He has a severe case of Chronic Hero Syndrome after all.
Guilt-Free Extermination War: The war between the Red Court of vampires and the White Council.Though we find out in Ghost Story that he was manipulated into making that choice by a demon whispering in his ear. He is so desperate and wracked with guilt that he decides to make a deal with Mab to become the Winter Knight to fix it and gain the magical edge he needs.
Guilt Complex: After Harry breaks his back and thus can't come to his daughter's rescue.This also turns out to be Foreshadowing, if you pay attention. Genre Savvy: The team Harry assembles to save his daughter spend a few moments trying to figure out which member of the Fellowship they are.If your head is hurting trying to figure the whole thing out, then Butcher was successful. And topping it all is the gambit set up by Harry, Kincaid, and Molly to con Mab out of her Winter Knight, except that said gambit was plotted out by one of the Fallen, possibly Lasciel herself, to get Harry to kill himself and take him out of the picture. At the same time, there's Vadderung and the Grey Council's gambit to help Harry, and a strong indication that at least one archangel is throwing in on the whole affair when Murphy pronounces judgment on the entire Red Court. Then it slams into Mab's long gambit to get Harry to become the Winter Knight and to get payback for the chaos caused in the Winter Court when Bianca gave Lea that cursed knife. Both the Red King and Arianna are plotting against one another, with Arianna kidnapping Harry's daughter to use her to kill Ebenezar and the Red King dispatching assassins to kill Harry to subvert the entire plot. Gambit Pileup: The events in Changes have several gambits slamming into one another.Eye Scream: Harry turns his hand into an ice claw to stab into the Red King's eyes and then sends soulfire-enhanced fire into his head.Aftermath reveals that there are already creatures looking to take advantage of the fallout. Evil Power Vacuum: Harry kills almost every single Red Court Vampire in the world.Disappeared Dad: Harry becomes this to his own daughter due to his deadly lifestyle.Changes and Ghost Story seem to have taken it upon themselves to deconstruct as many of Harry's exploits as possible, with Harry's rap sheet catching up to him. Deconstruction: As one would expect from the sheer GRIMDARK.Clarke's Third Law: Harry enters the corporate headquarters of Monoc Securities and sees a pair of receptionists working at two computers whose monitors were composed of very fine mist that floated in the air as if a whispy illusion.The Chessmaster: Multiple, including Lara Raith and Martin.For example, that gap between Harry in the van after his house burns down and when he wakes back up? Something very important happens during that gap in the narration. Chekhov's Gun: Jim Butcher is really good at inverting the Gun with important things that are only noticeable by their absence.
Cavalry Betrayal: Martin manages to pull this off.The Cavalry: The Grey Council, Ebenezer, and ODIN.Break the Haughty: Arianna is reduced from Smug Snake to stammering wreck after Harry defeats her and sends her plans crashing into ruin.Book Ends: Harry tells Martin at the beginning, "I have literally killed people I like better than you." At the end, he does just that to Susan.And the possibility of a permanent position is even more open than it was before.]] She defies the trope, though there are job offers for a position of a Knight of the Cross and a Valkyrie, but she isn't enthusiastic about it. Badass Abnormal: Murphy temporarily takes up one of the Swords.Back-to-Back Badasses: Sanya and Murphy.The Erlking is as powerful as one of the faerie queens and has a personal grudge against Harry due to an insult in Dead Beat, and Harry is now within his very home at the source of his power. which, unfortunately, just happened to lead to the Erlking's banquet hall. To get away from them, he made a portal to the Nevernever. Always a Bigger Fish: Red Court vampire assassins and some kind of giant demon called an Ik'K'Kuox (Referred to as a "devourer") were on Harry's heels.