Is Harry going back to his roots a good thing?

[Yuillegan]

I haven't made up my mind yet on this.

But it seems clear that Jim is returning Harry to some of his old roots.

Harry gets back his lab, his house, his pets, and now his PI life. All new and improved.

Sure, he's now also got two children, and lost two of his significant others, and his brother is imprisoned and dying/going insane, and lost the protection of the White Council/made active enemies of the White Council, and has far more enemies than before etc.

Does it all balance out? Should Harry try and get a semblance of his old life back? Is that really even possible? It it just regression? Does the story benefit from it? Does it make sense, given what has happened? Do we want more of the old Dresden, the old story lines and types, the original style?

I don't have the answers here but am curious to hear your thoughts.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

It does if it shows you can’t really go back, everything is the same but totally different, he isn’t the same man and Chicago isn’t the same City.

[Redepisg]

It makes sense psychologically for Harry to try to return to some semblance of his former life after the recent extremely traumatic events.  With all he's lost recently, it's no wonder, and add his impending wedding on top of all that, and well.  He needs stability, he needs a safe place to grieve, he needs the comfort familiarity brings.  And where was he happiest?  Certainly not anywhere from before he set out on his own and settled in Chicago, though McCoy's farm is probably a close second.  Chances are he'll set up a room with a bookcase full of ratty old paperbacks, mismatched rugs on the floor, and a star wars poster on the wall.

"You can't go home again" is a real thing.  Things will be different.  The people living there will be different.  YOU will be different.  Anyone who pretends everything is exactly the same as when they left is just grasping at straws and ignoring the changes wrought by both time and personal experience and perspective.

There is nothing wrong with seeking comfort in the familiar, but it can cause problems when it becomes a crutch.  Should be interesting, as always.

[Yuillegan]

It does if it shows you can’t really go back, everything is the same but totally different, he isn’t the same man and Chicago isn’t the same City.

So, would you say that it only works as a plot line if Harry then learns that he can't go back to his old life, and he can't be a PI in Chicago with his lab and all that? He basically has to lose it all again? I am curious about that. Part of me might agree, although I don't think Butcher will go that way.

It makes sense psychologically for Harry to try to return to some semblance of his former life after the recent extremely traumatic events.  With all he's lost recently, it's no wonder, and add his impending wedding on top of all that, and well.  He needs stability, he needs a safe place to grieve, he needs the comfort familiarity brings.  And where was he happiest?  Certainly not anywhere from before he set out on his own and settled in Chicago, though McCoy's farm is probably a close second.  Chances are he'll set up a room with a bookcase full of ratty old paperbacks, mismatched rugs on the floor, and a star wars poster on the wall.

"You can't go home again" is a real thing.  Things will be different.  The people living there will be different.  YOU will be different.  Anyone who pretends everything is exactly the same as when they left is just grasping at straws and ignoring the changes wrought by both time and personal experience and perspective.

There is nothing wrong with seeking comfort in the familiar, but it can cause problems when it becomes a crutch.  Should be interesting, as always.

I do agree it makes sense that Harry wants to go back to how things were. I just wonder if he really can, and if it is a good thing for him, or for the story? I am not sure I know the answers here so I am curious about what others think.

As much as anything, it's giving Butcher a place for Harry to have as an easy setting for scenes, and solves the issue of having a safe place for his loved ones that isn't Harry's best friend's house.

It also makes use of those diamonds Harry got.

But I think that you hit the nail on the head. Is Harry just burrowing into his old familiar things in search of comfort and safety from all the trauma and assaults on his life? Is he grasping at straws, as you put it?

Yes, it will be very interesting to see where it goes. My prediction is this will be the set-up until the BAT. Then all bets are off.

[Mira]

 He now has two children, he cannot go back to his old life.  He also now has a reputation, it isn't a matter of what he wants, others will have other ideas.  His home?  Not a humble basement apartment, he now lives in an ancient secure castle. He will always make use of his roots, the skills, but he cannot go back.  There is a famous saying, "you can't go home again.." And it is true.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

He is back where he started but is he? Harry has to realise as part of his healing process that he can’t recreate the past but will instead have to embrace his future, his subconscious needs to move on. The fragment of Dread Beast Mister seems to suggest he is wallowing in his depression in the Castle.

[BrainFireBob]

He's the owner of a great big castle in the middle of Chicago, the infamous Wizard of Chicago, who took down a Titan and serves as Winter Knight.

I don't expect PI cases. I expect either government liaison work with the Librarians or becoming the true head of the Paranet, responding to crisis calls from members. He's too notable now. He's too infamous a fish for the fringes where his cases were before.

I half-expect either him to challenge Marcone for Baron of Chicago or for Butcher to pull some kind of Arthur-Merlin parallel where Merlin actually didn't like Arthur that much but boy, boy got things done.

[morriswalters]

For Butcher this keeps the Barbarians(us) in check while he gets down to business, whatever that might be.

[seanham]

I'm not sure that Harry is going back to his roots. At the end of Battle Ground, Harry has a conversation with Michael and says something along the line of (sorry don't have my book with me right now)  "Something has to change. Marcone was ready; he prepared. Without him, we would have lost. I can do more; I have to do more." I think that this next stage in Harry's life will be preparing him and his city for the next fight. We can see this with the gargoyles in the Christmas story. Yes, he is back in the same location as he once was, but his life situations are completely different. Harry does not have the time to solve every missing person case or lost item that people call about. Instead, his work will be for Never Never superpowers (fairies, old gods, ext.) or find items to increase his own power or that of his allies. The one thing that will remain constant will be that Harry will do everything in his power to protect his family.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

The brief bit of Harry we see in the fragment of Dread Beast Mister is very different to the Harry we see in Christmas Eve, as is the Harry at the end of that story.

I think in Dread Beast Mister, we are going to see a Harry wallowing in his misery in the Castle. Whatever Toot does it pushes Harry towards being the more functional Harry we see at the start of Christmas Eve, willing at least to put on a facade

[Mira]

The brief bit of Harry we see in the fragment of Dread Beast Mister is very different to the Harry we see in Christmas Eve, as is the Harry at the end of that story.

I think in Dread Beast Mister, we are going to see a Harry wallowing in his misery in the Castle. Whatever Toot does it pushes Harry towards being the more functional Harry we see at the start of Christmas Eve, willing at least to put on a facade

We see Harry grieving, not wallowing, but grieving, for crap sake he still is wearing a cast and bandages, its been weeks, not months or years!  It isn't just Murphy that he lost, but for the foreseeable future his brother Thomas as well.  I'm not sure how you expect Harry to act, but it looks quite normal to me for someone who has lost so much.  He is attempting to get his emotions together, that is why he is meditating, that isn't wallowing.  Yes, he is doing better by Christmas Eve, a little time has past, at least his physical injuries have healed and he can do more to cope with his grief.  I am sure Toot does help him, but grief cannot be turned on and off like a faucet, it is a process, even for a wizard.