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  • Alternate Character Interpretation:
    • Is Ebenezar engaged in Knight Templar behavior combined with Van Helsing Hate Crimes or is he Properly Paranoid with the information that Harry gives him? Was killing Harry's doppelganger a Moral Event Horizon or an accident, or both?
    • Is Harry falling back into his old habits of keeping things from his allies? A lot of things would have been averted if he'd just told Ebenezar upfront that Thomas is his grandson. Alternatively, since Eb's reaction was absolute revulsion and priming the spell that ended up killing doppelganger Harry, Harry may also have read his mentor correctly. Not telling Ebenezar may also have been subconscious payback for Ebenezar allowing Harry to disappear into the foster system and never revealing their true relationship, which Harry mentions early on is a HUGE sticking point for him. Additionally, as noted below, his lack of communication with the Wardens makes him look suspicious to them, at a time when he's already in hot water with the Council.
    • If Harry had sat down his old mentor and calmly explained that Thomas was his grandson, would Ebenezar have reacted the same way and attempted to murder his vampire grandson? Or were his actions due in large part to being filled with anger and adrenaline and not thinking clearly, having just gotten out of a toe-to-toe duel with the Winter Knight?
    • Is Lara Raith really Evil Cannot Comprehend Good with Harry or is she so used to being manipulated and abused that she can't understand he's not trying to leverage her when he puts Thomas in a prison cell that only he can open?
    • Is Carlos Ramirez suspicious of Harry, who he's always had a good working relationship with in the past, for valid reasons? Or is he traumatized enough by what happened with Molly in "Cold Case" that he unfairly assumes Molly and Harry are both no longer themselves, but fae monsters now, even though Harry at least has given him no real cause to be so suspicious yet?
    • Is Butters having threesomes with Andi and Marci a Big-Lipped Alligator Moment that comes out of nowhere, causing Harry to blink a few times, and Butters to get very defensive, before never being mentioned again? Or is it a natural progression of Butters becoming gradually cooler and hence more appealing, combined with past hints that at least one of the women "experimented" in college and thus was already inclined to bisexuality?
  • Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: Conjuritus doesn't get any sort of payoff until the next book, so Harry sneezing and conjuring whatever he's thinking of at that moment is just a bizarre tangent that keeps pushing in.
  • Broken Base: Harry's decision to live with Maggie. A natural extension of how he wants to always be there for her and take care of her, or an utterly idiotic decision given that the Carpenters' house is one of the safest places in the world, and he can't give her the amount of time, attention, and safety Michael and Charity can anyway? There's a lot of debate.
  • Continuity Lockout: If you haven't read the various short stories Butcher has written for the series, the existence and death of Gwynn ap Nudd will come rather out of nowhere.
  • Genius Bonus: At one point, it's mentioned that Vadderung has a cane whose shadow looks three times longer than it actually is. Why? Because it's most likely Odin's spear Gungnir in disguise.
  • Harsher in Hindsight: The book was released in July of 2020, around the same time that nationwide protests erupted over the death of George Floyd, during which police were documented and criticized for using excessive force against protesters both violent and peaceful. This can cause the idea near the end of the book of the Chicago police being out in force to “control the chaos” to read more ominously than it was intended to.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: This bit of dialogue from Cold Days is either this trope or Harsher in Hindsight after this book (especially given Vadderung's known powers of foresight):
    Harry: What happens if I go back in time to kill my grandfather?
    Vadderung: He beats you senseless, I expect.
  • One-Scene Wonder: She only appears in one chapter towards the end of the book, but Ethniu stands out because in the span of said chapter she completely changes the direction of the whole series.
  • Ship-to-Ship Combat: Fans of Harry's other love interests like Molly Carpenter or Luccio are less than happy about him finally getting with Karrin. Some have even expressed how much they prefer Lara Raith.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The peace talks themselves. We never actually get to see any negotiation because Ethniu the Titan shows up and proceeds to dramatically destroy the Unseelie Accords. This could have been a fascinating opportunity to flesh out both the Fomor and the relationships between the different supernatural beings, as well as see Harry have to approach a situation with more diplomacy than he usually does. Additionally, while many long-running characters return for the talks, Harry doesn't get to interact with many of them, meaning that their onscreen presence is almost negligible. Vadderung gets just a few short (if fairly important) moments, and Ivy all of one mention.
  • Unintentional Uncanny Valley: Vocal example, in the audio book. It's clear that James Marsters was more than a little out of practice voicing some of the characters (Ramirez lacks his accent and Butters just sounds like Harry but with a mild cold) as had been about six years since the release of the previous novel. Not helping matters was that due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Marsters had to record it in a home studio, rather than in a more professional setting. Thankfully, the audiobook for the sequel was a return to form.

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