The Dresden Files > DF Reference Collection
Discontinuity = clue? [GS sample ch spoilers]
Durwen:
--- Quote from: AcornArmy on July 08, 2011, 08:29:08 PM ---That's only the case if Mab has bestowed the mantle on a new Knight, though. Otherwise, Winter is stuck without a mortal agent-- and from what we've seen in the books so far, the Courts tend to find their Knights very useful.
I think this is one of the more important questions about what's been happening since Harry's death: did Mab choose a new Winter Knight or not? If not, Winter is at a disadvantage similar to the one it had while Slate was being tortured. If so, then how would Mab manage to wrangle Harry back into the Winter Knight job?
--- End quote ---
I don't see it that way; I think that each Court has a limited amount of power (let's call it n), whether it has a Knight or not. The mantle is a chunk of power the Queen loses and the Knight gains (in order to keep the balance. That is, the power level of the Court always equals n). So, if Summer has a Knight and Winter doesn't, Summer has more possibilities to use its power in the mortal realm, but isn't more powerful than Winter.
The source of the imbalances, so far, has been that the mantle of (first) Summer and (later) Winter have been trapped within their respective Knights when they were incapacitated (Lily was stoned and Slate was treed... and I noticed the symbolism there as I was typing this), so the chunk of power the Queens had given their Knights couldn't be used by them nor could it revert back to the respective Court (that is, one of the Courts had a power level of n-1, while the other's was still n).
Now Summer has still a power level of n, but Winter's is n+1 (or whatever power value the athame has).
Serack:
--- Quote from: Durwen on July 08, 2011, 08:54:15 PM ---I don't see it that way; I think that each Court has a limited amount of power (let's call it n), whether it has a Knight or not. The mantle is a chunk of power the Queen loses and the Knight gains (in order to keep the balance. That is, the power level of the Court always equals n). So, if Summer has a Knight and Winter doesn't, Summer has more possibilities to use its power in the mortal realm, but isn't more powerful than Winter.
The source of the imbalances, so far, has been that the mantle of (first) Summer and (later) Winter have been trapped within their respective Knights when they were incapacitated (Lily was stoned and Slate was treed... and I noticed the symbolism there as I was typing this), so the chunk of power the Queens had given their Knights couldn't be used by them nor could it revert back to the respective Court (that is, one of the Courts had a power level of n-1, while the other's was still n).
Now Summer has still a power level of n, but Winter's is n+1 (or whatever power value the athame has).
--- End quote ---
Power that can't be exercised, or used as a deterrence towards others actions might as well not exist.
itari:
--- Quote from: Durwen on July 08, 2011, 08:54:15 PM ---I don't see it that way; I think that each Court has a limited amount of power (let's call it n), whether it has a Knight or not.
--- End quote ---
Nice thinking, however, when Harry killed Slate on the Stone Table, Mab gained not only her own power, but Slate's blood (and life energy/soul/whatever) too. Lea explained it quite clearly in SK.
Durwen:
--- Quote from: itari on July 08, 2011, 09:38:06 PM ---Nice thinking, however, when Harry killed Slate on the Stone Table, Mab gained not only her own power, but Slate's blood (and life energy/soul/whatever) too. Lea explained it quite clearly in SK.
--- End quote ---
Besides being the Winter Knight, Slate was vanilla. Blood has power, but it isn't that significant, IMO. Now, Harry's blood, on the other hand...
AcornArmy:
--- Quote from: Durwen on July 08, 2011, 08:54:15 PM ---Now Summer has still a power level of n, but Winter's is n+1 (or whatever power value the athame has).
--- End quote ---
Yeah, and I think you're right about that, but that power is much less useful while it resides within the Queens, or they wouldn't be putting it in a Knight in the first place. I considered mentioning this in the earlier post, but decided to just leave it at "a situation similar to when Slate was being tortured," rather than dealing with the difference between the sum total of Winter's power and how efficiently that power can be wielded. Having a Knight must be a more efficient use for at least some of the Queens' power, or they wouldn't have one.
So, while I think you're right about the total power involved, from a practical standpoint, Winter is at a disadvantage. Unless, I suppose, the added power of the athame is enough to offset the lack of a mortal agent.
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