I think it doesn’t much matter if Harry’s dead or alive; even if Nick kills everyone, he’s not the only witness. As I said, Mab has many servants with eyes open in the mortal world, not to mention the fact that she herself is likely keeping tabs on the operation. Why else is it that Dresden considers the vault to be literally the only place that Nick could double-cross him without word spreading?
Mab has a vested interest in screwing Nick over; I don’t believe that she would just take Nick’s word at heart and swap in another winter goon. That would pretty much ensure that Nick would walk out with all holy artifacts. In the event of Harry’s death, it’s Mab’s word against Nicodemus’, and Mab’s perception that matters.
It's not a court of law, and we don't know that Mab's watching -- Mab isn't a babysitter, and in fact, given the plot kind of requires her to not be involved, her watching could get her in more trouble.
Harry is Mab's eyes and ears, and this is very much a "winners write the story" situation. Harry's orders were clear -- stop the doctor, keep him from telling anyone about what's going on. The whole "time limit" is pointless rules lawyering that's not going to come up, because there isn't going to be some indepth inquiry into it.
Nicodemus was there; he's effectively holding all the cards, and Mab can't argue against him because of that animosity -- she'd end up accused of purposefully sabotaging him if she backs Harry against Nicodemus's word.
As for the pixies, they are absolutely not reliable witnesses. They have no grasp of the kind of nuance and intricacies of the kind of story that would exonerate Harry here. Remember the largest, most powerful, smartest pixie we know responded to Harry's request to watch his back by
literally looking at Harry's back. They are good at small, focused, short-term things, if you know how to talk to them and how to direct them. They are not going to be able to give an accurate play-by-play of what Harry was doing and why.
First – yes, her talk about having faith and deciding to not be afraid that her friends will turn into monsters does sound like Michael. Why isn’t she taking her own advice? If she’s not going to live in fear that Dresden will turn into a monster, then why is she still self-appointed custodian?
Michael has a lot of faith. He still wears kevlar. She has faith, but it's not
blind. She gains faith that Harry is Harry, yes, but she's bright enough not to give him the keys until he's sobered up.
After Cold Days, he just plain hasn't asked her for the Swords back. One gets the sense that you don't get the Swords if you ask for them. All the times Harry's been given Swords, it's been without his prompting.
Second – the Catholic Church has nothing to do with this. The point is that their creed believes that people given authority are ordained by God. Regardless of how corrupt or not corrupt the church is, Murphy believes in the power behind it, which is why she shouldn’t have self-appointed herself.
This "self-appointed" thing is given way too much weight, as if she had this big ceremony and declared to the world at large that the Swords were hers and she was all powerful.
She just had been given the Swords by the person who was designated by Uriel, apparently, to hold them; as far as she knows, that means God means for them to be with her right now. It's that simple. Hell, she probably
doesn't want them. They're a huge responsibility on top of all the other shit she's got to handle.
Third – by hiding the swords at Michael’s, she’s made him in the game. Pure and simple.
This is true; she doesn't have a lot of choices on this, though. She could put them at the BFS, but that puts them were Marcone or Vadderungn could get them. She doesn't want to keep them together -- especially after Daniel spilled the beans to the White Court in Ghost Story. Michael's house is probably the safest place for them, and you're right, them being there puts Michael back in the game, but as long as he's not "officially" holding it, he's still kind of got an out.
Bottom line – whether Harry entrusted the swords to her in his will or not, he’s not dead anymore. He’s very much alive, and she claims that having faith and trust in Dresden is the very thing that he needs most, and that she’s decided not to be afraid that he might turn into a monster.
Yes -- in Skin Game. She might well have been more open to giving Harry the Swords in Skin Game. We don't know, because Harry never asks her to give them to him. He's accepted that she's holding them for now.
It's ironic that when Harry is most mentally capable of being a responsible custodian is also when he is not willing to ask for them back.
Absolutely! And this is the beauty of the entire situation. We know that Michael’s fear is completely misplaced. We know that Michael fears that his friend might have succumbed to the darkness. Dresden calls him out on it, and Michael decides to trust in and have faith in his friend. It’s a beautiful moment in this, because Harry asks Michael to trust him as he literally seems to be about to give the swords away to the Denarians. And Michael decides to trust his friend and have faith.
I think this is part of the reason why later on, Michael outright laughs at Harry’s fear of descending into darkness, reminding him that he’s “pathologically unable to know when to quit.” Michael’s been down the same road as Karrin and has grown in faith and character. If Karrin’s talk about faith did come from Michael, this is likely why – because he’s been there. He knows what she’s afraid of.
Yeah. My point was, Michael's faith in Harry wasn't so absolute until he saw him get over something that he thought was impossible. Murphy is at that point in Cold Days -- and after Harry comes back and is obviously still Harry, things have changed.
Even assuming that a blackened Denarius containing a Fallen wouldn’t trigger some sort of response from the guardian angels – something that I find surprising, considering the being inside it and the danger that a Denarius represents to any mortal – how do you figure that Nick can retrieve it as simply as that? Stroll in, sure. The second he touches it, he’s a Knight of the Blackened Denarius again, who has Anduriel working through him to influence the physical world. A millisecond later, he’s a Knight of the Blackened Ash Pile on the Front Steps. And if he goes and retrieves it without touching the coin, he’s essentially defenseless and proving that he isn’t relinquishing the coin.
Don't forget how Harry got his coin in the first place. By just picking it up in Michael's yard and strolling out.
We don't know what the Angelic response would be, but we do know that mortals can literally burn the place down without interference, and we've already seen one person pick up a coin and walk out of Michael's yard without trouble.
Why else does Harry consider Michael’s house to be the best place in the city to go to for shelter from fallen angels? Harry comes to the conclusion that Butters must be going to Michael’s house before he figures out that the swords are there. If the angelic sentry doesn’t provide protection, then Butters is far better off going to a public location – possibly holy ground at Saint Mary of the Angels, rather than a house full of innocent, vulnerable children.
Harry is considering an attack. Not someone picking up the coin in the yard and leaving peacefully. And Harry doesn't know exactly how everything works, either.
Come on. Murphy is the Dresden Files’ Batman; a mortal who holds her own through smarts, competence, and planning for every eventuality. You think she brought a Sword along to kill Denarians and would have forgotten to bring something to grab the coin that topples out? Ten to one that if she’s not wearing leather gloves (I mean, it is winter, and the book doesn’t describe her hands) that she’s at least got a run-of-the-mill handkerchief or ziplock bag in her pocket. It would be out of character for Karrin to not plan for this.
If she had planned for everything, she wouldn't have been in that situation in the first place.
Going from a two-handed to the weaker one-handed grip (and yes, a katana can be held and fought with one-handed), reaching her other hand in her pocket to retrieve a handkerchief, crouching and retrieving the coin while still holding the sword to Nick and not taking her eyes off of him, does still compromise her attention and position. This is true. But if Nick acts in sudden aggression or acts to retrieve the coin, then he’s no longer surrendered and Karrin can strike. Then he’s standing there with no noose on his neck, possibly no coin, facing a sword that can literally end him. This is not a better position. Yes, he could possibly turn the tables, but that’s by no means a sure thing – and in that case, she just merely has another trap with another choice.
Yes, then Karrin can strike -- while she's off-balance and in a weakened position. Nicodemus hash killed Knights before, and as he proves seconds later, he's a more dangerous hand-to-hand combatant than Karrin. He's someone who if you give him an inch, he'll take two miles.
