Moment Subpages are Spoilers Off. You Have Been Warned.
- Harry and Ebenezar fighting over Harry's decision to live with Maggie. Ebenezar believes he should cut off contact with her and keep her away from the hidden world. Harry fires back by not only stating that Ebenezar keeping Margaret (his daughter and Harry's mother) isolated was what led to her meeting the White King (and, indirectly, her death), but also bitterly remarking about how Ebenezar left him to the foster system after Malcolm's death and only acted when it came down to acting as his jailer and potential executioner in the aftermath of the debacle with Justin.
- In other words, Harry just accused his grandfather of being partially responsible for his own daughter's rape and murder. Justified or not, that hit straight to the heart.
- Then, there's the fight after Harry gets Thomas out. Ebenezar is so sure the White Court has something on Harry that he doesn't understand why Harry is willing to die for Thomas — until Harry reveals that Thomas is his brother. Ebenezar immediately tries to kill Thomas by destroying the boat he's on, and only Harry Taking the Bullet through the doppelganger he's using as a proxy prevents it. Ebenezar immediately falls to his knees, thinking he's killed Harry. This act — his grandfather being so willing to kill his own grandson — shatters the last of Harry's trust in Ebenezar. Meanwhile, Ebenezar has to live with the memory of watching his grandson's dead body in his arms, on top of everything else he's done.Harry: Good talk, Wizard McCoy.
- Just prior to revealing the truth about Thomas, Harry notes with dismay that he pretty much knows exactly how Ebenezar will react to the news, having realized just how full of hate for vampires he truly is.
- Austri, the bodyguard who Harry liked playing poker with and took Maggie and his child on play dates, is killed by Thomas during his assault on the Svartalf embassy.
- A brief but intense one: Ethniu and King Corb open their encounter with the Accord members by throwing a severed head into the meeting — belonging to Gwynn ap Nudd, a personal friend of Dresden's.
- The blatant mistrust Carlos and the other Wardens have of Harry can be hard to stomach, as while their suspicions are arguably reasonable given the evidence they have, this is a man who they fought beside and who helped train them for years. To see them draw their weapons on him and interrogate him about his sex life because he can't share what he knows with them is tough to read, especially given his previously close relationship with Carlos in Dead Beat and White Night.
- It's subtle, but Carlos is clearly traumatized by his near-death-during-sex experience with Molly in the short story "Cold Case", to the point he indirectly refers to her as a monster.
