Tease! But then, this is nothing new.
So, "Hrothbert"? 'Splainy?
Hrothbert (Old English for "Robert") of Bainbridge was Bob's name when he was a living wizard, who went warlock, and wound up taking an axe blow to the back of the head as a result. (You can see the axe wound in the skull prop on the show.) He's essentially a ghost, cursed to haunt his own skull for all eternity, and he simultaneously serves as 1) a potential source of serious black magic lore/temptation for Harry and 2) a living morality play about why wizards shouldn't play with black magic. He's all for supporting Harry, for various reasons, not the least of which is that it was Bob, and not Justin, who taught Harry his magical basics--Justin being far too busy and important for such things. He let Bob do the dreary part, and then took over once Harry got his magical black belt.
Anyway, Bob is not exactly a sterling soul. He's trying to be a better individual, but he's also been stuck in a kind of impotent purgatory for several centuries and there's a certain taint of disinterested amorality to his outlook as a result. The whole good/evil thing is sort of a nonissue with him--except as it pertains to how Harry is going to react to things. He's not into good guys and bad guys as much as he is into "us" and "them," with Harry being the "us." He and Harry share a similar vibe of having done dark things in the past but attempting to rise above them.
When it comes to magic, he can't do it himself any more, and he can't interact with anything physically, but he bears a certain amount of professional pride. Oh sure, some of the stuff he did was black as hell, but it was frickin' elegant, dammit. Just look at those formulae! Sure, he was a fool to go down that road, but since he was going down it anyway, he did it in style!
Anyway, in the wake of Justin's demise, the High Council apparently judged that Bob would be a good Jiminy Cricket for Dresden--and, the way their twisty minds work, they probably planned to use him as a snitch/informer/witness for the prosecution if Dresden started getting out of line again.
And, since he's had several centuries with no way to attack anyone or defend himself except in conversation (but no way for anyone to really shut him up, either), he's developed a nuclear arsenal of snide. Try to imagine if Batman's Alfred had been played by Tim Curry with dialogue by John Cleese.
So, NOT Bob the skull, though he serves exactly the same purpose from a story-craft standpoint. He's more human, better able to interact with Harry and others--and able to talk about serious stuff, too, which makes him a better confidant-character for the show. The books Bob is essentially a hypergenius thirteen-year-old on a Red Bull IV (Well, while in Harry's possession, anyway.) The TV Bob is one possible tragic mirror of Dresden himself, as well as a former mentor, a nosy roommate, and a kind of curmudgeonly foster uncle.
Hey, the board said SPOILERS.
Jim
