This is true.  She's an Independent signatory just like Marcone, Drakul or Ferro.  In DM, Bob said that "The vampires and the Council will pick from a list of neutral emissaries" which is how she was chosen (and it was just Harry's choice in SmF) so we can assume she's on that list, but I think we can also likely assume that there are Independent Signatories that are more politically active and so not considered Neutral parties.

I see Ivy as being present at the arbitration as a party and not the arbiter given that she was attacked by another accords member fairly recently.

Hmm, so if Marcone was the base level prize and Ivy was just a possibility, it could jive.  It still represents a metric f*ckton of wasted resources on a vague possibility, given that it took Lucifer Himself to fuel the huge Circles that were only needed for Ivy, a cost equivalent to having to deal with a Soul fire-empowered Dresden there-after.   

It is a huge use of resources on a lower probability plan, but the Nickleheads plan long term and seem willing to deal with failure of their plans in pursuit of their overall goal. To them, just ending up with Marcone had to have been worth breaking the Accords while possibly getting Ivy out of the deal a potential windfall.

I'm still convinced that Kemmler was the last WARDEN, and it was Rashid's job to prevent DR from defending Kemmler.

As to the wounding of DR, his limp is from a Glacier, per Jim.

Thanks for posting that WOJ. I have not come across that one before. Seems to suggest that maybe Demonreach was a bigger area than the island pre-lake and in the carving out of the lake (forming of the island) Demonreach was limited/injured.

And really, it's tailor-made for a feature adaptation. The first installment can use a relative no-name cast; the budget requirements are relatively small; locations are almost entirely remote, forest settings; set requirements are minimal (you need The Princeps Memoriam, a few bedrooms, a Grand Hall for Bernardholdt, and a stereotypical Castle Courtyard for Second Calderon)

There are only a few casting issues. Number one, Tavi is very small for his age until Cursor's Fury and Captain's Fury when he rapidly catches up and fills in. You might need two actors for Tavi. Second, Kitai can be mistaken for a boy when Tavi first meets her, but by Cursor's Fury/Captain's Fury she is described as an exotic beauty. Once again, two actress might be needed, but the same actress could potentially play Kitai and the Vord Queen. Third, there are distinct skin colorations for the different regions. Marat are pale, Countess Amara is described as having golden skin, another region is described as having swarthy skin etc. I personally not be opposed if some of those regional differences are discarded (except perhaps the Marat), but it might upset others.

With regards to Furies of Calderon sets, like Kindler mentioned, they are pretty generic for the most part. Steadholdts are interchangeable, mercenary camp, Marat camp, generic Castle (just have to make sure that this is consistent across all the seasons). The biggest expense will be the Wax forest and the Wax spiders. Even that can be mitigated though by creating one medium set and showing it at different angles to simulate different parts of the forest. The single biggest expense of the first book would be the Marat horde with all their animals.

My biggest fear about a Codex Alera series would be that they would try to save money and cut costs by cutting/limiting the battles. If we are going to get a this series made into a show I want a commitment to show all the battles in all their glory.

One thought I had: if this would get made into a show, maybe they could convince Jim to write a few short stories that flesh out some of the event surrounding First Calderon, the romance between Isana and Septimus, and the death of Septimus. Heck maybe even a little more backstory for Fidelias (what transpired between Academ's and Cursor's Fury) would be welcome. These things are touched on in the book series, but could be slightly expanded and used to pace/fill in the show.

So... Rashid previously messed up a defense of Demonreach in the past by trying to take down something that was too tough for him while Demonreach was left scrambling to defend itself?

Thats how I interpret it. Rashid focused on the wrong enemy (tank) allowing a more dangerous enemy to attack and wound Demonreach.

I'd sooner believe that Harry will NOT be the one to carry the Spear into battle.  I'd bet he'd let Vadderung carry it, as he has a bit of experience with a spear already.

I see Harry sticking with what he knows: magic and a trusty firearm. He will let the mythical beings carry the mythical weapons.

Lasciel is certainly the one who knows Harry best. 

She did not have to because she was in Harry's head. The reason she knew exactly what to say to get Harry to kill himself. Probably the reason she knew about their daughter though Nicodemus could have told her as well.

It is what Harry learned after white night that gave him an edge.

On the topic of Lasciel. Harry had an imprint of Lasciel in his brain he named Lash. She developed into a separate entity. Harry never took up the coin and Lash sacrificed herself to save Harry meaning that Lash was never reabsorbed into Lasciel. How then did Lasciel gain any intimate knowledge of Harry? That knowledge died with Lash. Although some or maybe all of it passed to Bonnie.

Pop culture references were probably all Hannah. I do not think that Lasciel knows Harry at all except by reputation and what was passed along by Nic. Hannah's anger at Harry for the destruction of her friends fed into Lasciel's anger at Harry for his refusal of her and vice versa. Lasciel is angry because her shadow failed to seduce Harry meaning that she failed. The fact that Harry and her shadow had a "baby" means that Harry seduced the shadow which only rubs salt in the wound. She easily could have found out about Bonnie from Nic as Harry told Murphy about the "parasite" in an unsecured environment (which in retrospect was not smart of Harry. He knew Anduriel was most likely Listening and yet still revealed a weakness/weapon/desirable possession).

Just to add a bit to raidems recounting of the story. The Noghri's homeworld was originally poisoned during the clone wars. A battle took place above their planet and one of the capital ships crashed poisoning the land and preventing the agricultural society from growing any crops. A few years later Darth Vader was the first outsider to make contact with the Noghri and blamed the rebellion for the disaster (even though it happened during the Clone Wars). He promised the Empire's help in restoring the Noghri's planet and gave them droids that worked at cleansing the land. In return the Noghri served the Emperor and later Thrawn. Then, as raidem said, the Noghri were sent to capture Leia in order to take her unborn twins and Noghri recognized Leia as a daughter of Vader. They took her to their world where she was able to convince the Noghri that they had been duped. She took apart a robot and showed them that the robots were actually further damaging the land and slowing the recovery process as well as proving that the battle was not the rebellion's fault. The Noghri served Leia afterwards and one of the Noghri guarding Thrawn assassinated him in the middle of a huge battle causing the Empire to leave the engagement despite having the upper hand.