A question about Listen

[RobReece]

I was re-reading BG and remembered a thought I'd had he first time regarding a conversation between Listen and Ethniu... When Harry was listening with Grimalkin's senses.  Corb had already been dismissed from the conversation when the following conversation took place...

(click to show/hide)

“He will kill you in your sleep one night,” Ethniu predicted.
“I’ll be waiting for him,” Listen replied.
“For a mortal, you are uncommonly capable—and insouciant,” Ethniu said. “If I did not need you for later, I might kill you myself.”
“But you do need me,” Listen said calmly. “And you haven’t got anyone else as good as me.”
“I find it pleasant to have the service of someone who can think,” the Titan replied. “Yet you are mortal. One is much like another.”
“How many starborn are there wandering about, this close to the endga—” Listen’s voice broke off abruptly. “Sergeant, I want a light on that mound of rubble, right now.”

Butcher, Jim. Battle Ground (Dresden Files) (pp. 241-242). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

I don't recall seeing discussions on this, but did Listen just claim to be a starborn?

[Mira]

Yup, so apparently there is one under every rock, we now know of at least three..

[RobReece]

Yup, so apparently there is one under every rock, we now know of at least three..

Harry
Drakul
Listen
Elaine (possible starborn?)

and Harry apparently the most clueless of them all...

The Mothers know their significance, so do the Queens, I wonder if the Lady's know and if so, could Molly instruct Harry on the subject?

or will LTW's promise of One Year's time extend just beyond the end of "Twelve Months" and leave us still waiting until after Harry returns from the Mirror Dimension before us readers get to hear about it.
 
So yes I'm proposing that Harry slips into the Mirror dimension prior to consummating his marriage to Lara... Maybe Eb does "what he thinks is best" for Harry and shifts him over to keep him from Lara

[g33k]

Harry
Drakul
Listen
Elaine (possible starborn?)

I've seen people suggesting Rashid (Gatekeeper) as possibly (even probably) Starborn, too.

...  So yes I'm proposing that Harry slips into the Mirror dimension prior to consummating his marriage to Lara... Maybe Eb does "what he thinks is best" for Harry and shifts him over to keep him from Lara

I think Mirror!Harry grabs Harry!Prime.

IIRC, Mirror!Harry has been pulling this trick for a while:  he throws a mirror-version of himself to the wolves, gets the pressure off his *own* back.  I'm unclear on how clearly this is based upon WoJ, vs what fans have assembled from various hints/teasers.

What has suddenly occurred to me:  it happens *at* the wedding.  Having twisted & turned and tried everything he can to escape the marriage, he's out of options.  He's putting on final touches, straightening his bowtie... then Mirror!Harry reaches out of the image, and grabs him.

Literally leaving Lara a jilted bride at the altar.  She didn't want the marriage either, but the public humiliation is too huge a hit to her reputation, so she HAS to go medieval on Harry (when he finally comes back).

[Conspiracy Theorist]

The intimation is that Harry and Listen are Starborn from this Cycle, Drakul from an earlier cycle. On that basis for all we know the English Prisoner is a Starborn from an earlier cycle, stashed in Demonreach as a failsafe against there NOT being a suitable Starborn from this cycle, a backup to Harry.

[seanham]

Yup, so apparently there is one under every rock, we now know of at least three..

I've seen this comment (or those like it a lot), but I just don't understand it. Yes, there have been more Starborns revealed (two) in the last book than the previous 16, but still having three is VERY small in the large scheme of the DresdenVerse. Even if you included the possible/suspected Starborns (5 total called out previously in this thread), then you still have less than half a dozen. I understand that Starborns are rare and that something is killing them off, but it is not inconceivable that we have seen 3 or 5 of them (from varying cycles) over 17 books.

[g33k]

I've seen this comment (or those like it a lot), but I just don't understand it. Yes, there have been more Starborns revealed (two) in the last book than the previous 16, but still having three is VERY small in the large scheme of the DresdenVerse. Even if you included the possible/suspected Starborns (5 total called out previously in this thread), then you still have less than half a dozen. I understand that Starborns are rare and that something is killing them off, but it is not inconceivable that we have seen 3 or 5 of them (from varying cycles) over 17 books.

I think some people had originally understood "Starborn" to be a unique sort of Chosen One.  One per cycle.
So they feel a bit peeved when Jim keeps pulling new starborn's out of his... hat.

https://imgflip.com/i/6p79w4

[Mira]

I think some people had originally understood "Starborn" to be a unique sort of Chosen One.  One per cycle.
So they feel a bit peeved when Jim keeps pulling new starborn's out of his... hat.

https://imgflip.com/i/6p79w4

Yup, he is in danger of going to that well once too often, because from the beginning we are given the impression that starborn is something special, now we greet it simply with shrug of shoulders.

[Regenbogen]

Harry isn't that special. So what?
seanham is right. It's not that many starborns.
But interesting in which positions they are.   
Winter Knight/Warden, sort of Fomor Commander, ally or whatever Listen is and the Black Court boss/necromancer whatever.

[morriswalters]

Harry isn't that special. So what?

Somebody needs to share that with Butcher. Harry's risen from the dead.  He's the Winter Knight. He hang's with  Archangels.  And he knows a thing who knows a thing. It's draining after a while.  He needs to get to the point.  Or not depending on how you feel about it.

[g33k]

... Harry's risen from the dead.

Well... from the almost-dead.   
But yeah, Vadderung indicates it's "special," and "not as common as you'd think" -- it makes him interesting, worth paying attention to, for beings who previously haven't thought him to be so.

He's the Winter Knight.

Honestly, this is nothing much.  I think Bob likened the Knights to Kleenex -- useful for a certain kind of mess, but fundamentally disposable, and not worth much attention or effort, nor any regret for their loss.

Mab's long labors keeping Harry alive into & through Ghost Story would appear to be exceptional; or maybe Bob was wrong...?

He hang's with  Archangels.

Yeah, this one seems like an extreme case of "exceptionality."  Uriel himself mentions that his degree of interaction with Harry is highly unusual.  "I can hardly remember the last time I spent this much time with one particular mortal" (n.b. not I can't remember (which would imply NEVER... because... Uriel ffs!)).  So, a turn of phrase, a vernacular meaning "it has been a very long time."

And he knows a thing who knows a thing.

  Honestly, this one is just Harry...  It's the trope of the "hard boiled PI."

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Population increase and density in earlier cycles would have presented a single Starborn, in 1974 the world population was almost 4 billion, in the previous cycle 666 years before in the 1300’s only 10% of that with 390 million in the cycle before that in 700 AD 200 million 5%.

Drakul may have been the first instance of multiple Starborn in the cycle, he is a failure yet the Others were still shut out ergo there were other Starborn of his generation one of whom succeeded. This cycle must have been a nightmare with 10 times the number of Starborn expected born based on the preceding cycle. It’s only perhaps taken two cycles to get out of kilter due to population changes.

Of course this may have been planned, it would have been fairly simple to track down a single Starborn with magic, but 20 of them running around would confuse any spell.