r/dresdenfiles • u/Aeransuthe • 1d ago
Spoilers All Twelve Months Scene Spoiler
Why do you think Drakul actually dropped a challenge to Harry and anyone in the Council seeking retribution for Yoshimo, Wild Bill, and Chandler?
Was it truly to avoid a diplomatic incident? It seems like an obvious ploy, but for what else? A lure for Harry and anyone else, and giving both Mab and the Council a way to be free of obligation. But why does he want them to come after him? What does he gain by it? Merely more recruits?
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u/Conrad500 1d ago
There's so many balls in the air right now, there's zero way to even have a clue.
Maybe it's the obvious. He is bored and wants a fight.
Maybe it's subversion. He wants to be attacked so he can recruit powerful new vampires.
Maybe it's 4d chess and he's spurring Harry into some kind of situation where he can unlock his starborn potential so that he can reveal that he has actually been a good guy all along as new game ++ is unlocked and all previous conflicts pale to the fight at the gates they're about to have.
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u/borticus 1d ago
I think. And I'm just spit ball speculating here.
This is Drak's way of pulling a Hades on Harry.
On one hand, there's the Job: Recover our people or wipe them out - and hopefully some high level Blamps while we're there.
Then, the secret side mission and objective: Get Harry into [My Realm] and have a little chat that shifts his perspective on just how big the Game really is. And maybe I can delete or recruit another Starborn while he's here.
Why the subterfuge? Probably the same reason(s) the Council (and others) are so tightlipped about what Starborn, Stars and Stones, and all that is.
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u/Independent-Lack-484 1d ago
Actually, the reason why Listens-to-Winds or River Shoulders didn't tell Harry sooner was that they didn't want to put a target on Harry until they absolutely had to. The more you know about the outsiders, the more the outsiders can target you.
Cornerhounds, traumatic dreams, psychic pressure, etc. - they'd all go after Harry; it's why Mother Winter was alluding to. And Harry already has enough on his plate.
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u/Elfich47 1d ago
Drakul was pretty clear on the point: Shit or get off the pot.
if you want to complain about it: grumble quietly, or throw down. but continuing to publicly whine about is immature and annoying. So come at me. Come one, come all. if you aren’t willing to put your money where your mouth is, shut the fuck up.
Yes, Drakul was much more polite about it, but that was the intent.
and I expect in the past, some dumb fuck wardens have tried to take a run a Drakul. and Drakul send them back in the same business envelope as the letter he sent to the Merlin asking the Merlin to please cut it out.
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u/saejin1983 1d ago
Drakul is cleaning house. He now, most likely, has new recruits that are far more powerful than the vampires he lost in the battle at the castle. It also moved a clan of ghouls off the chess board, which could have been annoying in the future. It puts him in a strong position, without having real collateral damage.
I really don't think it was a test of Harry's strength, right now, because it's obvious that if Drakul put just a little elbow grease into it, he would win. I would say Drakul is more interested in what Harry will become. He knows that Harry has the potential to be a formidable friend or foe.
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u/Melenduwir 1d ago
I have a hard time imagining that Drakul believes Harry could ever become a friend of his. Man's got an established history.
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u/Glittering-State-284 1d ago
Friend? Probably not. But he is a heck of a cats pas
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u/saejin1983 1d ago
Yeah, friend was a bad choice of framing what I meant. He could be a potential ally at one point in time, if their goals aligned. Or if a favor is needed. Harry is starting to think more of the long game, as in potentially living for hundreds of years....but at the same time. Stranger things could happen. It would be interesting to have the 3 Star Born we know about have a sit down. And maybe we will, if people keep being withholding from Harry about this specific detail.
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u/Jedi4Hire 1d ago
I don't know, other than the vague sense that it's a test of some sort. Maybe to test Harry's mettle, maybe for shits and giggles, maybe both.
Though I am sure that there are more than one motivation/agenda at play here. It seems likely that Drakul is wise enough to want to avoid an incident with the Council if it can be avoided.
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u/MochiMachoMan 1d ago
I suspect Drakul would be amused if it came to a fight between him and the Council. Remember, he was effortlessly fighting the Senior Council’s most effective shapeshifter, a squad of the most dangerous Wardens, plus an angry Bigfoot, and they all barely survive and Drakul wanders off at the end after beating them all.
He’s a cat toying with mice.
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u/Independent-Lack-484 1d ago
WoJ is he's one of the few beings who can go toe-to-toe with Mab. He could take on the whole council and win. Drakul probably sees the wizards as amusing or irritating, and would like to get any conflict out of the way.
Plus, if Drakul says "bring it", but the council is too afraid to make a move, it's a big blow to morale.
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u/Elfich47 1d ago
if I remember, Mab said she would not move against Drakul. and Harry was left a bit speechless.
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u/Independent-Lack-484 1d ago edited 1d ago
Right, cause there's a chance he could actually beat her (plus, she might have need of him).
Jim said that was sort of like a John Wick moment from the 1st movie, where the mob boss has a look of fear and describes John to his son. Edit: as a way of describing Drakul's threat level. Drakul's going to be the big bad for the last third of the series before the BAT.
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u/Elfich47 1d ago
I hadn’t heard that description, but it does set the scale.
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u/Independent-Lack-484 1d ago
Made a little edit, just to make sure I was clear.
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u/Elfich47 1d ago
last time I saw that speech get used to describe something it was the. “stellaris edit” of john wick breaking through the floor. what had previously been a pacifist empire opened up the forbidden weapons vault because someone had killed Bubbles.
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u/BagFullOfMommy 1d ago
Why do you think Drakul actually dropped a challenge to Harry and anyone in the Council seeking retribution for Yoshimo, Wild Bill, and Chandler?
Two purposes, 1) Because he is that powerful. He's on Mab's level, and not just Mab in the mortal realm, but Mab in the heart of winter at the peak of her power. Jim is on record as saying it would take the White Council ... the entire White Council, on top of knowing Mab's true name to have a chance against her. Simply put, Drakul does not fear them and wants them to know if they want the smoke he's more than capable of delivering. And 2) He met with and did something with Lord Raith, we're going to find out more about that at some point ... probably.
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u/Salmonman4 1d ago
IMO Drakul had similar aura as Ferrovax in Grave Peril party.
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u/Aeransuthe 1d ago
Happy and willing to kill a disrespectful insect? Drakul seems a bit less… Easily offended.
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u/IoWazzup 1d ago
Looks like an attempt to take out a competitor before he gets to full strength. Drakul knows Harry is ignorant regarding Starborn and their purpose (aren't we all lol) and this is an attempt to take Harry out or suborn him before he can become a threat to Drakul.
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u/cmhoughton 1d ago
I thought he was daring Harry to come find him, another Starborn, for some reason. He said the invitation was for anyone in the White Council, but Harry isn’t a member anymore. Why give him the message?
I dunno, maybe Drakul just wants to chat with Harry about Starborn things…
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u/Pikapika2525 1d ago
Well Harry has knowledge of the Dark Hallow ritual and has said he can turn necromancy against the black court. Dracul is more than one of the court but Harry, if he decided to throw his morals away, could destroy Dracul's power base pretty damn effectively. Having Harry still be on the same side as the council, even only some of them, likely keeps that bullet in the chamber and Harry much less dangerous to the Black Court than if he'd decided to go it alone.
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u/GielM 1d ago
There's a lot of things we don't know yet. This is one of them.
Right now, there seems to be a clear line between the people working with the Outsiders, and the people working against them. No clear line between good and evil.
.Mab doesn't lke the Outsiders. Harry doesn't like them. Cowl and Peabody seemed to be working with them.
But what about Drakul? What about Nicodemus? What about Marcone, and the Fallen now sharing his head? I'm sure there'll be answers in future books, but for now Jim is just raising questions.
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u/Sufficient-West-1995 1d ago
My thoughts on Drakul are he was position Harry now holds for this cycle, it may explain why he helps Harry… also maybe the open challenge was to take the white councils focus off Harry
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u/ChainBlue 1d ago
Could just be he has something in mind and Harry is a lever he can pull and a contingency and some sort of long term Thanatos Gambit.
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u/housestark14 1d ago
Part of it could just be a simple call out. “If you want to fight me fight me. I’m providing you no excuses not to. Here’s where I live, the door’s unlocked, and I wave all right to retaliation. The only reason not to is that you’re too chicken shit to try”. And every day Harry, the guy who just FOUGHT A TITAN AND WON, doesn’t pick up that gauntlet, Drakul looks stronger and Harry weaker.
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u/Curry-culumSniper 21h ago
It's got something to do with starborn, and also he wants the fight straight and direct, he isn't interested in politics and beating around the bush
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u/Orthos_ate_my_chair 1d ago
He's been around a long while.
He's got things to do, places to be, and people to eat. He knows Harry at the very least is going to want revenge, so he wants to get this tiresome task over with so he can move on to more important things.