Battle Ground foreshadowing

[Conspiracy Theorist]

It just confirmed that he is fully white god and fully cat. He is incarnated as cat so of course as cat he has nine lives.

Sigh

The Church of Mister the White God will never cease.

I blame the internet.

[Arjan]

Sigh

The Church of Mister the White God will never cease.

I blame the internet.

It is clear. He made cats in his image. Join.

[Yuillegan]

Sadist is a good description of what Butcher does with the character not what he is. He's always looking to torture Harry.

I don't know...he says he loves torturing readers. 

I think Mab is simply  worried that Molly is too young, inexperienced, and weak  (in terms of personal power, willpower,  as well as "Wintery" coldness/hardness) to be an effective Queen.  She will simply be overmatched just by Titania... let alone by the duties of the Outer Gates!  And thus, Mab fears... Winter's purpose would fail, and fall; and with it, all creation.

Maybe so, but if it were that simple I don't think Jim would use it as a hook. I think something else that is specific to Molly's mental state and/or behaviour is going on.

Mab's instruction to Harry was to "Kill Molly Carpenter". Not, kill lady Molly. Or kill the Winter Lady.
Names, offices and mantles are incredibly important to the fae. Mab summoned Kringle, not Vadderung. Same person, two different names and offices. Harry bound Molly because the Warden of Demonreach did a favor for Winter, by enforcing the Accords and binding Ethniu. Winter was obligated to repay the favor and he called upon them to pay for the funerals and medical bills.
Harry Dresden, The Za Lord, The Wizard of Chicago, or the Winter Knight could not have bound Ethniu. Only the Warden of Demonreach could have bound her.
Name and mantles, kid. That's how they get you.

I like this. Although I will point out Mab said kill Maeve when she meant Harry to physically end the life of the current Winter Lady. She wouldn't necessarily say end the Winter Lady...because that might mean getting rid of the mantle itself and that would obviously be a problem.

[HeWhoSucksAtWalking]

So did Christos really die? If he did I guess  he wasn't in the Black Council ( or the Circle if you prefer) then he just was a stupid politician probably being used as a catspaw by them at least..

So if he's actually dead then whose up next? Klaus the Toymaker finally?

[HeWhoSucksAtWalking]

So how long do you think that HWWB has been controlling Justine? Since the White Court Coup? Turncoat? Damn thing almost pulled it all off.. And how the hell did it get past the Outer Gates? Summoned by someone from the Black Council I take it. Wonder what that whole crews next play will be ,well besides kicking Dresden off of the council.

That was probably the thing that the Gatekeeper viewed with his sight and got  post traumatic stress like Harry did with Shaggy.

As for Foreshadowing, I think Rudolph's partner will pick up one of the blades. King Toad will try to kill Listen, and Nemesis/Justine will  try to use the baby as a bargaining chip. Oh and Harry punches Rameriez right in his stupid face for even suggesting that the 60,000 lives were on Harry's head because he didn't freaking talk to him. Smh

Harry uses the ruins of the BFS to shelter low grade mages and uses the runes there for some kick ass defense.

[Mira]

I like this. Although I will point out Mab said kill Maeve when she meant Harry to physically end the life of the current Winter Lady. She wouldn't necessarily say end the Winter Lady...because that might mean getting rid of the mantle itself and that would obviously be a problem.

You may have stumbled on to what Mab meant when she ordered Harry to kill Molly if something happened to her.  Not the Winter Lady, but Molly, the the human being with a soul. That may be why she is promoting this marriage between Harry and Lara, because she knows Molly loves Harry.  One thing for Molly to tolerate Harry and Murphy, she knows it made him happy.  But Harry and Lara would be a soul killing bridge too far.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

So how long do you think that HWWB has been controlling Justine? Since the White Court Coup? Turncoat? Damn thing almost pulled it all off.. And how the hell did it get past the Outer Gates? Summoned by someone from the Black Council I take it. Wonder what that whole crews next play will be ,well besides kicking Dresden off of the council. “

Probably from Cold Days, when Maeve died her Mantle went to Molly, but Nemesis went to Justine, they were in a magic circle, so those were the only options available. Molly was a specialist in mind magic and had won against Corpsetaker, Justine had a pre-existing mental condition, Nemesis probably couldn’t take the former but could the latter. Lara also mentions that there has been recent leaks of information, again consistent with Cold Days.

[g33k]

... I seem to remember Bob stating that Halloween was only one such conjunction when Immortals can die, not the only one. Certain places in the NeverNever I believe he said. 

Agreed; I remember that too.

Halloween is ... the most-common / most-frequent / most-obvious / most-whatever "conjunction," but there are others.  Some I think are other times, some are places; some might be times and places (the right time and place).

I suspect some are objects... such as the Eye of Balor.  I'd argue that we have pretty good evidence (in Battle Ground) that it is!

And I think there are others still.

[Arjan]

Chichen Itza when the stars are right most likely. The stone table for sure.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Places in the Never Never will be places designed for particular groups of immortal like the Stone Table, they won’t necessarily work for all, and like the Stone Table are likely to be designed to redistribute that Immortals power, involuntarily.

Greek Gods for example had no such place, they just couldn’t be killed, only reduced, however the same may not have applied to other pantheons, Balor for example was killed by Lugh, and this may have at been such a place for the Fomor.

[Mr. Mouse]

Butcher seems to be foreshadowing Mab's death and with it Molly becoming overwhelmed.  Combine that with Harry saying he's not trying to get out of the Winter Knight mantle without freeing Molly from hers (and hopefully an answer to his own paralysis) and I wonder if the answer isn't Mab gets killed either as the spark for the BAT or in the first book. Molly goes nuts over the course of a book or so. Harry then uses the Crown of Thorns* to remove the Winter Queen mantle from Molly (and later the Winter Knight mantle from himself). Seems most likely that Lara becomes Winter Queen with maybe Elaine (who was Sidhe trained while with Aurora for years) becoming Winter Lady during the BAT.

*The hypothesis being that thorn manacles were created as a pale imitation of the power of the Crown of Thorns whose power strips immortality and/or a mantle from the wearer.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

*The hypothesis being that thorn manacles were created as a pale imitation of the power of the Crown of Thorns whose power strips immortality and/or a mantle from the wearer.

One of mine (it feels right, doesn’t it, containment for Drakul and Lucifer outside of Demonreach). The courts I think are going to be replaced by humanity as the last defenders of the Outer Gates (I posit the cycles ends with the Singularity and birth of a White God, the Endgame) If so Mab, Molly and Harry are all going to be released from their Mantles in any event in the APOCALYPSE. Harry and Molly might survive this but Mab? She has been institutionalised. Our last image of Mab, in a nursing home sans her mantle and mortal , confused and effectively suffering from extreme Alzheimer’s I think is a definite possibility. Harry is doing the opposite of what Mab is asking, he is helping her retain her humanity through her links to her family and friends. That may be her salvation.

[g33k]

...  Combine that with Harry saying he's not trying to get out of the Winter Knight mantle without freeing Molly from hers (and hopefully an answer to his own paralysis) ...

I'm pretty sure Harry is already cured.  I suspect his own wizard's "constitution" or "healing factor" did it, while Winter powers provided a sort of support-structure, like a cast supporting things so a bone can knit.

In Cold Days, at the start of Chapter 29, Harry says he's not bound by Winter Law... and looses protection of the WK Mantle.  Oh noes!  He feels a bunch of pain hit, and fatigue, and goes numb from the waist down...  I'm pretty sure that was Mab, directly intervening, specifically to deceive Harry.

Before that had happened?  Lacuna & her posse had got their iron nails (and her fish-hooks) into Harry and negated the Mantle... but Harry could still feel the pain below his waist, and still move his legs... Ergo, he is no longer actually paralyzed.  But it suits Mab for Harry to keep thinking she has that hold over him.
 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

There was no medical assessment of Harry’s spinal injury, he assumed his back was broken resulting in permanent paralysis. Mab would not disabuse him of that notion, if it got her her Winter Knight.

Harry may have merely have had an injury resulting in a temporary paralysis with sensation and function largely returning once the initial trauma had subsided. Months not decades to heal. He still needed the Winter Knight Mantle, but he intended to cheat Mab, so Mab cheated him right back (pun intended). By Cold Days he had healed.

[Mira]

There was no medical assessment of Harry’s spinal injury, he assumed his back was broken resulting in permanent paralysis. Mab would not disabuse him of that notion, if it got her her Winter Knight.

Harry may have merely have had an injury resulting in a temporary paralysis with sensation and function largely returning once the initial trauma had subsided. Months not decades to heal. He still needed the Winter Knight Mantle, but he intended to cheat Mab, so Mab cheated him right back (pun intended). By Cold Days he had healed.

That is true, no x-rays were taken.. However he also got what he needed, instant rehab even if it wasn't broken so he could save his daughter.  Though from Uriel's reaction to his condition I wouldn't bet against it being broken either.  And yes, Mab demonstrated that she could return his back to it's previous condition.