The Next Knight

[g33k]

   I'd agree with most of it except for Thomas, his youthful appearance comes from being a White Court Vamp, as long as he is reasonably well fed, he will keep looking good.  So that gives him an advantage appearance/physically over Harry, in spite of Harry's advantages as a wizard, at some point Harry would begin to look older than Thomas who won't age at all..  And face it, Harry has been put through the mill a bit more than Thomas, his face reflects the battering that it has taken the last few years.   Having said that, Harry has a big advantage over his "normal" vanilla human friends,  unless something really bad happens that his normal wizard genes or Mab cannot fix, he will remain hardy and just be coming into his prime at eighty while most of his friends will be in the market of assisted living.

IIRC, there's WOJ that wizards age increasingly-slowly until they look about 50something, then plateau in appearance for centuries.

Presumably "Ancient Mai" has crossed the plateau.  I don't know of any WOJ as to what's on the other side.  OTOH, maybe Mai just had some sort of supernatural trauma that advanced her from looking 50something to looking much older, as her personal plateau...

[Bad Alias]

Seems unlikely to me, because in the soulgaze with Beckitt, Harry saw young-punk-Marcone.

That said, "reborn" works just amazingly well... Marcone as Arthur, Harry as Merlin, and Excalibur waiting for the right time...

Good catch.

Harry would begin to look older than Thomas who won't age at all.

That's basically what I said Harry has noticed has happened.

He has noticed that he now looks older than Thomas.

I said that Harry has noticed that he, Harry, looks older than Thomas. Harry didn't look older than Thomas earlier. My point was that even Harry's description of Harry has aged.

[isoycrazy]

I have been of the mind for years that Marcone could be a Knight, but not one of Love.  If Butters hadn't taken up the Sword, I would have pegged Marcone for Fidelaccius.  He has the same strength and faith in his actions.  He holds true to his ideals and doesn't compromise.  If he had been nudged differently, a moment of redemption was possible.  Like in Death Masks when he was tapped by God to be part of the plot to stop the Denarians.  He used the similarly old fake shroud to pull two heavy men to safety with their combined weights over 500lbs.

Personally, I want to see Harry in Mirror Mirror encounter a few WCB Knights.  So, he arrives in the alternate world, runs from others hunting him, and gets to the street when a car pulls up and Marcone in a plain simple suit looks at him and says, "Come with me if you want to live."

As for Thomas, to be the permantent holder for Amoriccius he needs more love.  Michael held a universal love for his fellow man.  Thomas doesn't care about all those other people in the world.  He is focused on his family, loved ones, and friends.

Now William the Werewolf as a Knight of Love . . . defender of the weak, leader of his clan, happy loving marriage strong enough to break the bindings of fae magic.  It could happen.

[123Chikadee]

Hm, I see where people keep getting Marcone for Fidelaccius, but he'd probably have to be nudged off his criminal path. I feel like that could be the only obstacle and Harry's reaction if it did happen would be pure gold.
Ooooh yeah, that'd be a great intro for Mirror!Marcone. Hope that happens.
Yeah, that's very true. I think Peace Talks could be where Thomas gets a bunch of character development that puts him on the path to being the wielder of Amoraccius(I didn't spell that right did I?).
Will being a sword bearer is so great, I'm amazed no one else has brought it up.
Oooh, what if a majority of Team Dresden end up temporarily wielding the sword for one-time gigs before it lands to Thomas. I don't know when it would happen, but hey, if it's near the BAT it could work. 

[g33k]

I'm still digging Nic for one of the Swords (probably giving up Anduriel for it).

But I think it's Nic OR Johnny-M, there's too many narrative similarities between their calm planner-centric thinking villainy; for both to get a Sword would be to same-y... and Johnny-M is so very perfect for it.

I can just envision the scene where Marcone is defending someone else in extremis, pulls the Sword because he figures hey, it won't light for me, but it's still a F'ing ginormous blade, and better than my bare hands! and BAM goes the Holy Fire right in BBEG's face... while Marcone's face goes slack with "that-can't-happen-I'm-a-bad-guy!" shock.

Harry's too.

And the Winter Lady dissolves into helpless giggles, "right now, you two look absolutely identical!"

And then they get identical looks of outraged disdain.
 

[Kindler]

One of my biggest long-shots is Will or Georgia in the end. They're one of three couples who have been (and, presumably, always will be) in a stable, loving relationship since their introduction to the series. It's them, Michael + Charity, and, to a lesser degree, Thomas + Justine. I say Thomas and Justine are loving, but not exactly stable, and their relationship seems to have been started mostly due to codependence, especially on Justine's part.

My other long-shot is Amanda Carpenter. My reasoning is that A) it would be nice to see a Carpenter Knight once again, B) we haven't had a permanent female Knight yet, and I think the last one will be female, C) Daniel is kinda too obvious, though he's also pretty clearly not fit to be a Knight without some serious character development, and D) it would subvert expectations for the Last Knight to be a character who'd received so little attention early on. I do think Amanda will need some more attention, and if she starts getting some, it'll feed my WAG even more.

Obviously, Daniel could be currently undergoing tons of personal development (I think he joined the military, so he'd presumably pick up some discipline if not necessarily a cooler temperament) off-page that we simply haven't seen yet. It's entirely possible that the next time he shows up he'll have chilled out a great deal, and would make a good Knight.

Anywho, those are my picks within the current State of the Series. I'd like it to be Will. Or hell, Georgia. Her current status in the series is basically Professional Kidnappee, so it'd be nice for her to stand on her own two feet.

[spiritofair]

Seems unlikely to me, because in the soulgaze with Beckitt, Harry saw young-punk-Marcone.

That said, "reborn" works just amazingly well... Marcone as Arthur, Harry as Merlin, and Excalibur waiting for the right time...

Not to mention that Harry has soulgazed Marcone and didn't see this at all.

[Mira]

[quoteI'm still digging Nic for one of the Swords (probably giving up Anduriel for it).quote]

  I agree,  simply because the foundation for the purpose of the Holy Knights and the Denarians has
been so carefully set down.  It all comes down to redemption of souls and the huge chess board this
little game is being played on.   A very complicated three dimensional game at that involving free will, good verses evil..  Both sides champion free will, but it is a bit of a trap, one is free to make a choice, but that choice doesn't necessarily mean freedom.   

Back to Nic,  he has been one of the more powerful earthly players and really believes in what he is doing..  But what has it gotten him lately?  He sacrificed his daughter to what end?  He gained the Grail, but it is doubtful that it the object he was really after.. He has lost his place seemingly as leader  among the Denarians..  At some point will he begin to feel just a bit disillusioned by the whole thing and begin to ask hard questions?   If he arrives at the point where Sanya did and decide to chuck it all, he will turn to dust like most humans who are 2,000 years old..  He may prefer that, or he may though the influence and power of the Grail, reject Andriel, the noose, the coin, be reborn long enough to take up the Sword of Love and do one last battle,  not just for himself but perhaps in the hope that his action will redeem his daughter's soul as well...  Ultimately if anything turns Nic, saving his daughter from everlasting punishment will be it.

[123Chikadee]

Hm its seems that if there is a toss up between Nic and Marcone, the latter might be more realistic. I mean, Michael got so close to Nic. I thought he had a shot at redeeming Nic when I first read Skin Game, but since that fell through, I'm not sure it'll happen. It'll be cool if I'm wrong.
Oh, but Amanda as a sword bearer is so neat! Yeah, Daniel is a bit too obvious. I'm liking Will and/or Georgia as a sword bearer now. I'm still holding out hope that Thomas becomes a new sword wielder, he just needs more character development.
Yeah, we need more lady knights.

[Mira]

Hm its seems that if there is a toss up between Nic and Marcone, the latter might be more realistic. I mean, Michael got so close to Nic. I thought he had a shot at redeeming Nic when I first read Skin Game, but since that fell through, I'm not sure it'll happen. It'll be cool if I'm wrong.
Oh, but Amanda as a sword bearer is so neat! Yeah, Daniel is a bit too obvious. I'm liking Will and/or Georgia as a sword bearer now. I'm still holding out hope that Thomas becomes a new sword wielder, he just needs more character development.
Yeah, we need more lady knights.

   I've heard that Jim had at one time considered Marcone as the next Knight but went with Butters instead.  Indeed in the earlier books there were hints of Marcone's possible redemption, however from Changes on, he has seemed to have taken a darker turn..  Nic on the other hand, has always been ruthless and dark,  but as of Skin Game his fortunes have gone south, this could be the foundation for him rejecting coin and noose, that is all I am saying.   Who ever it will be, I see Jim going for the character who will give the greatest impact..  Marcone and Nic both would have that kind of impact, or if in the end Harry feels that he, himself. needs to carry the Sword..  This too would fit because Harry picked up Michael's Sword to almost disastrous results because he misused it and Lea was able to take it.   He has been in denial about being Holy Knight material from the get go, though the Sword of Faith did shine when on his back in Small Favor, he dismissed that as simply because of the presence of Denarians and it levels the playing field...  Or I can even see Maggie who will be a young woman by the time of the BAT taking up the Sword.

[morriswalters]

A couple of points.  I think the timeline is going to compress going forward as Harry moves towards the BAT.  So I wouldn't look for Maggie to pick up a sword. 

Unless Jim is going to throw away canon, Nic would need to give up the coin for the sword.  No coin and no anti aging magic, Nic gets old and decrepit fairly quickly.

[123Chikadee]

Really? Oh that's interesting. Well I feel that Butcher would have to choose between Nic and Marcone as having them both redeemed is too similar in storylines. If he changed his mind on Marcone already, maybe we'll get a redeemed Nic instead?
I wonder how old Maggie will be by that point. I think Harry might try to keep her out of the conflicts, so that'll be interesting to read.
@Morriswalters: Yeah, that's pretty true too. Hm, so maybe Nic gets it one time and then decides to let time take its course?
Though with that in mind its more likely that neither of them take up a sword. I still like the idea of Team Dresden all having a turn with Amoraccius.

[g33k]

A couple of points.  I think the timeline is going to compress going forward as Harry moves towards the BAT.  So I wouldn't look for Maggie to pick up a sword. 

Is there WOJ of this speed-up?  Mind you, I see some signs in the novels that you may be right, but I wondered if Jim Has Spoken, or anything...  From my reading, it's a reasonable surmise, but hardly a sure thing, so other WAGs have plenty of merit still.

Unless Jim is going to throw away canon, Nic would need to give up the coin for the sword.  No coin and no anti aging magic, Nic gets old and decrepit fairly quickly.

Well, Nic does have the Grail, which has lots of pop-culture "eternal life" cred.  So maybe he doesn't need Spanx of the Fallen to prop up his dusty ass.

The other possibility, of course, is for Anduriel to repent; stay en-coined, aligned with Nic, and Nic gets a shiny sword TOO.  I mean, a Fallen Angel repenting is pretty epic in an apocalyptic storyline...
 

[morriswalters]

Yes, no, maybe? I'll see if I can run it down.

[Mira]

Well, Nic does have the Grail, which has lots of pop-culture "eternal life" cred.  So maybe he doesn't need Spanx of the Fallen to prop up his dusty ass.

Not if he rejects noose and coin and accepts the chance of redemption and embraces the meaning of the Grail.  If the Grail can give eternal life or at least preserve him, it could be a game changer for Nic.  Because we know give up the coin etc and you go back to your real age and begin to age normally.. Since Nic is a couple of thousand years old, give or take he'd just turn to dust..  I don't think he is really to die yet no matter what happens to his soul.

 I really think this is what is being set up, however we may not see it till the final book..