.The presumption is that Cowl is Harry’s ultimate nemesis, either directly or indirectly responsible for driving each of the major case files. This means Cowl has to have connections with Kemmler, Winter and Marcone and the Denarians which he is not portrayed as having as Cowl but which Nameless does.
The first appearance of Cowl is in Grave Peril so we are looking at potential interactions between Harry and Cowl/Nameless after that. However Harry later suspects someone was responsible for both The Shadowman and the HexenWulf. A high priced Lawyer would move in the circles of both Victor Sells and the FBI where Cowl could not, and targeting Marcone the ultimate organised criminal is an obvious move, he wants Chicago a war zone. Later Nameless would be employed by Marcone (Even Hand as the nameless lawyer sending Marcone letters and The Law) so this is Nameless working from inside, just as he is suspected as doing in Winter in The Law)
Maeves Court came to Chicago at the time of GP, meaning Nameless was in town at the same time as Cowl and required disguise to hide from Lea.
‘The Cold Lady came to Undertown. Her court is in Undertown.’ ‘What?’ I sputtered. ‘Since when?’ Toot whirled around in impatient loops in the air. ‘Since the last autumn!’ I scratched at my hair. It made sense, I supposed. Last autumn, a vengeful vampire and her allies had stirred up all sorts of supernatural mischief, creating turbulence in the border between the real world and the Nevernever, the world of spirit. Shortly after, the war between the wizards and the vampires had begun.” SK page 181
Nameless in SK should still be fully part of Winter, and given his nature he would be attracted to Maeves Court
“‘There,’ she said, once I’d been seated. ‘Not so untamable as he claimed.’
I felt my jaw get a little tighter as Billy took a seat beside me. A trio of brightly colored lights zipped in, bearing a silver tray holding a crystalline ewer of water and two glasses. ‘As who said?’ Maeve waved a hand airily. ‘No matter.’ “ Pages 203 and 204 of SK.
‘He’ is most likely Nameless who we don’t see unless he is a dancer in the crowd. The refusal to name is pertinent as it suggests someone within Maeves Court has been keeping an eye on Harry. Nameless/Cowl in Maeves Court puts context to the suborning of Lloyd Slate and Maeve herself and the harassment of the changelings, including Sarissa Maeves alternate, which led to the destabilisation of both Summer and Winter.
The Red Cap would also be present at this point in Maeves Court keeping an on Maeve for Mab. He would be an excellent eye witness, but had no prior interest in Harry.
More to come- much more
The Next Book up is Death Masks and Cowl’s interest is in maintaining the Red Court/White Council war so his involvement is in the Duel B Plot trying to avoid a neat resolution, exactly the same as Changes. Cowl/Nameless would have concerns Harry would win in a fair fight of Will, so sowing discord in the Red Court convinced a man of honour to cheat? Nameless may have known of the Shroud A Plot and timed the duel to disrupt Harry’s participation. Cowl has connections within the Red Court as demonstrated in GP.
In Blood Rites we know from both Zoo Day and Fugitive that Cowl was in fact behind the theft of the puppies suggesting he is domiciled in Chicago. The first Black Court attack on Harry is after he has returned the rest of the puppies to Brother Wang at the Airport suggesting that Cowl sicced the scourge on Harry after his taking back the puppies, it has nothing to do with the A-Plot, but does intersect with it. Cowl has a known connection to Mavra from GP and this may be him calling in a favour. The Scourge may have been in town 2 weeks previously and Nameless may have helped them settle in. A Black Court infection is right in Nameless bailiwick as a Demi-god of discord. With the Red Court decimated in Chicago it is likely Nameless was called upon to make arrangements, putting him in the perfect place to undermine Ortega. Nameless also likely arranged the Blackmail photos as well.
Dead Beat and the return of Cowl with Kumori. My theory is that Sarissa was Kumori. At this point in the narrative Nameless would still be fully part of winter undermining Maeve and watching Lea succumb to the Athame, so why not also Sarissa Maeves alternate? Sarissa is a Changeling, daughter of the former mortal practitioner Mab who has a known interest in healthcare. There are limits to what magic can do, but Nameless is a known associate of Kemmler, Necromancer he would know things about life and death no other practitioner would. This is consistent with Marcones man Kumori saved on Whicker which left tremendous cold This would suggest Cowl engaged the outside contractor to deliberately engage Marcone’s man with Kumori waiting in the wings. Nameless may not have a penchant for healing as a Demi-god of Discord, requiring his use of Kumori in his stead, someone with a penchant for healing. Kumori doesn’t have a major talent for showy magic page 224 Dead Beat, Kumori wasn’t strong enough to wrestle the book away from Harry not using his magic, but even a minor talent can be honed with instruction and practise. Was Nameless gaining control over Sarissa by teaching her the Necromancers version of healing he learnt from Kemmler, but couldn’t use himself due to his nature?
We know in The Law that Nameless will go to work for Marcone, was this the favour he traded on to get a foot in the door? I can’t see Gard being agreeable to Nameless unless Marcone thought he had good reason to overrule her. Nameless was fully in Winter at this point as the attack on Arctis Tor which led to his exile had yet to come.
So a female Winter Mortal, with a penchant for healing, part of Mab’s Court where Nameless could gain a hold over her would suggest Sarissa is Kumori if Cowl is indeed Nameless. We won’t be introduced to Sarissa until Cold Days and it strikes me as very Nameless to target Mab’s Changeling daughter twin to her bully Maeve? Using Lloyd Slate as part of his plan to gain a hold over her? All the speculation as to Kumori from Dead Beat to Cold Days would be rendered irrelevant.
It would also seem that Nameless has a penchant for manipulating women, we see this directly in The Law with Miss Laplander, but this would include Maeve, The Leansidhe, so easily Sarissa as well. He would have figured she was the spare Winter Lady, I bet he stoked Maeves paranoia over this leading to Lily’s death, inadvertently freeing Sarissa from his hold.
In Summer Knight Mab says that this is the last time that Maeve hires the help. Did Maeve choose Lloyd Slate based upon Nameless recommendation? That Slate was always Nameless man due to his heroin habit? That he could use Slate to bully the Winter Changelings and manipulate them like Ace in engaging the Tigress to take out Harry? which is exactly what he did in Summer Knight?
Page 231 the Erl King is described as Wildfae in Peabodys book, written approximately a century before, but in Battle Ground is definitely part of Winter. Did the book or Kemmlers creation of the Darkhallow force the Erl King to choose Winter? Page 241 would suggest so, Mab knows about The Word and Peabody’s book and the danger that it represents. Who did she find that out from? The existence of the Word was known to Bob, the heirs and from The Law potentially Nameless. Nameless may have traded that to Mab as his price for entry into Winter, gaining the Erl King as a powerful and unlike Nameless a TRUSTWORTHY Vassal. In return for a vow to not summon the Erl King or cause him to be summoned, could that be why Cowl is trying to destroy it at first? Could both Nameless and The Erl King being bound by Winter Law mean that Nameless/Cowl couldn’t use the summoning, but could hijack Harry’s if Harry isn’t doing it on Cowls behalf? Cowl was only destroying copies of the book, preventing others from using the Darkhallow, initially because it was no good to him.
