The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers

About Bob... (Spoilers All, Spoilers today's AMA)

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ClintACK:
In Greek myth, Zeus swallowed the oceanid titan Metis. Months later, he suffered from terrible headaches. Hermes identified the problem, Haephestus split open his skull, and Athena burst out fully formed right down to the weapons and armor.

So... in Peace Talks, we've seen an ocean-based Last Titan. But that doesn't seem to fit anything.

In Grave Peril (and Dead Beat, and Ghost Story) we see that supernaturals can power up by literally eating the ghost/spirit/energy of other powerful beings.

And in Dead Beat and Ghost Story we see that spirits of information can be split into different independent beings containing different information. See: Evil Bob.

So...

Could some spirits of information form when an immortal takes up incompatible mantles and needs to carve out a piece (like Bob did to Evil Bob) to make what remains into the coherent whole they want? Could such spirits spin off in the aftermath of a Death Hallow, as the consumed souls consolidate to form the new god? (like planets forming in the leftover debris ring as a star is born?)

Could Odin's Ravens be leftover bits of his former greater mantle of power -- spun off to be separate from him, so he can be Vadderung and interact with mortals, but still there to be used and, in a worst-case scenario, reabsorbed to reascend to the power level that makes Ethniu respect "what he was".

Theory: Bob was created as a spin-off of Mab's ascension ritual when she became more than mortal. He either doesn't need a second parent, or the second parent is Titania. The timing is about right, isn't it?

vultur:

--- Quote from: The_Sibelis on August 24, 2020, 07:23:01 AM ---Odin already gave birth to two Soi imo, hugin anmunin.
--- End quote ---

Yeah, I think Odin's ravens/Vadderung's receptionists are essentially the same principle ... but probably without another parent involved.

Probably more directly analogous to Lasciel producing the shadow Lash, actually.

Something similar might have occurred with the splitting of Hecate's power among the various Faerie Queens.

And the Faerie Knight Mantles are apparently chunks of power split from the Queens' Mantles, from the WoJ about whether the Erlking could have a Knight.

So the general principle might be fairly common among beings of great power in the Dresdenverse.

-

The more I think about it, the more I think Odin fits.

It would explain Bob having connections to Faerie and specifically Winter, but also being an outcast (if he were Mab's son, I'd expect her to have made him her advisor or something - incorporating his dangerous knowledge into the power structure of Winter).

Given the 'obvious' statement, the other parent would then probably be Gard, since she's established in "Heorot" to be older than Bob and to have or once had a relationship with Odin.

The other option that could be considered 'obvious' might be Demonreach and the original Merlin (if Bob's video in CD counts as him having "appeared in the Dresden Files"). But there's no Faerie connection and Bob doesn't seem particularly Demonreach-y.

vultur:

--- Quote from: The_Sibelis on August 24, 2020, 03:23:21 AM ---Pretty sure what harry and mab did remade the WK mantle specifically for harry. It's why it mirrors him. Using the table basically unmade the mantle but gave winter back its power. So yea..

--- End quote ---

Given the Celtic connections of the Fae, I think this is supposed to be a mystical marriage to a goddess representing a transfer of power. Similar to what the first high kings of Ireland are mythologically supposed to have done.

Now it doesn't make Harry a king, but the Winter Knight is called "consort of the Queens of Winter" after all, and "consort" in this context probably means "spouse of a ruler". And Mab says to Lara in PT that Harry is a member of her House ... not just her Court, but her House, i.e. presumably the "royal house" of Winter.

I'm not sure it did anything magical to the Mantle itself compared to just transferring it in the usual way... I think it's more Mab emphasizing her claim to Harry in a ritual way (thus her "projecting" it to all of Faerie).

knightedbishop:
My money is on Merlin (the original) and Mab.

Bob is incredibly knowledgeable when it comes to mortal magic (see chapter 15 of Cold Days, where Bob says to Harry "I'm conversant in the course and application of the Art since the golden age of Greece"). We know the original Merlin was a magical genius. He learned from Odin (according to Ebenezer). We know he time traveled to build Demonreach. Plus there's a potential familial relationship (or more likely a master to apprentice relationship). Ebenezer has masters' journals going all the way back to the original Merlin. It would be only fitting that a spirit of intellect born of Merlin would end up in the hands of his penultimate protege. Heck, it may have even been intentional.

As for why Mab, his two key characteristics fit. Bob is about intellect and doesn't much understand emotions. He is horny as hell. In Cold Days, Titania talks about how her sister follows the mind and logic. From Cold Case, we know the creatures of Winter are filled with a hunger to procreate.

The_Sibelis:
@vulture of course it did something, she had him unmake the mantle, cleansing it and then ritually had him remake it. Consort, he with whom they mate, make babies? It's not at all the usual way of transferring the mantle, as she'd previously given it to Maeve to hand out, and Aurora gave it to lily. Neither of which could ahh mate. So she has him go through the process of unmaking the mantle on the table, which transfers power not the form of it, meaning she'd have to remake it, it being remade through sex is highly suggestive esp combined with him being the consort. The ritual itself had purpose. It's almost like she planted an embryo, and I'd point out, despite bonnie's natural growth, he didn't start getting pressed for mental room(ie headaches) until after he had the mantle. Their wasn't enough room for both.
Or coming at it from another angle, she's the queen, she's had sex, even children, but she's not automatically the mother.. because she has to birth an entity into this world, not a human. The mothers are the mothers because they split a portion of themselves off and handed it down to the courts, literally giving birth to them(hence why mother is only the name associated with their fae identity).
I predict (click to show/hide) Harry will take Molly's virginity, freely given by the person but resisted by the mantle and in doing so, in an act of love, will break the mold giving birth to.. well, whatever. In the vein of everything similar between Odin and Harry(like now the spear, which was predicted correctly off of the same principle btw) Harry is now beefy AF as the WK, (as opposed to a lean runner which harry was in his younger days, same as Odin... and that damned wolfish smile is showing up an awful lot recently...)which matches Odin as Kringle. All that's left is for him to break off an identity all his own for itwhen it becomes its own thing, that's when she's Mother in the technical sense. The mothers gave birth to the courts, which per SK ARE the queens, like entirely. So when the courts give birth..

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