do you think if he hands it to Harry then Harry will be obligated to return it to Mother Winter?

No.  I think he will eventually give it to her, but obligated?  No.  Then again it depends on the deal that was made that got it into Humanity's hands in the first place.

Then again, we don't know HOW the Blackstaff (the staff, not the office) chooses it's wielder.  Jim has said it picks.  So even if Eb hands it to Harry, Harry may not keep it.

Jonas,

Just post your theories.  They'll be picked apart, as is the norm.

Happy theorizing.

Susan coming back as a full on Red Court vamp could be interesting.

#1.  The Red Court could make a return with her as it's Queen.
#2.  She could go after Harry's daughter when she's older, causing problems for Harry and a daughter who wants to be with her mother (or her Red vamp virtual clone)
#3.  Red Court vamp Susan being a big player in the BAT.

THAT would be a horrifying twist. 

I LIKE IT

The overall opinion appears to be that Marcone is a vanilla mortal who displays extraordinary tenacity and cleverness without any supernatural lineage, magical advantages, or other paranormal attributes. There could theoretically be something about him yet to be revealed, but the absence of it showing up in a soul gaze and the lack of reference to such a trait from a third party seem to indicate not.

Marcone has a large shadow. Underworld lord, Freeholding lord, etc. He has big ambitions. These ambitions tend to be realized long term. He can't be the only one to think big like this, though. Are there other Marcone equivalents across the globe? Mortals who have built small, clandestine empires that interact with the supernatural on a regular basis? If not, why? What's different about Marcone?

I suppose that they didn't see an advantage in signing onto the Unseelie Accords.  There are rights AND obligations to such a thing.

My speculation is the Mouse won Harry when Mouse competed with his litter siblings for getting to have Harry as his master. Remember the other puppies were in the box and Mouse was hidden out of the box with a notched ear (probably from fighting his siblings for Harry). It was no coincidence that Mouse came to Harry.

My guess is. Goodman Grey was paying rent (doing jobs and favors) to be able to stay on the mortal realm with support probably from Vadderung and or other powers, without problems like the other Naagloshi who are not supposed to be here anymore.

I wonder if maybe he isn't working for Mab, and he's trying to help pay off some of her Debt/Karma by proxy.  We know she's trying to balance her books, so there is that possibility.

But only if we can torture him first.

LOL ... I actually think that Jim Modeled Pizza'Spress after Little Cesars'.  I know that used to be our go-to when budget was slim, but you have to have pizza.

DRINK!!

LOL