I don't think Vadderung would do anything. He stood in defense of the city when the Titan offered him the opportunity to leave unmolested - that's his contribution. The generosity is Kringle's domain - he doesn't need to balance it from his other 'hat' too.

And I don't think he has any particular desire to see the masquerade pulled apart any further than it already was, or antagonize the Council by setting up a rival organization that would appear to be around Harry after they exiled him.

The Sword didn't shock Harry.  It burned him, leaving the scent of brimstone.  And it forced Harry to see through Rudolph's  eyes.

It meant to hurt him enough to bring him to his senses rather than permanently damage him, though. That's what I mean by shock.

I read the brimstone scent as from him. If he'd pulled on soulfire at that moment, he'd have been using the other 'side of the coin'.

Depends whether the Blackstaff choosing the heir means the bearer, or the artefact itself.

If Eb is making the call, I don't he would want Harry to have it, because putting the staff with someone Mother Winter could order to return it to her means the end of the Blackstaff as an office of the Council, and he believes in the need for that. It would also force the fight between the WC and Harry that he doesn't want to see happen, and it's an awful lot of temptation to mix up with the Knight mantle.

If the staff is making the call, a lot depends on whether IT wants to go back to Mother Winter. I think in Changes Harry perceived that the staff wanted to be used, and for all her malice, Mother Winter seems pretty self-disciplined about rarely actually exercising direct power. If its semi-sentience extends to having more fun being used for magical war crimes on the semi-regular on earth than it would being kept on a tight leash for centuries at a time in the deep NN, it's probably going to avoid the Winter Knight like the plague, lest he return it. In that case, Carlos is probably a good call as he's in opposition to the Queens' instrument.

If it operates on a lower level without that much if>then reasoning, it's probably going to see the Winter Knight as a preferred candidate if he's nearby. And even aside from the mantle, it would like Harry because here's a guy who gets into lots of scraps and will probably use a tool of violence.

Here's something I don't think anyone has mentioned.  Wizard Peabody is still alive and a member of the White Council.  Warden Morgan is probably dead and the White Council is losing the war with Red Court.

Hopefully not. It would mess Harry up way more if Molly was Morgan's apprentice, with them united in blaming Harry for Michael and Luccio dying, and fanatical about revenge.

I found it interesting that his request to Molly for the illusory doppelganger focus was that he didn't have the time to make it himself, not that it was outright beyond him. Seems like he's been leveling up in illusion without an opportunity to show that on page, if he wasn't overstating.

I'm hoping that maybe we see Harry working some earth magic.  He's done some pretty cool stuff with it in the past.  Also he mentioned how Morgan could horribly hurt you with it, as to not violate the laws of magic.  So in a duel with Carlos I could see the ground sucking in, and twisting, and snapping his already injured leg. 

Carlos' shield technique is energy-efficient, but he hasn't had a harsh lesson like Harry's experience with the flamethrower in what it won't block. Water / entropy shielding is great for projectiles, probably great for fire, but what's it going to do against force, electricity or cold? Granted force or cold are probably pretty predictable options Harry should stay away from if he needs to disable Carlos without killing him

The spell behind the taser chain he used on Tessa in SmF would be a good combination of nonlethal, less crippling than earth, shield-penetrating and exotic enough to be a surprise. Probably a good idea to train up on doing that without a focus.

Fortunately Harry was actually able to talk his way out of it.

Talk-ish. Blasting her with the stored sunshine had more to do with making her back down.

It's almost a shame the divergence chosen as the basis for Mirror Mirror is in the events of GP, because the 'what if' scenario if Harry had handled the first meeting with Bianca more diplomatically - say, opened by swearing on his power that he wasn't the perpetrator - is actually fascinating.

Having her not lose it and aggro on him to kickstart a grudge could actually have been a good setup for a dark timeline. If their meeting instead ended with her convinced of his innocence, them cooperating against a common enemy could have started Harry on the way to falling in with a bad crowd.

Most likely, only Bonea would be able to read them as they wouldn't be in modern English and it would be older than even Bob would have experience with.

Unless a lot of it was written in cipher on purpose, why would Bob have trouble with Latin or Greek? Merlin's career wouldn't have started much more than maybe a couple hundred years BC, and the languages then aren't forgotten mysteries now.

While any of the Denarians may be able to use Magic only one, other than Thorned Namshiel does, and she was taught by Namshiel.

Two, actually. Rosanna favours Hellfire, and Tessa seems to have a broader range of abilities.

Lasciel with a future host traveling back in time to attack Arctis Tor is theoretically possible to keep in mind, too, but has essentially nothing to support it.