The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers
Cowl's Identity [FPOTM2 11.2016]
knnn:
Nice theory write-up DonBugen. Welcome to the insane asylum. ;)
Note that Harry having similar thoughts as other characters does happen elsewhere in the series. In White Night, there's a whole "masquerade/curtain" thing that happens with Cowl/Vitto. In Cold Days it's even more blatant where "2+2=4" is the exact phrase used by both Harry and Maeve.
jonas:
You can add in quite a bit more if you start rooting around for connections or applying possible time travel mechanics. His current body from the future is always effected by said future, this is a lot of why hiding himself is good, In DB he was actually not there at first, only Kumori/Molly/Elaine was. WHY? because if you follow the future timeline before Kumori indirectly altered Harry's fate by attracting Marcones attention(her sole motive for reviving the Wacker ST guy) and letting him exert his freedom of will over it, Harry's current fate had been to die and be eaten by a ghoul, no body, nothing to revive(plus if he ate him, ate his magic/spirit?) no Cowl in the timeline until that point changes. I assume he was screwing around behind the scenes in previous books until he accidently unmade his own existence by setting that timeline in play. Much more things....
The entity cowl summoned in the Raith deeps was most likely how he manifests Lasciel in the I have a coin timeline, I always took Lasciel to be a peer/opposite to Andurial. That they would both manifest similarly but in opposition makes sense, and Lasciel is specifically seen to have 'fire' as one of her main gigs. Also highlights on the same/opposite theme connecting between Nic and Harry.
jonas:
The connection most people fail to make is that Justin IS another alternate/time traveling Harry. That's one reason why even though the split choice was in GP that's talked about, the timeline shifts go back much farther, like Micheals service record changing with medic experience.
DonBugen:
Thanks, Knnn! I feel like I’ve belonged here for a while, but have finally been issued my shirt with the extra-long sleeves.
I agree with you about Jim’s tendency to repeat some phrases throughout his work. In the same book, for example, Narrator Harry states that the Merlin didn’t get his rank by collecting bottle caps, only to have Carlos voice the same thing only a few pages later. Sometimes, the repetition appears to be accidental; sometimes, it seems to be intentional. In the Bottle Cap Repetition, it seems as if Carlos thought of the phrase, but Dresden liked it and had to use it himself as narrator before Carlos did.
However, the Madness Question is not the same; Jim makes it clear that it is supposed to be intentional, with Harry’s immediate reaction. There’s nothing chilling about Cowl’s moment of self-doubt at all… other than the fact that Harry wondered the same thing not too much earlier.
--- Quote ---Cowl was silent for a long moment in the rain. Drops fell off the end of my pistol in his gloved hand. Then he said, his voice, pensive, “I do not perceive myself to be mad. But if I were truly mad, would I be able to tell?”
I shivered. Probably from the rain and the cold.
--- End quote ---
That ‘probably’ in there is Harry as his characteristic unreliable narrator self, pointing out that it clearly wasn’t the rain and cold, but that he’s just going to sit in denial rather than contemplate whether Cowl was like him in any way.
Or, at least, that’s my two cents.
Jonas – I had forgotten that it was Dresden’s fate to die in that alley, and that Kumori had indirectly influenced Marcone to save Harry’s life, as the information that Marcone had been travelling to deliver to Dresden was related to Kumore’s necromancy. Good call! However, I think that in a world in which Cowl did not exist, it wouldn’t have been Harry’s fate to die there. Harry was forced into the confrontation between himself and Corpsetaker because Corpsetaker was searching for the last copy of Die Lied der Erlking, a book which Cowl and Kumori had claimed to have spent a long time trying to eradicate. If not for Cowl and Kumori, Corpsetaker would have had many different places to obtain this book, and wouldn’t have needed to try to get Bock to surrender his last copy.
jonas:
--- Quote --- However, I think that in a world in which Cowl did not exist, it wouldn’t have been Harry’s fate to die there.
--- End quote ---
time travel man, If cowl collecting the books cause the timeline to shift he shunted himself out of reality by causing the confrontation that got him killed in the first place. But why wouldn't they stop by a bookstore known to carry such things as you are looking for anyway? they went looking for sure.
*could also be applied to the end of DB, cowl didn't survive the darkhallow blow back, but in the next timeline over that created he was never there. He doesn't see anyone not getting the power up because in his time it had already happened, Harry's actions under the knife were about as willful as you can get.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version