[CD spoilers] Cowl = Simon reference thread

[KevinSig]

I think you're right. Time travel is such a powerful tool that  everything becomes possible (Harry=Gatekeeper=Cowl=Merlin=Odin=Santa=Erkling=Titania=Mother Summer. Obviously). We should be very cautious before using it without explicit proof of actual time travel. That's why I don't really buy the Time Travelling Harry fixed LC.

Yeah, there's WAY too much of the somebody equal somebody else that goes on around here.  To the point, where you really have a hard time not to dimiss all of it.

I can't say I'm entirely faultless, since I'm starting to lean towards the notion that Harry = Merlin the original, but it isn't a firm belief either.

[Elegast]

Yeah, there's WAY too much of the somebody equal somebody else that goes on around here.  To the point, where you really have a hard time not to dimiss all of it.

I can't say I'm entirely faultless, since I'm starting to lean towards the notion that Harry = Merlin the original, but it isn't a firm belief either.

I would say the Cowl=Simon is really reasonable. It's not like we are the ones inventing a secret identity for Cowl: there is a WOJ that Cowl is hiding his real name.

The Harry=Merlin is more outlandish (time-travel, soft evidence), but at least it's not Harry=Gatekeeper or Harry=Cowl or Justin=Cowl, all nearly impossible.

[craigallen]

So wait a minute... you are all saying that Harry is going to end up on American Idol fighting Simon Cowl?

ca

[knnn]

Nice summary!

- Another objection to the Simon=Cowl theory is an interview with Fred where he says that Jim let him have free rein in writing up Simon in the paranet files.  If Simon still has a part to play, Jim would need to retcon or explicitly approve everything Fred puts into the books (e.g. Kumori's real name) in case they should appear in the novels.  Furthermore, I don't see Jim letting such a reveal to come out outside of the novels -- aren't the paranet files supposed to be published soon?  Mind you, I'm not saying this disproves anything, merely that it's a point against the theory.

[Elegast]

Nice summary!

- Another objection to the Simon=Cowl theory is an interview with Fred where he says that Jim let him have free rein in writing up Simon in the paranet files.  If Simon still has a part to play, Jim would need to retcon or explicitly approve everything Fred puts into the books (e.g. Kumori's real name) in case they should appear in the novels.  Furthermore, I don't see Jim letting such a reveal to come out outside of the novels -- aren't the paranet files supposed to be published soon?  Mind you, I'm not saying this disproves anything, merely that it's a point against the theory.

Thx, I had forgotten that one. Will add it.

I don't find the argument terribly convincing, as the paranet files are focused on the Russian revolution, so probably many years before Simon was infected. And it wouldn't reveal anything, just flesh out what is already known. But Kumori's name would definitely have to be approved.

[Silkki]

we know that Cowl is a human SC-level wizard, so the list of suspect is very short:

• Langtry
• Rashid
• Eb
• Lafortier
• Mai
• Martha
• LTW
• Simon Petrovich
• Klaus Schneider (the Toymaker)

During Dead Beat the SC was fighting the Reds. So we have two possibilities: Simon or Klaus.

You perople are underestimating the WC. Remember Ebaneezer was way down the line, and that there were loads of different names, every1 absent before they got down in the list down to him when he entered the SC. So there are loads of wizards of SC level out there that simply haven't entered SC due politics.

(Or am I completely wrong here?)

[Elegast]

You perople are underestimating the WC. Remember Ebaneezer was way down the line, and that there were loads of different names, every1 absent before they got down in the list down to him when he entered the SC. So there are loads of wizards of SC level out there that simply haven't entered SC due politics.

(Or am I completely wrong here?)

That's a very sensible question.

However we have a quote saying the SC is peerless in power:

An offensive action like a full assault from the Senior Council, the seven oldest and strongest wizards on the planet, had been long overdue.

So McCoy is in the top 7. However, that's in direct contradiction with this scene:

Peabody reached under his table and came out with a bulging satchel. He muttered something to himself and rubbed some ink onto his nose with one finger, then he opened the satchel, which held what looked like a couple of reams of parchment. His eyes glazed over slightly, and he reached into the papers seemingly at random. He drew out a single page, put it on the desk before him, nodded in satisfaction, then read in a reedy voice, "Wizard Montjoy."
"Research trip in the Yucatán," Martha Liberty said.
Peabody nodded. "Wizard Gomez."
"Still sleeping off that potion," provided a grey-cloaked Warden standing by the wall.
Peabody nodded. "Wizard Luciozzi."
"Sabbatical," said the blue-bearded and tattooed wizard behind me. Ebenezar frowned, and one of his cheeks twitched in a nervous tic.
It went on like that for close to a quarter hour. Some of the more interesting reasons for absence included "He got real married," "Living under the polar ice cap," and "Pyramid sitting," whatever that was.
Peabody finally read, with a glance up at the Merlin, "Wizard McCoy." Ebenezar grunted and stood. Peabody read another half-dozen names before stating, "Wizard Schneider."

That would mean a least a hundred wizards before McCoy on the seniority list.

That's simply not possible, as I cannot see how no one among those one hundred would accept a position as prestigious and powerful as SC member.

In my opinion, there are two ways to reconcile those two scenes:

  - Out-universe: the Summer Knight scene was written as comic relief ('pyramid sitting', 'real married'), and is factually incorrect.

  - In-universe: the nomination to SC is in fact the result of a political struggle behind the scenes, and the seniority list thing is just for show. So there may be a hundred wizards older than McCoy, but none of them had the magical/political power to challenge him for the seat.

[Silkki]

  - In-universe: the nomination to SC is in fact the result of a political struggle behind the scenes, and the seniority list thing is just for show. So there may be a hundred wizards older than McCoy, but none of them had the magical/political power to challenge him for the seat.

Wasnt going to be a Merlins puppet that was going to get in SC and wasn't it engineered by Merlin that every older member was gone due trivial reasons. Either due Merlin giving them some tasks, or simply due Merlin asking them to stay away.

Most wizards probably aren't suited for combat, but there should be several capable of heavy combat duty within those wizards, even if rest of the Council wouldn't know about it. Cowl might be one of the senior members that hasn't stepped up to be SC member or so.

[Cenphx]

Thanks for the list Elegast. It reminded me a set of thoughts I had about Lucciozzi before. 1) adding the suffix -zzi to a last name sometimes occurred in mediterrean countries to indicate a specifc region from which the person hailed. Without it, we have Luccio. 2) Luccio has family to who she mentions she watches over. 3) Lucciozzi is the only name Eb has a visible reaction to and we never findout why.  Is it possible Cowl is a wizard we've never even learned anything about yet? Whether thats true or not, I think that Eb inadvertently f'd up a plan to get a BC/nemesis meber on the SC here (which then gets reworked into the plan killing LaFortier). So I think one of the people on the list ahead of him is Cowl and/or a high level BC/nemesis member.      Edit: I know this is thin, its not a theory, but more of a collection of thoughts that may help in brainstorming.

[Elegast]

Thanks for the list Elegast. It reminded me a set of thoughts I had about Lucciozzi before. 1) adding the suffix -zzi to a last name sometimes occurred in mediterrean countries to indicate a specifc region from which the person hailed. Without it, we have Luccio. 2) Luccio has family to who she mentions she watches over. 3) Lucciozzi is the only name Eb has a visible reaction to and we never findout why.  Is it possible Cowl is a wizard we've never even learned anything about yet? Whether thats true or not, I think that Eb inadvertently f'd up a plan to get a BC/nemesis meber on the SC here (which then gets reworked into the plan killing LaFortier). So I think one of the people on the list ahead of him is Cowl and/or a high level BC/nemesis member.      Edit: I know this is thin, its not a theory, but more of a collection of thoughts that may help in brainstorming.

1) Indeed. There is a quote confirming this:

Holy crap, the boss herself. Anastasia Luccio was one of the next in line for a seat on the Senior Council, and was the commander of the Wardens. She was one tough old bird, and she was the field commander of the Council's forces in the war with the Red Court.

4) It could definitely be a new character. But I trust Klaus the Toymaker, as he has a reputation for honesty, and actually turns down the job twice, in SK and in TC.

[Silkki]

Is it possible Cowl is a wizard we've never even learned anything about yet?

Possible, but quite unlikely. Jim himself has said he does his best to foreshadow things, and having Cowl is TAN DAN TAAA *insert name* moment is one of those things that seem likely to happen.

Having "Cowl removed his hood and he was... generic WC member number 199 i'd seen once in a meeting but had never even mentioned on page" just doesn't cut it.

Hmm! I have a new pet theory that is like 100% sure to happen. Cowl is Malcolm Dresden.

"Harry... *inhale* I am your father.."

[Kathryn Rose]

Yeah, there's WAY too much of the somebody equal somebody else that goes on around here.  To the point, where you really have a hard time not to dimiss all of it.

Agreed.

I can't say I'm entirely faultless, since I'm starting to lean towards the notion that Harry = Merlin the original, but it isn't a firm belief either.

I think Harry is probably a descendant of Merlin and there will be some kind of family-coded magic message at some point, which would be another good reason for the RC to try to kill all of Harry's family. (Esp if Merlin is still alive somewhere, like inside Demonreach, for example.)

I voted no, but now that I've read all this, I can see the argument.

And I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks of American Idol when I see Simon=Cowl.    

[Cenphx]

@Silkki--i agree that it wouldnt work to not know anything about the wizard insidethe cowl at te time of the reveal, I guess I was more thinking - is there time before the reveal to build in more info about someone like Lucciozzi or Schneider (which would likely connect up stuff from before we didnt know were clues)? Or does it need to be someone we know more about, just given time constraints? Depending on how many earlier clues we got that we didnt notice or piece together, I think we have time.

[blackstaff_]

I am thinking simon is my first choice, second is langtry

[Griffyn612]

Yeah, which is a shame.  In hindsight, I think Ms Duck saw some of the signs, but jumped to a conclusion that seemed a bit outrageous, to me.  Had she not thrown in the time travel angle & just concentrated on the fact that Molly was being prepared for Winter, it might have seen more traction & not have been discounted out of hand.

If Mab were Molly, she'd at least have gotten the Princess Bride quote.

In Lady Anatidae's defense, she proposed several theories on Mab=Molly, one of which was that Molly would become/replace Mab.  By becoming the Winter Lady, Molly is now second to the throne.  And if the end of the series requires Mab to die, which Duck has speculated as well, then with her fall, Molly will become the new Mab.