Which can mean anything at the same time Sanya keeps talking about "the plan," we need a better plan because for the most part they got their ass kicked. However they won in the end because of the unconventional attacks.. Also just common sense says, if you have hope because you see a weakness, that you don't follow up with a plan to exploit that weakness.. Whether it was off page or not.
What can mean anything? Molly says, word for word, that Vadderung got laid out. How is that ambiguous? Sanya is referring to the plan made
after Ethniu's appearance. I agree, they won because their plan had the right elements - but more importantly the execution of it was done well enough to win the day. As Mike Tyson says, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face. Or to use the old quote "No plan survives first contact with the enemy". Obviously there is some wiggle room but you get the idea.
I am afraid I don't understand the bit about common sense. Could you put that another way?
I never did, I never said that prior to Peace Talks they knew that she was coming, they didn't. What I am saying is in the middle of the battle they discovered her weakness.. She got frustrated as Harry said by unconventional attacks, once he says that, reading the next twenty pages or so, the attacks appear more coordinated than random, that takes planning, even if on the fly..
My apologies then, it appeared you were saying that to me. They knew her weakness early on - that Titanic Bronze can be pierced by holy and unholy power, and that they need to wear down her limits, and that she is emotional and brash. Both Mab and Marcone immediately acknowledge that had Ethniu given no warning, had attacked a less well defended city (one without Mab for instance), she would have achieved her goals. But she attacked Chicago because Mab was there, and she had to prove herself superior. She wanted the theatre of it all. As I said earlier, I am not saying there was not a plan at all, just that they didn't plan for Ethniu coming to Chicago because they had no knowledge of it.
But not to the effect that Odin did.. All he had to do with say the word, and "it turned on her like a snake.."
That is assuming Ethniu even knew about that ability. And how would she employ it? Give Odin his staff
back? That trick only works because no one knows about it and only Odin knows how to activate it.
Actually that is exactly how it works, unless the sources on the subject I checked out were wrong. That is why all Odin had to do was say the word and the spear turned and struck exactly where he wanted it to go, directly into the Eye.
I'm not saying your sources were wrong. But they are sources that
inspire the character, they are not evidence of the character. Jim picks and chooses what bit he likes out of fiction and mythology, and often just invents his own stuff. It is not enough to rely on what the myths say, or what analyses of them say. They are a guide not a rule. As I said, we don't have proof that the spear when thrown never misses it's target, we don't have proof it is unstoppable, because we never saw the spear thrown in Battle Ground or in any other book. The closest thing to that would be firing lightning from it. Also, in no myth does Odin speak a work and the spear targets his enemies. In the actual myths we have, all that happens is he throws it and it doesn't miss. Which for a Viking was incredible. A spear that didn't deviate because of bad throws or wind or being poorly made. That alone made it far more deadly than a regular spear. In more modern interpretations and imaginations the spear has been granted far more power.
As I pointed out way back, the spear turning on Ethniu is a direct rip from D&D Deities & Demigods, 1st edition. Jim has spiced up the effect but this is far more likely his inspiration than the myths. There is no story of Odin's spear ever being used by any one but Odin, so there's no story of it attacking an unworthy thief.
When Odin called to the Spear to do it's thing, he didn't sound whupped or very much like he had a bruised ego.. Also he won, the Spear did it's job and Lara was able to kick it out of her head.
That's your interpretation. We didn't "hear" Odin. All it says is that he says it in a deep voice. You interpret that as commanding, but I interpret that as simply the power of the magic. We will have to agree to disagree there.
But, as before that doesn't answer why Jim wrote the words "He got laid out" in The Good People. Why did Jim write that? Can you answer it?
In "Christmas Eve"? Kringle gives Harry a nice gift, but he doesn't say anything about being beaten... Neither does Molly, Harry feels guilty and bad because so many got hurt and died and Murphy died, but he always does when that happens.. Harry is depressed because of the loss of innocent lives.. Molly tells him he did what he could, it wasn't his fault, then gives him the card showing that Winter has paid the bill for the injuries and funerals of those who were harmed. Which is a good thing that Harry insisted upon.
Why would he say that? At what point in the short story would it have been relevant for Kingle to say "Yeah, I got beaten" particularly as he was also furious about it. Same for Molly, at what point would it have been relevant to bring it up? Also, as Christmas Eve came out
before Battle Ground was released, Jim wasn't going to spoil anything.
I don't disagree that Molly paying funeral and hospital bills for Chicagoans was a good thing. Not sure why you think I would.
