Hey, it's me. That guy who dropped a way too long theory back in 2017 on page 10, then wandered off for a while.
Anyways, I was re-listening to Dead Beat for the bajillionth time, and there was a thought which struck me that I couldn't account for.
Bob's loyalty and services belong to the person who possesses the skull. Right about when the dominoes start falling toward the final dramatic conclusion, Cowl grabs the skull, and Bob's loyalties shift. Dresden doesn't get Bob's loyalty back again, until Cowl puts the skull down.
So, two questions.
1. How does Harry get Bob's loyalty back? He talks to him, sure, mentions that he named Bob. But would calling him by name give him access to his loyalty? Not on its own, I don't think. The true name establishes a magical connection between the namer and the one being named, but nothing more - and it's not like Harry does any magic to get Bob to switch sides. However, if Harry and Cowl were arguably, magically the same person, the relinquishment of the skull, the loss of physical contact could have meant that both Cowl and Harry had equal claim to Bob.
2. How does Cowl know that Harry had Bob? This is worth thinking about. The wardens and council knew that Kemmler had an air spirit within a skull, but believed it to be destroyed. Bob's the kind of thing that you keep under wraps, in any case, simply because of who might be after it. Neither Corpsetaker nor Grevane ever consider going after the little air spirit that Kemmler possessed. But Cowl does. He considers the pursuit of the numbers unnecessary; never tries once to look into Tony or try to get Butters - because he doesn't need to.
I mean, seriously. If Cowl is nothing more than the first version of Dresden, a version who had to make a lot more hard, questionable choices and went down the wrong path, essentially screwed up the future royally, and went back in time to change things... literally, everything in Dead Beat makes sense. Everything. I mean, consider the surprise that Kumori showed when finding out that Harry had burned his hand. Why surprise? Because perhaps in the original timeline, Dresden hadn't burned his hand because he hadn't gotten into a feud with Mavra. Why, in any case, would Kumori even entertain the idea that Dresden could shelter her, help her, and consider going against Cowl when she confronts him after leaving Sheila's apartment?
Because Harry Dresden helped her before, and she trusts him.
If it's not Harry, then who else do we have? We have Elaine, who has some actual merit, but does not handle power in the same way that Cowl does. Maybe Elaine could be Kumori, but honestly, she was hiding in Summer until book 4; it's doubtful that she went for a jaunt to a vampire ball just a year earlier.
Simon? I'm sorry; Simon has had absolutely no plot significance for the majority of the series. He's a footnote in Ebenezer McCoy's story, and little more. It's true that he *could* have done it, but there's been almost no buildup. In fact, when Ebenezer fights at Chichen Itza, he shouts, "Remember Archangel!" Not "Remember Simon!" Perfect opportunity to drop hints for the future and remind the readers that Simon is a relevant person, and Butcher doesn't.
But Butcher's been dropping hints, again and again, about how time travel works, the effects of it, showing evidence of it, and dropped one pretty big Chekhov's Gun in the form of the Law of Conservation of History. Harry's conversation with Vadderung makes absolutely no sense at all, plot-wise, unless it's true. There's far, far more evidence for this being a time-traveled Harry Dresden than it being anyone else.
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