Really Stupid Foreshadowing

[Conspiracy Theorist]

There are many instances of foreshadowing in the Dresden Files some obvious, some less so, many which may be accidental, and some which have yet to come to pass. We the readers also tend to read things into the text as foreshadowing, when sometimes they aren’t

What I am interested in are throw away lines which may represent foreshadowing but are really, really stupid, but if unresolved are going to be really, really annoying. Did Jim have a payoff in mind and just forgot or abandoned it? Or have we grasped onto something which never was foreshadowing

A perfect example is the constant references to the Merlin’s bottle cap collection. Is it a real thing? Will it have some minor or major plot point pay off later on in the series? Harry is due at some future point due to have a showdown with the Merlin and the White Council due to the Gatekeeper (who should know) will the bottle cap collection play a part? Or has Jim just played far too much Fallout?

My ideal scenario? It involves Harry, Nick and the Merlin and two identical bags, one full of Blackened Denarius, and the other full of the Merlin’s most prized bottle caps, leading to a Nick versus Merlin battle.

Are there other examples of such frustrating ‘foreshadowing’?

[GWPfark]

You know...when Dresden threatened to destroy the entire Red Court.....

[JTass]

My favorite bit of foreshadowing that at the time seemed like just a throwaway quip was Butters' line in Ghost Story telling the Einherjar that he wouldn't be getting into any sparring rings until he had a functional light saber.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

And he reneged on that!

Some champion of the White God.

We need to see the scene of Butters versus an Einenjharen in the sparring ring.

Butters slips and the Einenjharen trips over him, knocking himself out on the post.

[JTass]

IIRC I think it was mentioned or implied in "Day One" that that Butters had been sparring with the Einherjahren as part of his training regimen with Michael.

[Mira]

IIRC I think it was mentioned or implied in "Day One" that that Butters had been sparring with the Einherjahren as part of his training regimen with Michael.

Well, he may just haven't had the chance yet, he has been a very busy little man after all.

[morriswalters]

If Merlin had Bottle Caps in the 11th Century then he got them from some other time.  They weren't invented till the 1800's.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

The Merlin, not Merlin would have been born in the 1700’s. He would have been fascinated by the new fangled bottle caps replacing the trusty cork.

[Yuillegan]

As far as I am aware, Harry is just using an analogy when claiming the Merlin didn't get his job by collecting bottle caps. I don't think it's meant to be anymore than a phrase.

Sometimes, curtains are just curtains. Not on these forums of course 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

As far as I am aware, Harry is just using an analogy when claiming the Merlin didn't get his job by collecting bottle caps. I don't think it's meant to be anymore than a phrase.

Sometimes, curtains are just curtains. Not on these forums of course 

Sometimes they are drapes.

[Mira]

Sometimes they are drapes.

  Could also be tin foil.....   It gets hot here in Arkansas and using it to cover windows really helps.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

  Could also be tin foil.....   It gets hot here in Arkansas and using it to cover windows really helps.

Don’t be silly, tinfoil is for hats.....

[Mira]

Don’t be silly, tinfoil is for hats.....

That is another use for it, but though ugly, it is very effective in helping the keep your house cool.  I live in a house built in the early fifties with one of those huge picture windows that faces the south.
Though I do put black out curtains on it for the summer, covering it with tin foil is more effective for
reflecting the heat outside.  At end of summer when you take it down you have plenty of foil for hats and roasting a turkey...

[tacorrific]

I imagine that someone from the Black Council or Harry will give The Merlin a sabotaged bottle of Mac's beer at some point, and when The Merlin twists off the bottle cap a mistfiend will attack him.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

That is another use for it, but though ugly, it is very effective in helping the keep your house cool.  I live in a house built in the early fifties with one of those huge picture windows that faces the south.
Though I do put black out curtains on it for the summer, covering it with tin foil is more effective for
reflecting the heat outside.  At end of summer when you take it down you have plenty of foil for hats and roasting a turkey...

Thinking about it, the tinfoil hat would almost certainly block the influence of  Demonreach. There must be a scene of Harry doing this to protect someone at some point, ideally my fellow conspiracy theorist in the Dresdenverse Paranoid Gary, as a joke which actually works.

No one would dare sabotage a bottle of Macs, it’s written into the Accords. Why do you think Macs is Accorded Neutral Territory. You would be declaring war on every Accorded Nation simultaneously.