Odin has a certain reputation of making sure you die at the height of your reputation before you can decline so you can be collected by the valkyries

And those two can very well have worked together in this case in light of a recent woj about claims on persons and waking up in walhalla confused.

Because Karrin was a catholic Uriel had a claim too but they have yearly lunches and Katrina’s latest choice was more in line with Odin than with Christianity.

If not for the fact that JB is not known to break the fictional rule he just recently establish, I almost suspected Uriel might intervened in Murphy's case. Though usual einghenjar could not return untill all mortal memories of her is gone and even the ALL-father cannot break this rule, adding one of the Archangel to the equation should be enough reason to explain the rule breaking if needed. If there is indeed an unspeakable deal between Odin All-father and Uriel the watchman in regards to Murphy's soul, Murphy's return could indeed be hastened.

Sometimes I really think the position of Harry's spouse is curse much like the position of Defense of the Dark Arts professor in Hoggwarts is cursed.
Cassius's * die alone* death curse in book 7 just add fuel to the fire. Elaine is probably the luckiest one choosing to disasociate herself from Harry after her near tragedy at DuMorn's hands and she probably only survive because her relationship with Harry is before Cassius's curse. Susan also survive Harry's bad luck in love affairs when she choose to go away in book 5, but giving birth to little Maggi makes her connection with Harry too strong to break and with the Cassius's curse taking effect, she died in the end. The last one, Murphy, does not even last a year. The *Die alone* curse is really insidious.

As such I think Lara is the best as Harry's main love interest. At least if the curse strike again, it will kill one of the monsters instead of good people like Murphy. Though I doubt it would work. I don't think Harry could love a woman the same way he love Susan or Murphy ever again and therefore even if Harry stay with someone he will always be alone anyway. The curse won't strike if it stay that way.

Edited to remove spoiler content from subject.
 - Griff

One of the most exciting things of the entire battleground book in my opinion was the scene where the Apache attack helicopters come at the end and royally fuck up the retreating Fomor. I waiting the entire book just for that scene, which I felt like I knew was coming the entire time since the arrival of the National Guard was foreshadowed numerous times. One of the best parts of the Dresden files more me has always been the relevance of the mortal world. In the DF, guns are not useless weapons. Magic and the supernatural are just different kinds of threats, and the combination of the two adds tremendous flavor the series.

In my head during the book I was hoping for a scene where a main battle tank arrives down a street and puts a sabot through some big baddie, but the helicopters were cool enough.

But the disappointing thing is that even though it is repeatedly stated over and over that this battle is simply to big to be covered up or missed, at the end of the book everyone is saying that it is successfully being covered up.


Sorry, but I call BS. Suspension of disbelief officially suspended. There is no fucking way that 8000 monsters attack a city, killing 20-60,000 people (the book listed different figures at different times), prompting the involvement of the military.......and it gets covered up. Eight Million people saw this shit go down. There is tons of destruction everywhere. Too. many. witnesses.

Also this story took place in time parallel to our own. Too many electronic devices to record things with, and too many ways for that information to leave the city. The explanation at the end about electronics and magic was bullshit. There are probably more phones and computers in Chicago than there are people. And not all of them would have been affected. Even in the places where there was the most reality breakdown due to magic, someones phone or camera was probably working. And Chicago is a big place. There were probably people who recorded things from a distance from tall buildings etc just like during natural disasters like the explosions that occurred in China not too long ago. Also we know for a fact, not even a conjecture, that at least some electronics were working in close proximity to the battle. The attack helicopters. There systems were clearly working or they would not have been able to operating their guns or even fly for that matter. Comms in and out of the city must have been working in come capacity as well, or how else did the NG and other emergency services even get called in or organized?

I really hope that in the next novel this gets undone and it the mortal world comes into knowledge of the supernatural. I think this will take the story in a very interesting direction.

We saw that the government still attempt to cover things up. Whether or not the attempt will be successful however is a big question mark in my opinion. The fact that the government still try to cover up is not surprising, and though it would likely take effect for now I doubt it would work long term.

Ooh, yeah that.

I was going to say that Demonreach is actually exhausted after reaching all the way to Chicago to capture Ethniu. Demonreach was at basically full strength in Cold Days, though its Warden wasn't.

It is not demonreach who is exhausted, it is Harry. Alfred can't do anything actively without Harry's command as the warden and with Harry barely holding on, there is very little that can be done.

I see your point. It's an interesting take. I definitely think, especially considering what Uriel considers his purpose, that all in the service of Heaven are really just there to create and defend Choice (especially including the "right" choice).

I don't agree that the Swords cannot kill the Denarian's mortal part, the Fallen's host. The first scene where we meet the full Knights of the Cross in Death Masks (Book 5) and the first time we meet the Knights of the Blackened Denarius, Michael quite literally uses Amoracchius to kill the host Rasmussen and severe his possession by Ursiel. And both Shiro and Sanya would have done the same, if necessary. So if it came down to it they would do what must be done. Killing the host seems to be a viable alternative to getting the host to give up the Coin, even if it is a last resort. Michael arguably almost killed Nick in Skin Game, Nicodemus survived by using the Grail to shield himself.

I argue that the Denarians who is fully controlled by their fallen like Rasmussen and those who are actively cooperating with their fallen like Nick are given different treatment.

Previously I believe that TWG main objective is to save people, which is why I discount the possibility of different treatment between these 2 types of Denarians. But if their main purpose is *Choices*, than those Denarians who are fully controlled and are unable to make *Free will* choices anymore has a lower value compare to the likes of Nicodemous. Which is why they can be directly killed.

So far, no denarians like Nicodemous has been directly killed by a sword strike. Sure, Michael tried, but the fact that we never seen it ever succeeded seem to tell us something. I mean, when it is about the holy swords there is no coincidence.

The Swords are not about balance, they are a tool to fight the Fallen in the coins.. The Knights who wield them are more important, they are about giving the hosts of the coins the choice to redeem themselves.

My new perspective is this. I don't think saving the coin holder is the main priority. I think allowing them to make a choice is more important. Even if the coin holder choose the path of darkness, as long as the coin holder make a choice, the TWG camp would have gain something in the process. Of course they prefer it if the soul can be redeemed, but I think the *Choice* aspect has a higher priority than the *redemption* aspect.

Well, post BG there are a few things I see differently from before. KoTC and the Denarians are just one of them.
One thing I notice is the fact that Marcone has been holding and using Namsiel's coin for years now and the KoTC has not even reacted. No mission from above, no divine revelation, nothing. Assuming that Marcone has not done any bad things with this power all this time, I doubt anyone would believed it. This should tell us something.

Previously we are told that the KoTC are there to balance the coins, but with the example of Marcone above this assertion become somewhat doubtful.

There is a line in BG where Harry told us his insight about how the holy swords operate, and this insight led me to think that the KoTC is not there to balance the coins. At least that is not their most important job. Their most important job is to ensure there is a choice to be made, not to undone or to prevent the harm or damage by the denarians or the fallen inside the coin.

This should grant us a deeper understanding about why KoTC gave different treatement between those Denarians completely controlled by their fallen and the Denarians actively cooperating with their fallen. For those completely controlled by their fallen i.e: Rasmussen in book 5 for example, A KoTC can kill them directly after giving a few wwarnings. Basically this people no longer able to make a free will choice, so killing them and saving them does not make a difference. It can be argued that killing them is in fact saving them.

For those like Nicodemous however, they still make free will choices every second of every day. Their choices could be evil but they are still choices. The KoTC's job is to present them with alternatives. Chances to take a different path. Killing them is never an option to begin with. If we ever imagine that Nicodemous is going to be beheaded by ammorachius, it is not possible in my opinion. Killed by Harry's magic is possible, but directly killed by the strike of a holy sword is never goint to happened.

Another thing is about the path to *Monsterhood*.

Basically, *Monsterhood* in itself is not evil. Mab is a monster. Marcone is a monster. I bet the original Merlin is a monster too. Unless you choose to stand by and do nothing like those people in the white council, you are going to end up as a monster sooner or later. And the white council has the blackstaff as their pet monster, so I say the WC is monster by proxy.

Another point is the fact that monsters has their place in the DV. They have their role and their role are vitally important. This is why the coins are meant to be circulated and any attempt to completely seal them and kept them from circulation will eventually end up in futility. This is because as the KoTC is there to open the alternative to light and redemption, the coins need to be there to open the alternative to darkness and temptation. Only when they are both there would "Free will" has any meaning.

This meant, a holder of the coin is not nescesarily become the enemy of KoTC. A coin holder will only encounter a KoTC in their official capacity if there is a point in time where they need help to make a choice.

Under normal circumstances, coin holder can make choices on their own. The fallen can tempt them, of course. But as Harry show us, a person will can always keep the fallen's influence at bay. In the end, it is the person's own choice that must determine everything.

Sometimes however this balance is broken. Even the best people has their limits. Harry in BG and Michael in the short story is a classic example. Or sometimes the fallen inside the coin cheated and exert more power or influence than what is strictly allowed. In such cases, the KoTC is deployed.

If the fallen inside the coin play by the rules and there is no extenuating circumstances, TWG won't call upon the KoTC. This could explain why Marcone is never disturb by the KoTC. It also explain why only 3 knights is needed to balance 30 coins.

I doubt Murphy would come back anytime soon. Fictional rules indeed are made to be broken and JB is not known to just scrap a Character like Murphy so easily, but I doubt JB would break a new establish fictional rule so quickly either. So I suspect if Murphy is goint to come back, it requires some time, which is why I mentioned before that if the DF series is long enough or if there is a spin off which take place in future timeline or if there is a time skip in the series, Murphy could come back again.

Another possibility, Harry could meet Murphy in the NN. Murphy can't come back to the mortal world, but there is so many place out there in the NN and there is also other universes. Murphy can't come back here, but she could go somewhere else and Harry could go to that place as well.