What does the Merlin want out of Peace Talks

[Kindler]

Very logical.  But in order for that play to make sense, the Merlin's agenda has to have changed.   His old agenda was to return to the status quo.   I can see no scenario where the Merlin would rely on Harry to achieve that outcome.   



Of course the Merlin would trade away territory.  Giving away territory is easy - all the troublesome nations would happily accept the territory of the Red as a gift.   The peace talks would only be challenging if the Merlin did NOT want to give away most of the territory.  And given this territory might strengthen very dangerous potential enemies of the White Council, the Merlin has a strong incentive to manage the territory changes that come out of the Peace Talks. 
*  The White Council may lack the strength to keep large blocks of the territory
*  The White Council may lack the enthusiasm/support to keep large blocks of the territory
*  Other powers may object to the White Council claiming the territory.

If the purpose of the White Council is to leave the Peace Talks with some agreement that aids the White Council in keeping a lot of this territory - or at least make sure that the territorial gains other powers make do not threaten the White Council, that can be a very good use of Peace Talks  (in the eyes of the Merlin). 

I did not make that assumption.  But the Merlin "knows" Harry to some extent and would predict the likely outcome if Harry gets involved (insults, threats, fights, disruption, etc).     The only reason I can think of for the Merlin to want harry there is
a) he wants the talks to fail and the war continue
b) he expects the talks to break down into open fighting and he wants one of his most dangerous wardens there in the fight


Besides, I thought I read on this site that Mab was the one insisting Harry be at the peace talks - against the Merlin's wishes.

Your reasoning is sound, but I don't know that the White Council itself actually controls territory, like Winter does. There aren't enough of them to hold much beyond the personal property of each member, alongside the financial assets and a few strongholds like Edinburgh. At least, that's my understanding, anyway. I've always seen them as influencers creating favorable conditions for them and theirs, not a nation (or gang, if you like) controlling sections of land.

[dspringer1]

I think their victory in the war gives the White Council a legitimate claim on the territory.    That is not nothing, but it is not enough to keep the territory by itself.  If the White Council lacks the strength or will to defend the territory, other supernatural races WILL move in and take over the territory.   The supernatural races are almost all predators after all.   

I think if conditions were different, the White Council could probably claim and keep a big chunk of the captured territory, but even under ideal conditions the White Council would have lacked the numbers/strength to hold ALL the former Red Court's territory.   After all, it would be a doubling of the size of White Council territory (which is mostly Europe and North America prior to the war) and it is not exactly easy to govern either (dysfunctional governments, criminal gangs, power vacuums, income disparities, ect).  That is an awful lot to absorb and defend even if conditions were ideal.  And things are certainly NOT ideal now. 

[Lennoxx486]

BOTTLE CAPS!

[Kindler]

BOTTLE CAPS!

I stared at the screen in confusion for a solid minute before I got it.

[Rasins]

I stared at the screen in confusion for a solid minute before I got it.

Well, he does collect them, right?

[RobReece]

Well, he does collect them, right?

how else would someone become the Merlin?

[kazimmoinuddin]

The white council might not be strong enough to outright claim territory, but they could support another's claim, one more in line with their agenda.

[deflated]

I think their victory in the war gives the White Council a legitimate claim on the territory.    That is not nothing, but it is not enough to keep the territory by itself.  If the White Council lacks the strength or will to defend the territory, other supernatural races WILL move in and take over the territory.   The supernatural races are almost all predators after all.   

I think if conditions were different, the White Council could probably claim and keep a big chunk of the captured territory, but even under ideal conditions the White Council would have lacked the numbers/strength to hold ALL the former Red Court's territory.   After all, it would be a doubling of the size of White Council territory (which is mostly Europe and North America prior to the war) and it is not exactly easy to govern either (dysfunctional governments, criminal gangs, power vacuums, income disparities, ect).  That is an awful lot to absorb and defend even if conditions were ideal.  And things are certainly NOT ideal now.

What would the council want with territory? All of the WC wizards we've seen on-screen have had a personal domain or area and couldn't really care about the rest. Half the Senior Council seem to have no interests in material wealth at all.

[Froklsnt]

Have the white council ever taken any explicit pro-mortal actions, except against warlocks? We're accustomed to thinking of Harry as the defender of mankind, but does the council have any such stance officially? Several of us are talking like the council cares deeply. The only evidence I can think of is White Night, protecting those who might one day have White Council level progeny.

[wardenferry419]

Maybe less pro-mortal, even though they are mortal, and more anti-supernatural.

[sonwarrior]

It could be that the Merlin's plan is just to point Harry away the people/group(s) he wants protected. The Merlin knows that Mab wouldn't keep her knight out the talks and he has been around long enough to plan for the talks to go sideways from the getgo. So he'll just point Harry in a direction that will bring the least harm to himself and his interests.

The other option is that the Merlin views Harry as a completely out of control warlock who is just hiding really well. He'll then manipulate Harry and use the Peace Talks as a way of getting someone else to kill Harry and incur the wrath of Mab.

Or it could be both. Getting a lot of bottle caps does require a conniving mind.

[kazimmoinuddin]

It is a likely bet that someone will attempt to back stab at these talks, so prepare for it and aim to drop the hammer in return.

[khadgar4606]

I think one of the merlins emergency plan gonna be make dresden member of accords and use him to politcly get better results since you need agreements of three members to accords( harry has more then three: both queens of fae, lara raith, marcone, odin, archive, maybe ferrovax). But it might blow up in his face since harry gonna pull some thing on him and most of the younger warden liking him merlin might be shooting on his own leg if he does that.

[Snark Knight]

I think one of the merlins emergency plan gonna be make dresden member of accords and use him to politcly get better results since you need agreements of three members to accords( harry has more then three: both queens of fae, lara raith, marcone, odin, archive, maybe ferrovax). But it might blow up in his face since harry gonna pull some thing on him and most of the younger warden liking him merlin might be shooting on his own leg if he does that.

I can't see it. Harry's membership is already through the Council and Winter. The only grounds for him to even possibly be registered as an independent freeholding lord would be as Warden of Demonreach, and there's no WAY Langtry is going to want that information spread around any further than it's already known.

[kazimmoinuddin]

I can kind of see meetings happening on demonreach, due to the sheer security in such a location. Anyone who starts a fight here will deeply regret it.