(I am very angry thinking that apparently Harry is not going to find Justine in a year (at least) and by the time the baby, if Justine allows him/her to live, will be born and spend their first months of life with a literal monster)

Sounds like a sufficient motive for time travel...

Perhaps Loki is a skinwalker in the DV? (He's certainly depicted as an insanely powerful shapeshifter in the legends -- sufficiently skilled that he turned into a female animal, got pregnant, and gave birth.)

Goodman Grey might either be Odin's pseudo-grandson via his father Loki, or he might actually *be* Loki, or a persona/mask thereof. (i.e. Grey is to Loki, as Vadderung is to Odin)

So, Justine's presence on the Island in Cold Days now makes a GREAT deal of sense.  She was Maeve's "insurance policy."  Maeve said something to the effect that you can't kill me because my mantle will go to some ally of mine (i.e. Nemesis).  That ally was standing right there -- Justine.  Little did Nemesis/Maeve/Justine understand that a much better vessel Molly was also right there.

Love it.

These little discoveries about things that were going on in the background in previous books are great fun.

The part I've found weird about Ramirez in the end was his demeanor, quite aggressive (would you be aggresive around Harry if you thought he has gone dark side?) and not even saying sorry about Murph. I mean, not everyone knew Harry and Murphy were an item, but they were good friends, that was known.

Aggressive is standard Warden operating procedure for suspected first-law Warlocks. See: Morgan and Harry, from book one. It's a test. Harry passed.

But Ramirez is also quite reasonably feeling hurt and betrayed.

Yes, Carlos didn't say anything about Murphy, but then Harry didn't apologize for humiliating Carlos in front of the Accorded nations, either. Carlos still has scars -- not from the Fomor, but from Harry choking him with his own cloak.

There was a bunch of talk about reality *breaking* under the strain of repeated uses of Balor's Eye -- so technically not Ethniu herself, but her doing.

Bradley is the new Murphy, he is I think going to SI and will act as Harry’s liaison.

The reason I think this is that the character has been set up for a running joke, like Murphy with her being exactly five feet tall “Five O”.

In BG where Bradley meets Harry for the second time he is described like an armoured personnel carrier. The main US armoured personnel carrier is....the Bradley. Going back to PT on their first meeting his suit is described as neutral ,designed to blend into the business world, I would think almost like camouflage?

On his third meeting he is literally carrying personnel, his daughter and Rudy.

Wow. Really well-spotted. These are the little tidbits I love about the Dresdenfiles, but I almost never pick them up on my first reading.

Quote from: Conspiracy Theorist on October 03, 2020, 08:00:15 PM

Bradley is the new Murphy

I didn't notice the sexual tension. 

You didn't?

I eyed the other guy. He was about five feet, six inches -- in all three dimensions. I seriously couldn't remember the time I'd seen a guy built so solidly. He wore a tailored suit, because I doubted anything fit him off the rack, but it was made of neutral, plain materials, meant to blend into the background of the business world. His salt-and-pepper hair was buzzed short, and his face was rough with beard shadow that I suspected appeared about ten seconds after he was done shaving. Something about the way he held himself, the way his eyes were focused on nothing in particular, put me on notice that he knew what he was doing better than most.

I mean, I think the paragraph ended just because Harry couldn't think of any more ways to say that Detective Bradley was very, very manly.

Now that we've seen all three Walkers on screen, I'm struck by the extent to which they parallel the three virtues represented by the Swords.

Hope: B4 -- I AM FEARGIVER, HOPESLAYER!
Faith: BS -- Treachery is the very definition of broken faith.
Love: BH -- the mastercraftsman of death (hate or indifference?)

I'm not quite sure how to characterize Behind. In Blood Rites, we get: "O Lord of Slowest Terror! May your right arm come to us! Send unto us your captain of destruction! Mastercraftsman of death! ... He Who Walks Behind!"

(That's also a really fun scene to reread now, since it's the moment when Lara realized that Harry is much more than he appears. "You've made me the cat's-paw for you, Dresden... Clearly, I underestimated you." "Don't feel bad," I said. "I mean, I look so stupid." -- with hindsight, that might count as their "meet cute"... *shudder*)

In Ghost Story, when we really see Behind in action, aside from Harry's fear the two emotional descriptions we get are the way Behind casually turns Stan into three piles of meat... and the righteous fury Harry feels in response.

I'm not sure whether Behind is meant to represent utter indifference as the opposite of Love, or hate and rage as the opposite of Love.

In any case, I'm expecting a scene in Empty Night, final book of the Dresden Files (not counting the Maggie outriggers.) -- the three Knights of the Cross charging into battle against the three Walkers, although I'm not sure whether Harry will be carrying Amoracchius and getting his final showdown with Behind or whether he'll be facing off against the Lord of Slowest Terror.