Why Simon?

[Griffyn612]

For those that think Simon is Cowl... Why did he fake his death?  What purpose did that serve?  What did he gain, other than the deaths of the brute squad, which likely could have been arranged without taking himself "out" in the process?

Reasons provided so far, here or previously:

• Freedom to work without any possibility of suspicion of himself, thus preventing any allies or opponents with intimate knowledge of his methods and history from ferreting him out.
• Elimination of the Brute Squad, one of the Council's most valuable wartime resources, in the early days of the war.
• Avoidance of anyone familiar with his magical aura from detecting changes in it due to more extensive use of dark magic.
• Ability to provide the Ramps with Council intelligence and modus operandi without the Council knowing such information was compromised.
• Ability to dedicate almost all of his time to his goals, rather than splitting time between them and having to work publicly in the Council's interests.
• Ability to move freely, without the need for Council bodyguards that would be mandatory during wartime.
• ...

Reasons not to fake his death, and counterpoints:

• Remaining on the Council would allow him to influence the war effort. He wouldn't be able to influence it any better than Peabody could.
• ...

[Mr. Death]

Freedom to act. As not only a Senior Council member, but the Council's vampire expert, he would've been under close eye and expected to coordinate if not lead most of the council's martial efforts in the war. Possibly he had plans that required more of his time and more privacy than that would allow.

Plus, faking his death lets him rob the council of him as an asset in the war, as well as the brute squad and anyone else he had with him.

That's presuming he didn't fake their deaths, too.

[Snark Knight]

Freedom to act. As not only a Senior Council member, but the Council's vampire expert, he would've been under close eye and expected to coordinate if not lead most of the council's martial efforts in the war. Possibly he had plans that required more of his time and more privacy than that would allow.
Plus, faking his death lets him rob the council of him as an asset in the war, as well as the brute squad and anyone else he had with him.
That's presuming he didn't fake their deaths, too.

Agreed. He can't very well run around doing Cowl things if he's expected to be somewhere else as part of his senior council duties. Plus being thought dead is a great cover if any reports do make it back to the Council of a baddie throwing around world-class amounts of personal power.

In terms of faking the brute squad's deaths too, I'm sure most of them really were loyal and did die there. It's possible a few traitors may have gone with him though - that's one of the theories for Kumori, though I'm not sure it fits with her identity eventually causing Harry pain.

[Griffyn612]

I'm not sure about the necessity of faking his death to have the freedom to act.  Eb has been a Senior Council member almost from the start of the war, but it hasn't stopped him from secretly founding and recruiting a rebel force under the nose of the Council.  That same force has met with other factions (Vadderung, etc) without the Council knowing, and Eb has run side missions with his personally selected Council squad (mentioned in DB, I believe) without any oversight.

Avoiding suspicion of working with the enemy also strikes me as an unnecessary concern.  If he hadn't faked Archangel, he'd be in charge of the war effort, and would be all but beyond suspicion.  If he faked it, and had only himself and a handful of his loyal personnel survive, then their presumed desire for vengeance would put them completely beyond suspicion.

I'm not seeing a real benefit to faking his death for those reasons alone.  Are there any other reasons anyone can think of? 

Would he need to do it for some reason to avoid the attention of other forces? (i.e. Vadderung, Mab, etc) Could his "death" have made a change to himself?  One that would remove him from the detection of the Fates/Mothers, whom would otherwise know what he was really doing and could potentially reveal him to the Council if they learned he was using Outsiders, and therefore treading on their purpose?

[Snark Knight]

Eb has been a Senior Council member almost from the start of the war, but it hasn't stopped him from secretly founding and recruiting a rebel force under the nose of the Council.

Ebenezar and Rashid have a particular degree of latitude to act privately due to their particular jobs that's probably not available to the others. Most of them seem to have Warden bodyguards a lot of the time.

Besides which, a lot of people have made convincing arguments that the Grey Council has Langtry's private blessing, much like Harry's side investigation into LaFortier's murder.

[dspringer1]

Cowl has been playing with necromancy and outsiders.  A lot.  I am sure he is taking all sorts of precautions, but I suspect there is a limit to how much he can shield himself from the consequences of that.   I suspect Cowl's magical energies are starting to show as tainted.  Maybe not to casual contact, but there is a lot more scrutiny during wartime and the risk of being "outed" are going to be an order of magnitude higher because of that.   

Evidence - Harry was still actively resisting Lashiel, but in some degree of verbal contact with Lashiel.  Lashiel was actively hiding her presence.  Yet there was a scene where Eb clearly detected something even if he was not sure what.   That was with a pretty light taint still heavily resisted.  That pretty strongly implies that those wizards have a nose for detecting taints. 

And I agree that the freedom of action granted by being dead is huge.  he can devote maybe 70% of his time to the cause (with the other 30% on staying hidden) as opposed to maybe 5-10% (best case) if he was still actively a council member and mostly forced to operate as a heavily guarded/observed/tracked member of the senior council.   

The above assumes Cowl = Simon.  Not myself certain about this, but the logic of him being Cowl is quite believable. 

[Griffyn612]

Ebenezar and Rashid have a particular degree of latitude to act privately due to their particular jobs that's probably not available to the others. Most of them seem to have Warden bodyguards a lot of the time.

Besides which, a lot of people have made convincing arguments that the Grey Council has Langtry's private blessing, much like Harry's side investigation into LaFortier's murder.

I don't doubt that Langtry knows about the Gray's, even if he's not supportive of the idea. 

But as to Simon, I still don't see how he'd be impeded.  If he's got some loyal Brutes, they can act as his guard, leaving him free to do as he sees fit.  He can use his status as war leader and Brute leader to hold secret meetings with "sources", all the while directing the Council's efforts in a disastrous campaign.

Additionally, the Blouncil effort to put Cristos onto the Senior Council is to gain the influence Simon theoretically gave up.  It's taking a step forward, only to step back again.

[Griffyn612]

Cowl has been playing with necromancy and outsiders.  A lot.  I am sure he is taking all sorts of precautions, but I suspect there is a limit to how much he can shield himself from the consequences of that.   I suspect Cowl's magical energies are starting to show as tainted.  Maybe not to casual contact, but there is a lot more scrutiny during wartime and the risk of being "outed" are going to be an order of magnitude higher because of that.   

Evidence - Harry was still actively resisting Lashiel, but in some degree of verbal contact with Lashiel.  Lashiel was actively hiding her presence.  Yet there was a scene where Eb clearly detected something even if he was not sure what.   That was with a pretty light taint still heavily resisted.  That pretty strongly implies that those wizards have a nose for detecting taints. 

And I agree that the freedom of action granted by being dead is huge.  he can devote maybe 70% of his time to the cause (with the other 30% on staying hidden) as opposed to maybe 5-10% (best case) if he was still actively a council member and mostly forced to operate as a heavily guarded/observed/tracked member of the senior council.   

The above assumes Cowl = Simon.  Not myself certain about this, but the logic of him being Cowl is quite believable.

The avoidance of magical detection of changes to his aura is a good point.  I'd argue that few would know Simon like Eb knows Harry, but since Simon was friends with three of the most powerful wizards, and would be scrutinized by the others for political reasons, he'd have reason to fear a change in his aura being perceived.

Especially if he had to do dark things to prepare for the Darkhallow.  Harry easily detects Cowl's aura as being dark.  That'd be a remarkable change for someone pure enough to be put on the SC.  He'd have to have Palpatine-levels of power suppression and stealth (as would Cristos if he were Cowl) to avoid the Council saying, "hey, wait, this guy smells rotten")

[Mr. Death]

Not just change in aura -- if Harry's any indication, the stain of Black Magic is recognizable, even if you're not familiar with the Wizard you're looking at.

[raidem]

Red Court sought to destroy a major white council strike force and possibly turn some number of them. Use of a death curse could destroy some fraction of the Reds and potentially prevent the turning of some number of wizards.

Don't have thoughts as to simon and cowl at the moment.

I prefer to take it at face value that Simon was taken out by the Reds.  There was a mention that the Reds had access to a new power that they hadn't had before which made their attack against Archangel effective.  It should also be noted that Peabody could have tampered with someone there that created some weakness that the Reds could exploit.  My main view though is that some element of the Reds were working with the Outsiders and it was this extra power that allowed the Reds to do more than they otherwise would have been able to do.

[Griffyn612]

Not just change in aura -- if Harry's any indication, the stain of Black Magic is recognizable, even if you're not familiar with the Wizard you're looking at.

But is there a way to mask it?  Cowl was making deals with bad guys back in GP, before Simon died.  Was he squeaky clean up until SK?  Or if there a way to conceal it?  If not, then Peabody should have reeked of dark magic after mentally manipulating people for years.

[groinkick]

He had to split his time between Simon's life, and the life of Cowl.  He could no longer split that time effectively as his work as Cowl was becoming a more active participant rather than someone lurking in the shadows.  Suspicion would grow, and the connection would be made by someone on the Council.  He had to end the charade.  Kemmler had to end the life he'd started when he swapped bodies with Simon.  The body swap is why Kemmler is not as powerful as he once was.

Not just change in aura -- if Harry's any indication, the stain of Black Magic is recognizable, even if you're not familiar with the Wizard you're looking at.

Cowl according to Kumori can defend himself against a death curse (an incredible ability which indicates that Cowl is very formidable).  The Blackstaff can remove dark magical taint.  It seems likely that there are ways to remove, or mask dark magic from ones self.

[Griffyn612]

Kemmler had to end the life he'd started when he swapped bodies with Simon.  The body swap is why Kemmler is not as powerful as he once was.

Cowl was a known Kemmler collaborator whom the other Kemmlerites knew.  Neither Mab nor Luccio flinched at the name-drop.  "Cowl" is a known individual.

So is the argument that Simon was always Cowl?  In which case, how did he act as both Senior Council/Council member and Kemmler aide and agent during the war?  Because that's what's being argued as unlikely for the current war.

Or is the argument that Cowl was always a facade of Kemmler's, allowing him to operate without his own identity?  And he then swapped with Simon before his final "death"?  And none of Simon's close friends noticed that he'd changed?  A change that even Harry picked up on in moments with Corpsetaker/Luccio, an accomplished body swapper that has experience replacing people?

[groinkick]

Cowl was a known Kemmler collaborator whom the other Kemmlerites knew.  Neither Mab nor Luccio flinched at the name-drop.  "Cowl" is a known individual.

Was he?  I thought that when Harry called Cowl a Kemmlerite, he showed what almost appeared as disgust.  If my random theory rings true that disgust would be because he considers them weak, and pathetic by comparison, and didn't like being compared to them.  More likely he's someone who does not consider himself a follower of Kemmler.

So is the argument that Simon was always Cowl?

Well I feel that more likely is Simon is Cowl, but not Kemmler.  However if Kemmler did pull a body switch then no, Cowl was not a Kemmlerite, and has only been around since Kemmler's "death".

[Griffyn612]

Was he?  I thought that when Harry called Cowl a Kemmlerite, he showed what almost appeared as disgust.  If my random theory rings true that disgust would be because he considers them weak, and pathetic by comparison, and didn't like being compared to them.  More likely he's someone who does not consider himself a follower of Kemmler.

Neither Mab nor Luccio protest the name Cowl as one of Kemmler's disciples.

   “Grevane yet seeks it?”
   “Yeah. Him and at least two more. Cowl and the Corpsetaker.”       
    Mab lifted a pale hand and tapped a finger to rich, lovely lips
the color of frozen mulberries. Her nails were colored with
shining opalescence gorgeous to the eye and distracting as
hell. I felt a little dizzy until I forced myself not to look at them.
   “Dangerous,” she mused. “You have fallen among deadly
company, mortal. Even the Council fears them.”

   “At least three apprentices to the necromancer Kemmler are
here in Chicago,” I said. “They found the fourth book. They’re
going to use it tonight.”
   There was a stunned silence from the other end of the phone.
   “Hello?” I said.
   “Are you sure?” Luccio asked. Her voice had a faint Italian
accent. “How do you know who they are?”
   “All those zombies and ghosts were sort of a giveaway,” I
said. “I confronted them. They identified themselves as
Grevane, Cowl, and Capiorcorpus, and they each had a
drummer with them.”
   “Dio,”Luccio said. “Do you know where they are?”
   “Not yet, but I’m working on it,” I said. “Can you
help?”
   “Affirmative,” Luccio said. “We will dispatch Wardens to
Chicago immediately. They will arrive at your apartment within
six hours.”
   “Might not be the best place,” I said. “I was attacked there last
night, and my wards got torn apart. The apartment may be
under surveillance.”
   “Understood. Then we will rendezvous at the alternate
location.”
   I checked the notebook. I’d have to meet them at McAnally’s.
   “Gotcha,” I said.
   “Che cosa?” she asked.
   “Uh, understood, Warden,” I said. “Six hours, alternate
location. Don’t skimp on the personnel, either. These folks are
serious.”
   “I am familiar with Kemmler’s disciples,” she said, though her
tone was more one of agreement than reprimand.

And while he protested the association with Kemmler early on, Cowl later admitted to communicating with the others with a common history with Kemmler.

   “I don’t get it,” I said. “I thought that you guys hated one
another’s guts.”
   “Oh, yes.”
   “Then are you working together or trying to kill each other?” I asked.
   “Why, yes,” Cowl said, and what sounded like a genuine laugh
bubbled in his voice. “We smile at one another and play nicely
all in the name of Kemmler’s greater glory, of course."

Well I feel that more likely is Simon is Cowl, but not Kemmler.  However if Kemmler did pull a body switch then no, Cowl was not a Kemmlerite, and has only been around since Kemmler's "death".

I'm not sure either works very well with the arguments being made about time requirements to double-face a war and friends detecting changes in aura.

Note that I'm not one that thinks it's too much to be both Simon/Cristos and Cowl.  I think either could do both, the latter being an easier job because he wasn't a Senior while planning the Darkhallow.  But I think Simon still could have done both, which is why I was looking for reasons he would have faked his death.