I fully expect Dresden and Lara to get married and while their union is not their idea and may only be done begrudgingly, it won't be done involuntarily.  I expect Butcher to make their acquiescence logical and the 'least bad' alternative for them - and that's without considering Mab's wrath if they don't get married.  Butcher is great at maneuvering Dresden into a place where a decision he makes isn't one that he wants to make but feels he must due to necessity from obligation or responsibility.  I'd be surprised by romantic love between them, but certainly a high degree of respect (even though Dresden will likely always think of Lara as a monster; to him, 'she's a monster, but I can respect her, trust her word, and work with her').

The bigger question to me is whether there will be consummation.  I expect so because Mab will demand it.

Well, given Harry's status or lack thereof with the White Counsel, it's got to be someone already estranged from the White Counsel and/or has no interest or hope of getting in their good graces.

I also think that Butcher is unlikely to intro a major new character at this point.

Looking back, I'm going with Fitz from Ghost Story.  Certainly seemed like that character was going somewhere.  Took up a subplot and a lot of ink but then exited midway thru that book, and haven't seen him since.  Fitz felt like groundwork, and you know how Butcher drops stuff in books from left field and then uses the stuff later.

There was some young girl that showed some talent - maybe in one of the short stories, don't remember her name - but I don't think Butcher is likely to give Dresden another female apprentice,  another female with magical/supernatural abilities, or another female in his life - with Mab, Molly, Maggie, Bonnie, Laura, etc.  Dresden has enough female bosses/allies/friendlies in his life he has to deal with basically every day. Also, with Thomas out of a picture for a while, Dresden needs a replacement male for some balance.

https://x.com/longshotauthor/status/1946226959748305041

And USA Today story:  https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2025/07/18/dresden-files-twelve-months-jim-butcher/85190986007/

I agree, I don't think that Malcolm had anything to do with the Winter Court.  It is my belief that Margaret met Malcolm, fell in love and left Lord Raith.  Not clear if she decided to conceive a star born with Malcolm and was pregnant before she left Lord Raith or after she left them.  One thing for sure, just the act of leaving him was a death sentence sooner or later.  I do believe however she was with child when she made a bargain with Mab and Lea for the protection of her child.  I don't think she would have done so otherwise.

I think Dresden's conception and upbringing is far darker and far more intentional and engineered by multiple parties than this theory suggests.  For example, I think the bargain was made before Dresden was conceived; if Maggie, Sr. was pregnant with a human child, why would she then seek to bargain with the fae for protection of Dresden instead of going to her own father, Senior Counsel member and the Black Staff? I believe Butcher has been spreading crumbs while misdirecting us both with Dresden as unreliable/in denial narrator and with his WOJ.  I don't think that's a bad thing nor do I mean to suggest that Butcher should have done otherwise; it's just the path that Butcher has essentially had to take to avoid the story being unsurprising as its end builds, given the years/decades that he knew would be spent writing and releasing the overarching story.

But all will be revealed eventually, I suppose.  I just hope I'm around to read the last book of the final trilogy.

I haven't been following the ins and outs, the nuances, of this conversation but has anyone made the point that Maggie Sr. may have made a Rumpelstiltskin-like bargain with Lea/Mab?  Maybe Maggie Sr., knowing of the WC's involvement with the Outsiders and what their end-game was, bargained for help escaping and being protect from the White Court in exchange for help becoming impregnated and birthing Harry as a Starborn?  And maybe Maggie Sr.'s seemingly quick and short marriage to Harry's dad was all part of the bargain/plan?  And maybe the mother's death - and maybe the father's - is part and parcel of birthing a Starborn?  So maybe Harry has to come with grips with though loved by his parents, their union was more mercenary and wasn't 'just a girl standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her,' that he was intentionally created for a pre-planned purpose via a Maggie Sr./Mab scheme?  A lot of maybes but I think Jim wants something potentially soul crushing that Harry has to deal with and find some measure of peace with.

I can't be enthusiastic about the possibility of Butcher following GRRM's path in getting involved with TV/movie adaptations.  With 5 or so years between publishing Dresden books since 2015 and with, what, 7 more to go after Twelve Months is scheduled to be released in January 2026, I'd much, much wish that he focus on finishing Dresden.

Or he can also get a co-writer and start pumping Dresden books out every 12-24 months like he did through Skin Game. 
Even then, the Dresden files wouldn't likely be done for 10 more years.

Is it possible that Mab is Lara's mother?  I don't believe Lara's mother has ever been mentioned.  As noted elsewhere in this topic thread, there are times where wintry words and phrases are used to describe Lara, including by at least one of the Fae (Toot-Toot).

Being Lara's mother would also explain why Mab couldn't marry Lara.  You know there was a reason for Butcher to insert that curious and awkward exchange into Battle Ground; wholly unnecessary other than to provide some clue or foreshadowing to the readers. What other reason could be something that would be fair to readers?  Later explaining with saying *because magic* or *because an offspring is needed* wouldn't be a payoff for the wording of that exchange.

And it seems clear that Mab as the Winter Queen can get pregnant since she gave birth to changeling near-twins Maeve and Sarissa - unless their father was Fae and they were conceived when Mab was human and before she assumed a mantle, which was no earlier than the Battle of Hastings in 1066.  But that would mean that Sarissa was a changeling for more than 1,000 years. Maeve's recitation of Sarissa's pursuits suggests many decades, maybe a few centuries, but I don't think 1,000+ years.

Maybe "Twelve Months" also means the length of time between Butcher posting that he finished the book and its release date.