One last point, interesting don't you think that Justine waits until "Ghost Story," when supposedly star born with power against Outsiders, Harry is dead, to have the lesbian sex which allowed her to have intercourse with Thomas which led to her getting pregnant?   Why didn't she think of that before?  Why wait until Harry is "dead" and Thomas is at his most vulnerable ebb?

Well, my vote goes to history repeating itself, simply because the "time travel" theory is just
over done in my opinion..  Too much of a cop out, too easy, the repetition of history makes for
a more interesting story I think, because you know what is going to happen based on what has
gone on before, and how do you prevent it or make sure it does.

Wizard hexes, sure. Not Vampire hexes though! Harry has employed mortal agents before in order to get what he needs, like that ex-cop PI in Turn Coat. But even non-technological aids like tracking chips. Even good old fashioned recon and intel. One guy with eyes on the target calling in the air strike, for example. Or even just learning where a certain person will be and planning accordingly. There's plenty of non-magical means that wouldn't be hard to implement. No, I think Ebenezar had other reasons for not pursuing the White King...assuming he did in the first place.

Honestly, probably just a hole in Jim's story. Nothing deeper than that. Same with the ages of Lord Raith's children being so much younger.

Mostly because she's in charge and supernatural beings tend to go for the whole seniority denotes authority. She might not be though, I grant you. I don't believe it's stated ever she is the oldest or first born or anything along those lines.

I did actually say they had thrown their vampire whammy at other White Court vampires (but I forgive you for missing it, I did present a wall of text). Well, probably the main reason is it causes White Court vampires of House Raith to try and screw their victims. I can't imagine they would attempt that on uber-ghouls or skinwalkers etc. And yes, perhaps it wouldn't be all that useful in a fast fight and they prefer to rely on their speed and strength. Maybe it's only a last resort weapon when the Hunger takes over. But Lord Raith didn't mind just zapping people once upon a time (and perhaps other tricks). So presumably, it can be used in combat. Which is why I wonder about the effectiveness on particular beings.

That, and actual combat. Basically wearing down Mab by fighting and whammying until she succumbed. Pretty horrible fight I imagine. Not even sure it would work without the White King absorbing some of her hits. She is terrifyingly powerful. I believe Jim said it was pretty long odds anyway, even with the whole White Court.

Oh I agree Grey isn't at the same level as Shagnasty. I think being a shapeshifter he would try and impersonate a delicious mortal meal and then attack him with overwhelming force while his guard is down. But I don't doubt Grey also can use mortal weapons too. I doubt he would try the same tactic of overwhelming force as Shagnasty. Considering Grey can turn his hands into sickles of bone he could quite possibly decapitate and/or eviscerate Lord Raith if he got the jump on him. I can imagine he knows which of his many shapes would work best. Notice he turned into something particularly suited to fighting Ursiel/the Genoskwa. Also, the old fashioned kidnap and kill. Even something built to trap and render Lord Raith immobile would work well enough. The real question is whether McCoy and Grey would work together at all.

See, as much as I get your reasoning with Luccio I think she will die. She's part of the old guard. In a world where the White Council is remade (which won't necessarily happen should the White Council collapse), I can't imagine any of the old guard will be around. It will be a new generation, for a new world. Also, Luccio is another person who the death owl is hovering over (at least to me). I don't think she'll survive too much longer. She's a very killable character and Jim needs characters to kill. If the Merlin goes soon, I think the Council's collapse would be imminent. If not, it would probably mean someone like Cristos taking over and the Council becoming much worse - or flat-out evil (if Cristos is Black Council, for example).

I get what you mean. No one that wields the Blackstaff should be comfortable using it. But considering Eb chooses his successor, I can only see him choosing Harry. Certainly not Ramirez over Harry. The only way Ramirez might even get it would be if he picked it up literally off the ground right after Eb dies. But as I say, I don't think Ramirez is prepared to get into the world of grey. He sees the world still too black and white. Look at his most recent argument with Dresden.

I agree that targeting would be an issue, but not an insurmountable one. There are other ways of learning a location than locking on to a target with a tracking spell. Even mundane means. It's more the apparent lack of effort or result that bothers me. It seems at odds with the implacable, highly dangerous, hot-head that is Ebenezar.

Yeah, I still wonder about that weird Lara and Eb romance theory. They certainly have a weird history that we don't know about. I wouldn't put anything like that past Jim - consider Nicodemus and his daughter's relationship. If that was fine for the story, just about anything's on the table. Yes, I think it makes sense that many of the previous siblings would have died or been culled. Seems odd though to allow your kin to get slaughtered so much considering they are meant to continue the family line. We know Lord Raith often just kills his sons. But allowing his daughters to die, or killing them off occasionally seems odd. The fact that his "eldest" daughter is merely 300 or so when he himself is roughly 2000 years old...something doesn't add up.

How many sisters does Thomas have?
I can’t find that notebook, grr. I think it’s nine. Papa Raith’s bodyguards minus one who is utterly bonkers and kept more or less in the attic, and Inari, the one who got away.

The White Court's psychic attack is powerful, I grant you. But Grey is the scion of a mortal and an immortal. Uriel took notice of him. I can't see Lord Raith laying out such a powerful being with a single move. But true enough, we just don't know. Something to ask Jim sometime. I find it interesting though that White Court vampires don't often use it on powerful beings. None of them tried it on the Naagloshii, or on the Denarians, or the Fomor (the leaders, not the hybrid warriors). Seems like they don't just throw it around at everything. We've never even seen it tried on another vampire. Which makes me wonder if it's really only effective on mortals or other White Court vampires (and maybe some Faeries). In any case, if Grey were concerned about that sort of thing (and he would have fought the White Court before), he would adjust his methods presumably. Considering how easy it was for the Naagloshii to carve them up whole sale, I can't imagine he would have too much trouble. Sure, he isn't as powerful as Shagnasty but still.

You see, I had Ramirez picked for the eventual Merlin. Assuming the White Council survives/is reborn. He follows the rules, is well respected, values chain of command, has proven himself in the field etc. He doesn't have the right mentality to be the Blackstaff. It's about being able to make the right calls and live with the consequences. It's about being able to get your hands dirty so others don't have to. Ramirez is already too conflicted and would probably not deal well with it. I am not even sure he even knows of the position - which would upset him to learn of it, particularly because it would violate quite a few of his principles. The position isn't common knowledge amongst the Council. Besides, Harry getting a power up won't make life easier for him - so it's even more likely he will get it, if anyone does. It would only convince the Council he was even more dangerous or evil. They would hate to lose such a powerful weapon. It might even be the thing that sets them at him. He would look a bit like the Dark Lord from their perspective.

I can't think of anyone that would want to have a go at Odin. Other than maybe a spoiled kid that didn't like his Christmas stocking.

I've always figured Mirror Mirror will end with Uriel showing up and escorting Harry back to his timeline. Depending on how things go, it might be even more shocking if Harry sees the other timeline, and at the end gets pulled out by Uriel only to watch as a spectator as the timeline is obliterated. And then Uriel turns to Harry and says "there aren't many left".

Talk about pressure.

Are you saying you think they blinked at Harry and then spoke through Vadderung when he couldn't?

I lean more towards it being Vadderung regaining consciousness a few minutes before, and triggering it when he thought it'd help.

I see H&M being non-combatants that help Vadderung stay weak enough to remain involved.

Yes, that's sounds about right. Raith himself perhaps doesn't pre-date Rome then. But seemingly born right around the birth of Christ. I wouldn't be surprised if he was involved in those events to some degree. Especially as that quote from Jim is a few years old himself, and he's probably rounding a little by a few years.

Certainly possible, I grant you. Seems odd though that Lord Raith's eldest child was only born 150 years ago. Did he kill most of the others? Or were they just culled over time by bad events.

That's true, the White Court's regenerative abilities are subtle and underrated. That being said, I doubt Lara could regrow her head. Is it all that different if the spinal cord is severed? I imagine if her head was reattached she could heal...after a while and it would tax her. But how long could her head be off before she would die? Massive damage to the brain would be fairly significant. Maybe if the bullet were specially designed for to counter their healing factor. But I grant you, an ordinary bullet on reflection does seem a little underpowered.
To Raith himself, perhaps. To his person...that's a different issue. Magical tracking devices and all. Or even spiritual intel. I can't imagine Eb dropped a satellite...I feel we would have heard about such a significant assault by now. Also, the wording around Eb's attacks on Lord Raith suggest he tried purely magical methods. Had he tried a physical assault like dropping a satellite it would have worked. The inconsistencies in Ebenezar's story could be Jim's or they could be that Ebenezar doesn't have his story straight.

Oh sure, he's tough. But the stated reason that he survived was his immunity to magical assault. As Harry finds out, the loop hole to this is physical assault. So you can still hurl objects at him kinetically, for example, and he his magical protection won't do jack to stop it. Lord Raith doesn't have wards on his person. I don't buy the super hearing explanation - Ortega's senses didn't help him much. And as above, I don't think Eb even tried that method or anything that overt because we would have heard about it. As for the Kiss of Death trick, that only works if his assassin got close enough...and it's unclear if how well it would work against stronger supernatural beings. I don't doubt a lesser Red Court vampire or a lesser Faerie would probably not have much of a chance - but I don't know that someone like Goodman Grey, particularly with his survivability (Nicodemus thinks he would be the most likely to survive after himself in Skin Game), would be as affected as lesser beings. He's quite tough, he took on the Genoskwa while possessed by Ursiel and nearly beat him in a straight fight.

Would be a waste of a writing opportunity to have Eb die in his sleep. I doubt Jim will do something so unexciting. Not to mention, one thing we know in the Dresden Files is character deaths are sudden, violent and gut-wrenching. I am sure he will die trying to save Harry, and he will give Harry the staff then/drop it and Harry will pick it up.