Some questions about the Gatekeeper

[kbrizzle]

Here are a couple of questions I have about Rashid/ office of Gatekeeper.

• In CD after Harry is taken to the Outer Gates by MS, Rashid tells him that his role is to make sure that beings who should not be allowed into our reality are kept out. My question is, is this a field position at the Gates itself, or is Rashid generally responsible for Outsider activity in the DV in general? As in is Rashid also supposed to keep beings like HBB4 out as well (although he seemingly fails at this) when the Walker was likely summoned by a mortal practitioner, or is his job only to make sure that Outsiders at the Gates stay out?
• In CD, when Harry asks Rashid if it would be a problem if “someone new took over, reorganized everything”, Rashid responds with “most years it would pose no major difficulty....this year it would be problematic, rather severely so”. My question is why? What is happening at the Gates concurrently that is making things problematic for a Fae regime change that particular year?

[morriswalters]

The Gatekeeper is there to find the soldiers of the Fae who might be Nemfected since they fight the outsiders directly.  He may do other things.

In Cold Days there is a major attack going on.

[isoycrazy]

Why is one year a war fine and another a danger to others?  Economic reasons.  Perhaps right now, outside of Harry's awareness, the world isn't as stable in certain areas.  If the assault happened and the pressure was right inside, the dam could break and cause a major flood of outsiders inside.

[Kindler]

Well, he's the Gatekeeper, not the Outsider Entrance Preventer. I think his job is to be the mortal responible for preventing the Gates from falling and making sure Nemesis doesn't infect those returning from the battle. I don't think he's responsible for all Outsider activity. And I'm pretty sure there's no way to prevent Outsider summoning. If that was possible, I think that's something the White Council would've done a long time ago.

[kbrizzle]

@Kindler
That would make sense, although it would make his appearance in TC incongruous since neither Fae nor Outsiders were really involved in the central plot.

@isoycrazy
I would guess that the Outsiders ramped up their attack at the Gates the year of CD so as to put pressure on Mab - a Winter regime change was coming that year, they obviously wanted it to be Maeve replacing Mab. By ramping up their attacks, they put a lot more stress on Mab, leaving her little time to scheme her way out of the trap Maeve was building in theory. 

[morriswalters]

@Kindler
That would make sense, although it would make his appearance in TC incongruous since neither Fae nor Outsiders were really involved in the central plot.

If you want it to make sense you should look really closely at the exchange with Harry at the island.  Rashid is using the gate to peer into the possible futures.  He's isn't completely certain that Harry isn't Nemfected, but what he sees scares him, badly enough that he is willing to kill Harry to stop it.  Jim will mirror Rashid's behavior with the Mothers in Cold Days when they learn that Harry has learned one of the adversary's names.

[Kindler]

@Kindler
That would make sense, although it would make his appearance in TC incongruous since neither Fae nor Outsiders were really involved in the central plot.

@isoycrazy
I would guess that the Outsiders ramped up their attack at the Gates the year of CD so as to put pressure on Mab - a Winter regime change was coming that year, they obviously wanted it to be Maeve replacing Mab. By ramping up their attacks, they put a lot more stress on Mab, leaving her little time to scheme her way out of the trap Maeve was building in theory.

My argument is that Rashid A) suspected Harry was infected or was manipulated by Nemesis (we know for a fact that Demonreach was a Nemesis target), B) had a vested interest in making sure that the White Council didn't fall, C) knew/knows that Harry is a Starborn and what that means in the fight against Outsiders, and D) didn't want Harry to come to blows with the Senior Council.

In other words, being the Gatekeeper is only part (a BIG part) of his identity; he's also a member of the Senior Council, after all.

[morriswalters]

I've hinted at this.  Rather than asking what are the Gatekeepers duties, ask yourself what are the gates able to do?

"Hell's bells.  The gates...they're...some kind of spiritual CAT scanner?"
"Among many other things," he said.
"But it's one of their function's, yes."

I would personally speculate that it is the instrument that allows movement between the various realms.  That is also Mab's, and by extension, Rashid's eye in the sky. Sort of an all seeing eye.(I'm looking at you Doctor Strange) Oh and did I mention, branch predictor for the multiverse.  Oh yes. And it also walks dogs.(Go RH)

Lame humor aside,
Rashid finding Harry near the Mothers cottage in Summer Knight.

Rashid magically knowing that Black Magic is afoot in Chicago.

Rashid watching the battle as it rolls towards the warehouse where Molly is to be executed, and stalling so the group gets to the warehouse first.

Rashid meeting Harry just off Demonreach, in Turncoat, where you get a tofer, the all seeing eye can see the link with Demonreach, and he states probabilities for Harry surviving the encounter.

From the Wiki

In "Love Hurts", Anastasia Luccio mentions to Harry Dresden that although the Wardens don't have orbital satellites for detecting dark magic, the Gatekeeper may know something about what's going on. She states that Rashid has a gift for sensing problem areas, but that no one has seen him for weeks, which is not unusual.

And bonus points.

Mab's snow scene of Marcone's take down in Small Favor.

And the Mothers crt eyes flickering as they find out about Harry learning the adversary's name in Cold Days.

[kbrizzle]

Yes I’ve wondered that about the Gates myself - it does seem likely that they are intimately bound to the NeverNever. I dunno about it being what makes traveling between the realms possible.

I would imagine that beings like Mab & MW would have some precognition/ Intellectus as part of their abilities, after all precognition is apparently a trait all wizards develop over time as Luccio tells Harry in TC when he tells her of his dreams about the island.

I agree about Rashid’s ability to find Harry in the most unusual places at the most unusual times - he must be able to do this because of his link to the Gates (since no other SC member seems capable of this). It would seem that the Gates are almost like a spiritual cat scanner that can also map the future vector of the disease once it’s inside the body. If true, this would be an incredibly powerful tool to have in the fight against Outsiders.