How much have we explored the idea that the Mavra we know is actually a puppet being operated by Cowl and Kumori? I suppose it makes the scene at Bock's in DB a bit problematic, but it fits together pretty well otherwise.

If we're getting conspiratorial about CI, then the question isn't "Who were the Reds aiming it at?"  The question is "Who were the Black Council aiming it at?"   The reds, with their ties to so many likely N-fected individuals and the Outsiders, were in deep with whatever the overarching conspiracy involving the Outsiders is. We do ourselves a severe disservice if we think about this only in terms of the Red's enemies.

Restating the proposed scenario, in light of the discussion we've had, integrating some of Griffyn's ideas:

Let's imagine a scene, at the beginning of Small Favor. Mab has entered Harry's mind, and is approached by Id Harry, who has the relatively recent task of watching over the newborn Bonnie. And Id Harry and Mab begin to deal. IH wants Harry's immediate survival, protection for Bonnie, and a chance to get laid. Mab wants Harry as Winter Knight, and also wants to earn Harry yet more power. Mab sees someone she can work with. So, the bargain is struck, and a relationship begun.

Id Harry will guide Harry ever closer to taking Mab up on her offer of Winter Knighthood. This will aid in Harry's survival and further amass power to help protect Bonnie. Plus, being WK definitely ups the chances that Harry will finally have some sex. More generally, the WK mantle will increase IH's power over what Harry does, as it encourages Harry to pursue his more animalistic, base tendencies. To enable IH to help further with these goals, Mab will give IH the ability to hide Harry's memories from himself.  IH is responsible for hiding Harry's fire magic for most of SmF, at Mab's behest as part of this deal.

On Demonreach, during the final battle of SmF, IH sees an opportunity to win further favor with Mab. Before Michael goes up into the helicopter, IH guides Harry's hand during a distracted moment, similar to when Harry picked up the denarius instead of Harry Carpenter (DM), or when Mab made Harry stab himself (SK). IH take's Thorned Namshiel's hand from Michael's pouch, and stows it away in one of Harry's pockets, unbeknownst to the conscious Harry.

At the conclusion of SmF, in the hospital chapel, Mab enters Harry's head again. IH presents his gift to Mab, the fallen who assaulted her castle. He is rewarded with a Winter boon, a fine-wrought silver snowflake pin, analogous to the leaf pin Harry received from Summer for his efforts in PG. IH is wearing this pin on his lapel next time we see him, in SG. With Demonreach in the discussion, IH mentions his sight visions to Mab. They further their bargain, adding the goal of guiding Harry becoming the Warden of Demonreach, newly within Harry's capability thanks to the gift of soulfire.

In TC, IH and Mab coordinate their efforts to assure that Harry moves towards the island. IH prevents Harry from confronting Shagnasty directly, by blocking out Little Chicago at a crucial moment and making sure Bonnie triggers a headache when Harry goes for Mouse. Instead he puts the idea in his head to take Morgan to Demonreach, and to perform a Sanctum Invocation. He is Harry's intuition, after all. Mab plays her part here as well, intimidating Bob into silence over why Harry isn't using LC. Since Lea was still a Sidhe-sicle, Mab could come and go as she pleased from the Harry's lab during TC, through Lea's garden, assuming she meant no harm. And Harry only goes into the lab the one time in that whole case. Plus, Mab foresees a side benefit of terrifying the little air spirit; he'll ask Harry to prepare a second vessel as a bolt hole, which will then be in place for when Bonnie is born. And since Mab knows Harry has access to Bob, she can be confident in CD that he has access to the info on how to kill Maeve.  Furthermore, Mab helps guide Molly towards the skill level and power she will need to perform the "delivery" of Bonnie.

Except that if it were just Id blocking the memory of LC, there'd be no reason for Bob to not say, "Hey, boss, why are you doing those tracking spells on the floor?  Why not use Little Chicago?"  To which Harry would say, "Huh?"

Even if it was another case of the tarp-spell blotting out any reference to the subject (a la Harry hearing garbled noise at the phrase "blasting rod"), Bob will still notice that Harry wasn't replying to his questions.  And he would have brought it up.

So there has to be another reason for Bob to also not suggest using LC.  Either Mab did it, and intimidated Bob into silence, or LC was just broken at the time.  The latter seems unlikely, as you'd think there'd be some dialogue expressing his frustration that the one tool he needed right then wasn't working.

You're right, Bob is implicated. That was actually the discussion that brought this theory about. Bob missing LC is odd. The lack of any dialog about LC at all is odd. Mab had access to the lab at this time, (assuming she meant no harm) so it's possible she's involved. I'll admit it's more of a reach though. I also tried to tie Bob's request for an extra vessel into the OP, but that might be pushing it too.


I shouldn't be surprised that any post about LC and Id Harry eventually turns to time travel. There's nothing to rule it out, and it's hard to deny the ties and resemblance. However. It's really only TC where Little Chicago goes unused, unmentioned, unseen. It's used in SmF, mentioned in SJ, gone in TC, back in Changes. Is the implication that there's time travel in TC? If so, why the timing that blocks him from finding Shagnasty? Why does that sync up with the Bonnie headache that blocks the same thing with Mouse?

I found one other potential issue with the theory in the OP, though it might be alright. Mab's words about what she did with Harry's fire magic:

"The I was right." I said, accepting [the blasting rod] "You took it, and you took the memory of it happening."
"Yes"
"Why?"
"Because I deemed it proper." She replied, as if speaking to a rather slow-witted child. "You would have risked your own life, and my purpose, to protect your precious mortals had I not taken your fire from you."

The OP theory asserts that the actual hiding of the memories was performed by Id Harry, acting on Mab's behalf. Are her above statements still true enough if that is the case? I'd say yes, but it isn't cut and dry.

I think it's a lock that Mab had an interest, because the Reds have made a habit of summoning Outsiders while on the ways through Faerie to aid them in battle with the WCW. That is a significant insult to Mab in my eyes. Careless too, and undermining of her war efforts. The reds also play into the founding conspiracy of the series somehow, with the schemes around creating a starborn, which ultimately led to Harry. Ariana's presence at that dinner with Lord Raith, Maggie, and Eb is evidence enough to convince me of that. Whether that conspiracy is the same thing as the Circle or BC or Nemesis remains to be seen, but it is certainly another major dark center of power, however it identifies.

I hadn't made the connection between the pin and the Summer broach... Hmm... The descriptions of fine wrought detail are very similar. Tying in the lost Denari is a good observation too, that is a real possibility.

I'm not sure the ideas need to be mutually exclusive. It seems reasonable to me that the two may have more of an ongoing relationship than a one-off deal. The pin wasn't vital to the theory in the OP,  just a bit of corroborating evidence.