So the theory with the Spear of Destiny, or Spear of Longinus as it is rightly called, is that whoever holds it is either invincible or their "power" increases 10-fold.

Interestingly, while Harry held the Spear he didn't do anything particularly magical with it, yet defeated all his enemies soundly in all situations. In fact despite the increasing difficulty of situations, whilst he held the Spear, he overcame all odds.

Now this isn't weird for Harry as he is constantly defying and beating far more powerful and deadly beings and overcoming extraordinary situations. But it bears thinking on that once Harry held the Spear, neither he nor his allies died or were wounded or defeated in any meaningful way.

Another interesting thing is the Odin's Spear Gungnir is sometimes equated with making the holder invincible - and Odin hung from Yggdrasil the World Tree, his side pierced by Gungnir and he passed through Death as was reborn. Modern historians find this story to be a more recent one, equated with the spread of Christianity into Scandinavia where the Vikings would have found connections between the two religions and absorbed Christian stories into Viking ones i.e. Christ's crucifixion was remodeled into a myth about Odin. Indeed the Vikings were known to worship both the Norse Gods and Christ, some even having the Cross on the back of Mjolnir (Thor's hammer).

I suspect if Dresden were to use it actively you guess correctly that he will likely kill himself in order to ascend or some such. I don't think it will be as mundane as a merely stabby object for a big villain.

Not to spoil the fun but Bad Alias is right - the Athame (Morgan Le Fay's Athame) that Lea receives is NOT the Spear of Destiny. That would be pretty unlikely considering it was hidden deeply in some part of the Greek Underworld along with several other objects of Christ.

Consider that the Athame itself is still up there with a Sword of the Cross - that still makes it exceptional in it's own right considering what we know of the Swords. Consider also that Amorrachius has also been Excalibur in the age of Merlin...who as we all know instructed Morgan Le Fay. He also had a relationship with Nimue - the Lady of the Lake. She was a sort of fae goddess, I suspect quite likely it was Mab before she was Mab (when she was still a Lady). That puts both instruments in use around the same time.

And Bad Alias - I see what you are saying, just pointing out that Dresden only realised during this book that the Black Council might just be a smaller piece of the puzzle. In saying that - I think the passage I quoted was the first textual piece of exposition where Dresden has his realisation. He may well have had it earlier, but I can't find any passage before that particular one that suggests this might be so.

I am aware of the difference between the phrases, and that was my conclusion too, however it is a pretty clumsy piece of writing (which is pretty rare for Jim).

It is just one of those limitations from how the author sees a scene in their head, to how it is then transposed through the (quite limited) form of writing, to how a reader then interprets it. While it doesn't take away from the scene, and when I read it the first time I don't even think I noticed, it just is a bit jarring.

There is this random thing where beings like Mother Summer and Winter, Uriel refer themselves occasionally as "our". Perhaps this is Jim's use of the royal "our" and they are speaking in third person...but I think it is a bit of hint. Certainly it is made a fuss of when Mother Summer says it when talking about Names and Masks in Cold Days.

It has long been speculated that Mother Summer and Winter are actually two parts of a greater being...though I believe Jim has hinted that all 6 queens actually make up the greater whole.

But is Uriel an aspect of a larger being too? Is he an Avatar of TWG or some such? Was he merely referring to Heaven's power? Is the Uriel in Dresden Files a sliver of the much larger Uriel that spans all worlds and realities?

In the fight between Karen and Nicodemus, he has just shot Karen in the belly during their sword fight. She still manages to get Fidelacchius to his throat somehow...and then when she strikes while he is defenceless (after asking to be saved and removing his tie, coin and weapons) she then breaks the sword. Immediately he headbutts her and strikes her in the jaw. Then she fights back and loses their sparring and ends up in a lock the forces her to her knees. Then SOMEHOW he strikes her knee and breaks is, and she falls to the ground. The thing is though..how is that possible? She was already on the ground kneeling (a very strong position for a knee for a start) and then he breaks her knee and she falls to the ground again. But she was ALREADY on the ground

Good ideas all, but I seem to remember in one of the more recent novels that Harry has an epiphany where he realises what he assumed, in his arrogance, was a group of dark wizards could be something much larger and more complex and diverse in it's affliates and members.

I think this is when he is getting a better idea about Nemesis etc.

To answer the OP - yes there is. Search in the Reference collection or WOJ.

Initially Jim said that Archangels and the Faerie Queens and Gods were of the same level. This was established in the early books but has essentially been retconned. TWG/Almighty is considered the top of the food chain (though what exactly it is has not been explained). Archangel are the tier below that (Jim called them VP's of Creation - these days in corporate they would more likely be SVPs and Officers, but I will get into that in a second). Archangels have been said to have the power to annihilate galaxies with their thoughts, take apart all the worlds everywhere etc. This is both WOJ and in the later novels. A particular Archangel (the Prince of Darkness) has been called an "officer" of Hell. This was met with some confusion by fans when Hades (the god) is considered the CEO of his own little company, but Lucifer is an Officer. In current corporate lingo, an officer is generally one of the highest executive positions (and includes the CEO, and sometimes Chair and/or President - the terms generally amount to the same thing). This resolves the confusion somewhat, that as a senior Archangel Lucifer is up the top, but as we don't know much about Hell or how it functions or it's purpose, we cannot understand why Lucifer might not be the Chairman. My guess is technically TWG is Chairman as Hell serves a purpose, and as constantly stated around the books, Power has Purpose.

Of note, recently we discovered that the Walker He Who Walks Behind is considered on the same level as an Archangel. This was odd as the other Walker, He Who Walks Before, was considered as "big as Mab, but unimaginably deeper". This suggests we don't fully understand how the Power levels really work yet.

The Mothers are also considered as high as Archangels, and have been described as orders of magnitude greater than the Queens.

The next level are Gods, Queens, Dragons, Angels, Fallen. Depending on how much they are involved depends where they fall but it is clear from WOJ that just because you have more brute force, doesn't mean you have more influence or are more deadly. Often the inverse is true. Compare Vadderung/Kringle and Hades. Hades might well have more muscle these days, Vadderung has seemingly sacrificed much of his former Power to retain influence in the world. On the other hand, his influence seems much more pervasive and dangerous comparatively. Drakul, Ferrovax and the council of Black Court Elders are on this level. Also to some degree, the Lords of the Outer Night. Various demons and Outsiders exist here and below.

The Leansidhe, Eldest Gruff, the Erlking and Kringle are the next level. I would say that Mouse when in the Carpenter's home and Ivy fall in somewhere around here. I put Kringle here as Vadderung's power and influence jumps around - he sits on a few levels depending on the mask he wears I suspect.

Below them is the Ladies and possible OG Merlin and perhaps Morganna Le Fay, maybe Kemmler. I would hazard that the Ladies have more brute force because of what they represent, but not necessarily more influential than the others. OG Naagloshii.

The Senior Council types and some others are probably next - maybe some of the Bigfoot types. The Cantrev Lords of the Formor are also somewhere here. Regular Skinwalkers.

Finally regular Wizards, fae etc.

Vanilla mortals - which as JB keeps stressing, should not be mistaken for harmless, especially when massed, planned, well researched and angry. We did invent nukes after all.

Side note - The Old Ones (possibly the Old Gods - there is some confusion on this) who a race of demon gods that ruled the Earth and were banished or locked away and rule the Outsiders, are not included in this list. That is because we know almost nothing about them. Bob mentioned they could cross a threshold and do all kinds of damage - which was considered pretty bad, he also compared them to a big old god. I suspect that en masse they could well challenge TWG himself. Why? Because of a little known WOJ. In it, he describes that Lucifer is nowhere near the biggest bad on the tree for the simple fact that he is FOR REALITY. Lucifer is having an existential argument with TWG that we can only vaguely grasp. But it seems his is Team Reality. The Old Ones wish for no more reality it seems. Which is why Jim considers Nicodemus more dangerous to reality than Lucifer, in some ways. Both Vadderung and the Mothers have described the twin events of the prisoners of Demonreach getting free and the Outsiders breaking through the gate as not merely catastrophic, but the end (or "everything stops. everything" as Mother Summer put it). The term Empty Night seems to be a big hint, as has been thrown around a few times in the series.

Hope that helps