Spoiler other starborn

[TrueMonk]

I think this is really interesting and spoilery, but have not seen anyone write about it.

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"“Sure,” River said. “But I taught him. And he’s just about gotten to the end of his path.” He looked uncomfortable. “Lot of the wizards who matter are near the end. Hanging on hard.” I tilted my head at him. “Why?” “Not the right person, time, or place to tell you, starborn.” I pursed my lips. “Six hundred and sixty-six years,” I said experimentally. River’s craggy brows rose, itself a feat of superhuman strength. “Huh,” he said. “You learned some things.” “I learned that,” I said. “We pretty close to that time,” he said. “Kinda promised not to tell you anything. Sucks. Necessary. But if I was you, I’d think hard about taking my offer.”
P. 206

So does this mean that Listens to Wind is a Starborn? Who else is exactly 666 years older than Harry?

[Vairelome]

One theory is that the last pass approximately syncs up with the Black Death, and that Mavra might be a Starborn that went Destroyer.

[Dina]

Uh, I did not understand that, TrueMonk. Only that:

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every 666 years, something really important happens, and many wizards die in the process but before that, they hang on hard. LTW is old, his time is ending, that is all.

In the forums it has been suggested that Merlin (the original one) was a starborn. After PT I am wondering if Mab was one herself. Also I was pretty sure we had a WoJ that Elaine was an starborn, but if the "window" to have an starborn was so short (a few hours) I don't believe that is the case. So perhaps he changed his mind

[Smaug with OCD]

Isn't the black death attributed to Nick and Tessa in Death Masks?

[ClintACK]

Proposed previous Starborns:
- ca -23: Nicodemus (Denarian)
- ca 643: Rashid (Gatekeeper)
- ca 1309: Mavra (BCV)
- ca 1975: Harry Dresden

Lots of fodder for speculation. Like did Nico take up the coin so that he could live long enough to be able to protect the world from Outsiders in between the births of starborns? Did Mavra become a vampire for similar reasons?

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Nicky isn’t a magic user Tessa is, a Starborn has to be a wizard level talent. Nicky might have been interested in either finding a Starborn like Tessa, (who became his rival) or making one, Deirdre who did not apparently inherit her mother’s power. This would explain his interest in recruiting Harry a Starborn wizard. Tessa is described as the second oldest Denarian making her a candidate only for 643AD late for IIs worship, but in Pace Talks wasn’t there something about investing a millennium and a half in Deirdre? I need to check.

I would note however that Etienne the Enchanter is only given as having lived in the Middle Ages  (476 AD – 1453)  which  covers both 643 AD and  1309 AD. Bob is described as having been bound for about 600 years  so Etienne is a candidate for 1309 AD. Bob left the NeverNever because he discovered how to kill immortals,  information useful to a Starborn it would appear.

[Dina]

Where did it say that they have to be magically talented? I understood every child born in those hours would be a starborn, and there are many, many people born in any given hours. Most starborns would never heard of outsiders, and those who do and have no magical talent would probably die fighting with normal weapons. But a few of them will be really dangerous for the outsiders.
Also, 643 may be Merlin?

On a side note, if it is every 666 years exactly, it has been Halloween for a couple of times. Perhaps it is what originated Halloween.

[The_Sibelis]

Wouldn't Hastings qualify as 666 years ago too...?

[Grifter]

Have we ever had confirmation that there can only be one Starborn per generation?  We know Elaine had the potential, but do we know for sure that she couldn't be?

[didymos]

Have we ever had confirmation that there can only be one Starborn per generation?  We know Elaine had the potential, but do we know for sure that she couldn't be?

Sounds like there can be multiples:

“Every couple or three wizard generations,” Ebenezar said, “the stars line up just right, and what amounts to a spotlight plays over the earth for a few hours. Any child born within that light—”
“Is starborn. I get it,” I said. “What does it mean?”

Butcher, Jim. Peace Talks (Dresden Files) (p. 97). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

We've never been told what Elaine's birthday is, but I doubt it's also Halloween, so I'd say she's probably not one.

[Arjan]

Sounds like there can be multiples:


We've never been told what Elaine's birthday is, but I doubt it's also Halloween, so I'd say she's probably not one.

I remember woj that she is. He can change his mind though.

But it explains Justin's interest in her.

[Dina]

Arjan, yes, I remember a lot of discussion here about that WoJ, but I don't think Elaine and Harry are born the same day. So I guess Jim changed his mind.
In another thread I posted that apparently even vanilla humans could be starborn, but of course they probably never find an outsider, and if they do, they will die because they don't have other defenses against them. But in several hours there are a lot of people born on Earth.

[didymos]

I remember woj that she is.

He said she was a "candidate".  He also said they were a few months apart in age, so unless there were multiple starborn events that year, I'd say it's looking like she's not.

[The_Sibelis]

Sounds like there can be multiples:


We've never been told what Elaine's birthday is, but I doubt it's also Halloween, so I'd say she's probably not one.

now, I think EB had more to explain there and Harry's dumb self over road the next part...
And multiple seems likely given Harry being born on Halloween is supposed to be significant. Remember not only was Thomas born on valentine's day, but I'm pretty sure Elaine would be on the spring solstice, the day of new beginnings.

[Grifter]

I don't know that the new info necessarily precludes her viability. A few hours might be 4, or it might be 72, or even longer.  I agree that it makes it less likely, and suggests that maybe DuMorne wasn't as knowledge as he thought when it comes to that subject.