So counter their counters.

 

Counter with your second weapon (gun, bow, or whatever). Or switch to the hidden blades.

 

And eat your own teeth. Been there, tried that, gotten bitchslapped to death.

I was using the hidden blade to start with. Then I switched to the DLC sword when that didn't work. Then I tried to shoot them, but they outshot me because they apparently have goddamn repeating muskets, or something.

The mission was actually to run, though. I figured that out after dying for the twelfth time in a row. The game just doesn't clarify that for you. I guess they just expect you to figure it out on your own the seventh time you get your ass kicked by the three immortal demigod redcoats hiding in the small crowd of normal ones.

That's a problem with ACIII, right there. A recurring one. They just expect you to figure shit out on your own. And normally, I'm all for that, but when those things are complex countering controls or the objectives of the goddamn mission, it's suddenly less innovative, and more irritating. You can be vague about a lot of things, but what your character is supposed to be doing to progress the plot and not be automatically disqualified is not one of those things.

But this isn't the place for that, so whatever. Problem solved, by running like a bitch, which you were apparently supposed to figure out on your own. Moving on.


I had a disturbing thought. If Nemesis was going to take one of the Queens, now would be the perfect time for it. In fact, if you squint a little bit, the entire plot of this book seems like it could, conceivably, be nothing more than an elaborate set-up for it. Because the best case scenario for one of the Queens losing it would be if the two Knights and the two Ladies stepped up and stopped her before she blew up the world.

But look at what we have. It's literally the worst case scenario. You can't actually get rid of the Ladies, but you can force them to switch vessels. Both Ladies just switched, which means they are both by definition at their very weakest and most vulnerable. And Fix has a very good reason right now to be incredibly pissed at Harry, and not be willing to work with him. So no Knightly cooperation, and the Ladies aren't going to be able to provide decent backup.

So what, you ask. The other Queen can just step in and take care of it, right? That's what she's there for.

Unless that Queen is in command of the offensive effort to hold the Outer Gate. Unless the Outsiders have been massing for a gigantic push. Unless something would happen there that would require her full attention and power, less all of reality be lost to the unending hordes of WHARGARBLE.

Think about it. Nemesis has been trying since almost the beginning to use high-placed Fairies to destroy the world. At this point, it has directly possessed both Ladies, and further manipulated both of those Ladies counterparts when it did. And each time, Harry was able to stop it.

The next logical step is to escalate to a Queen. And the most logical choice for that Queen is Titania, because Mab can potentially be distracted by the Outer Gates, we already know there's probably some kind of Nemesis plant in Summer anyway, and Titania is the one Queen who doesn't have constant contact with Harry, and thus is the best choice from the viewpoint of Nemesis, because the further removed their plans are from Harry, the less likely that Harry will stumble into them and cock everything up.

Take Titania, push hard on the Gates to entangle Mab, and suddenly Nemesis has an almost clear shot. The only one who could possibly stop it is Harry, who is ignorant and in another Court, and even if he figures it out, his allies would be two untested, brand-new Ladies and maybe another Knight, versus Titania and the entirety of Summer, because even if Summer Sidhe don't like it, they still have to obey, as proven by Eldest Gruff.

I think this whole goddamn thing was a setup from the very beginning. It was a legitimate attempt for Demonreach, yes, but there was also a setup layered inside that attempt, so that even if it failed, it still positions Nemesis perfectly for their next turn on the board.

I think Harry and the rest of Farie are in some seriously deep shit, and they don't even realize it yet.

 

Dresden is always in deep shit. He even acknowledges that repeatedly in Cold Days.

That said I think that won't happen(if at all) soon since it seems a lot like either the lead in to the apocalypse trilogy or the one right before that set up the conditions for such.

 

I'm pretty sure the lead to the Apocalypse trilogy isn't going to involve the Fairies. It's going to involve the Super-Gaol of Doom.

 

Which is why I was doubtful of it happening like that?

Though personally I would say the lead in gotta involve all groups otherwise it is not really apocalyptic.

 

Well we know that the 3 titles are going to be "Hell's Bells", "Stars and Stones" and "Empty Night".

The first seems relatively self explanatory. The second is generally used by Thomas/Lara (IIRC) so maybe something to do with Vampires? And the last was used in Cold Days to refer to what happens when the Outsiders get in. If I'm right about that third one then Winter has to have something pretty significant happen to it at some point.

I do like the 'Super-Gaol of Doom' and I don't see how it can't play a big role in the future.

 

Not quite. "Empty Night" is the White Court curse. The first two are Dresden's. Presumably, "Stars and Stones" refers to Demonreach, what with the sheet of stars that forms the mega-circle.

 

From Cold Days

Mother summer to mother winter regarding the new good futures arising from Harry knowing about Nemesis. There was another quote along those same lines somewhere else too. So I'm guessing that it has to do with the outside coming in.

I hadn't thought of Stars and Stones referring to Demonreach, nice catch.

(Sorry for any fuck ups here I'm typing from my phone)

 

Yea, that's probably why it's a curse, but 'Empty Night' is the curse that Thomas and Lara use all the time. Or at least, I don't remember anyone else using it.

That said, both of those people are/were fighting the Oblivion War. Odds are quite good they got it from there.

 

Hells bells is referring to demons. Jim told us that. It's been pointed out before that "Stars and Stones" is probably referring to gods and spirits. And we also know that "Empty Night" is talking about Outsiders.

Hells Bells, Stars and Stones, Empty Night. The demons make their move, the slumbering gods awaken and/or return, and the Outsiders invade. In that order, apparently.

Basically, if we go by what we know the oaths mean, and if we assume the apocalypse trilogy happens in order, we're basically looking at the Fallen cutting a deal with the Outsiders to split the loot.

Chekhov's rule. A gun will only be shown in the opening acts, if it will be fired in the closing one. Harry has been given Pandora's box, and he has the power to open it if he wants.

The only reason it's there, is for it to be opened. And it will. Because it has to be. That's the entire point.

My personal theory? Harry is going to get to pull the biggest Aragorn ever.



Somebody, somewhere, is getting that in their grill.

 

If that happens... then the shit has been thrown at the fan so hard that it's started hitting the wall on the other side.

AND THEN STARTED BOUNCING OFF THAT WALL.

 

Apocalypse Trilogy.

Not bouncing. Through the wall, out into the street, destroying the neighborhood, and rampaging off into the city.

---------- Post automerged at 11:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:32 PM ----------

I felt the need to point something out, going back a bit in this thread. A lot of people assumed at the end of Ghost Story that the Parasite was Lash. And some of you still seem to be assuming that.

While I won't say it can't be, I feel the need to throw out there that, given what we now know, it almost certainly isn't.

1.) The Shadow could, theoretically, be referred to as a parasite (though I'd be more inclined to call it a symbiote), but it lives in Harry's mind, not in his blood or his brain.

2.) It was stated that the Parasite will eventually burst out of Harry's skull, presumably killing him in the process. That doesn't sound like the Shadow at all. While they can get their hosts killed if they want to (as Lash demonstrated handily when Harry first figured her out), there has never been any evidence that they can actually physically harm their host. Not like that, at any rate. The illusion of blinding pain, sure. Opening actual, physical wounds, no.

Furthermore, the only way that could make any sense if it was Lash is if the coin was somehow used to heal Harry, and is embedded in his body. And while I could buy that, it begs two questions: one, how did Mab and Demonreach get the coin, and two, why would it come out of Harry's skull, when it would have, presumably, been lodged in his chest near his heart, to keep it beating?

Not to mention the fact that Demonreach explicitly stated that the Parasite was "in Harry's blood," which, again, doesn't fit the Shadow.

And, perhaps most importantly of all:

3.) Harry was healed in a depression in the ground in the prison. The same sort of depression that contains inmates.

So what came out of that hole to make room for Harry?


As much as I like the Denarians and the angle they bring to the story, and as much as I love the idea of the protagonist having a rebel fallen angel riding shotgun in their head, I don't think the Parasite is Lash or Lasciel. I think it's something more sinister. I think it's an inmate that bartered it's way to partial freedom in exchange for Harry's life.

Or, in other words, I think it's a brand new set of problems, instead of old problems coming back for a rerun.

 

The problem there Raine is that Butcher has confirmed Lash's presence in Ghost Story. What other character could she have possibly been?

 

There were, if I recall correctly, a few unknowns in Ghost Story. There was at least one other thing, IIRC, that was unexplained and unaccounted for.

I reread a lot of the Files for Dark Times, but Ghost Story I've only read twice, I think.

I'll reread it and get back to you on that. But I'm moderately sure there's space for her in there somewhere.

A better question would be, if we assume the Parasite is Lash, what the hell is she doing in Harry's blood, and how the fuck is she going to explode out of his face?

 

Where did Demonreach say that the parasite was in Harry's blood?

 

I don't have the book in front of me, so I can't check. So I'll drop that for now.

I'd still like to know how she's supposed to explode out of his head.

 

If memory serves, they never actually said how it would kill him, just that it would. I was thinking it would be something along the lines of the pieces of his brain that got fried in White Night re-connecting with the rest would give him a stroke and kill him or something like that. Helps explain why Molly can help him with it at least, she's good at dealing with the mind.

 

If it goes through the wall and prancing around like a Godzilla-Katamari-Damacy, it can't bounce. If it doesn't bounce, it can't rebound to hit you right in the face.



Hmm... Maybe Lash was maintaining the flow of blood in his head? Preventing brain-death?

But no, you've still got the rest of the body to deal with... If everything below the head gets no bloodflow for months, I'm not sure if that's survivable.


... Wait, Demonreach said "HERE PROVIDED NOURISHMENT" so maybe your hypothetical paroled prisoner was the one doing the providing?


Mab should've just put Dresden on ice. A Dresdensicle. Cryonic storage is all the rage these days, I hear. And ice is always in fashion in the Winter Court.

 

Well from what I remember, I'm pretty sure he said the parasite kept the blood flowing or something along those lines, and to me it meant that Lash was controlling his blood flow in place of his limbic system. If she can make his mind believe things are on fire, could she not also force other parts of his brain to behave certain ways?