Mab's little allegory about Goldilocks and the porridge, from the start of Peace Talks, makes more sense now that we know what Lara's first request was.

I'd still love to know what Lara did to earn those favors.

It's easy to get caught up in our first-person narrator and protagonist and think, as he often does (when Michael isn't there to call him out on his unbelievable arrogance) think that it's all about Harry. Chicago's getting destroyed and it's all his fault (why? reasons.). The White Council is scheming to kick him out, again. The Red Court kidnapped his daughter. All him, right?

Wrong.

When the Red Court kidnapped Maggie, and sent some minor hitters to blow up Harry's life, it wasn't about Harry Dresden. He was just a minor bonus. The Red Court plot in Changes was about (1) the Black Council seizing control of the Red Court and (2) killing Ebenezar McCoy with the bloodline curse. Harry and Maggie are the one weakness of the terrifyingly powerful Blackstaff.

I think the latest White Council outrage is the same.

The Senior Council has issued a death warrant for Harry Dresden, ordered the Blackstaff to execute him (on pain of treason), and then suspended the sentence.

To Harry, and to us, this feels like a return to the days of Morgan and the Sword of Damocles hanging over Harry's head. And maybe it is -- maybe we never really understood the point of that, either. Maybe that was all about Ebenezar McCoy too.

Proposed: The new Sword of Damocles isn't hanging over Harry's head at all. It's hanging over Eb's. The other Senior Councilors know Eb won't actually execute Harry. That's the point. If they un-suspend the sentence, it's a way to turn Eb into a Traitor to the White Council. It's a *political* move, probably by the Merlin's faction, to gut one of the main opposing factions in the Council. Harry's not the target, he's Eb's weak spot. And now the Merlin finally has a threat sufficient to keep his attack dog in line.

One thought -- if they *do* pull the trigger and order that the Blackstaff kill Harry Dresden, I could see Eb pulling a fast one. He shows up at the Castle, hands Harry the staff and says, "You're the Blackstaff now, Harry."

Also, I'd add to Harry's new group that they'll be 100% open to the non-magical public -- to the point of holding open houses (Meet the Foo Dog!, Pizza night with the Za Guard!) and putting up web pages explaining thresholds and circles and the most common supernatural threats.

I could see that being the trigger for the White Council.

Depends on the Fallen. Anduriel has generally been content to work with Nicodemus. We have no idea on the preferences of Thorned Namshiel. It might also depend on the "quality" of the host.

Two points:
(1) All of the Denarians who are partners (like Nicodemus, Tessa, and Deirdre) are called by the host's name. Those who were fully subjugated (like Magog and Ursiel) are called by the fallen's name. In Small Favor, Thorned Namshiel was called Thorned Namshiel.

(Counterpoint: In Skin Game, Ursiel's host seemed to be in charge, so the same fallen might subjugate one host but "partner" with another. Or start out "partners" with a long slow slide into subjugation.)

(2) There are really strong indications in Skin Game (Michael's conversation with Nicodemus in the Vault) that Nicodemus isn't actually an equal partner -- that he's not a subjugated slave, but that he's still manipulated by the fallen and after thousands of years of such manipulation he's no more free than Ursiel's first host was. He just doesn't realize it.

I'd assume that Marcone's ability to use magic is something he negotiated for specifically, before he fully took up Namshiel's coin. Harry showed him over and over what a ridiculous force multiplier magic was, and then the fomor showed him how inadequate his elaborate and expensive defenses were.

The scary question is -- what did it take for Marcone to get that? We know that there's a way to "eat" the magical talent of other wizards -- sort of like Harry did with Kravos in Grave Peril. I'd imagine Namshiel knows the details of the "horrible" way to make that work -- a sort of one-soul-at-a-time Dark Hallow. Perhaps some of the lesser talents who vanished over the last few years weren't taken by the fomor.

Re: the Eye...

When you consider what it takes to use it (physically and emotionally), it's not actually that useful to anyone sane and human-sized. And it puts a huge target on the back of anyone known to have it.

But yeah, I'd imagine Marcone could have taken it and then auctioned it off to the magical community, or just sold it to Vadderung for all kinds of things -- like personal magic instruction.

I'd say Michael's known since he saw her face on the statue in Hades' vault.

Or at least that started him asking the right questions from the right people. He was a Knight for something like twenty years -- and half the Supernatural world knew Molly was the Winter Lady.

I don't think the Sword *burned* Harry at all.

Harry wasn't just set on revenge, in his hate and despair he'd turned over control entirely to the Winter Mantle. The Sword just burned out the Mantle for a moment, leaving Harry to feel all the pain he'd accumulated in the battle -- including a left arm that was charred to the elbow from overuse of the shield bracelet.

Unanswered question: was there an offscreen reason why Molly and Lara are so mad at each other that I missed? Is it just that Molly is jealous of Harry and Lara’s relationship, like heard the rumours from the Peace Talks or something? Or are we meant not to know?

Strong implication is that Molly knew that Lara's first "favor" request to Mab had been Harry's hand in marriage.