Exactly, he didn’t know Harry had Bob but Harry carelessly left him out in Murphy’s, Cowl saw Bob, recognised him and couldn’t believe his luck, he had The Word, without having to retrieve the actual document.

My guess is that people were aware Kemmler had a stash and thought that Bob was part of the stash, so they were looking for the stash rather than Bob specifically, however Justin took Bob on the defeat of Kemmler,  (which means Justin and Cowl were not working together, Justin must have been working for someone else) When Boney Tony found the stash everyone was alerted a copy of The Word existed and converged on Chicago.

It is worrying that Kemmler had his stash in Chicago, relatively close to Demonreach and likely birthplace of the Starborn of the next cycle. Unlikely to be a coincidence.

Has to be a big coincidence doesn't it? After all Kemmler doesn't know where Demonreach is located so stashing his stuff in Chicago was just too lucky

Virginity is not a requirement for a Lady's Mantle. Lily was not a virgin when she succeeded Aurora and Sarissa was in-line for both the Summer and Winter offices despite her long life and experiences. The Mantles enforce celibacy and then only in the strictest sense of actual intercourse it seems. There may be considerable leeway in other activities.

The island literally saved Mab, without it Harry would have lost and Mab a pincushion of Steel rebar waiting for the Eye to recharge again.

The Merlin likely foresaw the necessity. It’s clear Mab, Uriel, Odin and Hades have been working together for some time. Their little Cabal obviously includes the Gatekeeper and he likely took over from the Original Merlin, when he died on the cabal. If you take the Arthurian era as 4AD and the Merlin lived a couple of centuries after that then the chances of an overlap are quite high.

What book did you read that contained that storyline?

In BG, Harry protects Mab after the she is struck by the rebar from a group of Formor sorcerers\wizards. Butters pulls out the rebar and Mab gets up and confronts Ethniu. Mab then takes the shot from the Eye and is carried to safety by her people.

The other speculation may be true but is unsupported by the written record.

Definitely Mab then, Harry was still avoiding being the Winter Knight at that point, which was probably common knowledge at this point, and if the Ice Garden, then that’s  where Lloyd Slate was kept, Harry’s predecessor, whom Harry’s slit the throat of. Nicky would easily guess that would be required of Harry, and knew Harry would rather slit his own throat (or as actually happened hire a sniper) than be Winter Knight and Kill an innocent human (although Lloyd Slate v Maggie, foregone contest)

A great find adding to my theory, that Demonreach comes out at Arctis Tor.

Nicky knows where it comes out and doesn’t dare use it himself. Not without using up his precious favour to Mab, perhaps and it would be a grievous insult to Winter to arrive at Arctis Tor without invitation, no Guest Right would apply and Nicky most likely would be next to Lea and Lloyd if he tried it.

Harry as Winter Knight has a right as a senior Vassal to enter Arctis Tor unless forbid like Nameless who is bound by Winter Law and can’t even try.

The Mothers are Mantles and are artificial constructs apart from the person or being they were. No doubt Hecate and the Fates poured all or part of their power into the Mantles, the beings may have retired like a certain bartender, living in the Mortal World, powered down, at a power level much less than the Queens. We know they weren’t Queens or Ladies in the last millenia. The other option was to embrace the Mother Mantle but live permanently in the Never Never, to prevent reality breaking in line with my theory of the White Gods Proscription.

How is it definitely Mab? It would make sense for it to back onto one of the greatest supernatural prisons that are out there in the NeverNever and Winter is pretty far down that list. I mean Demonreach holds things as strong or stronger than Mab. You'd think the NeverNever analog would be one of the mythological hells.

Mab has one ice garden. I'm pretty sure Hades, Hela and Lucifer could fit it into a tiny wing of their realms without any trouble. Not to mention the Hindu, Sumerian, Chinese and Egyptian pantheons. Just staying regional, there are things far worse than Nagloshi in Amerind religion, especially if you include the Aleuts. Popping thru a Way and disturbing say Yamata no Orochi or Tiamat wouldn't rank very high as a survivable experience either.

Mab has to use force in these circumstances because that's what Harry responds to. Harry was rather naive in SK, and Mad exerting her power over him (after he insulted her) showed him who had the power in the relationship. In Small Favor, Mab took his memories away to protect him from the Summer Court. Then in SG, Harry offered an insult to Mab in public, so he had to be taught a lesson; a strongly worded conversation would not have done the trick. Mab may not be a good boss, but she is the boss she needs to be to control/guide Harry and the mortal realm. Now that Harry is starting to be less aggressive and think ahead more, I would think Mab would stop beating him as an underling and talking to him as more of a peer because Harry is ready for that kind of relationship.

Harry is growing up. While he may think a snide comment in response to meeting another supernatural, he is no longer saying them at every chance. That is giving him the chance to resolve some situations without escalation.

The supernatural community requires  manners because many of it's denizens are inclined to go straight to (extreme)violence rather than trading insults. Letting a public insult pass is seen as a weakness in most of their circles.

Yes, I assume that Harry will get a few millions as a Dowry -- it's a convenient plot device to give Harry yet another reason to agree to marry Lara.  He sees all the good stuff his Castle Refugee Center and Daycare is doing and won't want to give it up.  Of course, why it is that the Winter Knight doesn't have accounts just like Mab and Molly and I'm sure lots of of Winter and Summer Royalty do won't be mentioned.  Given compound interest and average stock growth over a few centuries, they all ought to be Billionaires.

Harry didn't ask for an account when he set up his conditions for becoming Winter Knight. He probably still has one but Mab is withholding it to have another lever on him and has forbid her people from telling him about it. It would balance the cheat he tried to pull with his attempted suicide quite nicely.

Why is it that Harry -- the Warden of Demonreach, owner of the Ways of LeFey -- keeps taking a stupid *BOAT* to & from the island??!?

Wizards mostly seem to get there via Ways... except, for some reason, Harry Dresden(?!).  I mean... we do recall him first getting his mother's gemstone, and pre-scouting the Ramp storage-facility in Nevada.  15 minutes each way.  Maybe the Ways to Demonreach are less-convenient.  Half an hour?  An hour?  Nah, an hour seems excessive.

Yet Harry keeps taking a multi-hour boat trip.

I find this very odd indeed.

Do they mostly uses Ways though? I don't recall them doing so in the books.

With allowances for OG Merlin, the only times we have seen someone reach Demonreach through a Way were in TC. That was Rashiid for one and Peabody+his ally second.

Every other visitor has used mundane or direct methods even counting Harry and Murphy's "bike ride".

Nic and crew in SF used boats while Gard came for Marcone in a helicopter. In TC, Shagnasty swam carrying Thomas, the Senior Council rented a boat, Lara used helicopters and Binder/Madeleine used Jet-skis. In CD, the Nemesis assault force used barges and tugs, the Summer and Winter forces shapeshifted and flew in, Fix used a hang glider and Mab is summoned. And finally in SG, Mab uses a boat.

So we have one instance of dramatic reveal for the purpose of exposition(Rashiid) and another of  the Bad Guys using secret knowledge(Peabody+) and no other known instances.

Which is why it is always accessed through Arctis Tor, Mab is the failsafe

You keep referencing that but there is nothing in the books or a WoJ that says that Way even exists. I have plenty of pet theories but I don't base my arguments on the. Please show your work with quotes.