History Literature / BattleGround2020

* {{Hypocrite}}: Harry pushes the Accorded Nations to make humanitarian aid to the people of Chicago and for Molly to reveal to her family she is the Winter Maiden with the underlying belief in trust in people in both cases conveniently forgetting a few days earlier he pretty much chose to let his friendship with Ramirez be destroyed rather then trust him with any of his own secrets that would put him at a disadvantage because he ''might'' tell the Council and they ''might'' react negatively to Thomas.

''Battle Ground'' is book #17 in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''.

** [[spoiler: Nemesis is revealed to have been possessing Justine since before the events of ''Literature/WhiteNight'', but it's completely ambiguous what exact actions Justine has performed were her own or were just Nemesis puppeteering her.]] It's also unclear how much, if any, of Justine's recovery was her own.

** While it's confirmed that [[spoiler: Marcone took up Thorned Namshiel's Coin back in ''Literature/SmallFavor'', it's never made clear ''when'' exactly he fully accepted the offer given by Namshiel's Shadow and became a rogue Denarian (and whether he's in control of Namshiel, or if the latter is in control of him). Hints are given to it not having happened until after "Even Hand," but it's all very vague]].

* ElementalIgnorance: Harry Dresden [[AnIcePerson Winter Knight]] tries to fight [[PlayingWithFire a Jotun of Muspelheim]], in other words a fire giant, with fire magic. Fortunately for Harry, Murphy arrives with MoreDakka while the giant's busy making fun of him.

** The Eye of Balor is foiled on several occasions. Mab tanks a blast head on, Ebenezar just barely manages to absorb and redirect a blast with the Blackstaff, [[spoiler:Marcone manages to duck and weave with TeleportSpam]], and Titania redirects a shot, using it to summon a rain storm that washed away the aura of fear which empowered anything magic, including the Eye's cooldown period.

Ethniu, daughter of Balor and the last of the Titans, has declared war on Chicago. She leads an army of the Fomor, powerful water-dwelling magicians whose bizarre and twisted magics lend them immense power. Ethniu herself wields the nigh-unstoppable Eye of Balor, which smashed through one of Chicago's most heavily defended magical bases as if it was made of tinfoil. The only obstacle in her path is a loose alliance of disparate magical factions, several of whom care as little for humanity as Ethniu herself, and many of whom were at each other's throats mere days ago.

Dresden does have a couple of advantages, most notably two superweapons he smuggled out of Hades' vault. But even with those on his side, it will be a tall order indeed for Chicago's only wizard investigator to battle through Ethniu's endless legions and bring her down, especially since some of his strongest allies -- the wizards of the White Council, including his own mentor Ebenezar [=McCoy=] -- no longer fully trust him. And even if he defies the odds once again and succeeds, there's no telling how much -- if anything -- will remain of Chicago when he's done.

*** Harry's [[spoiler:ejection long term result of him not considering the consequence of his actions.]] Harry spent years associating with monsters, openily opposing the Senior Council, and avoiding the wizarding community at large, so very few people actully know him as a person, but by his less then stellar reputation. Even after the events of Literature/SummerKnight Harry [[spoiler: never took the idea that it would reach a point where he be more trouble then he's worth, and the council would simply get rid of him.]]

[[JustForFun/TheOneWith The one where]] Harry and a whole bunch of others go to war.

* ShoutOut: Oddly enough, one for the YA fantasy series ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain'' with the Huntsmen of Annuvin.
** Harry gets to tell Mavra to "cease any and all supernatural activities" the same way [[Film/{{Ghostbusters}} Ray addressed Gozer.]] Knowing Harry, this was almost certainly intentional.

** [[spoiler: Nemesis is revealed to have been possessing Justine since before the events of ''Literature/WhiteNight'', but it's completely ambiguous what exact actions Justine has performed were her own or were just Nemesis puppeteering her.]]

** And another, when [[spoiler:Listen]] explains why he is far more valuable to [[spoiler:Ethniu and Corb]] than he appears:

* NobleDemon: Marcone lets nearby civilians into the BFS castle when they need protection after Harry demands he ''act'' like the Lord of Chicago, and fights beside Harry to defeat Ethniu.

** Possibly The finale shows that the White Council failed to consider that [[spoiler:in expelling Harry, they forfeit their only way of controlling him other than the threat of force -- and that as Winter Knight, an attack on Harry would be an attack on Mab. Ramirez is left at a loss when Harry asks what the Council will do ''when'' he defies its authority.]] That being said, it's unclear whether Harry is telling the truth.

** Bob notes that when Mab is expending energy against her enemies, he is still included on that list, which was mentioned for many books before being made explicit in ''Literature/ColdDays''.

** In ''Literature/ColdDays'' Mab points out to Harry that Molly's new postion as the Winter Lady protects her from White Council punishment for her actions after she went off the deep end from guilt for the part she played in Harry's Death. When Ramirez arrives after the battle with a message from the Senior Council [[spoiler: to tell Harry he is no longer one of them and try to basically put him under the SwordOfDamocles from the first book in all but name, Harry points out he is now the Winter Knight and any direct action taken by them to screw with him risks a war with Mab and The Winter Court.]]

* CassandraTruth: Both Murphy and Butters told Internal Affairs Detective Bradley things about the magical world during closed-session debriefings in the past that he did not believe until the apocalypse comes to Chicago.

** "Stars and stones" is a go-to swear for Harry, though Ebenezar chides him for it in ''Peace Talks'', mentioning that Harry doesn't even know what that means. With the fight with the Black Court, the vampires mention in passing the Stars and Stones being as something literal. After the fight, Harry asks Listens-To-Wind what it means, and the older wizard is rather cagey, but does eventually promise to get "some people" to tell Harry about it sometime if they survive the night; a prospect that would take the better part of a year. Harry presses for an answer, but Listens-To-Wind points out that as a Senior Councilman, arrogant as they may be, he doesn't have the confidence to make the decision alone to elaborate to Harry what the Stars and Stones are; a concept that gives Harry pause. [[spoiler:So far, nothing yet, and since Harry gets booted off the Council, Listens-To-Wind may be barred from talking to him. Good thing that the beings he mentioned to Harry are quite probably not bound by the same conventions.]]

** The war sequence features cameos from many of Harry's past allies and opponents including Rawlins, Ivy the archive, the Grimalkin and even minor villains such as a rawhead.

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: When their argument about the Council verdict to cut ties with Harry ends with Dresden using his new office as the Winter Knight to make it clear he will do what he wants and live his life asks Ramirez, "If I let you boss me around who am I?" Carlos [[ArmorPiercingResponse counters with]] "Yeah ''who'' are ''you''?" before he says goodbye and leaves.

* BittersweetEnding: ''Hoo boy''. [[spoiler:Ethniu has been defeated and bound beneath Demonreach and the Fomor have been driven out of Chicago with terrible losses. Harry, Maggie, the Carpenters, the Knights and a lot of other good people managed to make it out in one piece, the Eye of Balor has been sealed beneath Demonreach and Harry has his old lab back, though now with the BFS castle on top of it. Furthermore, Harry has convinced the supernatural community to start pursuing a better relationship with humanity, and is planning to [[StartMyOwn start his own supernatural nation]] to help modernize the White Council's hidebound teachings into better and more effective methods. On the bitter side, Murphy, Hendricks, Wild Bill and Yoshimo are all dead, as are ''60,000'' other innocent people. Chandler is missing and presumed dead, and Wild Bill and Yoshimo were likely turned by the Black Court. Harry has been stripped of his status by the [[UngratefulBastard White Council]] and is once again facing a possible death sentence. And we find out that not only was Justine behind the assassination attempt on Etri, but she is possessed by Nemesis (who is actually another Walker, He Who Walks Beside), and the whereabouts of both her and Listen (the HypercompetentSidekick of the Fomor forces during the invasion) are completely unknown. To cap things off, TheMasquerade is slowly yet certainly beginning to unravel (to the point where Marcone basically notes that while it still exists outside of Chicago, the citizens inside the city ''will'' [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge take revenge on any supernatural creature that crosses their path]] when the Sun goes down and will only pretend during the day that the supernatural doesn't exist), and there is no telling what repercussions this will have on both the supernatural and mortal worlds (though it's suggested that Harry's recommendations of reparations might at least help a bit). Oh, and Marcone is now a Denarian, having taken up Thorned Namshiel's Coin, though he's rogue and not working for Nicodemus (instead only working for himself).]]

* AndThenWhat: Harry essentially asks [[spoiler:Carlos what happens when he breaks the White Council's rules, ''and he is going to break them.'' Carlos has no response.]]