Could be he was aware of Nemesis somehow and wanted to do something about it, namely gathering the Starborn. Of course, it could also be that he was infected and that it was Nemesis' goal to steer the Starborn down a dark path, although this also assumes that Nemesis is incapable of infecting Starborn, because that would have been a golden opportunity.

Then there's the possibility that is what he was doing, but then you've got the angle that Nemesis requires potential hosts to be defeated/powerless to infect them. And then you've got the idea that Dresden and/or Elaine actually are infected by Nemesis, and that it is biding its time for some dastardly end game plot.

 

Nemesis!Lash, you really think a wizard could change an angel?

 

I don't understand what you mean at all. Please explain.

 

Presumably, he means that rather than Harry giving Lash free will, Nemesis infected Lash and caused her change of heart.

Not sure how I feel about that, honestly. I think Nemesis would be less likely to drive Lash to do some of the things she did (sacrificing herself, keeping Harry alive if she is the Parasite) than to go in the opposite direction. And the idea of Harry giving her her new nature by nicknaming her fits with the Names have power thing Uri was talking about.

 

Not sure how powerful Nemesis is, but to affect an actual angel? Doubt it. Harry could most likely not have changed Lasciel. He changed Lash.

 

Actually Harry was the Winter Knight when she took those swords away, maybe a half dead, ghostly winter knight but he was the winter Knight.

And in my opinion taking away things from somebody is stealing no matter what reason she has.

And like I said.. spreading the infection makes easier to detect.. because I am pretty sure Gatekeeper is not the only one who can detect it. Doesn´t he mention that soul-gazing is another, really unpleasant way of detecting it?

 

I prefer Lash changed by Harry than by Nemesis.

That said, I always wondered if there is more to Inner!Harry than being Harry's id.

 

Here's a thought.

Nemesis can exaggerate traits.
Rashid is shown to be wise, to know lots of things.

Who better to infect than the one who is supposed to stop you? And then exaggerate his self-confidence: "Don't worry, Knight Dresden, a wizard as powerful as me is able to tell if someone is infected".

 

This would be true, if Harry could claim ownership of the swords. Which he can't, since no one has a claim to the swords (maybe Uriel as a proxy for God?).

Taking the sword's away can only be 'stealing' if Harry had ownership as well as possession. Since he can't be said to have owned the sword's (Michael and Shiro having passed the sword's on for safe keeping and even they were merely in possession) he can't claim ownership of the swords. A distinction the Church (or some Archangel) is sure to make if Winter tried to claim ownership of the Swords of the White God, due to the alleged ownership of the sword's by one if its agents.

By the end of Changes, Harry no longer has possession of the swords. He himself gave them away for safe keeping. Further, he wasn't an agent of Winter, yet. Remember he had a time limit to sort everything out, before he had to present himself and act as Knight.

Then you have Murphy, who is to date the best candidate for using Fidelacchius, and someone who God apparently send's funny feelings to (not to use the sword's in Cold Days). Based on this alone, she would have more of a claim to the sword's than Harry would, especially if the big man upstairs is sending her thoughts and feelings such as "hold on to them for now, don't give them back" etc.

 

Harry never gave the swords to anyone for safekeeping, they were in a compartment in the beetle when he was shot granted he had told Murphy to handle his possessions if he died him coming back kind of negates that also It was never implied that Murphy received feeling/message to collect the swords, her reasoning was because he was now Winter bound and could turn into a monster. It annoys me that she basically overrides an instruction from an archangel and that Dresden drops the matter easily.

 

Ah, I had assumed the sword's were still with his godmother, completely forgotten that he had them back.

Also I never said Murphy was receiving such feelings, although I can see how my poor wording can give that impression. I was angling more towards (or stumbling with half arsed thoughts towards); the fact that she is receiving messages from God, could have formed part of her reasoning to not give the sword's to Dresden.

Also, is Murphy actually overriding any instructions? As far as I recall no one has given anyone instructions besides Shiro and Michael to Dresden, that he would know who to give the sword's to. IIRC The only person to have spoken directly to an angel regarding a sword is Sanya when he was given his sword by an Angel.

 

Was just going to say that. Probably what's on the other side of the Way would be the thoughts, the hatred of those immortals condensed into just pain and rage.

Also, next book is a Denarian book and a heist book? I'm going to go ahead and call Harry having to work with the Denarians to steal back Lash's coin to join her version in his head back with the coin before it kills him. Although I remember Lash saying she could show Harry how to summon the coin to him in seconds, maybe the Church has ways to prevent that?

 

And a vampire book. I think your prediction is one of these that have the best chances of happening. What I wonder is if Lash joining Lasciel could be the first step of the redemption of the original? I can see that happening.

Especially if it would be revealed later that it destroys the balance and starts the Apocalypse.

 

Saw a nice theory that Harry has been (or had been) subconsciously/accidentally using soulfire to give Lash life (and maybe even free will).

The fire of creation, and all that.

 

I thought the source of Dresden's headaches was Lash and Nemesis duking it out in his noggin for a while. Lash doesn't want to share, after all. Just one more woman screaming "MINE".

I doubt that now, but it's interesting nonetheless.

 

And though I might be misinterpreting it, I think this is further proof of Cat Sith's badassery.

Nemesis is to some extent a sentient malady; when Harry first confronted the infected Cat Sith, it only had partial control. Harry noticed that Cat Sith's powers seemed to be diminished, yet after Harry was able to bring back the old Cat Sith for a second, Nemesis crushed Sith's personality for good. Then it lamented the fact that it could no longer hide among the Winter Court.

Maeve and Aurora were able to mostly stay in control, but with fundamentally altered natures that actually served Nemesis. They're Faerie queens; their natures are supposed to be rock-solid. Cat Sith, on the other hand, wasn't having that at all. He couldn't be turned; he had to be conquered. Maybe it's because he's a simpler creature than the Faerie queens, but I like to think it's because he has more badass in his dewclaw than they have in their whole bodies.

 

They would have to otherwise containing them would be literally 100% impossible. Nicodemus is in complete cooperation with his Andariel and what 2000 years old? Something in that vague range? If after all that time he and Andariel can't summon the coins back or at a minimum show someone else how to summon them back then either Lasciel was lying or the Church has some of the old school magic left that they use to hide the coins. Personally if it is about stealing the coins back Im hoping they're in the Vatican Vaults and we get a look at the really old school workings the Church was capable of.

As for Cait Sith my personal theory is its simply a matter of how Nemesis takes them, it just gently manipulated Maeve and Aurora over a huge span of time in order to work on its grander plans so they seemed like themselves and had access to all of their power. With Cait Sith however it wasnt a plan, that was Nemesis going "Oh Shit" and brute force crushed his mind to try and take Harry out to prevent him from screwing up its plan. Since it had to work so fast I would hazard that either like we hear a thousand times "Magic is fueled by emotions" and with his gone Cait Sith was measurably weaker or the command from Mab to serve/protect Harry was still going in his mind and while he couldn't flat out stop himself he was able to hold back a huge percent of his power.

Edit: Ninjaed >.<

 

Michael tells Harry that they don't have any protection against it, which is why they're so wary of people who have picked up the coin without accepting the Fallen within.

 

I thought Lasciel's coin had been picked up by someone else? Then he couldn't summon it, I guess?

 

Really loved the book, sucked a few hours out of me that I need to hand in my essay tomorrow >_>

As to the book itself: It was awesome, Molly becoming the new Winter Lady was kind of hinted at, at least I felt it coming when Maeve and Lily spoke about how Mab and Lea had been turned. That Mab would single out Lea and do stuff to her for years didn't make much sense to me and that it would need such an elaborate process to corrupt someone. Didn't even have Sarissa on the radar, to be honest, just figured that Molly, seeming better now and Harry stuck as the Winter Knight, would stumble into it. Didn't see Lily's death coming at all and holy crap was that a shock moment.

Have to say, didn't like Murphy killing Maeve. Thought it would be Molly shanking her from behind as she was about to kill Harry and would then get the Mantle, maybe even knowing that it would happen, can see Molly sacrificing herself for Harry like that, especially since she was pretty much willing rapist Harry to have his way with her. That scene, more than anything, showed how unstable Molly still was, she is just functionally unstable, if that makes sense.

Am really loving that bit and I really, really hope that this gets seen through without some lame salvation from this.

About Murphy, was it just me or was she really, really suspicious? Her reaction Harry coming back and the way she treated him, kiss and all, really didn't make much sense to me. Has she already been infected or something? I could see becoming "bad". Maybe that is the reason why she is swordless right now? It doesn't want to be picked up by someone with taint. "he works in mysterious ways" was a rather convenient answer, but I guess it will always be that way. It was just, I never really saw Murphy as being that religious, that she would see or perceive signs like that. May be a set up to have Murphy fall, being the Two Face of the Dresden franchise but maybe that is just my inner Harry/Molly shipper talking, seeing that something like that would have to happen so that those two can get together.

Theory:

Okay, bear with me, but I thought the book made the series a lot more "Arthurian". Merlin, apparently, was the biggest, baddest wizard ever, existing in several timelines and made the ultimate prison over ridiculously powerful and dark beings. Seeing how he jumps through time and dimension, it reminded me a bit of Merlin's portrayal in T.H. White's "The Once and Future King", where Merlin lived backwards in time.

But more than that, Merlin and Arthur are so much tied up together, I can't believe that he did what he did, prison and all, without Arthur. Am rather convinced (or at least I would like if it was like that) that Arthur helped putting those beings inside that prison (some sort of Camelot/Avalon?). May have been build by Merlin and he most likely put the smackdown on many monsters but I have the feeling that Arthur and his knights helped.

This would also explain why there was no real candidate for Michael's sword until now. King Arthur, the Once and Future King, may come back, when his country/Britain (and Merlin being so big on a global scale might mean Arthur was too) faces his biggest threat and when the world needs him. It was all but told that Michael's sword is Excalibur and it supposedly works best in the hands of its "true" owner. And with all of this time stuff, may mean they will pick him up from the past or find Avalon, which may be a place outside time or whatever.

Anyway, probably not true, but I have the feeling that we will see Arthur sometime. Maybe in the book before the apocalypse trilogy starts, seeing that he is supposed to come when Britain/the world is really in deep shit.