History Headscratchers / TheDresdenFiles

** There is a difference between saying that Mab's words were lies and saying that Mab lied, albeit a very small one. It is quite possible that Mab heard from somebody else that she could change Harry however she saw fit, believed it, and was able to speak it as the truth because she believed it. The words are lies, but not ''Mab's'' lies.

** I think that there is a case to be argued that there is a difference between the "office" of the Erlking or Summer King, and the "person" of Herne the Hunter. I'm a little uncertain as to exactly ''how'' the Faerie courts affect natural phenomena, but let's just assume that somehow they do. If the Erlking or "Summer King" is a mantle of power, and mantles of power are organized along the idea of "checks and balances", than it makes sense that it would be a predator, designed to check the otherwise unfettered growth and vitality of the Summer Court. The Summer Court is just as happy spreading mass bacterial plagues as they are encouraging people to make babies (after all, bacteria are living things too!). In the same way, if the Winter King or "Santa Claus" is a mantle of power, than it makes sense that he would be kind, to check the otherwise unfettered callousness and ruthlessness of Winter. If that is true, than the Erlking and Santa Claus may both morally accountable for their actions in how they wield the power of their offices. When one becomes a police officer, after all, one ''has'' to enforce the law, but one also has what is known as "discretion" as to how one carries out one's duties. One can either be a genuinely caring and effective police officer, a drunken obsessive Jimmy McNulty, or a heartless Inspector Javert. If one fails to uphold one's duties as a police officer, than one faces ''severe'' penalties, because of the potential damage a police officer can do. Similarly, I suspect that when one acquires a mantle of power, one has a degree of discretion in how one carries out one's duties. When Maeve failed to perform her duties, she faced ''severe'' (i.e. fatal) consequences. (Of course, the difference is that while one ''chooses'' to be a police officer. The current Winter Lady had no choice, and evidence indicates that she cannot leave the post except in the advent of her death, which is quite objectionable). While Herne may "have" to hunt things to fulfill the function of his office, and the mantle re-wires the pleasure centres of Herne's brain so that he ''wants'' to, he still has a ''choice'' as to how he carries out his duties, and it still may be possible for him to neglect or abuse the powers of his office.

** Excellent point. Well, we know they have some kind of non-steel metal they make their armour and weapons out of (Lloyd in ''Summer Knight,'' Fix and Kringle in ''Cold Days'', et al), so perhaps they used that to make guns?

* I remember a segment in ''Small Favor'' where three of the Gruff brothers try to wax Harry with handheld firearms, which is a cut above their fairy kin in terms of ingenuity and pragmatism. The problem is; aren't those made out of metal? (Harry proves in short order that Gruffs are NOT immune to steel). This raises a number of issues, such as how they got their hands on the things in the first place, or how were they able to handle "the bane" once they did.

** A fair suggestion. Yet from what "Tiny" said in the same book, I got the impression that using "The Bane" as a weapon (even in a life or death situation) was a horrid taboo throughout the summer court.

*** You seem to be taking the story a bit personally ("do you really expect me to believe...") (and I'm not at all sure the author reads this forum?) Anycase: of course the claims are consistent, if true, but it's not clear (I'll have to read the story myself; I intend to) that Harry verifies for himself that _all_ the claims (including the length of relationship) are true. Still, there's no actual contradiction (or even improbability, depending on time, place, culture, ...- the cultural context in which her not being a virgin would be more likely is a relatively recent thing).

[[Folder:Peabody and Cowl and "Die Lied der Erlking"]]

-->''4. if the elders of the black court could have taken mab, then HOW ON EARTH did any mere force of humans manage to go up and stake them? i mean, they should've wiped out anything that was coming after them if they can take on MAB herself...just a thought\\
Power in the spirit world isn't the same thing as power in the material world. And a one-on-thirtyish fight (Mab vs the elders of the BC) is WAY different than a one-on-20,000 fight (a BC vampire against a modest mortal city). Especially when the 20,000 know what your weaknesses are, and how to kill you with them. Smiley And that's assuming that you don't have a saint, or an independent wizard, or a shaman, a Knight of the Cross or some other champion, or other spiritual allies on your side which was not uncommon. Hell, for that matter, you might well be aided by vampires from the other Courts. *Everyone* resented how powerful the Blacks had become.

* Odin has probably ''forgotten'' more about portals than Harry's mom ever knew in the first place. He might even have known that particular portal was there before the Maya ''built'' Chichen Itza. Alternately, once Harry's rescue party and the Reds turned the site into an active battleground, Odin's status as a war-god let him link into it from his einherjars' training grounds due to that shared element of bloodshed.

In Changes Harry and the others take a portal straight from a place in the woods to Giza and before that had transported from a baseball field. Yet in Skin Game it says that portals have to be formed in certain areas to get to the right environment. What's the deal?