Couple of points Q ...
The DH in DB would only have taken out 2 or 3 square miles of life. I know, that's still a lot, but not the entire population of Chicago.
Fair Point. Harry said everything within a mile which Im taking as a radius, or 3.14 sq. mi. At a population Density of
11,898.29/sq mi. So that puts a rough number required for a Mab-beating Darkhallow at a bit shy of 40,000. I know the reds had something of a stranglehold on South American, I honestly dont know if they'd be able to transport and Disappear that many people or not.
One theory that I believe to be true is that Cowl was seeking the power to fulfill a deal with the Reds, that when he got the power he'd break through the wards at the Wouncil's headquarters.
Harry's theory, so I give it a good deal of weight, though I guess he can still be wrong.
Now that's not to say that him with the power wouldn't be like hitting a fly with a sledgehammer, but I'm not so sure he'd be THAT much more powerful.
Another theory was that the blood sacrifices were empowering a spell that COULD punch through the wards.
The comparison Im more looking at is that Cowl(DH)>Mab, and after CD Im convinced that Mab couldnt pop Demonreach.
Again, all that being said, I believe that DR is FAR more impregnable than Edinburgh.
Concur.
Curious: There's that line in CD where Mab shows up tense, asked teh Wardens permission, then kinda sorta apoligizes to Alfred. She relaxes when he acknowledges it as if he lowered a weapon. I wonder if she was worried that Alfred would view her and Maeve as essentially the same thing (being chunks of the same proto-mantle or whatever the deal is), and was relieved to see he'd developed the nuance to deal with diplomatically.