A Cowl WAG - I promise it's new

[KurtinStGeorge]

OK, so a number of people think Cowl might be Simon Pietrovich, the Senior Council member who was supposedly killed when the Red Court stormed; or where let into, Simon's personal fortress at Archangel.  Nothing new about that. 

Here's the new WAG.  Simon/Cowl was turned.  The Red Court survived but not because the Eebs are still alive; it survived because Cowl was in the Nevernever when the Bloodline curse went off.  I can go further and guess that Cowl was like Susan at the time of Deadbeat, in that he may have only been half-turned, but after Harry almost blew him up by messing up the darkhallow, Cowl had to feed in order to stay alive.  Let's see how long it takes to disprove this one.   

[Snark Knight]

It's possible he was half-turned in DB, though I don't think it's necessarily the case.

I would note though, Harry described his magic as dark but definitely human as of DB (unlike Grevane / Corpsetaker / vampire sorcerers who used the 'cold and greasy' power source), so he can't have been any more than half-turned. And as far as I recall the battle scene in the Deeps in WN, Harry got enough of a sense of the opponent's work there to be sure it was Cowl again - were he a full vampire at that point, I don't think his 'signature' would have been still so identifiable. I think the Darkhallow backlash wounded him, but not severely enough that he'd need to embrace vampirism to recover. Indeed, the fact that he was still moving as though pained in WN speaks against a full transformation to the Red Court, since their much greater healing abilities would have had him fully recovered in a matter of days. It probably even weighs against him being half-turned, since he had plenty of time to get his hands on a non-fatal increment of blood to restore even a major injury without turning (as Harry donated to Susan to fix her broken spine after going up against the Ick).

More likely, I think Simon would just be at or above Ebenezar's level of proficiency at enchanting passive defenses onto his clothing. I think he just tanked through the backlash with advanced armour enchantments Harry had no idea were possible at the time (it would also explain the car flip catching him by surprise and still not hurting him).

[Con]

I was going to make a snide comment that we see Cowl in daylight, but it's possible we don't we first meet him outside of Bock's Ordered Books after dark.

I think the next time we see him is when he steals Bob, and then of course the Dark Hallow happens at night.

Still don't think he's Red Court. Cowl seems to independent and powerful an entity in his own right. He wants to make himself a junior league god, seems like thats something the Red King wouldn't want his underling to become a god.

[jonas]

OK, so a number of people think Cowl might be Simon Pietrovich, the Senior Council member who was supposedly killed when the Red Court stormed; or where let into, Simon's personal fortress at Archangel.  Nothing new about that. 

Here's the new WAG.  Simon/Cowl was turned.  The Red Court survived but not because the Eebs are still alive; it survived because Cowl was in the Nevernever when the Bloodline curse went off.  I can go further and guess that Cowl was like Susan at the time of Deadbeat, in that he may have only been half-turned, but after Harry almost blew him up by messing up the darkhallow, Cowl had to feed in order to stay alive.  Let's see how long it takes to disprove this one.   

Not entirely new all things considered(including me saying basically the same of cowl being turned within the last month or so lol)

[DonBugen]

I don't know. This theory seems to fail the Chekhov Test. Try as I might, I just can't think of any pieces of evidence in past books that would suggest that Cowl is a Red Court vampire. No conspicuous smoking guns that would signify that this is a possibility.

Sure, I bet that it would pretty much be impossible to prove that he wasn't a vampire. But, that means about as much as me saying that it's impossible to prove that he wasn't a Scion of Thor, or a White Court vampire, or a really, really, really overgrown dew drop fairy. What evidence is there that makes this even something to consider?

The Simon theory is basically the Occam's Razor Theory - it's the simplest explanation and in a rational world is most likely.  The Future Harry Dresden theory is the Crazy String Theory Theory, and the DuMorne/Elaine is the Crazy Conspiracy Theory Theory.  I'm a believer in the Future/Alternate Universe Dresden theory myself.

This theory just doesn't seem so likely.

[groinkick]

Cowl being able to defend against a death curse could mean he would know how to defend against something like blood line curse as well. 

[jonas]

I don't know. This theory seems to fail the Chekhov Test. Try as I might, I just can't think of any pieces of evidence in past books that would suggest that Cowl is a Red Court vampire. No conspicuous smoking guns that would signify that this is a possibility

He speaks with a long slithery way of talking. RCV have long thin tongues just like a snake in their true form. The inability to create a flesh mask after the event's at Archangel(as we didn't actually hear him speak in GP) would line up rather well with the idea.

The Simon theory is basically the Occam's Razor Theory - it's the simplest explanation and in a rational world is most likely.

No, no it's not, it's born of Occam's Opinion, which states that the idea that is liked best will hold sway so long as greater substantive evidence is not presented. An sometimes even in the face of actual evidence that makes it less likely if not down right unlikely. Like the idea of someone reverse engineering his wards being presented the very chapter before this is actually done to Harry by someone else of the same magical heritage. Since this evidence against a purely 'Simon' Cowl exists and has existed from the very inception of the idea of Simon in the books(and therefor pre-simon=cowl theory) I now present this fact as evidence the greater liked theory shall hold sway(alas, if only I could pin down the originator of this theory I could attempt to go back and stop them and the other 11 monkeys ) above and beyond the actuality of the proposed evidence(which honestly, what's the evidence for Simon is Cowl anyway? ) people believe what they want to believe, and see what they wanna see. The key to cutting through with Occam's razor is wanting only to see what is already before you but hidden from you

[wardenferry419]

I am, also, in the Simon=Cowl camp. So, if Simon was not killed but only half-turned in SK would the destruction of RCV bloodline return Simon back to a human wizard. Say Simon was working with the RCV and not against them in GP. Then in the next book, he allows his "brute squad" to be killed and himself half-turned as a show of commitment. A long con follows, similar to what Martin did, where Simon aids the RCV. After the bloodline curse nearly but not entirely eliminates the RCV, Simon reverts back to human form since he is long-lived and has only been half-turned for a decade or so. Why would he go lone wolf? Unknown. But, it is an entirely possible story arc.

[Snark Knight]

(which honestly, what's the evidence for Simon is Cowl anyway? )

- Beastly strong human practitioner
- Had access to high-level internal White Council reports (just before fighting Harry outside Bock's he said he was "curious what had the Wardens so nervous about him") - this rules out future Harry time travel theories because he would have known exactly how strong his younger self was
- Connections with the Reds to synchronize their assault with his Darkhallow plans
- Has a female apprentice

That circumstantial evidence defines one hell of a narrow candidate pool.

[Rasins]

- Beastly strong human practitioner
- Had access to high-level internal White Council reports (just before fighting Harry outside Bock's he said he was "curious what had the Wardens so nervous about him") - this rules out future Harry time travel theories because he would have known exactly how strong his younger self was
- Connections with the Reds to synchronize their assault with his Darkhallow plans
- Has a female apprentice

That circumstantial evidence defines one hell of a narrow candidate pool.

"Knew" Kemmler

[wardenferry419]

Never met Harry before DB seems like a possible clue.

[jonas]

- Beastly strong human practitioner
- Had access to high-level internal White Council reports (just before fighting Harry outside Bock's he said he was "curious what had the Wardens so nervous about him") - this rules out future Harry time travel theories because he would have known exactly how strong his younger self was
- Connections with the Reds to synchronize their assault with his Darkhallow plans
- Has a female apprentice

That circumstantial evidence defines one hell of a narrow candidate pool.

But none of it points at Simon except the perception. In fact he only substantive thing you just said is it's because had studied the reds heavily himself. Which doesn't actually point the finger at him. But if it did would actually make it more likely he was turned by the reds with such a hefty connection and all...
also, alternative future Harry doesn't know about other past versions of himself...(gotta know TT mechanisms in stories and science fiction) I'll give you one for TT Harry based on the thematics of Nic and Harrys coinciding but opposite natures(which if you look at Nico's original description and CAN'T see the parody of Harry's choice of garment, I can't help you see it) along with the one signifigent factor from Lasciel, which is so far we've seen her manifest in conjunction with fire and she generally keeps the whole fire motif/angle. So... In the Raith deeps alt future Harry got pissed and manifested Lasciel as a giant flaming bird in a thematic duplicate of Nico summoning Andurial as a giant shadow/bat. It's connected to the idea of Nic and Harry sharing elements(which i'll be happy to go back to) and how it effects the manifestation of the fallen, Andurial and Lasciel.
*btw when Luccio has been compromised as well as Peabody being a TC, them having high level WC reports isn't really a big mystery. why connect it to another mysterious figure instead of the moles we already know exist. Like how do you really think they found Luccio's bootcamp when Luccio herself was there and compromised anyway? No need to bring in alternative culprits within the Council(which after he's 'dead', how's his connections for reports gonna help him )even if Cowl and his dark, lightless way's are the most likely candidate for actually getting them there.

[kazimmoinuddin]

Simon was said to be the vampire court expert of the council, so he might know ways to prevent turning or  the transformation at bay. The vampire lore would be invaluable. I can't believe it was simply destroyed, I am betting it was either hidden or stolen, even both. Harry could use this lore to keep Lara in check, and shatter the remains of the BCV. I could see a copy of the lore being used as insurance, if slain, it is passed onto those that would use it on the vampire courts.

[Snark Knight]

*btw when Luccio has been compromised as well as Peabody being a TC, them having high level WC reports isn't really a big mystery.

Luccio wasn't compromised until after that conversation. And while Peabody was a Circle traitor, I think he must have been operating in a different cell of the organization than Cowl. It simply doesn't make sense that finding Die Lied Der Erlking was important to Cowl if he was already getting regular document dumps from the guy who wrote it.

[raidem]

We don't know exactly when Lucio had been compromised.  Like Jonas, I have pointed out the possibility that Lucio could have been compromised and location of camp leaked.  Of course, this doesn't even mention Peabody like Jonas just referred to.

Jim makes possible suspects but in hindsight there are a few that weren't on the list that should have been.