Marcone could probably beat Harry in a duel.

[Arjan]

I think Harry would have missed the Runes too if he wasn't the Warden and if Bob hadn't helped Harry turn the Island's defenses on. It's also possible the Namshiel couldn't interact profitably with the Runes so he didn't point them out?

Or he just kept it for later. We do not know when Marcone took up the coin so we do not know how much time he had with Marcone.

[Mira]

I think Harry would have missed the Runes too if he wasn't the Warden and if Bob hadn't helped Harry turn the Island's defenses on. It's also possible the Namshiel couldn't interact profitably with the Runes so he didn't point them out?

Fair enough, though he knew the runes existed from the first time he set foot on the island, it wasn't until he became Warden that they gained significance for him.  He didn't miss them, it is just that since he didn't have a whole lot to do with the island he had no reason to study them until he became Warden.  The castle was Marcone's home, we don't know when he took up the coin, it could have been right after Small Favor up until just before Peace Talks.. My point is, where was Marcone's curiosity?  That is a thing that defines a wizard, apparently Marcone wasn't interested in asking Namshiel what those runes were or for, of if Namshiel did say something about them, he wasn't interested in learning.

[TheCuriousFan]

Exactly, he made vast improvements because he had to teach Molly.  We don't know how long Marcone has had the coin, but apparently he never knew of or if he did know, take advantage of
the ancient runes in the walls of what was his castle..  All this says that Marcone isn't studying his new craft either or at all.  He is merely allowing himself to be a sock puppet for Namshiel.  This is where the problems will come from for him.

Instead of rehashing the argument with you about how it's Marcone at the wheel I'm just going to point out that Namshiel at the wheel is actually even worse for Harry because Namshiel casually oneshotted Harry twice while working with a fodder host back in Small Favour and Harry still has no answer to him completely negating force attacks (and presumably also fire) besides spam soulfire and hope Marcone and Namshiel haven't planned for that in the years of planning for a rematch.

[Mira]

Instead of rehashing the argument with you about how it's Marcone at the wheel I'm just going to point out that Namshiel at the wheel is actually even worse for Harry because Namshiel casually oneshotted Harry twice while working with a fodder host back in Small Favour and Harry still has no answer to him completely negating force attacks (and presumably also fire) besides spam soulfire and hope Marcone and Namshiel haven't planned for that in the years of planning for a rematch.

What is your evidence that old Thorny was merely fodder host?  Harry has also come a bit far since Small Favor..  As far as Soul Fire goes, when he went up against Namshiel in that book he didn't even know what he had been gifted with or it's nature, because it had just happened.. Not until he met up with Jake at the hospital and later when Bob explained it to him, and as Harry says in Cold Days, Bob doesn't know much about it.

[TheCuriousFan]

What is your evidence that old Thorny was merely fodder host?  Harry has also come a bit far since Small Favor..  As far as Soul Fire goes, when he went up against Namshiel in that book he didn't even know what he had been gifted with or it's nature, because it had just happened.. Not until he met up with Jake at the hospital and later when Bob explained it to him, and as Harry says in Cold Days, Bob doesn't know much about it.

The fact that the host was a flesh puppet when it's confirmed that denarians that override their host have a lot less power to work with.

[Mira]

The fact that the host was a flesh puppet when it's confirmed that denarians that override their host have a lot less power to work with.

Again, we don't know that, if old Thorny was a wizard to begin with, Namshiel could exploit that by presenting the idea that they had this lovely partnership.  Consider how much more effective Namshiel would be if Harry had taken him up verses Marcone..  The host is a sock puppet, that doesn't make the Denarian less powerful, anymore than it does a Holy Knight when the angel in charge of the Sword takes over. 

[TheCuriousFan]

Again, we don't know that, if old Thorny was a wizard to begin with, Namshiel could exploit that by presenting the idea that they had this lovely partnership.  Consider how much more effective Namshiel would be if Harry had taken him up verses Marcone..  The host is a sock puppet, that doesn't make the Denarian less powerful, anymore than it does a Holy Knight when the angel in charge of the Sword takes over.

I've got to ask why you're so set on this headcanon that Namshiel's previous host was a full blown wizard in terms of raw power.

As for hosts being weaker it's WoJ.

Q:  Why did the Denarians in Small Favor seem less powerful than in Death Masks?
A:  If a Fallen has essentially overpowered their human host, then they have limited free will (they can’t use the free will of the human); a Denarian is much more powerful if they use the human as a partner.

[Mira]

  There is your answer, someone who already is a wizard when he or she becomes a host is more apt to be a partner than someone who is a mere sock puppet..  I  went and reread the part of Battle Ground where Harry takes over the castle and talks about the runes with Molly.  He says that Marcone never did much with them because he had no clue about what they meant and Namshiel either couldn't or didn't teach him...  Which says Marcone never was a wizard, if he were he'd get the importance of them, and be most interested in Namshiel translating them for him.