Discontinuity = clue? [GS sample ch spoilers]

[Serack]

I know you're just collecting these for future reference, Serack, but I feel the need to point out a couple of minor inaccuracies in the list.

1. Not all the residents of Chicagotory are without scars. Carmichael and Amitiel are, but Captain Jack is described as being pretty battered. From chapter

...he looked like a professional boxer. There was scar tissue here and there around his eyes, and his nose had been frequently broken.

Okay, everyone, please continue with the nearly unfounded but vastly entertaining speculation! *grabs a bowl of popcorn*

LML

Oh, and even though I said it in the baby thread already; Congratulations, Serack! Happy soon-to-be-fatherhood to you!

Nice catch, will do, and thanks!

Interesting info about the cars.

• Although Harry has no magic, he is still able to use his Sight, at least in Chicagatory
• He bleeds ectoplasm
• He can feel pain
• Despite the snow, there are potted plants with leaves in Morty's garden and hedges
• Sir Stu is familiar, apparently, with Harry Dresden's name and reputation. I think he saw Harry in DM and DB.
• If a wraith devoured Harry, it would become so powerful that it could threaten the living

A little bit off-topic: when I read about Stu spending 5 years listening to Pink Floyd, I immediately thought of this.

I really like some of these.

[Mordite]

Memory (or whatever) glitches aside, I think Harry's seeing everyone (and, by extension, everything) as they themselves picture themselves. Or at least, as they would like to be. (cf: slimmer Mort's bald-patedness, the folks in Chicagotory)

As to the snow, didn't someone suggest that Mab would be a little... annoyed at losing her Knight?

[itari]

As to the snow, didn't someone suggest that Mab would be a little... annoyed at losing her Knight?

I still stand by my theory that Titania didn't regain the control over the Stone Table in December. Mab is too rational to cause snowfall just because. Either the snow is an effect of Winter being dominant, or it's a tool that Mab uses to slow down Summer agents (like she did in SmF).

[Durwen]

Well, if Harry is indeed DED dead and the Knight mantle has gone back to Winter, Mab is now more powerful than Titania by one athame.

However, I think that if the balance of the Faerie Courts had gone so far out of whack as to prevent Summer to regain control of the Table, we'd be looking at something a tad more cataclysmic than a foot and a half of snow in May.

[AcornArmy]

Well, if Harry is indeed DED dead and the Knight mantle has gone back to Winter, Mab is now more powerful than Titania by one athame.

However, I think that if the balance of the Faerie Courts had gone so far out of whack as to prevent Summer to regain control of the Table, we'd be looking at something a tad more cataclysmic than a foot and a half of snow in May.

That's only the case if Mab has bestowed the mantle on a new Knight, though. Otherwise, Winter is stuck without a mortal agent-- and from what we've seen in the books so far, the Courts tend to find their Knights very useful.

I think this is one of the more important questions about what's been happening since Harry's death: did Mab choose a new Winter Knight or not? If not, Winter is at a disadvantage similar to the one it had while Slate was being tortured. If so, then how would Mab manage to wrangle Harry back into the Winter Knight job?

[Durwen]

That's only the case if Mab has bestowed the mantle on a new Knight, though. Otherwise, Winter is stuck without a mortal agent-- and from what we've seen in the books so far, the Courts tend to find their Knights very useful.

I think this is one of the more important questions about what's been happening since Harry's death: did Mab choose a new Winter Knight or not? If not, Winter is at a disadvantage similar to the one it had while Slate was being tortured. If so, then how would Mab manage to wrangle Harry back into the Winter Knight job?

I don't see it that way; I think that each Court has a limited amount of power (let's call it n), whether it has a Knight or not. The mantle is a chunk of power the Queen loses and the Knight gains (in order to keep the balance. That is, the power level of the Court always equals n). So, if Summer has a Knight and Winter doesn't, Summer has more possibilities to use its power in the mortal realm, but isn't more powerful than Winter.

The source of the imbalances, so far, has been that the mantle of (first) Summer and (later) Winter have been trapped within their respective Knights when they were incapacitated (Lily was stoned and Slate was treed... and I noticed the symbolism there as I was typing this), so the chunk of power the Queens had given their Knights couldn't be used by them nor could it revert back to the respective Court (that is, one of the Courts had a power level of n-1, while the other's was still n).

Now Summer has still a power level of n, but Winter's is n+1 (or whatever power value the athame has).

[Serack]

I don't see it that way; I think that each Court has a limited amount of power (let's call it n), whether it has a Knight or not. The mantle is a chunk of power the Queen loses and the Knight gains (in order to keep the balance. That is, the power level of the Court always equals n). So, if Summer has a Knight and Winter doesn't, Summer has more possibilities to use its power in the mortal realm, but isn't more powerful than Winter.

The source of the imbalances, so far, has been that the mantle of (first) Summer and (later) Winter have been trapped within their respective Knights when they were incapacitated (Lily was stoned and Slate was treed... and I noticed the symbolism there as I was typing this), so the chunk of power the Queens had given their Knights couldn't be used by them nor could it revert back to the respective Court (that is, one of the Courts had a power level of n-1, while the other's was still n).

Now Summer has still a power level of n, but Winter's is n+1 (or whatever power value the athame has).

Power that can't be exercised, or used as a deterrence towards others actions might as well not exist.

[itari]

I don't see it that way; I think that each Court has a limited amount of power (let's call it n), whether it has a Knight or not.

Nice thinking, however, when Harry killed Slate on the Stone Table, Mab gained not only her own power, but Slate's blood (and life energy/soul/whatever) too. Lea explained it quite clearly in SK.

[Durwen]

Nice thinking, however, when Harry killed Slate on the Stone Table, Mab gained not only her own power, but Slate's blood (and life energy/soul/whatever) too. Lea explained it quite clearly in SK.

Besides being the Winter Knight, Slate was vanilla. Blood has power, but it isn't that significant, IMO. Now, Harry's blood, on the other hand...

[AcornArmy]

Now Summer has still a power level of n, but Winter's is n+1 (or whatever power value the athame has).

Yeah, and I think you're right about that, but that power is much less useful while it resides within the Queens, or they wouldn't be putting it in a Knight in the first place. I considered mentioning this in the earlier post, but decided to just leave it at "a situation similar to when Slate was being tortured," rather than dealing with the difference between the sum total of Winter's power and how efficiently that power can be wielded. Having a Knight must be a more efficient use for at least some of the Queens' power, or they wouldn't have one.

So, while I think you're right about the total power involved, from a practical standpoint, Winter is at a disadvantage. Unless, I suppose, the added power of the athame is enough to offset the lack of a mortal agent.

[itari]

Now, Harry's blood, on the other hand...

Lea told Harry "never let her bring you here", didn't she? I have a feeling that Mab is/was going to kill Harry on the Table.

(click to show/hide)

I wonder if the Table accepts other body fluids...

[AcornArmy]

(click to show/hide)

I wonder if the Table accepts other body fluids...

I bet it does. There are probably traces of power in any of a person's bodily fluids. Some, depending on the time and circumstances, are probably more potent than others. Blood may be the best, but... other types seem like they might occasionally become supercharged, given the right situation.

[laura118b]

Lea told Harry "never let her bring you here", didn't she? I have a feeling that Mab is/was going to kill Harry on the Table.

(click to show/hide)

I wonder if the Table accepts other body fluids...

Maybe, but it could also be that since Lea was/is charged with Harry's spirtual well being that becoming the Winter Knight would run against that.  She might just have wanted to keep that from happening as best she could with Mab still being her boss.

[Serack]

Besides being the Winter Knight, Slate was vanilla. Blood has power, but it isn't that significant, IMO. Now, Harry's blood, on the other hand...

I think you are discounting vanilla mortal's too much.  I've spent about 20 min looking for it but can't find it where Lea says to Harry that regular mortals are generally more trouble than just about anything you might find in the NN.

Edit:  Posted 30 seconds too soon, it was actually Bob that said it:

"People are almost always more trouble than anything you run into on the Other Side."

[Durwen]

I think you are discounting vanilla mortal's too much.  I've spent about 20 min looking for it but can't find it where Lea says to Harry that regular mortals are generally more trouble than just about anything you might find in the NN.

Edit:  Posted 30 seconds too soon, it was actually Bob that said it:

I'm not discounting it. I just think the blood of one vanilla mortal isn't enough to significantly alter the balance of the Faerie Courts, even when sacrificed at the stone table.

I'm not saying it isn't possible, but it would take significantly more blood than Slate's for that, IMO. We'd be talking about Darkhallow or Blood Curse Ritual levels of human sacrifices here, I think.