Who broke Little Chicago?

[morriswalters]

And that I think answers the question.

Harry "broke" Little Chicago when he was making it. Leah( or Mab if Leah was incapacitated) saw the flaw and fixed it in her godmother mode without telling Harry.

I'm examining an alternate history version where Lash sabotaged LC.

Mab is pinned like a bug at Arctis Tor.  She had access to the lab but not the time to do it.

[bigdangmoose]

I wonder if someone just hit the nail on the head and we don't know it yet.

I just came to the realization that it could have been Rashid that fixed LC. He was the one who let Harry know about the black magic in Chicago. He has what looks to be a sight into the future, as per the conversation in TC. Maybe the big idea for the note was to get Harry out of the lab for him to fix it.

[Arjan]

I'm examining an alternate history version where Lash sabotaged LC.

Mab is pinned like a bug at Arctis Tor.  She had access to the lab but not the time to do it.

Why do you think she was pinned at arctis tor? I have seen no evidence for that. Sure she was attacked there but it is not really clear when exactly, how long it took and if it really would have pinned her down. I tend to believe not.

[morriswalters]

Why do you think she was pinned at arctis tor? I have seen no evidence for that. Sure she was attacked there but it is not really clear when exactly, how long it took and if it really would have pinned her down. I tend to believe not.

Harry is asked to do two things at the outset.  Find out who is using Black Magic and why Mab didn't declare war on the Reds.  You know the span where the attack was possible.  Between Mab's appearance in Dead Beat and the point where Harry goes to Arctis Tor.

Mab knows she has been attacked by Nemesis. And she knows that Aurora was Nemfected. Who let the attackers in close? The  reason why she has her forces aligned against Summer is that she doesn't know who is behind the attack. Is another of the Queens Nemfected? That question is answered at the end of the book when Harry throws Summer Fire in the Winters Wellspring.  Summer attacks the Reds. This is why she winked at Harry.  He did something she didn't expect and tested the idea in a way she couldn't.  There is some support for this in a WOJ.

[Arjan]

Which does not prevent a small visit. She could even manipulate Time so it won’t take too long.

[morriswalters]

Yep if you can manipulate time then practically anybody could had done it. 

[Arjan]

Yep if you can manipulate time then practically anybody could had done it.

I am not talking about real time travling. Just the abilities already used by Kringle and Maeve.

[Bad Alias]

Already did.

It more felt like moving the goal posts from Mike wouldn't have anything to fix to "everyone" would notice that someone didn't hit him.

I don't think you made the case at all. You stated the premise for the case.

Since the quote comes from Small Favor it's hard to see it's relevance to Proven Guilty. It did occur to me that Jim was trolling his readers and introducing the idea that there was a door into Winter in the Lab and preparing them for a trip down the primrose path.

I've never really understood how the Calvin and Hobbes thing is supposed to be a reference to the Winter Court.

Is another of the [Summer] Queens Nemfected? That question is answered at the end of the book when Harry throws Summer Fire in the Winters Wellspring.  Summer attacks the Reds. This is why she winked at Harry.

I've never seen anyone make this claim. It's interesting.

[morriswalters]

I've never really understood how the Calvin and Hobbes thing is supposed to be a reference to the Winter Court.

Look at this link. The word on Reddit was the snowmen were minions of Winter.

I've never seen anyone make this claim. It's interesting.

Lilly tells you in Proven Guilty that Slate's Power isn't being exercised.  The reveal at Arctis Tor is not only that Slate is out of play but that Lea is too. Lea's purpose is to be where Mab cannot. You see this in Peace Talks.

Mab stared at Marcone for a moment in silence, before she said, “I am informed by my second that as of one hour past, all of the forces of Winter are urgently required elsewhere. The Gates are under intense attack.”

Butcher, Jim. Peace Talks (Dresden Files) (p. 291). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

You should have learned from Summer Knight about the balance of forces. This is reinforced by Mother Summer in Cold Days. Lea could have Nemfected someone in either Summer or Winter,  and Mab knows this.   Something else that should ring bells about the attack is that Thorned Namshiel gets in close to Arctis Tor, something that Mab should have had blocked. Remember, per Cold Days, that Mab can lock down Winter.  Unless you can sell the idea that Thorned Namshiel could have held the portal open or found his way back to it without help, then someone was helping him. Maeve or Titania. Since Summer didn't attack when the forces of Winter went to defend the Well, it was clear where the threat came from. Or at least for my personal canon, it's clear to me.

[Bad Alias]

Lilly tells you in Proven Guilty that Slate's Power isn't being exercised.  The reveal at Arctis Tor is not only that Slate is out of play but that Lea is too. Lea's purpose is to be where Mab cannot. You see this in Peace Talks. You should have learned from Summer Knight about the balance of forces.

I got all of that and have seen plenty of people make claims about balance being the reason Winter didn't act (including Harry). The thing I've never seen anyone say was that Mab winked at Harry because his actions let him know that Summer was clean.

[Arjan]

Look at this link. The word on Reddit was the snowmen were minions of Winter.Lilly tells you in Proven Guilty that Slate's Power isn't being exercised.  The reveal at Arctis Tor is not only that Slate is out of play but that Lea is too. Lea's purpose is to be where Mab cannot. You see this in Peace Talks.You should have learned from Summer Knight about the balance of forces. This is reinforced by Mother Summer in Cold Days. Lea could have Nemfected someone in either Summer or Winter,  and Mab knows this.   Something else that should ring bells about the attack is that Thorned Namshiel gets in close to Arctis Tor, something that Mab should have had blocked. Remember, per Cold Days, that Mab can lock down Winter.  Unless you can sell the idea that Thorned Namshiel could have held the portal open or found his way back to it without help, then someone was helping him. Maeve or Titania. Since Summer didn't attack when the forces of Winter went to defend the Well, it was clear where the threat came from. Or at least for my personal canon, it's clear to me.

We do not know how long Mab can maintain that block. If it is only a night then using that block against an enemy wo can choose when to attack is just a waste of power.

Or more simple Mab let them get that far by feigning weakness to get them into the open. To learn who they are and to confirm what Lea already told her. And maybe nemesis got desperate to get Lea back before she could tell more.

And we know Maeve was infected so she probably was with the attack.

I got all of that and have seen plenty of people make claims about balance being the reason Winter didn't act (including Harry). The thing I've never seen anyone say was that Mab winked at Harry because his actions let him know that Summer was clean.

Or just to encourage him.

[morriswalters]

I got all of that and have seen plenty of people make claims about balance being the reason Winter didn't act (including Harry). The thing I've never seen anyone say was that Mab winked at Harry because his actions let him know that Summer was clean.

I'm open to any other explanation. Here is a WOJ that may apply.

Also, it has probably occurred to more than one of you that if Mab was /really/ in trouble, she could have had the entire military might of Faerie back at the fortress in moments–exactly the way they *did* come back when Harry smacked the Winter Well with the fires of Summer.

(Which goes to show that while Mab may be canny to an inhuman degree, she isn’t infallible.  Just way closer to infallible than us.)Make that make sense.

We do not know how long Mab can maintain that block. If it is only a night then using that block against an enemy wo can choose when to attack is just a waste of power.

If it were that simple to get to Arctis Tor Cowl would be setting in Mab's Throne Room.

[Arjan]

I'm open to any other explanation. Here is a WOJ that may apply.If it were that simple to get to Arctis Tor Cowl would be setting in Mab's Throne Room.

She has other ways to defend herself. Blocking off fairy completely like she did in cold days is a big thing. She might just not choose to do so because she had better uses for that power.

[morriswalters]

Lily stared intently at me for a second, then said, “My power will react violently to that of Mab. I can open the way to the Arctis Tor, but holding the way open for your return will occupy the whole of my strength.

If it were easy I could do it.  Anyway this is my personal canon. So I think it's special, even though it probably isn't.

[The_Sibelis]

It more felt like moving the goal posts from Mike wouldn't have anything to fix to "everyone" would notice that someone didn't hit him.

when someone sits there and attacks your logical argument trying to squirm their way into the tiniest flaws  it's not moving the goal posts to rebuff their bits, it's a conversation apparently, not the conversation I enjoy having, but one seen here often enough I feel the need to prepare for it with almost any simple statement I make.. with other correlations. I.e. counter argue. However, Morris was kind enough to slam dunk it for me,

Grayson lifted his eyebrows and eyed me. “Yeah? Looked to me like you got hit a couple of times. On purpose-like.”

after which farther rallying of points felt entirely unnecessary.
*Rebuttal, that's the word I was looking for, not moving goal posts, making rebuttals.