The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers

Overall series questions

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kbrizzle:
I still don’t think Sarissa actually has an illness... I think that is the name she gives to her Winter nature which is she obviously tries very hard to suppress (hence congenital). Sarissa’s long life I think is more attributable to her not having chosen between human/ Fae, not a grant of Mab’s. If Sarissa chose human, she would have a mortal lifespan, but if she chose Fae, she would no longer be mortal.

What we know is that Sarissa & Mab have a deal where Sarissa has to spend 12 weeks a year at Arctis Tor & in general be Mab’s ‘humanity Sherpa’. We aren’t sure what Sarissa gets in return apart from allaying the symptoms of her ‘congenital familial dementia’.

The most likely possibility here is that as Mab’s daughter, Sarissa would likely have a lot of enemies/ people who want to take advantage. The Winter way of looking at this situation would be that it is simple to fix - Sarissa should just choose to become more powerful (pick Fae & become high Sidhe) - by not picking, Sarissa is at fault for leaving herself vulnerable.

I believe Mab’s deal was that she would allow Sarissa to remain a Changeling under her protection in return for spending 3 months a year at Arctis Tor etc. Mab obviously had more things in mind for Sarissa, but I believe this was the basis of their deal.

@segaily
That is an interesting notion about Mother Winter - that the geriatric pain is part of her mantle. I wonder though why Mother Summer is not similarly afflicted? We have WoJ that the current Mother Summer is not the original. Iirc the previous Mother Summer & Winter Queen died before or around 1066. This was the change that brought Mab & Titania to their current roles.
So perhaps Mother Summer is simply younger hence doesn’t feel the same ravages of time that MW does?

segaily:

--- Quote from: kbrizzle on August 23, 2019, 04:52:45 PM ---
@segaily
That is an interesting notion about Mother Winter - that the geriatric pain is part of her mantle. I wonder though why Mother Summer is not similarly afflicted? We have WoJ that the current Mother Summer is not the original. Iirc the previous Mother Summer & Winter Queen died before or around 1066. This was the change that brought Mab & Titania to their current roles.
So perhaps Mother Summer is simply younger hence doesn’t feel the same ravages of time that MW does?

--- End quote ---

I see it as mother winter's mantle makes her an old woman who lived a cold harsh hard life so it makes her body in pretty rough shape.  Mother summer's mantle makes her an old woman who lived a pretty good easy life. That is after all part of their natures.

Though the difference between the two could also be related to the black staff.  If Mother Winter for some reason put some of her power in her walking stick and then lost it the loss of power could be what causes the pain.

Yuillegan:

--- Quote from: segaily on August 23, 2019, 05:05:31 PM ---Though the difference between the two could also be related to the black staff.  If Mother Winter for some reason put some of her power in her walking stick and then lost it the loss of power could be what causes the pain.

--- End quote ---

That is the implication in Cold Days by Mother Summer. She directly says that "She [Mother Winter] lost her walking stick [potentially Blackstaff]. Whilst your summons was impertinent, it was a necessity and you had the right. But it is terribly painful for her to travel, even briefly. You, a mortal, hurt her." I have put in the implications. But that is the quote. So it isn't so much why Mother Winter finds it painful to travel. We know that. It is why she can be hurt at all, feels the ravages of time, what that walking stick actually is etc that are the real questions we must investigate.

Kbrizzle: Whilst Mab could trick Sarissa, why would she? She could get any human to guide her. She wanted to find a reason to spend time with her daughter. Mother Winter and Summer comment directly on Mab's more human like nature; namely to feel affection for her daughter (Maeve). Mab cannot (both as Fae and a Winter Queen) just incur debt with a deal. The tragedy of it is, in order for her to have a relationship with her child, she has to put her child in debt to the office of the Winter Queen. Maeve is different, she has Chosen to be a Fae and is the Winter Lady, their relationship has different rules that are much more than merely parent and child. One of the underlying points of Cold Days is that Mab (and Faeries in general) are more human, more mortal, than Dresden realises. Mab's humanity almost ends the world. Had she been fully inhuman she would have killed Maeve outright and the problem would have been solved. Hell, she was so upset when she realised what had to happen she couldn't speak without a mouthpiece in order to not kill Dresden with the force of her rage. Mab "loves" her children (for want of a better word). She has no need to lie to incur Sarissa's debt. I think you are correct though that Mab is not extending Sarissa's life in the magical sense (Sarissa's fae nature does that well enough), it is more she helps her not be overtaken by her brain disease (whatever it actually is).

kbrizzle:
@Yuillegan
I never said that Mab tricks Sarissa at all. My point was that Mab makes it possible for Sarissa to continually not choose being mortal or Fae without the inevitable consequences, in return Sarissa spends 3 months a year at Arctis Tor.
Mab absolutely loves both Sarissa & Maeve but I think you’re right that because Maeve is also Fae, her relationship with Mab has a lot of dimensions (most of which do not allow Mab to show her love); however a lot of these limitations don’t exist with Sarissa (although some obviously do). Perhaps this is one of the things that drove Maeve to insanity? Her jealousy of Mab & Sarissa’s relationship is clearly stated in CD.

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