Looking back through my notes, I see that Jakob was originally called Isaak. If I could go back, I think I’d probably edit him out, and in fact, that’s probably what I’ll do when I edit this one for publication. It isn’t just that he doesn’t add anything, it’s that he’s pretty much superfluous.

He would still show up, which is the benefit of having a future-seeing character. The downside is that you have to be very careful about explaining why he can’t see the future all the time.