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The Timeline
- Most of the series has kept roughly in time with the real world, with usually a year between novels in-story as well as out (with some minor exceptions). This means that Skin Game took place roughly around its publishing year. However, Peace Talks is specifically set a few months after the events of Skin Game, yet references are made to things like Notre Dame burning down, and other much more recent history, indicating that it's set in 2019-2020. Is this subtle foreshadowing of Harry eventually breaking the White Council's law regarding time travel, or is it a continuity error?
- It may be that it's Like Reality, Unless Noted; possibly those events happened earlier in the Dresdenverse. It may be that Jim isn't trying at all to keep to a real life timeline.
- In a previous book, its established that wizards keep records and journals of their experiences to pass on to later generations which gave-birth to a fan theory that everything is Harry narrating on the events some point in the future. He could've been using the fire as historical reference point. Its also hard to pin down when the events take place in general.
Dragons
- It's been previously established that Michael killed one of the big three dragons, Siriothrax, when saving Charity, leaving two remaining Capital-D Dragons Ferrovax and Pyrovax (as per word of Jim). However, in Peace Talks, it's mentioned that the last dragon to die died at the Tunguska event in 1908, which Ebenezar had a hand in. Is this a continuity error, a retcon, or more subtle foreshadowing about timey-wimey shenanigans?
- It's subtle, but Harry's exact words are, "the last time a dragon was killed out here in the tangible, mortal world." Presumably, Michael was in the Nevernever or something when he killed Siriothrax. Indeed, that would make a lot of sense—given the insane levels of power they're said to hold, if Siriothrax had been fighting for his life out in the real world, there likely wouldn't be much of a planet left afterwards.
A Wizard Problem
- Harry decides not to tell Butters about the Black Council because it's a "Wizard problem". How? If they're secretly masterminding many of the various evil plots Harry has to face, then it's inevitable that Butters is going to get tangled up with them too. Hell, there's no real evidence that the Black Council even are Wizards, or at least entirely Wizards. Certainly they seem to have non-Wizard Mooks of various types. And if you can't trust the Knights of the Cross, who can you trust?
- Which makes no sense anyway, since in "Cold Days", Harry explicitly talks to Butters and Molly about the Black Council, with Butters referring to them as a "phantom menace". Something slipped past Butcher, the beta readers, and the editor.
- Reflexive arrogance/paranoia, possibly? Also, bear in mind by that point he's been awake for ages, he's probably not thinking straight. Still a bit of a Continuity Snarl, admittedly.
White Court Babies
- Previous books have established that White Court vampires only fully activate the first time they feed on someone. Yet here we have the possibility of a White Court fetus feeding on its (hypothetical) human mother, implication being that the baby is an activated White Court vamp in the womb.
- White Court virgins can feed (obviously, since they have to drain someone to death to transform), they just don't have the ability to draw power from their demon and it probably requires a lot less energy. The drain rate from the White Court fetus must be tiny, it just becomes an issue because the drain is continuous, possibly even 24/7, over a period of months (and the body is weakened by pregnancy anyway).
- In "Bigfoot on Campus", where Irwin is dating Connie — Connie's father had an issue with her not completely 'turning' as signaled by Irwin being completely drained, but she was still able to feed on him several times even so, and in situations where ordinary mortals would have presumably died. So, I guess that White Court can feed before puberty but the first major feeding usually results in death, and usually happens during puberty because of raging hormones and because the whampire in question doesn't yet know what they are (so there's no possibility of controlling/restricting themselves).
Harry's living arrangements and Demonreach
- Maybe I've not read Cold Days or Skin Game recently enough, but doesn't Harry kind of need to be on Demonreach island to carry out his duties there as Warden? How can he decide to permanently live in Chicago with Maggie again?
- It's possible that Harry, having spent all that time there, has enough of a connection to Demonreach now that he'll know if someone is trying to attack it. At the least, he's most likely keeping a weather eye on the island. But between the remoteness and obscurity of the island and its variety of magical defenses, it can hold off most things by itself short of a full-on Outsider attack (which tend to be rather obvious). Plus, in Harry's mind, the desire to raise Maggie and give her a normal life outweighs everything else.
- Also, his range is extending. Before, his access to Intellectus ended "at the dock". But now, he can notice things in the water surrounding the island. And maybe there's an arrangement for Harry to be 'out in the world'.
- Alfred Demonreach itself says that its ability to draw someone into a crystal prison extends as far as the shores of Lake Michigan in Chicago, and that's a fairly complex working on an unwilling subject. Basic contact with the island likely extends even farther now.
- Harry was specifically told that having the athame would help with that...
- It would also make a lot of sense if he and/or the Winter Lady have a few of the Fair Folk keeping an eye on the waters around the island, with an arrangement to let him know if they see anyone skulking around.
- From what-little we've seen of it, Demonreach was perfectly fine without a resident Warden for decades before Harry showed up, and prior to the recent spate of unrest in the wider supernatural world, it doesn't seem to have merited much attention from the various magical factions. Heck, there used to be a full-blown Muggle fish-canning operation on the island, albeit probably a seasonal one. Presumably Alfred can look after the place on his own for most purposes.
The Archive
- The Archive is specifically mentioned as being present at the peace talks. She fought off several fallen angels at once with barely a whisper of power, but I can understand her not wanting to risk herself by drawing their attention. But once the immediate threat is gone, shouldn't someone be asking Ivy what she knows about Ethniu? It's possible that she could have a trove of information on strengths and weaknesses, but no one seems to have thought to ask!
- It's possible they did ask and she just didn't have any relevant information. Ethniu probably doesn't have any weaknesses, at least in the traditional Kryptonite Factor sense. She's also a bit of an open book, as characters like Mab and Marcone immediately pick up on more subtle faults like her stupidity and hubris. The issue was Ethniu was that they didn't really have any other options for dealing with her beyond beating her into submission, and that was going to be very difficult when she's a tier above even the strongest fighters present and was bolstering her already ludicrous strength with Titanic Bronze armor and the Eye of Balor.
- Yeah right, as if the leader of the Oblivion War is going to let slip a single word about the old Titans that can't already be looked up in folklore or an existing library somewhere. Lara and Mab would both know they'd have better luck checking elsewhere.
