The Answer(hopefully) to Who Fixed Little Chicago (FULL SPOILERS)

[Durwen]

Please, let's not get into the "Mac is God" theory. I've heard that so much....

Okay. Mac is Death. 

[biggs]

Mac is mayor McCheese after facial reconstruction surgery

[Sir Huron Stone]

Okay. Mac is Death.  

*sigh*
At least it's something different....

[itari]

Okay. Mac is Death. 

Of course not. He doesn't talk in ALL CAPS.

[AcornArmy]

Some people are mentioning other random possibilities. I think that's missing the point. The mystery isn't really up in the air anymore, with no one suspect able to be especially singled out.

I realize that theories about Little Chicago have been around for years, in every possible flavor. Many of them involved Mab. Hell, some of mine involved Mab. But none of them were really based entirely on fact, because there was nothing to set any one suspect apart from several others. Sure, Mab was über-powerful and interested in Harry, but that wasn't really anything special. Titania is just as powerful, and she might've wanted to save him so that she could take her own sweet time exacting revenge on him later. The Gatekeeper could've done it for his own nebulous reasons, although he would've had to contend with Harry's wards. Nicodemus could've done it using some kind of Fallen super-sneakiness, just to keep a promising recruit alive. Hell, any of the nameless, faceless super-powerful beings in the Dresdenverse could have had their eye on Harry by that point, and any of them might have had their own reasons for keeping him alive.

But in Changes, we found out that, because of her role as godmother, Lea had been following Harry for his entire life, watching over him from the Nevernever side and protecting him from there. Which also means that for the nine months between Dead Beat and the end of Proven Guilty-- and probably for longer, but for those nine months definitely-- Mab was following Harry around, watching over him and protecting him from the Nevernever side.

Anyone could've been interested in him, but it was Mab who was tasked with protecting him, Mab who was watching over him, and Mab who had the opportunity to notice the flaw in Little Chicago's design and decide to do something about it. It was also Mab who would've been able to step right over from Lea's demesne into Harry's laboratory. She might have taken a hit from his threshold, but she's so strong that it wouldn't have incapacitated her.

We have clear, obvious evidence indicating that Mab is the best suspect. Barring future information to the contrary, it's got to be Mab who fixed Little Chicago.

[Durwen]

Unless, of course, Harry himself did it.

Proven Guilty has a lot of little things that make me think it'll be the background of a future time-traveling novel. So future Harry, wiser and stronger, has the need to go to his past home for something, notices the flaw, remembers it somehow unexpectedly disappeared back then, and figures out he's the one to fix it.

I don't actually remember if LC was fixed before or after Harry took Bob for a stroll, but if Bob was in the basement at the time, which would make sense as a motive for Harry to go there in the first place (wanting to consut the current state of the magic metaphysics with him, for example), he, as his owner, could easily order him to shut up about it, or even to completely forget the incident.



_{Edit: just noticed a typo.}

[biggs]

An interesting thought. It's been said that if mortals are stones in the river of time, ghosts are threads floating. Maybe ghostly Harry can travel backwards to influence his own life

[Landing]

AA Ms. Duck had this theory as well, and it was well fleshed out. I agree that the last piece of information sealed the deal for me that Mab fixed LC and it alsoe makes perfect sense that Lea was never far away from Harry in the NN

Yep Duck pretty much had this theory word for word already.

of course I still say it was mister who fixed it.

[Kuvasza]

LC will turn out to be the major villain of the BAT!

Well, clearly!  Little Chicago and Justin both faked their deaths by fire.
They were probably in cahoots all along.

[Landing]

Yeah LC took over Marcone and is now running Chicago's under side, which is almost masturbatory when you think about it. 

[aikidoka]

I say it was Uriel and here is why:

0: Heaven has taken an interest in Harry, allowing him to be a guardian of a Sword.
1: When Harry is about to use LC for the first time in PG, he is interrupted by a phone call from Molly, whose dad works for the home office.  Harry has stated that coincidence seems to work overtime when Heaven is involved, and that is highly coincidental.
2: Father Forthill states that he has a feeling that Harry is being prepared for something.
3: Michael also says something similar to Father Forthill at the end of PG when Harry takes responsibility for Molly.
4: In WK, Harry uses little ball of sunshine against Molly, and when discussing it with Murphy, he quotes LoTR "the burned hand teaches best"
5: In Small Favor, when Harry is in the chapel and meets Jake/Uriel, the copy of The Two Towers has "the burned hand teaches best" underlined,  which I think shows Uriel has been looking in on Harry for a while.  It could also reference Harry's hand being burned by Mavra, and how that trauma has allowed him to grow in his magic and how he approaches it.
6: Uriel says his help has been more subtle than Lucifer's

[AcornArmy]

Yep Duck pretty much had this theory word for word already.

of course I still say it was mister who fixed it.

Actually, not to detract from the Duck's arguments, because like I said, I think she's right, but I don't think she mentioned anything about Lea's statements in Changes, the fact the Mab was having to follow Harry around and watch over him, or that Lea's demesne was set up right across from Harry's lab. At least, not that I've seen, and I've looked up her posts involving LC. And those are what I consider to be the actual facts that make up the real evidence in favor of this theory. Means, motive, and opportunity. Until Changes, motive was in great supply, but means and opportunity were vague, with other suspects having as much of both as Mab did.

[GWPfark]

*sigh*
At least it's something different....

Mac is Connor Macleod of the Clan Macleod after winning the gathering in 1985.

/there can be only one.

[Powderkegger]

The theory holds water, but at this point why wouldn't Mab own up to it? Harry hasn't ever asked her but it doesn't look like he's going to be investigating the occurence any time soon (since the lab is, you know, not there anymore) so I can only see the information being dropped on us at some point. Mab is all hot and bothered over Harry being the WK, so why not mention that she has saved his life before? If your theory stands true then Mab has already acheived her objective, Harry is the Winter Knight. What does she gain from secrecy now?

[itari]

What does she gain from secrecy now?

She doesn't give anything for free