The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers

White Court WAG

(1/4) > >>

kbrizzle:
While rereading Turn Coat, I became very interested in the scene where Lara devours Madeline on Demonreach.

I’d always wondered how Lord Raith got to be so powerful that he could kill with a single kiss. His immunity to magic seems to be provided by his “sponsor”, however it seems like he was a very formidable vampire in his hey day even without the additional protections.

What if the way he got to be so powerful is by devouring the hunger demons of other White Court vampires? We know he feeds on all his female children that are also vampires.

 It’s probably not well known in the White Court otherwise everyone would be doing it, but it definitely seems like Lara has gotten more formidable/ powerful since the events of Turn Coat although we haven’t seen her in action yet.

groinkick:
Could be.  May also have to do with just how much humanity they have, or the lack there of.  Lord Raith (and now Lara) may be becoming more demon than human. 

Thomas was struggling to stop his demon from pulling him through a mirror during the soulgaze.  They were two separate beings fighting for dominance.  Lord Raith there is no such struggle.  He is in complete union with his demon and that combined with how long he has been feeding has probably enhanced it's power.  The demon itself may take long periods of time (years, decades, centuries) to grow stronger.

vultur:
I kind of doubt that he is feeding on other White Court demons, but who knows.

IMO Lord Raith is more powerful because he's enormously older than the others (thousands, vs 100-some for Lara and 40ish for Thomas) -- either because Hunger demons inherently get stronger with age/feeding as groinkick suggests, or because of a 'power split up among descendants' situation such as Odin implies was going on with the Red Court and Lord Raith is from a much earlier generation and thus got a bigger 'slice of the pie'.

Or maybe just vastly more practice allowing him to use his power more efficiently/effectively... I'm not sure the power gap between Lord Raith and Lara or well-fed Thomas is that huge. Thomas has physically matched Black Court vampires (non-masters, admittedly) even when he wasn't feeding much; Lara's Hunger was almost overwhelming Harry with just the edge of its effect, at a significant distance, when she was focusing on Lord Raith at the end of BR. Lara doesn't go all-out "on screen" that often (and the skinwalker in TC probably wouldn't have been vulnerable to even an incredibly powerful Hunger).

Thomas talks about Lord Raith being awe-inspiringly powerful, but he systematically intimidated his descendants; it's entirely plausible to me that in BR Thomas and even Lara thought the power-gap was much larger than it actually was.

Snark Knight:

--- Quote from: groinkick on August 03, 2018, 05:12:20 AM ---Could be.  May also have to do with just how much humanity they have, or the lack there of.  Lord Raith (and now Lara) may be becoming more demon than human. 

--- End quote ---

I hope not. She makes a much more interesting antagonist as a mostly-person who chooses to be a villain because it's the expedient means to achieve her ends than she could as just a puppet to her demon. A lot of what she's doing makes the most sense interpreted through a lens that she's driven to gather enough power so nobody can ever hurt her again like her father's sexual abuse did. Where she tips from survivor into villain is channeling that into "no matter who I have to hurt or kill to get there", but that's still a rationalization that can come from a human mind.

I think if the demon was in the driver's seat most of the time, her rise within the White Court would have been mostly founded on dominating competing whamps the way her father did. Her demon is probably strong enough to take almost anybody else' in that sort of fight.

Mira:


    I think there are more factors than just the strength of the demon involved.  I think any of the White Court is capable of cannibalizing each other on a one on one fight.  I think Lord Raith understood this, that is why he killed off his male children in fear that they might challenge him someday.  His daughters he dominated sexually, feeding upon them from the moment they reached puberty with fully engaged demons. 

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page