Hey, it's me.  That guy who dropped a way too long theory back in 2017 on page 10, then wandered off for a while.

Anyways, I was re-listening to Dead Beat for the bajillionth time, and there was a thought which struck me that I couldn't account for.

Bob's loyalty and services belong to the person who possesses the skull.  Right about when the dominoes start falling toward the final dramatic conclusion, Cowl grabs the skull, and Bob's loyalties shift.  Dresden doesn't get Bob's loyalty back again, until Cowl puts the skull down.

So, two questions.

1.  How does Harry get Bob's loyalty back?  He talks to him, sure, mentions that he named Bob.  But would calling him by name give him access to his loyalty?  Not on its own, I don't think.  The true name establishes a magical connection between the namer and the one being named, but nothing more - and it's not like Harry does any magic to get Bob to switch sides.  However, if Harry and Cowl were arguably, magically the same person, the relinquishment of the skull, the loss of physical contact could have meant that both Cowl and Harry had equal claim to Bob.

2.  How does Cowl know that Harry had Bob?  This is worth thinking about.  The wardens and council knew that Kemmler had an air spirit within a skull, but believed it to be destroyed.  Bob's the kind of thing that you keep under wraps, in any case, simply because of who might be after it.  Neither Corpsetaker nor Grevane ever consider going after the little air spirit that Kemmler possessed.  But Cowl does.  He considers the pursuit of the numbers unnecessary; never tries once to look into Tony or try to get Butters - because he doesn't need to.

I mean, seriously.  If  Cowl is nothing more than the first version of Dresden, a version who had to make a lot more hard, questionable choices and went down the wrong path, essentially screwed up the future royally, and went back in time to change things...  literally, everything in Dead Beat makes sense.  Everything.  I mean, consider the surprise that Kumori showed when finding out that Harry had burned his hand.  Why surprise?  Because perhaps in the original timeline, Dresden hadn't burned his hand because he hadn't gotten into a feud with Mavra.  Why, in any case, would Kumori even entertain the idea that Dresden could shelter her, help her, and consider going against Cowl when she confronts him after leaving Sheila's apartment?

Because Harry Dresden helped her before, and she trusts him.

If it's not Harry, then who else do we have?  We have Elaine, who has some actual merit, but does not handle power in the same way that Cowl does.  Maybe Elaine could be Kumori, but honestly, she was hiding in Summer until book 4; it's doubtful that she went for a jaunt to a vampire ball just a year earlier.

Simon?  I'm sorry; Simon has had absolutely no plot significance for the majority of the series.  He's a footnote in Ebenezer McCoy's story, and little more.  It's true that he *could* have done it, but there's been almost no buildup.  In fact, when Ebenezer fights at Chichen Itza, he shouts, "Remember Archangel!"  Not "Remember Simon!"  Perfect opportunity to drop hints for the future and remind the readers that Simon is a relevant person, and Butcher doesn't.

But Butcher's been dropping hints, again and again, about how time travel works, the effects of it, showing evidence of it, and dropped one pretty big Chekhov's Gun in the form of the Law of Conservation of History.  Harry's conversation with Vadderung makes absolutely no sense at all, plot-wise, unless it's true.  There's far, far more evidence for this being a time-traveled Harry Dresden than it being anyone else.

Heck, I was just diagnosed with sleep apnea.  Spent my first night on the CPAP and it's like night and day.

I strongly believe that either time traveled or universe-displaced Dresden fixed it, but that's a theory on top of a theory on top of a theory on top of vague hints.  The book itself flags Rashid as the most likely suspect, so I'm willing to go with that as most unlikely, as the rule of inverse literary probability means that the longer a mystery has gone unanswered, the more improbable the outcome will be.

Watch - Jim's just stringing us along, and it has absolutely nothing to do with Harry or Eb. Its later revealed that Susan is a descendant from the same family that Mab, Titania, and Maeve came from, and doing the curse will put a reset on 2/3 the Winter Court and put Lily the Airhead on the Summer throne. Chaos ensues.

Well, we clearly know from the words uttered through Murphy's lips that there were angelic forces at work, forces that had likely gently influenced events in order that the Red Court would be destroyed. TWG works that way, manipulating one group of people to be the executors of judgement for another.

Yes, the gray council was there. And if you believe that they're made up of a group of good people fighting for good and right things, then it's pretty surface. On the other hand, if you believe they're more than what they appear, it becomes an act of removing one patsy who wasn't toeing the line and replacing it with another, and a desperate attempt to save the life of their leader.  Or, if you believe that Dresden has other living family, it becomes, I dunno, an effort to save Merlin trapped in Demonreach and clearly being the keystone that holds it all together.

Or something.

Mab's the interesting one. The Reds are signatories of the accords, and you wouldn't think that Lea could indulge herself if the Reds hadn't offered them any insult.  Either the act of Harry being Winter Knight meant that the past-tense act of kidnapping his daughter became a declaration of war, or it's a "if you're not alive to complain, I can get away with it" sort of deal.

I think that you all are vastly overestimating what Harry is able to do. I know that TC said that Harry is willing to go all-out, presumably even breaking the laws of magic. However, if his goal is information, he wouldn't just be immediately blasting Marcone to powder.

There is a reason that Harry is more afraid of Marcone than most anything else Supernatural. He has an incredible level of planning, preparation, and resources. He's also incredibly smart. And Harry, despite all his power, is still a glass cannon. One unexpected bullet ends him, like anyone else.

Is it possible at all that Marcone entered into this meeting with Dresden without a way to get out if the worst case scenario happened?  Very unlikely. They're going to treat a Dresden on assault with the maximum level of threat, which means that there's no holds barred. Their goals are to have Marcone break contact in order to escape.  And thinking that Marcone doesn't have other guards nearby ready is just foolish.

Harry and Molly going against Marcone is like two Queens trying to take on a chessboard with one King and a full assortment of Rooks, Bishops, Knights, and Pawns. No, individually they're not as powerful. But they'll out-maneuver him.

Marcone, no contest. Hendricks pulls his gun on an old couple and they use them as hostages to get some safe distance. In doing so, Marcone or Hendricks pushes a little button which alerts all troubleshooter in range that Harry is an immediate target. While Gard stalls, the troubleshooter gets in place and picks off Harry with a sniper rifle.   

I always took that as, if you conjure Harry, you'll have to deal with him.  Probably an unhappy Harry at that.

I'll make sure to have a cold can of Coca-Cola and some Burger King ready as an offering next time.

Yes, though Uriel still identifies him as a spirit; just a far greater one than most.  And he also refers to the original Sir Stuart as a separate being.

I went back over to Uriel to find him conversing with Sir Stuart.

"Don't know," Sir Stuart was saying. "I'm not . . . not as right as I used to be, sir."

"There's more than enough left to rebuild on," Uriel said. "Trust me. The ruins of a spirit like Sir Stuart's are more substantial than most men ever manage to dredge up. I'd be very pleased to have you working for me."