Who is Thomas talking to?

[Conspiracy Theorist]

We know Buffy exists in the Dresdenverse, Thomas had a Buffy T-Shirt, Spike as a character exists in the show Buffy in the Dresdenverse, so the actor James Marsters exists in the Dresdenverse. In the Dresdenverse James Marsters fell on hard times after Buffy, with no audio book work to fall back upon (the Dresden Files only exist as Harry’s personal notes in the Dresdenverse) and fell in with a bad crowd such as the Red Court, due to being a bit too method in his approach to William the Bloody, becoming a half vampire leading to his imprisonment in Demonreach, to deal with the thirst. He is unaware the Red Court are all now dead, and he is fully human again.

The British Prisoner is therefore James Marsters doing his Spike accent, and the proof is that in Cold Days, the British Prisoner is voiced by none other than James Marsters. Irrefutable proof!

And not the most absurd theory about the British Prisoner. Perhaps the most fun one though, imagine James Marsters coming across this reveal, it is beautifully meta.

[Ed0517]

Oh, if you want to twist it up a little - this is pretzel logic beyond anything Steely Dan came up with....

We know those prisoners can be in for years, centuries... many would die of old age. We don't want that.

But we know time passes at different rates in the NeverNever. Murph got canned for missing work when she came back and found she had missed a day because the nevernever region she was in time ran slower than ours.

So - we want the prisoners to avoid aging. Maybe the cells are really little pocket dimensions, with time disjoint from ours. The crystals are simply the portal windows between the two dimensions. That way the prisoners need not age.

It has been suggested at times the Eebs survived the bloodline curse, as they were being held off-dimension in Faerie by the Erlking. So - maybe being off dimension may let you survive the bloodline curse? Though possibly the Eebs survived the curse to die in the torture chambers of the goblins.

But Marsters, held off dimension, was ALSO isolated in quarantine, safe from the bloodline curse - so if he is freed, he is still a half-vamp - the ONLY one of the Red Court blood -  and can become the new Red King....

[Conspiracy Theorist]

It’s stasis, there is no physical change such as aging, so Thomas wouldn’t Starve to death. It’s a temporal thing, the body is held in stasis, the mind not. It has been stated parts of an inmate can be released rather than the complete inmate. Most people think Mantle, coin, demon etc, but what if Harry can release the mind or the body separate from each other? We know from Corpsetaker bodyswapping is possible. This may be where Kemmler figures that out.

On that basis Kemmler may have stashed a previous Starborn in the 1800’s whilst he was still working out the Darkhallow. You might just have a wizard Starborn from the previous cycle survive long enough for this to happen, the equivalent of Ancient Mai.

The Never Never is part of the Universe, the curse would have got the EEBs. Red Court Vampires would exist in other Universes so will likely appear in Mirror Mirror together with the Ick, probably harassing Wizards hiding out in Chicago.

[Ed0517]

I should think in a true stasis, both mind AND body are frozen - the brain has to work to think - synapses firing, etc.

Now, as for swapping - if I swapped, say, with Paul Mc Cartney, do I get a Liverpool accent when I talk? Is that mental, or muscle memory? Corpsetaker jumped bodies as Luccio was about to kill her ion the duel - could the brit even be Kemmler, swapping in to let the Wardens kill his old body?

[Conspiracy Theorist]

One tends to forget Harry possessed Mort temporarily and used Harry’s power set. Corpsetaker retained her powerset from body to body, but Luccio did not. Luccio was forced into the bodyswap, Harry and Corpsetaker were initiators was that the difference?

Harry is a necromancer, it’s part of his power set, he may not like it but he definitely has natural talent in that direction. I doubt Luccio did. Is that the difference? I would suggest it is part of the spirit element of any natural necromancers power set, Harry is not only strong in Fire, but strong in Spirit, that strength allows him to summon the powerful and bind them, and means he can carry over his full power set on a possession/bodyswap. The same parts of his powerset which makes him a necromancer make him a good Warden.

If so, then Kemmler would have been in a similar position, and being an evil genius would know this. He would definitely have experimented with the set up at Demonreach to see what he could acheive seeing what parts of an inmate he can release and retain, leading to what Corpsetaker was able to do.

[Mira]

Harry is a necromancer, it’s part of his power set, he may not like it but he definitely has natural talent in that direction.

No, he read Kemmler's how to book, he has the talent to pull it off, as apparently most wizards do. That's why one of the Seven Laws is against it.  However raising Sue once doesn't make him a necromancer.  Since he didn't raise Mort from the dead, it wasn't necromancy.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Really? every Necromancer Harry has met has commented on his ability in this area to some degree or other and in Battle Ground just before he takes on Drakul and seven Necromancers Harry comments that four Necromancers nearly wrecked Chicago before, five if you include him, a neophyte who still managed to walk off with best in show.

As it stands it was Harry and not any of the other four Necromancers who actually summoned the Erl King, he has an intuitive ability in this area as to what would work best and where, and has a considerable reach. He has summoned the Erl King, Titania, Molly, Mab and Mother Winter, all strong enough to avoid a summons (but admittedly in at least half of those cases Harry being Harry and thus intensely annoying may have resulted in the summoning being successful, e.g. Titania hitting Harry with a lightening bolt.)

Necromancer is not necessarily a bad thing, Odin is a Necromancer and he is beloved of children everywhere (he must be VERY conflicted when a child asks for relative or pet to be brought back as their Christmas wish, one slip and a little girl has an Einenjharen hamster terrorising the local cats over Christmas. Now that’s a children’s book I would like to see.)

Harry as a Necromancer has resurrected a beloved dinosaur, and children love dinosaurs.

Harry’s natural ability in this area, plus Soulfire suggests that he is going to resurrect someone, I suspect when Odin dies it is Murphy (all Einenjharen die when Odin does)

[Mira]

Really? every Necromancer Harry has met has commented on his ability in this area to some degree or other and in Battle Ground just before he takes on Drakul and seven Necromancers Harry comments that four Necromancers nearly wrecked Chicago before, five if you include him, a neophyte who still managed to walk off with best in show.

One robin doesn't make the spring nor does one T Rex make a necromancer.

Since Odin is a god, I don't think he fits into the necromancer category either.

As it stands it was Harry and not any of the other four Necromancers who actually summoned the Erl King, he has an intuitive ability in this area as to what would work best and where, and has a considerable reach. He has summoned the Erl King, Titania, Molly, Mab and Mother Winter, all strong enough to avoid a summons (but admittedly in at least half of those cases Harry being Harry and thus intensely annoying may have resulted in the summoning being successful, e.g. Titania hitting Harry with a lightening bolt.)

All of the above listed were alive when summoned, successfully or not, necromancy had nothing to do with it.

[CrusherJen]

Odin is a Necromancer and he is beloved of children everywhere (he must be VERY conflicted when a child asks for relative or pet to be brought back as their Christmas wish, one slip and a little girl has an Einenjharen hamster terrorising the local cats over Christmas. Now that’s a children’s book I would like to see.)

  I didn't know I needed this book before today. Now I know, and I want it. 

[Ed0517]

Luccio also talked about possibly training up her new body to her previous ability. Possibly magic use is part physical and part mental - nerves, perhaps, conduct magical force, without training they can only do so much. Luccio swapped into a non-mage and had SOME ability. Maybe Corpsetaker is limited in the bodies of non-mages, but she can pull her one specialty. Aren't the Black Court eager to get wizards to turn? Maybe it is not just mental. Unfortunately for Luccio, looks like the little cutie she inhabits just isn't going to be able to get where she had been. Sounds a little Heaven Can Wait (Beatty version) ? His new body had to be trained up to get NEAR his old one.   

And summoning is not necromancy. No death involved.

[Mira]

Luccio also talked about possibly training up her new body to her previous ability. Possibly magic use is part physical and part mental - nerves, perhaps, conduct magical force, without training they can only do so much. Luccio swapped into a non-mage and had SOME ability. Maybe Corpsetaker is limited in the bodies of non-mages, but she can pull her one specialty. Aren't the Black Court eager to get wizards to turn? Maybe it is not just mental. Unfortunately for Luccio, looks like the little cutie she inhabits just isn't going to be able to get where she had been. Sounds a little Heaven Can Wait (Beatty version) ? His new body had to be trained up to get NEAR his old one.   

And summoning is not necromancy. No death involved.

Nor is body switching like the Corpsetaker does,necromancy, she doesn't bring anyone back from the dead to do it.  If I remember correctly, Luccio is limited in her new body, while she can still do
the wizard thing, her ability to forge swords to match her new wardens is gone.  She also found that her young new body retained all the urges most healthy young bodies have.  It is one of the reasons why she was so vulnerable to Peabody's ink and could be manipulated into making a play for Harry.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Necromancy requires summoning the spirit of the deceased, and to bind them, whether it is a ghost, a zombie or Sue, they require similar power, skill and technique to a summoning and binding. That evening Harry summoned and bound the Erl King and Sue, difficult to say which is the greater feat, but we know Sue impressed the Erl King to the extent that he forgave Harry’s past transgressions.

Body swapping again falls into the same skill set, it is taking the spirit from a living body and severing the link, as Corpsetaker was able to do to Butters as a spirit, but not to Mort. Then using you will to take over the vacant vessel.

Whilst summoning is something wizards are taught, necromancy is not, but the next nearest use of the skill set for summoning a spirit are those for summoning an entity. Demonreach has multiple times been described as a spirit, being a physical manifestation of the the island, a genius loci, literally “spirit of the place”. In summoning Molly we have the whole debate between spirit and the flesh in escaping the summoning circle. Harry summoned and bound Demonreach by accident, doing a different ritual or Sanctum invocation to allow him to draw on local power.

Corpsetaker was looking for a body with talent, Molly was too powerful for her to overcome as a spirit especially with Lea in tow, Mort was the next most powerful practitioner in Chicago, more powerful than suspected. I suspect both Harry and Mort are both exceptionally strong in spirit, even if their implementation is very different, the difference is that Harry is as strong in other areas like fire. Mort would be able to summon entities like Harry can and bind them, he probably could have been a warden of Demonreach.

 Corpsetaker would also be strong in spirit so fitting into a new body whether by possession or swap is easiest if one is strong in spirit, especially if that is all that you have left to work with. It makes it easier to carry over non-spirit capabilities into a new body. Luccio was strong but perhaps not as strong as an ectomancer or Necromancer in spirit, she could be forcibly swapped by Corpsetaker and be unable to use her full capabilities in her new body, unlike Corpsetaker or Harry.

If strength in spirit rests with the spirit and earth, wind, fire and water with the body this would explain everything, why Harry couldn’t manipulate the real world as a ghost, why Luccio has problems adjusting and Corpsetaker did not, why Luccio was vulnerable to Peabody’s influence etc. As a wizard ages they become more resistant to mental influence and develope foreknowledge, is this the spirit acting on the body, why Luccio hopes to get some power back? How Charity allowed her power to waste away and why Mort was able to regain his?

Necromancy, summoning and body swap ALL require the ability in spirit to dominate another spirit, and bind it, in a circle, to zombie flesh or mortal plane with a drum, or to a living body.

[Mira]

Necromancy requires summoning the spirit of the deceased, and to bind them, whether it is a ghost, a zombie or Sue, they require similar power, skill and technique to a summoning and binding. That evening Harry summoned and bound the Erl King and Sue, difficult to say which is the greater feat, but we know Sue impressed the Erl King to the extent that he forgave Harry’s past transgressions.

Which is a skill any decent wizard can do, it is just a matter of knowing how...  It doesn't make them necromancers...

Definition according to Google;

What exactly is a necromancer?
noun. a person who uses witchcraft or sorcery, especially to reanimate dead people or to foretell the future by communicating with them: In the story, the boy is killed by a serial killer and then revived as a zombie by a necromancer.

Other than Sue, Harry didn't do the above..  Having the same skill set doesn't a necromancer make.
Example would be a person who is good with a gun, an expert marksman even, but doesn't make them a murderer or a killer, unless of course they go around killing people.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Different wizards have different strengths, Harry is rubbish at illusions and veils, he got better, through practice and teaching Molly.

His first attempt at Necromancy was a 66 million year old tyrannosaur, not a more recent spirit or bone,  a fossil, and he pulled it off first go. Kemmler would have been impressed.

Harry calls himself a Necromancer, other wizards historically seen to be Necromancers by the wizard community call Harry a Necromancer. If it walks like a duck, sounds like a duck, and is dead dead, it’s a zombie duck and has been brought back by a Necromancer. In this case it’s the ducks remote ancestor, Sue.

[Mira]

  As I said, one robin doesn't make a spring..  One attempt at necromancy doesn't make an necromancer... Having the skill to be one is one thing, but actually being one is another, Harry has too much respect for the Seven Laws, though now that he is booted out of the Council that may change.
Still I cannot see Harry drumming up a bunch of zombies anytime soon..