SA (I'm abbreviating your handle), I believe Lily confirms Sells, Denton, Kravos and Aurora. Why waste Nemesis on Justine? She's just a low-level human. I suspect Justin was too for that matter. I think all these apparent nobody humans are not chosen randomly, but for their specific connection to Harry. Why pick on people just in Chicago? Why pick such weak hosts? I do believe Nemesis also is trying to create more chaos in the world, but the hosts are not totally at random. It could be as simple as the initial host was connected to Harry and Chicago, and so all the others are just the hosts that were available. It could also be much more specific and each host was chosen for how it would affect certain things. I believe that is more likely, considering how powerful Outsiders are and Walkers in particular.

Ah, I should have guessed. 

I believe that Aurora was certainly Nemesis controlled (since her fae nature prevents most other options), but not Sells/Denton/Kravos.  Lily isn't convincing for me; we already know she's been lied to.  I put those three at the Black Council's feet (also, for clarity, let's be specific about Black Council/Circle vs Black Court).  They are setting the stage for the Circle/Nemesis's first big move together (at least in a while) in GP targeting Lea and starting the wizard-vampire war.  They were doing things Nemesis liked, but I don't think Nemesis had the ability to jump into any of those three like he could for Cat Sith, for example. 

Justine is substantially different than any of the three early mortal villains.  She's not just a random mook.  She's a hook into both the White Court royalty (in two ways) and into the starborn that's been ruining so many things for Nemesis's BC buddies lately.

I'd also push back against Justin being Nemesis.  He's BC through and through.  (Fun fact, Justin was Simon Pietrovich's apprentice).

I agree though there is a difference between Nemesis infected villains, Black Court agents and those manipulated by them, and other nasty monsters. I think Arianna WAS destabilising the Red Court, she just didn't realise it. Think back to Maeve. So sure she was winning her own game against Mab - neither knowing nor caring for the repercussions. Maeve was almost deluded into believing she would rule instead of Mab but really she would have perished along with the rest. I think Arianna was blinded to her ambitions of going to the Lords of the Outer Night...never realising that the end result of her manipulations was going to be either the destruction of the Red Court or the Wizards. Neither matters to Nemesis...it just wants Empty Night. Remember how the it says everything that happened in Battle Ground was just an act of faith in "Empty Night"?

I'd say that Ariana was more blinded by getting revenge on Harry's family than her ambition, but that's not the point.  By removing the liability that is the Red King, she's strengthening the Red Court overall.  That's not destabilizing.  It's like Harry slamming his arm back into socket, painful at first, but quickly better.  Destroying the White Council would be stabilizing for the Red Court as well.  No more wizards killing them in a long war.  Ariana's actions are against the chaos that Nemesis prefers in order to bring about Empty Night.  Prolonging the war is what's good for Nemesis, not the RC winning.

Well, it's almost certain whoever gave the that curse to Sells (some really advanced dark magic, blood magic) also either taught it to the Red Court, or borrowed it from them to pass on. We've always assumed Black Court...but Nemesis could be the link as well. I don't know that Sells could have powered the curse past one individual.

Agreed.  I would imagine that the heart curse is an original Red Court/Mayan pantheon special that the BC came across (which makes a nice contribution for a Cowl=Simon Pietrovich vampire expert in the BC).  It hadn't been used in forever (Odin says over a millennium for Power on the Changes scale), so send it off to Chicago with a nobody to test before any enemies know you're plotting, hence Sells.  That way, they can figure out its requirements and limitations while simultaneously setting the stage for their big move in GP.  Later, it's an insurance policy for the WC getting the upper hand against the RC in order to prolong the war.

You know, I first thought of Agent Smith but then the more I thought about it the less it works. Agent Smith wanted to "perfect" everything. He hated all the humans, and then all the programs as well. He almost grew too powerful for his masters to control (at least, that's one interpretation). But Smith ended up taking over every program in the Matrix. He couldn't stop, becoming a self-replicating virus. Smith wasn't just one thing, it was a legion by the end. Which I think was deliberate by the Wachowskis. Anyway, Nemesis doesn't seem to take everything over or be a legion, as such. It more seems like a being that just enjoys destroying things, and just take's over it's host when it feels the need to. That's why I thought of it more of the regular Agents than Smith. Still though, anything is possible.

Yeah, I was mostly pointing out the process where Agent Smith took over susceptible targets.  We agree that Nemesis and Agent Smith are distinct philosophically.

Proof, please. How would killing Maggie count as breaking the Accords?

If they killed her at a reception where she was a guest, sure- but it wasn't that kind of situation. Harry didn't violate the Accords by killing Bianca- he granted the power to the shades of her victims to do it. But they did it of their own free will independent of Harry. That's why the war was Red Court vs. White Council- no violation of the Accords, everyone else stayed out of it.

Regarding the bullets: I think Jim's going for "A bullet that killed a hero is a hero killing bullet" kind of situation- those with great destinies that were broken gaining metaphysical mass. The bullet from Nelson is firing with the force of Nelson's life.

Regarding Papa Raith- he killed his brother by tossing him from an airplane. Papa Raith is 2k years old, and has lead the White Court for some time. Baby brother was probably not a mere few centuries old. Nice nod towards the Raiths realizing Papa had lost his mojo.

The Accords wouldn't be broken per se, but killing a wizard of the White Council would give the WC an actionable grievance against the White Court (assuming it could be proven to a given standard blah blah).  That kind of grievance can be settled sometimes with a weregild or higher stakes including war depending on the moods of the Accorded nations.  My understanding with the WC-RC war was that both parties wronged each other, so other nations had an out to stay neutral.

I could see a young group like the Librarians quietly acquiring the weapons used by Bonnie and Clyde back in the 1930's, and keeping them in a safe to be used against Wamps.

Is it important that the bullets came from historical figures or they killed historical figures?  Or maybe either/or?

I could certainly seem them scoop up John Wilkes Booth's bullet along those lines.  Assuming they know the value like Marcone does.

A soul gaze only takes a snap shot of that person in that point of time, and perhaps a view of possible futures... But the future is always in motion so things change, so you cannot say that Harry got the soul gaze wrong.. He saw several possible futures for her in Proven Guilty
1] Molly looking as though she were strung out on hard drugs with a "fey light" in her eyes.
Just checked the dictionary and according to it, "fey" means That kind of fits with a possible future Winter Lady gig don't you think? 
2] Smiling, happy, older, a little plump surrounded by children..
If she decides to take her mother's route, that could very well be her future, there is no
reason to believe that Molly wouldn't make a good wife and mother. 
3] Wearing a grey Warden's cloak, her face scared by battles yet to be fought.
Not unlike perhaps what Eb might have seen in his soul gaze of sixteen year old Harry.  Harry
and Molly had that in common,  possible warlock, but with guidance a brave Warden for the White
Council.
4] Basically a happy young woman, but perhaps a bit more secure..
5] At a desk working...
Not much to go on there, though I guess if you want take a real leap, future Winter Lady doing her job..
6]  The last one looked like Molly, but wasn't, but someone all together evil;
The obvious is if she went full warlock with her mind powers, Molly would be a powerful evil force to recon with.  But another thought hit me as I was copying the quote out of the book.  Could this be the reason why Mab ordered Harry to kill Molly if something happened to her?  Mab said that if Molly became Queen it would be unsettling, not just for the Court, but for everyone.  Could the above be the future Molly that Mab saw if she became Queen prematurely?  Mab wants a strong Queen to succeed her, but I doubt she wants an evil Queen that's into mind control.  Notice that Harry says this version of Molly isn't human, but she looks human, well that defines what Mab is, doesn't it?

Then he comes away with the impression that Molly is a person of power.. That evil does hang over her, but it hadn't gained dominance.. With guidance she could turn out okay.. So was Harry wrong?  So far I'd say no.

For the possible futures, I interpret them as
1]  Winter Lady Molly
2]  Molly that set aside magic
3]  Warden Molly
4]  ? ? ?
5]  ? ? ?
6]  Denarian Molly

Thanks, I knew it was mentioned, well, if that isn't foreshadowing I don't what is.  What further reinforces it is later in Ghost Story, Lea becomes "Auntie Lea" to complete Molly's training. And yup, she shaped her alright.. And once again Grave Peril proves itself to be one of the key books in the whole series as far as foreshadowing goes.

Agreed, GP was the finale of Act 1 of the Dresden Files.

My only comment would be that Mab might have to have Molly killed, rather than kill her herself, if she decided to not keep her. Mostly because Molly may still technically be mortal, and Molly didn't make a contract with Mab like Harry did.

But I think there was WoJ about Molly accepting the mantle, so maybe she's signed on and owned just like Harry.

For sure there might be extra steps to get things done, but it's an option.  I think Molly counts pretty much as fae for the purposes of Winter Law anyway.

Oh no, Lara is older than Luccio. Papa Raith is far, far older. He quite possibly predates the building of Rome. I believe there's a quote about him having 2000 years of paranoia built up.

Why wouldn't a sniper rifle work? Especially with the right bullet? White Court can heal...if they don't suffer catastrophic damage to their structure. I'd say a sniper rifle bullet to the head would do the trick.

As for knowing where Raith is, that's required for some magic, sure. But not all. There's such a thing as sympathetic magic and thaumaturgy. Well, Lord Raith can't avoid magic entirely because Eb got three attempts in (if you go by Ebenezar's word). Even without that it's really just a planning issue, which comes down to intel gathering. I don't doubt Eb could do that well enough.

And yet, Eb supposedly took three hits at the White King to no reprisals. Very fishy. Either the White's were scared of him, or he didn't try very hard/at all.

I found the WoJ, Papa Raith is around 2000 years old total.  The White Court's official language is Etruscan, so their court likely does predate Rome, but not Papa Raith himself.

I'm still thinking Lara is of a similar age to Luccio tbh, like born between Langtry and Luccio.  I can't find references to it explicitly, but she mentions living in Japan for a big chunk of the 1700's in PT and Luccio was born late 1700's early 1800's since she can barely remember the War of 1812.

A sniper bullet would put a hole in a whampire's head, but I don't think it would be enough to reliably put one down by itself.  Lara shook off a grenade in the face.

Thaumaturgy requires a metaphysical link to the target.  Raith's protection is going to make that nigh impossible.  He's magical teflon.  That means magical attacks are going to be tougher to pull off.  A satellite drop could be area targeted to Chateau Raith, but what if Papa Raith was in the Deeps and it misses?  Gathering information on a foreign head of state seems harder than you make it out to be.  Especially when he somehow stymies all your best tools.  Eb evidently took three shots and all three didn't work.  Papa Raith couldn't hit back because of Maggie Sr's curse, so he took a hit to his standing in the White Court and didn't retaliate.

Eb can be willfully and selectively blind to a lot of stuff, i.e. thinking Margaret lived with Raith for a number of years and didn't have sex with him?

Was that actually known information, though?  I get the sense that Maggie Sr was hopping everywhere throughout the NN for the last portion of her life (cough cough setting up the Circle cough cough).  I don't think where she was living was really public information beyond she had been seen with lots and lots of unsavory folks.

Why not? He could establish the White Council version of internal affairs. He is the leader, he has that kind of authority. He might need a Senior Council vote, but if he suspected any of them he probably could just do it themselves. Like Cops, you swear allegiance to the Country but that manifests in the highest authority. I agree it's probably harder in many ways, and probably goes against his mindset. But it's certainly more likely to do it that way than join Eb's team.

At most, he might ask Eb to do it but claim plausible deniability. They are far more hostile than Morgan and Harry.

Yeah, that's the problem though.  The White Council internal affairs already exists and is called the wardens.  The Merlin can't go creating a "more trustworthy" group without having to explain it and tipping off potential BC members.  Even moreso if it requires a full SC vote.