The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers

Thoughts on Simon Petrovich being Cowl

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Yuillegan:
g33k - I agree, you basically summed up my thoughts on Eb and Langtry. But as for Rashid...I am not sure. I believe that quote was saying he is dangerous in the same way Harry is as Warden of Demonreach i.e. because they both could unleash Hell on Earth. In saying that, Rashid is the oldest Wizard on the White Council (possibly the world) and between his prescience and knowledge (particularly of the forbidden kind from beyond the Outer Gates - hinted at as the same dark magic as the ley-line coming from Demonreach among other things) I am sure he is very dangerous. He is quite possibly on the same level as Merlin (at least defensively - both he and Langtry stopped that army of Outsiders). I think that pretty much no Wizard would take him on head-to-head unless they had no other options. What I think Jim may have meant by "most dangerous...not the same as most powerful" is that he doesn't wield the same level of political power internally as the others (as he stays mostly out of it).

Bad Alias - Thank you, we clearly have read much of the same stuff. Yeah that was my conclusion. Good for theory crafting, not necessarily gospel.

Snark Knight - Well, I find your theory about the inclusion of Flamethrowers to defeat Kemmler highly intriguing. However I would remind you that upon Harry's death his spirit awoke/appeared "on the tracks" in the Not-Chicago train station. I don't believe his spirit immediately exited his body into ethereal plane (I am using some D&D terms here for simplicity). It seemed like he entered some plane of the Never-never between the ethereal and the "Here After". So I am not sure that either theory holds up entirely.

Also - I wasn't saying He Who Walks Behind worked for Justin. Indeed, GS seems to imply the opposite was true if anything. I was merely saying they were associates.

Kbrizzle -
I don't know that by attending Bianca's party Cowl was acting openly. But it's hard to say without further information. Mmm, perhaps I misremember but I believe there is a reference that Justin was there. At any rate he was connected to it all. The only connection Justin had to the vampire courts that I know of was with that aforementioned group. Which isn't to say he didn't have others. Eb is the most powerful in duels, and maybe has the most defeats to his name. Doesn't make him the strongest in terms of raw power (although I suspect he is close).

As for Cowl's spellwork and tactics...let me put it another way. Harry has often said any Senior Council wizard could take him apart. Were they to take Dresden on (even with the Alphas as support) I imagine they would still have ripped him apart (especially all the way back in Dead Beat). LtW, Rashid, Langtry or Eb would have killed Harry and his wolves before he got started. Ancient Mai would hardly fight in that way (she would use cats paws) but even so if she wanted to fight I imagine her enchantments and enchanted objects would be far beyond Harry.

Cowl on the other hand ran at the first sign of trouble and allowed Harry to flip a car on him. He is strong and competent, yes. But that isn't the same as being SC level.

Cowl's plan was insane. Probably because he is well on the way. Dark magic twists the mind. But so does regular old life. Who knows what's the main cause? The result is that he believes his plan and is at least as committed as Nicodemus to his personal cause. Or Lucifer.

It could have been Justin took advantage of a bad situation. But if it was all planned the advantages are much the same. He gains anonymity and an instant alibi for everything (being dead). He might have also gained insight and knowledge and advantages that only come from playing in the shadows on the borders of life (much like what several beings have hinted at Harry has). And finally - the lesson Lea talked about (how it is very hard to make a young wizard use violence as the problem solver and believe it is right). Perhaps others as well but time will tell.

Snark Knight:

--- Quote from: kbrizzle on May 16, 2020, 04:20:20 AM ---So do you also think Simon is the most likely candidate for Cowl?

--- End quote ---

I'd give about 70% odds on it, yeah. Slightly lower odds on Elaine as Kumori, but possibly some sort of secondary personality that's not active most of the time.

Bad Alias:
Before using DB to judge Cowl's strength, remember that the all the necromancers were using mostly physical attacks on one another because they were conserving or had expended their magical tanks. That could be the reason Cowl didn't seem as strong as we would expect if he is secretly a member of the Senior Council.

Jim has said that Rashid is the most dangerous wizard, and I think he said the Merlin is the most powerful. Harry definitely has. If Eb is the most anything, it's probably strongest. As in he's got the biggest firehouse as Harry puts it. The Merlin would have to have enough skill or knowledge to outclass Eb to make him more powerful. In that little snippet from PT, Harry said that Eb was the most feared wizard.

kbrizzle:
I agree with @ Bad Alias that Cowl retreating from Harry & the Alphas shouldn’t be looked at as Cowl being a wuss per se - I imagine that he wanted to save his strength for what he thought of as his real threats - Grevane & Corpsetaker.

I also don’t think Eb is the most powerful mortal wizard alive either, although he likely has the most combat experience.

@Yuillegan
I mean Cowl was at a party in a fairly noticeable role, so much so that Harry recognized him despite never having interacted with him before. There were also likely members from every Signatory present at Bianca’s ball so it was a fairly high profile event.

I don’t recall any textual evidence of Justin having attended Maggie & Raith Sr’s dinner, the closest thing I can think of is when Eb tells Harry that Justin was an associate of his mother.

I still can’t think of many advantages Justin has by playing dead - the disadvantages outweigh the gains from what I can tell

Arjan:
I think Cowl is someone who is actually alive at this moment. About any powerful council member is a better candidate than Simon or Justin.

Outsiders don’t work for you. You may be able to make them do your bidding in the short run because they need mortal wizards to get here but they work for themselves. They also make you go mad if you associate too closely with them and you start serving their purpose even if you think you are not. Cowl is on that route as was Peabody.

Playing dead is only useful if you are at least a suspect in some way and only really useful if someone is actively looking for you. You sacrifice all influence and contacts you actually have to make people stop looking for you. Simon and Justin had no reason to hide and the way they died is not one they would choose when faking dead. Fire destroys everything and the dead curse most likely uses up valuable energy you need to return.

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