uriel's reaction to his condition I wouldn't bet against it being broken either ...

I'm pretty sure Uriel explicitly said it was broken; that healing was possible (because wizards who live can apparently heal almost anything) but would not be quick.

I don't think Uriel would explicitly lie to Harry, not even to advance the presumptive Uriel/Mab plan to load up Harry with ALL DA K3WL 9OWERZ.

[Mira]

I'm pretty sure Uriel explicitly said it was broken; that healing was possible (because wizards who live can apparently heal almost anything) but would not be quick.

I don't have the book in front of me, but what I remember Uriel saying is something like,"I see your problem."  So he did imply heavily that it was, but never said it was. But we focus too much on the broken spine bit, people do break their backs and recover and walk.  Now a severed spinal cord is another matter all together, and a wizard may recover from that in forty years or so.. Though today's medicine improves daily, most vanilla humans never do.  Uriel also said though he could fix it, he wouldn't fix it because of the rules he was working under.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

He knew Harry was working to a deadline, And there was no way without supernatural intervention for him to meet it, and that he could not provide that intervention. He knew he was pushing Harry towards Mab.

[Mira]

He knew Harry was working to a deadline, And there was no way without supernatural intervention for him to meet it, and that he could not provide that intervention. He knew he was pushing Harry towards Mab.

I don't know if he was pushing Harry towards Mab.. Harry still had free will and choices, his problem was his choices were , bad, worse, and worst.  Harry was trying to use that as a threat, but even if he chose worst, there wouldn't have been anything Uriel could have done about it because it was still Harry's free will to choose.  All he could offer was the confirmation that Maggie was his daughter, and if he chose out of love he wouldn't stray so far off the path, that he couldn't get back.  Harry chose bad, or Mab over his other choices.  However I also think that Uriel knew what Harry would choose, and what he was planning as he knew who had whispered in his ear when he chose.  I also think that Uriel may have made the wind blow just enough so that though the bullet did hit Harry in the heart, it wouldn't result in instant death allowing Mab to keep him alive after he hit the water.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Oh yes Uriel believes in free will.

So does Mab.

How did that work out for Harry?

[Arjan]

Oh yes Uriel believes in free will.

So does Mab.

How did that work out for Harry?

Mab believes in purpose, finding your purpose.

[vincentric]

Mab is the ultimate pragmatist.

Aside from her vengeances, she is focused on one goal, defending reality from the Outsiders.

If you don't have that context, then she comes across as evil but even her cruelest acts are in pursuit of a greater good.

Harry is just starting to see the whole picture and no longer sees her as evil. But he's rightfully frightened by what she's capable of because she makes her decisions without any consideration for kindness and compassion.

[Mira]

Mab is the ultimate pragmatist.

Aside from her vengeances, she is focused on one goal, defending reality from the Outsiders.

If you don't have that context, then she comes across as evil but even her cruelest acts are in pursuit of a greater good.

Harry is just starting to see the whole picture and no longer sees her as evil. But he's rightfully frightened by what she's capable of because she makes her decisions without any consideration for kindness and compassion.

I agree.  I've never seen Mab as evil, she is a force of nature, neither good nor evil.  As we know nature can be cruel as well as kind, in that context she guards the Gates.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Yes she was originally described as the evil faerie queen, but that was because most saw only the outcomes of the hard (but correct) choices she made without compromise.