Wild and Wacky Theories, Well, Sort of

[Mira]

   Thomas is Nem infected, he was being used by it, the assassination attempt was a huge diversion, so the Outsiders, Fomor and the Titian Lady can attack..  That is what he is trying to tell Harry, what the name of the Outsider behind it is, not Justine as Harry assumes.  In fact the Hunger Demon may be related to Nemesis.  Nemesis is who is really protecting Lord Raith, it keeps it's foothold in this world. Being coupled with him as long as she was, Margaret figured it out, that is why she ultimately ran away to give birth to a star child.  This was Raith's true motive for killing her..  However the knowledge about Raith and what his Hunger Demon really was, is why in her death curse while she couldn't kill it, she could make it unable to feed.

Eb is hell on wheels... How did he know that Harry was star born?  Did Margaret tell him? Kind of creepy, born every six hundred and sixty-six years, or 666. . .

It appears that there is really going to be a huge changing of the guard if Rivershoulders is right,  sounds like this is going to be the last battle for a lot of old favorites.

I also think Murphy's death is really being foreshadowed in this book.  There is no miracle healing for her, yet she insisted on fighting. Harry even says it will most likely lead to her dying in battle, but he says he cannot stop her from going.   I don't think that is just hyperbole. 

Butters, HE IS THE MAN!  Two wolf ladies?  He got more than a light sabre in his pocket...

Vampires, what did they take from Eb? Many think his wife, perhaps, or something more... Why is it that everyone, [including Alfred] can see that they cannot be trusted and the evil in them except for Harry?  Has love for his brother blinded him to it?  Or will in the end the love he has for his brother Thomas burn out the Hunger Demon?

So Harry made a deal with Uriel with the help of Mort to hang around as a ghost of some kind to protect little Maggie if he gets killed?  Sweet...
 

[Yuillegan]

Hell of a WAG, Mira! Great stuff.

Very interesting stuff. Can't refute any of it as there isn't much to say either way. But interesting ideas. I definitely think the timing of the hit on Etri wasn't a coincidence. It was specifically to distract Harry.

[Gigglestomp]

It's possible that Thomas fulfills Ebeneezer's forethought and is the one to stab Harry in the back....but I feel like his surviving the assassination attempt was kind of unpredictable.

I think it more likely the one threatening Justine *WAS* Justine. If Justine was host to the Nemesis infection it could explain a lot. She's been acting against her original nature since Grave Peril. Instead of a party girl who needs Thomas to stay functional shes turned into a highly functioning high performing intellectual and spy.

She tells Thomas she is pregnant and holds the knife to her stomach or her neck. It wouldn't even take a baby.. lets be honest. This is Thomas here. "Go do this and set this in motion or she dies / we die."

It also explains her reaction to the news being so controlled. She had already planned the talk out in advance.

Though if she was infected, perhaps she could have infected Thomas. I don't know how hard it is for them to infect people who haven't opened themselves up to it.

[Mira]

I think it more likely the one threatening Justine *WAS* Justine. If Justine was host to the Nemesis infection it could explain a lot. She's been acting against her original nature since Grave Peril. Instead of a party girl who needs Thomas to stay functional shes turned into a highly functioning high performing intellectual and spy.

Not really, she just suffered from severe bipolar disease and being fed upon even it out.  She is a mortal so supposedly she couldn't be Nem infected..  The one who is the host for Nemesis is Thomas, that is what used him in the assassination attempt..  We know that his father Lord Raith is tied up somehow with the Outsiders, that is what basically makes him immune to magic..  I believe it is Nemesis who occupies his body, and was passed on to Thomas.  He has battled it all these years thanks to the strength he got from his mother, but as she points out to Harry in Blood Rites, he is very tired, and now Nemesis has won.

[Bad Alias]

It appears that there is really going to be a huge changing of the guard if Rivershoulders is right,  sounds like this is going to be the last battle for a lot of old favorites.

That would be strange because it would involve introducing a lot of new wizard characters towards the end of the series. I doubt the White Council is going to just cease it's gerontocratic practices. Two or three going wouldn't be that much of a problem because we know Luccio and Klaus the Toymaker are on the shortlist, but if we get above three, Jim's got to introduce at least two new characters that have been mentioned once in passing at most.

He got more than a light sabre in his pocket...

Lol.

[vultur]

That would be strange because it would involve introducing a lot of new wizard characters towards the end of the series.

Only if the White Council survives in its current form. I think that's far from guaranteed as we head toward an apocalypse...

If (say) Eb, the Merlin, and Listens-to-Wind get killed in battle, and so does Luccio and some other older (pre-Vampire-War) Wardens, what happens then?

Cristos probably tries to take control, and the younger Wardens probably reject that. The Council could easily split into two factions, neither having a traditional Senior Council (Cristos ruling one as an effective dictator and the other being basically all younger wizards).

[Gigglestomp]

 Perhaps the paranet would graciously allow the remnants of the council to join their club as junior geriatric non-tech members

[Arjan]

I think Harry does know what can go wrong with a Thomas but that is not that different from what can go wrong with a warlock. Harry is prepared to help him as long as he keeps trying. Because Harry was a warlock, because Thomas is his brother, because Michael was more of a father figure for him than Eb.

[Bad Alias]

Only if the White Council survives in its current form. I think that's far from guaranteed as we head toward an apocalypse...

If (say) Eb, the Merlin, and Listens-to-Wind get killed in battle, and so does Luccio and some other older (pre-Vampire-War) Wardens, what happens then?

Cristos probably tries to take control, and the younger Wardens probably reject that. The Council could easily split into two factions, neither having a traditional Senior Council (Cristos ruling one as an effective dictator and the other being basically all younger wizards).

Point. Also, Rashid did say Harry would challenge the Council. It may be remade drastically.

I think Harry does know what can go wrong with a Thomas but that is not that different from what can go wrong with a warlock. Harry is prepared to help him as long as he keeps trying. Because Harry was a warlock, because Thomas is his brother, because Michael was more of a father figure for him than Eb.

Yeah. I think one of the big overarching themes of the DF is the debate over Fate vs. Choice (or determinism vs. free will, etc.). The White God, the Angels, and the Knights are clearly on the side of Choice. The White Council and the Wardens are clearly on the side of Fate. Harry and just about every other group seems to be somewhere in the middle.