How Harry would do the Dark Hallow in Changes wag

[Zaphodess]

Jim has already answered those questions.

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Is The Erlking a mantle in the same way as the other Fae titles? I know he's referred to as Herne at one point in Cold Days, so that got me thinking, considering that he's also iirc the Summer King.
There is no such thing as a Summer King in the Dresden Files faerie cosmology. Mab and Titania need a King like a fish needs a bicycle.
There are a ton of independent rulers of the Wyld, though, much like the Erlking, who is a member of the Winter Court more or less as a sign of courtesy and respect. They will occasionally make alliances (and dalliances) with the great rulers of the Sidhe.

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5. cowl with darkhallow - really? just a bunch of spirits...
If he'd succeeded, he'd have had the collective power of all of those supernatural beings and then some.  He'd have been clearly stronger than the Ladies, and a full-on equal to Mab.  I mean, why do you think the Erlking was summoned as part of that ritual?  Because that's how the big E got so boss in the first place.   
For that matter, how do you think the Mothers and Queens and Ladies established their original base of power?  That big old sacrificial, power-sucking stone table in Tir na noth isn't there for its primitive decorative aesthetic.

[Bakoro]

Jim has already answered those questions.1

Neither of those address the questions at hand explicitly enough, apparently.  [i/]I[/i] feel like the issue is pretty clear, but it hasn't stopped literally

years

of back and forth on the issue and it just keeps popping up.
   
He talks about how there's not really a king of summer/winter, but doesn't address the nature mantle of the Erlking specifically, he doesn't remark on whether it's a discrete thing in an of itself or if the Erlking is just a beefed up Sidhe.
I don't think that it is necessarily the same kind of thing, that it wouldn't just hop to another vessel.

In the second quote Jim starts at one place and ends at another. Like I said, I though the meaning was clear, but apparently it's not enough.

Someone just needs to ask "During the Darkhallow, would the Erlking have gotten sucked up and eaten along with all his power/mantle?" and "Do all mantle act like the Queens' mantle where they are independent things, that jump to a new vessel when the old one dies?".

[Zaphodess]

Someone just needs to ask "During the Darkhallow, would the Erlking have gotten sucked up and eaten along with all his power/mantle?" and "Do all mantle act like the Queens' mantle where they are independent things, that jump to a new vessel when the old one dies?".

Maybe, though I think people waste those opportunities by asking stuff he's already talked about and answered several times. There's hardly anything new in the latest interviews. I sometimes wish I could go there but it'd be an intercontinental flight for me. 
Imho, the second quote answers it clear as crystal: The Erlking was summoned to be eaten for his power.

[Rasins]

Whenever I go to see Jim, my first question(s) is/are these kinds of things.

After which, if there's a lull, I'll ask a leading question like how he came up with writing Codex Alera, or Storm Front.

But I agree, most ask what's already been asked.

[Quantus]

Imho, the second quote answers it clear as crystal: The Erlking was summoned to be eaten for his power.

Still have to entirely disagree with your read: all it says in that quote is that he was summoned to increase the total yield of the Darkhallow, and DB itself says that the mechanism by which he does that is his ability to summon harder-to-reach ghosts via his ability to conjure up the Wild Hunt.  Assuming he or his mantle was in direct danger still seems to contradict all his statements and/or actions during the story. 

[Zaphodess]

Still have to entirely disagree with your read: all it says in that quote is that he was summoned to increase the total yield of the Darkhallow, and DB itself says that the mechanism by which he does that is his ability to summon harder-to-reach ghosts via his ability to conjure up the Wild Hunt.  Assuming he or his mantle was in direct danger still seems to contradict all his statements and/or actions during the story.

You mean he should have seen what was going on and run away as far as he could if he was in danger?

Maybe, but I think it's possible that he didn't realize there was a Dark Hallow planned. It was super-secret knowledge from Kemmler. He might have just seen some Necromancers slugging it out with their usual zombie weapons.

ETA: The Wild Hunt didn't seem to attack the Necromancers and they didn't seem to fear it could happen. Necromancy could be antithetical to the power of the Wild Hunt, which is a primal urge to hunt for living beings.

[Quantus]

You mean he should have seen what was going on and run away as far as he could if he was in danger?

Maybe, but I think it's possible that he didn't realize there was a Dark Hallow planned. It was super-secret knowledge from Kemmler. He might have just seen some Necromancers slugging it out with their usual zombie weapons.

ETA: The Wild Hunt didn't seem to attack the Necromancers and they didn't seem to fear it could happen. Necromancy could be antithetical to the power of the Wild Hunt, which is a primal urge to hunt for living beings.

No, as Ive explained I think he was not in direct danger, and his Power/Mantle was not in the equation of Power that was getting eaten.  The spirits of the Hunt he called up were.  He might have been subject to the vacuum fallout that was expected to happen after (along with Thomas and anything operating on Life Energy that had joined the Hunt), though I expect he could and did avoid that without too much trouble. 

Besides, the Darkhallow was not a subtle, surprising, or quick thing; and if any fae can recognize and avoid a Trap it would be The Erlking. 

[Zaphodess]

Well, we'll just have to agree to disagree here. I really think the WoJ is quite clear in that the big E was on the menu. As far as the Necromancers were concerned. EK himself might have thought that he could do the same thing Cowl had planned, step in and eat it himself in the last minute. He was there and saw Sue after all.

[Rasins]

If Harry had tried to do the DH in Changes, AT Chichen Itza, do you think the vacuum created would have ripped apart all of the Rampires there?

[Cozarkian]

The Erlking doesn't have free will, so it doesn't matter how smart he is or whether he knew the darkhallow was happening. He was summoned to lead the hunt in Chicago and had no choice but to do so, even if it means his death.

If Harry had tried to do the DH in Changes, AT Chichen Itza, do you think the vacuum created would have ripped apart all of the Rampires there?

Using the straw analogy, I think Harry could have absorbed the power from the human sacrifices and the Reds nearby would have died to fill the void.

[Rasins]

That's what I kind of thought.

Though I wonder if the vampire side would have survived from the half-turned.

[Quantus]

The Erlking doesn't have free will, so it doesn't matter how smart he is or whether he knew the darkhallow was happening. He was summoned to lead the hunt in Chicago and had no choice but to do so, even if it means his death.

Using the straw analogy, I think Harry could have absorbed the power from the human sacrifices and the Reds nearby would have died to fill the void.

Hmmm, interesting idea!  I never considered that it could be reversed, where a giant ball of /Life/ magic might create a vacuum to suck in Necromancy. 

I feel like it shouldnt be a reversible process like that, but I think that's just from unconscious carry-over from my understanding of Thermal energy and vacuum pressure, as my go-to analogies to the Life/Death magic dichotomy. 

[peregrine]

The Erlking doesn't have free will, so it doesn't matter how smart he is or whether he knew the darkhallow was happening. He was summoned to lead the hunt in Chicago and had no choice but to do so, even if it means his death.

I disagree slightly.  Lack of Free Will means he can't go against his nature.  It doesn't mean he has to do whatever anyone tells him to do.  Depending on what's going on, his sense of self preservation may overrule his job as leader of the Hunt.  He did after all throw the fight with Harry in Cold Days.

Also, he wasn't summoned to lead the hunt, he was specifically summoned NOT to lead the hunt.

[Quantus]

I disagree slightly.  Lack of Free Will means he can't go against his nature.  It doesn't mean he has to do whatever anyone tells him to do.  Depending on what's going on, his sense of self preservation may overrule his job as leader of the Hunt.  He did after all throw the fight with Harry in Cold Days.

Also, he wasn't summoned to lead the hunt, he was specifically summoned NOT to lead the hunt.

I'd argue that risk assessment and self-preservation in the face of powerful threats is 100% in line with his predatory nature.  After all "“When hunt­ing a fox, one must be wary not to fol­low it in­to the great bear’s lair.  This is com­mon sense for any hunter, by my reck­on­ing.” (Erlking, Changes ch 36).

[peregrine]

Yeah.  I'm just arguing with the idea that the Erlking must show up and stick his head through the noose, risking his death just because he lacks Free Will.