Ah, I should have guessed.
I believe that Aurora was certainly Nemesis controlled (since her fae nature prevents most other options), but not Sells/Denton/Kravos. Lily isn't convincing for me; we already know she's been lied to. I put those three at the Black Council's feet (also, for clarity, let's be specific about Black Council/Circle vs Black Court). They are setting the stage for the Circle/Nemesis's first big move together (at least in a while) in GP targeting Lea and starting the wizard-vampire war. They were doing things Nemesis liked, but I don't think Nemesis had the ability to jump into any of those three like he could for Cat Sith, for example.
Justine is substantially different than any of the three early mortal villains. She's not just a random mook. She's a hook into both the White Court royalty (in two ways) and into the starborn that's been ruining so many things for Nemesis's BC buddies lately.
I'd also push back against Justin being Nemesis. He's BC through and through. (Fun fact, Justin was Simon Pietrovich's apprentice).
I'd say that Ariana was more blinded by getting revenge on Harry's family than her ambition, but that's not the point. By removing the liability that is the Red King, she's strengthening the Red Court overall. That's not destabilizing. It's like Harry slamming his arm back into socket, painful at first, but quickly better. Destroying the White Council would be stabilizing for the Red Court as well. No more wizards killing them in a long war. Ariana's actions are against the chaos that Nemesis prefers in order to bring about Empty Night. Prolonging the war is what's good for Nemesis, not the RC winning.
Agreed. I would imagine that the heart curse is an original Red Court/Mayan pantheon special that the BC came across (which makes a nice contribution for a Cowl=Simon Pietrovich vampire expert in the BC). It hadn't been used in forever (Odin says over a millennium for Power on the Changes scale), so send it off to Chicago with a nobody to test before any enemies know you're plotting, hence Sells. That way, they can figure out its requirements and limitations while simultaneously setting the stage for their big move in GP. Later, it's an insurance policy for the WC getting the upper hand against the RC in order to prolong the war.
Yeah, I was mostly pointing out the process where Agent Smith took over susceptible targets. We agree that Nemesis and Agent Smith are distinct philosophically.
I guess we will find out more later about the first few mortals. Another good question for a Jim AMA or something. I don't agree though that Nemesis didn't have the ability to possess Sells, Denton or Kravos. If it can possess Justine, why not other mortals? I get she is a more important target, but fundamentally she is as human as the rest. So the barrier to entry shouldn't be different.
Well, see being Black Council and being Nemesis-infected and/or possessed are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Justin could have been Black Council who got infected, or maybe that's part of being on the Black Council, or perhaps he got infected before forming/joining the Black Council.
Certainly, Arianna believed the Red King was a liability. And yes, his junkie behaviour is concerning (interesting that the other Black Council catpaw, the Fomor, are have someone with junkie-like behaviour - Corb). However, had Arianna completed her coup perhaps she would have kicked off a civil war and the entire Red Court made vulnerable. It's not at all certain that the other Lords would have accepted one of their own taking over their sire. Not to mention, I suspect some of them would have preferred to rule than whoever Arianna was allied with. The Red Court wouldn't have necessarily won even if the removing the Red King had united them. But even if it had, destroying the White Council or strengthening the Red Court would only have furthered Nemesis' aims. With no White Council, who would stop the agents of destruction? Who would protect humanity and stop the warlocks arising and the Outer Gates being opened? The Red Court united would have been worse for humanity and the world would have been darker for it, particularly without the White Council to stop them. Nemesis wants more darkness and chaos. That's what I was getting at. In that environment, the return of the Outsiders is far more likely.
I think the heart-ripping curse was not in Chicago by accident. I can't prove it but it almost certainly was linked to Harry being there. It doesn't make sense to test it there otherwise.
Yeah, Nemesis is almost a combination of both regular Agents and Agent Smith, at least in it's operation. I wouldn't be surprised if it partly inspired Jim.
