The Dresden Files > DF Reference Collection
Who Attacked Arctis Tor, and Why
dspringer1:
Five questions need answers before you can understand the attack on Arctis Tor
• Why did Mab prohibit Winter from going to war with the Red Court when they attacked through winter lands in Dead Beat?
• Why did Mab not destroy any intruders attacking her citadel in Proven Guilty?
• Who attacked Arctis Tor?
• Why attack Arctis Tor?
• What did Harry have to do with the above?
I see the first and second question as related. My best guess is that someone on the Black Council was owed a major debt by Mab. They used that debt to prohibit Mab from attacking or directly opposing their interests. If worded correctly, this would both force Mab to not respond to the provocation and also prevent her from destroying whoever attacked her base. This bargain would also explain why anybody would be so stupid as to provoke Winter to enter the war. If they knew that Winter could not enter the war, then the “stupid” act was actually a brilliant stratagem allowing the Red Court/Black Council to set the Council up for a very nasty fall.
As to who attacked Arctis Tor, I have no idea of specifics other than it would have to include a Denarian (likely Thorned Namshiel) and would have to include whoever made the bargain with Mab, presumably Cowl.
The last question is still a bit of a mystery to me. The most likely reason I can think of is that the Black Council was trying to kill Mab herself, counting on the bargain to prevent her from defending herself. They did not count on Mab simply hiding. This would make a lot of sense if Maeve was already infected and this fact known to the Outsiders, even if Maeve herself was not working with the Council.
Notice, none of the above attributes Mab with planning the death of her guards (which would be against her obligations as their liege), nor does it mandate that Mab sent the Scarecrows. The guards would have died to give Mab time to hide effectively.
Nothing about the above has anything to do with Harry at all. It is much more likely in my mind that Harry’s involvement was due to Maeve’s planning. She needed a way to get Lily to trust her and this plan with Harry enabled that. Maeve ordered the scarecrows into action and Maeve made sure Harry would be involved.
Yes Maeve was infected, but I doubt she was consciously allied with the Black Council at this stage and instead was pursuing her own interests.
Carl:
IMO Wnter stayed out of the war because Maeve was out of the game. I dug up a bunch of info on celtic lore a little while ago and based on that, (it really all lines up very neatly with what we know of the queens allready, although the idea that they might have acquired some hellish mantles at some point is worrisome, but that's a bit more speculative), Maeve would be the one who should have done the smacking around. Sure Mab could have done it but that isn't really whether power is about and she probably has a lot of annoying limitations making it harder than it should be, and she has a lot fo other responsibilities she may not be able to ignore for long enough. Not to mention it would have clearly stated Maeve wasn't doing her job to anyone with more than Harry's level of knowledge of the courts which would be baaaad.
namkcas:
• Why did Mab prohibit Winter from going to war with the Red Court when they attacked through winter lands in Dead Beat?
Mab found out that Lea was infected but concluded she was not the only creature that was a problem in the Winter Court. She was concerned that with the imbalance of power between Summer and Winter that she needed to be extra careful. On top of that, she was concerned that Summer might be compromised as well.
• Why did Mab not destroy any intruders attacking her citadel in Proven Guilty?
Again, this is a plot understand who was under the influence of Nemesis.
• Who attacked Arctis Tor?
The Outsider backed forces.
• Why attack Arctis Tor?
To try to get Molly and prevent Mab from showing Lea to Harry.
• What did Harry have to do with the above?
This is the first time that he was shown somebody that was infected in an obvious manner. He had met infected Maeve but even Mab was not sure at that point.
dspringer1:
--- Quote ---IMO Wnter stayed out of the war because Maeve was out of the game. I dug up a bunch of info on celtic lore a little while ago and based on that, (it really all lines up very neatly with what we know of the queens allready, although the idea that they might have acquired some hellish mantles at some point is worrisome, but that's a bit more speculative), Maeve would be the one who should have done the smacking around. Sure Mab could have done it but that isn't really whether power is about and she probably has a lot of annoying limitations making it harder than it should be, and she has a lot fo other responsibilities she may not be able to ignore for long enough. Not to mention it would have clearly stated Maeve wasn't doing her job to anyone with more than Harry's level of knowledge of the courts which would be baaaad.
--- End quote ---
Mab could have supported the war pretty easily and it woudl have been pretty devistating to the Red Court even if Mab and Maeve never got involved themselves. Harry was pretty clear. If Winter and Summer got involved, it was suicide for the Red Courts. There are a lot of very powerful fey that would have a ball killing Red Court Vampires anytime they went anywhere near the never-never.
The first indication that Mab knew about Maeve was small favor, which is after these events. Does not mean she did not suspect Maeve earlier, but your argument still seems a stretch.
--- Quote ---Why did Mab not destroy any intruders attacking her citadel in Proven Guilty?
Again, this is a plot understand who was under the influence of Nemesis.
--- End quote ---
Not following this. Allowing an attack on Arctis tor is accepting a huge insult and a direct challange to Mab's authority and thus her power. She might do it to find out who is infected, but you need to explain how allowing outsiders to attack her home helps her identify infected fey. There does not seem to be an obvious connection to support this claim. In fact, the opposite would be true. Capture the intruders, torture them for information and see who among her people tries to free/kill them. Much better strategy to find infected individuals.
namkcas:
dspringer1,
The whole plot of PG is Mab trying to uncover a traitor. If she crushes the plot, the traitor's plot does not advance. If the plot does not advance, then the traitor is not uncovered.
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