Cowl's Identity [FPOTM2 11.2016]

[Anubissama]

The problem with LaFortier being Cowl is simple. We have seen his body.

Not only did we see his body but also Merlin the strongest Wizard in the world, and Listen-To-Wind the best magical healer in the world have seen his body. Not only have those two exceptionally powerful Wizards (one of them an unquestionable master in the knowledge of the human body) seen the corpses, they also did heavy duty investigative thaumaturgy and examination with said body.

To, after that, still trying to claim LaFortie could have faked his death somehow, is a wee bit on the tinfoil hat side of theories.

Unless your theory is that LaFortier was Cowl, and Cowl is unknowingly to as dead already. After all the last time we saw Cowl was in White Night, and LaFortier died in Turn Coat.

[Shift8]

The problem with LaFortier being Cowl is simple. We have seen his body.

Not only did we see his body but also Merlin the strongest Wizard in the world, and Listen-To-Wind the best magical healer in the world have seen his body. Not only have those two exceptionally powerful Wizards (one of them an unquestionable master in the knowledge of the human body) seen the corpses, they also did heavy duty investigative thaumaturgy and examination with said body.

To, after that, still trying to claim LaFortie could have faked his death somehow, is a wee bit on the tinfoil hat side of theories.

Unless your theory is that LaFortier was Cowl, and Cowl is unknowingly to as dead already. After all the last time we saw Cowl was in White Night, and LaFortier died in Turn Coat.

Unless LaFortier is exceptionally more powerful than assumed. We know that he has been trying to up his power level to 9000 since the beginning. And as a necromancer, its entirely possible that he knows magic that the WC is too unfamiliar with to detect properly. He could have switched bodies, or simply made things appear different than they were.

And then there is the Athame. Personally I always found it odd that Luccio killed LaFortier specifically with a knife. I wonder if some kind of ritual was performed.

[Anubissama]

Yes, Cowl as trying to up his power, with rituals that take whole cities as a sacrifice. You think you can do that unnoticed and then go to work the next day meeting the most powerful and knowledgeable Wizards in the world?

Dresden who is a supernatural thug and is crapy with his supernatural sense can detect small black magic rituals days after they have been done. To claim that you can hide Dark Hallow equivalents from SC, Wardens, and who knows how many other Wizards, not to mention the multitude of ancient and powerful Wards around Edinburgh is absurd.

And the knife was explained. To do magic you have to believe in it, brainwashing Luccio to attack an SC with magic would have necessitated such strong mind manipulation that it would leave traces (and probably break her psyche too) defeating the point of framing her and Morgan in the first place.

[wardenferry419]

I'm solidly in the Cristos camp, so it's hard for me to be objective.  LaFortier seems technically possible, given what we know of faking one's death.  But from a "feels right" perspective, it doesn't, at least for me.

As for Kumori, I expect the reveal to be similar to the Bruce/Selina reveal in Batman Returns.  Quite suddenly, unexpectedly, there's going to be a private moment of revelation in a public place between Harry and Elaine, where he realizes she's Kumori based on something she said, and she realizes he knows. 

And they'll both smile through the pain. And they'll dance, and try to figure out how they can stop the reality of it from crashing down on them.  And then they'll realize they can't, and after finding and losing each other so many times, their relationship is over, and they'll never have another chance.

And then she'll walk away, and he'll let her, because he can't do anything else.

  Ohh, I like this idea about Harry and Kumori\Elaine. Hope Butcher sees it and "make it so."

[Shift8]

Yes, Cowl as trying to up his power, with rituals that take whole cities as a sacrifice. You think you can do that unnoticed and then go to work the next day meeting the most powerful and knowledgeable Wizards in the world?

Dresden who is a supernatural thug and is crapy with his supernatural sense can detect small black magic rituals days after they have been done. To claim that you can hide Dark Hallow equivalents from SC, Wardens, and who knows how many other Wizards, not to mention the multitude of ancient and powerful Wards around Edinburgh is absurd.

And the knife was explained. To do magic you have to believe in it, brainwashing Luccio to attack an SC with magic would have necessitated such strong mind manipulation that it would leave traces (and probably break her psyche too) defeating the point of framing her and Morgan in the first place.

With enough power you can hide anything. Plus that may very well be the reason he faked his death, so that he didn't have to play council anymore. I don't see a problem here, especially since we know cowl was able to change the appearance of things.

Thats one explanation for the knife. Or its precisely the kind of cover that would make no one notice.

[jonas]

With enough power you can hide anything. Plus that may very well be the reason he faked his death, so that he didn't have to play council anymore. I don't see a problem here, especially since we know cowl was able to change the appearance of things.

Thats one explanation for the knife. Or its precisely the kind of cover that would make no one notice.

Right after Harry gets accused of letting The reds in because he understood the wards from master to apprentice(another point for nonstandard equipment on wardens fyi) Elaine the missing link shows up and jiggers her way through HIS wards because they had the same master so she knew them. The answer is simple, she's a 'delicate' thrall to Justin and she let the reds in so he could recover a suitable body via his old master Simon.

[Rasins]

Yes, Cowl as trying to up his power, with rituals that take whole cities as a sacrifice. You think you can do that unnoticed and then go to work the next day meeting the most powerful and knowledgeable Wizards in the world?

Dresden who is a supernatural thug and is crapy with his supernatural sense can detect small black magic rituals days after they have been done. To claim that you can hide Dark Hallow equivalents from SC, Wardens, and who knows how many other Wizards, not to mention the multitude of ancient and powerful Wards around Edinburgh is absurd.

And the knife was explained. To do magic you have to believe in it, brainwashing Luccio to attack an SC with magic would have necessitated such strong mind manipulation that it would leave traces (and probably break her psyche too) defeating the point of framing her and Morgan in the first place.

Don't forget that there was probably a deal between Cowl and the Rampires.  That it would have taken a god's level of power to get through the protections on Edinburgh and wipe out the Wouncil.

[Griffyn612]

  Ohh, I like this idea about Harry and Kumori\Elaine. Hope Butcher sees it and "make it so."

From what I hear, that would "make it less so." 

[wardenferry419]

Darn and dang it.

[Shift8]

Who knows, it could of course be anyone.

Will say this though: I dont buy Simon or Cristos.

I dont buy Simon because we know McCoy considered him and ally. And we know that Cowl acts in such a fashion McCoy probably would not approve. McCoy does some grey-area stuff, but not that dark. Cowl is unhinged.

And I dont buy Cristos for two reasons.  He is too obvious. And we know that Harry suspected someone else was involved, so they could get Cristos on the council. Maybe Cristos is Black council, or in league with Cowl. But I think Cowl is most likely that other "someone."

[Zaphodess]

I think I voted for Simon here too, but it's a while ago and I have some doubts about it now. He's still a good candidate, but somehow just too good. There's one thing though that doesn't let me dismiss him entirely. Some of his apprentices didn't turn out so well. There's Justin duMorne in the books, if you add the RPG, there's at least one more and he himself isn't completely stellar. So Simon or at least one of his apprentices still might turn out to be Cowl.

LaFortier is an interesting one too. But I think he's Cristos' predecessor in more than one sense. You don't have to be a member to function as someone's cat's paw. Selfish, power-hungry idiots in your enemies government make great allies without realising it.

[Quantus]

This doesn't make sense to me.  Harry uses Latin because it's not a language he uses with any frequency (other than as root words), which provides a mental buffer between magical and linguistic meaning.

In contrast, you're suggesting that a Russian living in Russia that probably uses Russian frequently is using Russian words as his magical language, thus resulting in no buffer. 

That's the exact opposite of what Harry is doing. 

No, it's not, because nobody is using actual Russian or actual Latin; both are using bastardized words that utilize the same general phonetics and (in Harry's case) preserves the meanings from the Root words, but are not actual word in an active Language.  The example word "dorosh" is not a Russian word, it's a Russian Surname.  It would be more along the lines of Harry turning "Schmitt" or maybe "Denning" into a magic word. 

If Harry can use Pseudo-latin while simultaneously trying to actually become Fluent in that same language, then the Buffer doesnt have to be as wide as we might think. 

Hey, I wonder how Molly is doing?  She like to use Japanese for her magic words, but there's a good chance that now she can "Just Speak" any mortal language like Toot could.  Id think she wouldnt even have the dubious benefit of different "head-spaces" delineated by different languages, since there'd not be that sort of learned, conscious distinction in place.   

[Shift8]

You know, it could be that Cowl is Elvis

[Quantus]

You know, it could be that Cowl is Elvis

Nah, couldnt be:  They found Amelia Earhart recently, and everyone knows Elvis was hanging out with her all this time.

[Griffyn612]

No, it's not, because nobody is using actual Russian or actual Latin; both are using bastardized words that utilize the same general phonetics and (in Harry's case) preserves the meanings from the Root words, but are not actual word in an active Language.  The example word "dorosh" is not a Russian word, it's a Russian Surname.  It would be more along the lines of Harry turning "Schmitt" or maybe "Denning" into a magic word. 

If Harry can use Pseudo-latin while simultaneously trying to actually become Fluent in that same language, then the Buffer doesnt have to be as wide as we might think. 

Using surnames for people in the region which you live would be just as bad as using common words.  Even if you don't know a Dorosh when you're learning magic, if you meet someone later, you might inadvertently crush them with a wall of energy when you call out to them on the street.