Whose the backup plan for...? - Battle Ground Spoiler

[Mira]

Now that I think about, it might fit with my, Elaine is nemfected idea, I posted in another thread.  I don't mean the three-eye addict saw Elaine, I mean he saw the Outsider magical traces that Elaine left on Harry in the moments that led up to Harry's final confrontation with Justin.  It is a reach, but it fits, maybe.

I have said that as well, especially since one of my theories was that it was Elaine who infected Aurora.  However it never occurred to me that Elaine would have left her mark on Harry, but when you think about it, it makes sense.  Elaine, the one infected, Harry the star born, immune, but scarred by being so close to her for all those years.

So, the three-eye addict saw the mark of HWWB.  The addict also mentions "those who walk before."  Maybe that refers to other Outsiders the addict saw or it could be something Jim has retconned out of the story.  I used to think it referred to the Walker we met in Cold Days, but it doesn't make sense that HWWBf or any Outsiders would be running around Chicago at that time.

I still go back to my point, someone, most likely whoever was feeding the third eye to the addict was also educating him. Otherwise the addict would have no clue of what his vision was telling him.  An ordinary vanilla human addict wouldn't know an Outsider from an insider, nor would he know it by it's name.

[Snark Knight]

Vanilla humans have always had the power to summon Outsiders.  I believe that was the point in Blood Rites.

Free-willed humans, anyway. And, sure, the ritual to summon a champion like Behind worked OK with one low-level talent and two unpowered helpers, and maybe didn't strictly require Madge having been a weaker practitioner to pull off (although that probably helped get it done multiple times before making a fatal mistake). But the other methods that involve calling up a squad of individually weaker outsiders, like in CD, or DB / PG when the Reds were supported by mortal-summoned outsider foot soldiers, those do seem to need at least a low-level practitioner.

Even with the little fish being a lot more common than council-level talents, relatively few people want to sign on to unmake the world in the name of tentacled horrors from beyond.  As Harry puts it, most people don't want to mess up the place where all their stuff is.  But if you can upgrade a non-powered cultist who already has sufficient insanity, or empower some random victims who are too addicted to care about anything beyond more of the drug, that eliminates a bottleneck to bringing over actual armies.

[Mira]

Even with the little fish being a lot more common than council-level talents, relatively few people want to sign on to unmake the world in the name of tentacled horrors from beyond.  As Harry puts it, most people don't want to mess up the place where all their stuff is.  But if you can upgrade a non-powered cultist who already has sufficient insanity, or empower some random victims who are too addicted to care about anything beyond more of the drug, that eliminates a bottleneck to bringing over actual armies.

All of that may be true, but someone had to teach that three eye addict what an Outsider was, and what their names are!  I don't think it is a simple matter of three eye drug pushers on the street selling his or her wears to a would be addict.  I think it is more of a cult thing, actually the big clue there is what Harry found at the summer house that belonged to Sells.  Imagine for lack of a better term, using Harry's name for them "The Black Council,"  luring in those vulnerable to occult like shenanigans with promises of say, "mind expansion," "contact with the other side," among other things.  The type of stuff people use mushrooms and LSD for, on three eye, they start meeting some really interesting and frightening creatures, i.e. Outsiders.  What we don't know is how this is valuable or how the "the Black Council" can use these addicts to their cause.  Clearly the one who spotted HWWB's shadow or aura around Harry was scared out of his wits by the sight, but to what purpose?  That's the mystery that Harry never solved back in Storm Front.