What is odd is that Namshiel and thus Marcone can use magic. Especially since no other Fallen uses magic unless their host is a wizard.

I think it's a matter of preferences/approach, not limited ability.

We know that it's technically possible for "regular people" to learn magic, but without the Sight it's compared to a blind person learning to paint. With a Fallen's knowledge, that can probably be overcome.

But it's probably a lot quicker/easier to turn into a giant monster Ursiel/Magog style, especially for someone who already knows how to fight.

And Harry calls Namshiel "Master of Sorcery". His preferences likely make that something he would offer early on (bring it up even if the host doesn't know it's possible) - not so for Ursiel or Magog.

Yeah the Kemmler thing really surprises me. If the Warden can release the prisoners (as Alfred/Demonreach told Harry) why didn't he release some Ethniu-level power on the condition that it swore a magically-binding oath to destroy the White Council?

Maybe something to do with the 'starborn cycle' made Ethniu more freely able to act in the mortal world than would have been possible a century ago?

Still, even a half-dozen naagloshii assassins could have seriously messed up the White Council's war efforts, likely enough for Kemmler to win.

I assume that was either body hopping Capiocorpus style, or he'd performed a low-level Darkhallow that regenerated him slowly.

I thought it was what Corpsetaker tried to do in GS, except that Kemmler succeeded where she failed.

He definitely did do some kind of "low-level Darkhallow" however, since Mab says that eating spirits was the secret of the power that let him defy the Council. It's not just something he knew how to do but never got a chance to use - he actually gained power from it.

Yeah I think Rashid has to be a case of NN time flow differences. He can be younger than Ancient Mai in their personal timeline (has experienced fewer years) though much older in terms of birth dates.

This suggests Dracula isn't really involved (or even un-alive) as Drakul seems to be very past-tensey about him.

I think Dracula got killed in the Stokerlypse. Yes the WOJs on it suggest Dracula created the Court as an act of rebellion against Drakul... maybe Drakul sort of 'inherited' it?

Anything other readers have been waiting to see or questions that were answered?

Confirmation that Nemesis is He Who Walks Beside, and near-confirmation that the Blackstaff is Mother Winter's walking stick (Eb's shadow turns into an "old woman, complete with the classic witch nose and chin").

And what questions do people want answered subsequently?!

What's the deal with "stars and stones", and why is knowing about it so important that Listens-to-Wind doesn't feel able to tell Harry?

What does it mean that Drakul is starborn? If Drakul is an inhuman entity trapped in human form, what does it even mean for him to be "born" at a specific time - is he possessing a pre-existing human body that was actually born, vs creating a body the way Uriel temporarily did in SG?

Course, letting Harry fumble around in the dark is a pretty stupid idea so I don't get why they don't just be a bit straighter with him.

If by "they" you mean the various powers involved in Harry's life (Eb, the Gatekeeper, Mab, Uriel, etc.) I think it's to steer what Harry does and (except in Uriel's case) that they don't want him to be more powerful than he needs to be to do what they want him to do.

The "in the know" members of the White Council aren't sure which way Harry is going to go (I think that's why Eb is so reluctant to tell him anything about being Starborn until his life's on the line), Mab is apparently wary of Harry (there is a WOJ that things were bad in Faerie last time something like this happened and "Mab is keeping her enemies closer"), etc.

Let me put it this way: If Billy and the Werewolves can figure out closing surface wounds just like that [ admittedly, Billy's got an engineering degree or something similar IIRC, but he's younger than Dresden and Dresden is basically a kid compared to other wizards ], how come Listens-to-Wind, a shapeshifter, a shaman, a doctor with a LIST of university degrees, with centuries of experience never even considered that? [ I'm expecting some kind of retconning here in the future ]

Self vs. others, I think. Listens-to-Wind can turn himself into all kinds of animals, he could certainly close his own wounds, IMO.

But doing that kind of magic on others... much harder.

The Second Law probably also has made the White Council very leery of experimenting much with biological magic on others beyond the basics (much as White Council mental training was extremely rudimentary before recent events).

The Leanansidhe heals Harry in Blood Moon. Mab repairs Harry's broken back. There are possibly a few more instances when a character is affected in this manner, but they are there.

These are incredibly powerful entities, far beyond the scale of even the Senior Council. Lea is second to Mab, stronger than the Winter Lady, and she killed two Lords of Outer Night (beings that Odin calls "mostly retired gods") with one spell.

And: Yeah, by now you'd think that Dresden turned his Silver bear charm into a bunch of tiny magic grenades. I mean: The guy was fighting in a war. He's a nerd with a serious hatred towards the Red court. You don't get more Ka-boom than that.

Well, I think the force rings were his version of that. Magic grenades would be too uncontrollable, Harry is extremely wary of the First Law. The force rings let him modulate the force so he can just "pull the punch" rather than deliver a lethal blow against mortals.

Also, there's a WoJ that the items Harry had (pre-Changes when he had a full set) were all he had the time to maintain. He can't just keep adding more stuff and keep all his old stuff working.

Harry says in either TC or Changes that the original Merlin wrote the Laws of Magic.

It always makes me think of Stonehenge, and the idea that it was meant to be a kind of calendar when certain stars line up with certain stones and such.

I think it's either this (with reference to Conjunctions) or an Outsiders thing. In the Lovecraft story "At the Mountains of Madness" the Antarctic Old Ones (enemies of Cthulhu) left behind these five-pointed star stone things, which later Cthulhu Mythos authors made into weapons against Cthulhu-type entities.