... What I don't understand, is in the Q&A, Jim calls Kringle a "mantle" but in the book he calls Kringle a "person," in the body of Odin. Plus a lot of talk about protocol.

Harry is an "unreliable narrator," and has limited understanding of things.
I think you are inferring more from & about the Harry-POV than actually is stated.

The WoJ is clear:  "Kringle" is a faerie mantle (specifically, Winterfae).

... Which brings me to what Jim says next about Odin, how I read it is while in theory Kringle has to obey Mab, Odin/Kringle doesn't mind giving her the finger on occasion if her agenda doesn't match his.  In Skin Game their agendas matched, what would be interesting is if Mab gave Kringle an order which didn't match Odin's agenda.. Then we would see how readily Kringle would obey Mab.. That's where all the talk of protocol to prevent conflict comes in I think.

Odin knows the trick of taking off a mantle without dying, of holding onto it, of putting it back on again at need.  If Odin is wearing the Kringlemantle, he has to obey Mab; if Odin isn't willing to obey Mab, he just takes off the Kringlemantle (and loses the Christmas-y Kringlepowers... but he's still f'ing Odin the Allfather, who was ancient before mortal-Mab first joined the fae; and things probably just got really tense...) .

Harry doesn't stop being Harry, just because he's got the WK mantle (I'm expecting him to learn the off-and-on mantle trick from Odin).

Reading between the lines, I think Odin & Mab probably both put in a bit of effort to see to it that Odin's interests do not seriously conflict with Mab's interests, during the time that Odin is wearing the Kringlemantle:  neither one of them wants that conflict, but neither one of them could avoid it under the rightwrong circumstances.

... Kringle is subject to Mab legally but he alsoisn't because he is also Odin in the same body, or as Harry put it, " a little game of protocol."  This arrangement apparently keeps the peace.

The "legalities" within Faerie are quite absolute.
Legally-outmaneuver a faerie and they will do something they absolutely HATE having to do.

And the Kringlemantle is Fae.
Kringle thus has to obey Mab.
Odin does not have to obey her... Odin seems able to put on & take off the Kringlemantle at will (tricky sort, Odin; just as much so as Mab, really).

  If I remember correctly, Jim has said that the Warden of Demonreach can release portions of the prisoners but not all. The example he gave (assuming my memory is right) is that Harry could trap Vadderrung/Odin/Claus on the island and release Vadderrung but not Claus. Since Claus was the portion of that being who was keeping him immortal, he would have really good leverage on him. I imagine that Harry could, theoretically, do the same with Thomas.

"Claus" is specifically the Kringlemantle, though.  Mantles are constructs, and made to be separated from the people who wield/wear the mantle.  Odin, in particular, often takes off the Kringlemantle (I would allege that he is only rarely Kringle:  because Kringle is subject to Mab, but Vadderung & Odin emphatically are not).

I don't think we've ever seen the Mother/Queen/Lady (or Knight) mantles separate from their owners (except of course when the owners die).  Vadderung has told Harry several times about not always being Kringle; I expect this foreshadows Harry being able to "take off" the Knightmantle, and put it back on.

I don't think that the Hunger Demon is much like a mantle, though.  Obviously, Jim could write that it is, but they seem entirely-separate things, to me.

However, we know that there is an angel in the Sword of the Cross. Since those angels presumably has more experience and knowledge than Harry, it could probably be more precise at only killing the Whampire demon. In fact, the Sword of Faith would probably be perfect for this.

I presume Amoracchius -- the Sword of Love -- would be the most natural for dealing with the whampire hunger-demon of lust.

Do you have the WOJ on that?  It isn't that I don't doubt you, I just haven't seen it...

... She could rip that thing right out of Thomas. Not that there would be much of Thomas left after she was done. Mab’s not particularly gentle that way. It’s possible that there might be some way to get out of it, maybe, but what fun would that be?

^{https://wordof.jim-butcher.com/index.php/word-of-jim-woj-compilation/woj-on-the-fae/}



 

... this reads like two different cases to me. Alfred doing it may seem Mab-ish, but it doesn't follow that it would have the same effect as if Mab had done it..  I keep returning to the image of the soul gaze in Blood Rites, the slight vanilla human fighting and losing the fight to the Hunger Demon ... 

It absolutely is two separate cases.  But AFAIK, the "Mab case" is the only one we know of where Jim has said yes, that power could remove a whampire's hunger demon.

It's just that -- of the two of them -- I'd pick Mab as being more subtle & discriminating, more capable of being subtle and discriminating.  Alfred tends not to do very much, but... when he does what he does it's big & potent and not at all subtle.

I'm not even clear Alfred is capable of noticing any difference between Thomas & his demon.

Stomp on an entity trying to breach the Well's security.
At the Warden's command, commit an entity to the Well.

Filter through the soul of a whampire whose Hunger Demon has been there since birth?  Support said soul, as he performs psychic surgery to separate them?  It just doesn't say "Alfred" to me.


Molly, now... Molly's an apt one to consider.
I could see a screwed-up plot-arc where Molly thinks the Lara/Harry romance deserves being "balanced" with a Thomas/Molly romance; both whampire & wizard.

  Alfred may not understand or always get what Harry says to him, but he understands monsters.  So it may turn out that if Harry orders him to free Thomas, he will do just that, free Thomas.. However the Hunger Demon will remain in prison because it is a monster, an unintended consequence.

I think Demonreach is more Mab-ish, here.  It might be able to remove the Hunger Demon... but that would almost-certainly destroy Thomas' mind & psyche (WoJ has explicitly addressed Mab doing so).

  The problem with that is Red Court vampires were different than White Court vampires, only thing in common was both are a form of vampire...

I'd phrase that even more strongly:  Rampires & Whampires are entirely-different (and unrelated) sorts of beings.  Whampire children are born to whampire parents; they are a human with a Whamp hunger-demon inside.  Rampires are a parasitic infection, inflicted by other Rampires; the hatching young kills the human.

We call them both "vampires" but that's lumping them together for our own convenience.

Thats a great image. Genuinely laughed ...

Thanks!   

... But that seems like a Mab thing to do.

You think Mab didn't envision it in almost exactly those terms?
I'm pretty sure she did!

I have to agree that Harry being celibate/lovelorn has become a little stale. He deserves some uncomplicated action ...

The thing is, Jim has really consistently written Harry as specifically not wanting "some uncomplicated action."  So it'd be a substantial break in character.