Dresden Files: Winter is coming (Cold Days Spoilers)

[The Glyphstone]

Jim not Justin. As in Jim Butcher the WRITER of the books.

Er, right. Jim ,Justin,...they start with J, close enough.

[datalaughing]

Hm. A small point here:

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I don't remember the quotes, but you say that Cowl stated that he knows them. Does he ever say that he was a student of Kemmler himself?

If he is Langtry, the connection might be different. He might have known them when they were council members before going rogue, as an example. Before they joined Kemmler.

Cowl never says, "I was Kemmler's student," but he implies it pretty hard. He says stuff like, ""We smile at one another and play nicely all in the name of Kemmler's greater glory, of course." Which definitely implies that they know each other in relation to Kemmler. Then "Pity. I would have enjoyed watching them in action again. But I was busy with the actual work. That's how it usually works out." So he's worked with them in the past, but not for a while. Then, of course, there's the fact that he knows about Bob, something very few people know about. He knows what Bob is, that he belonged to Kemmler, and he knows that Harry has him. The first two aren't widely known, though Luccio knew. So that certainly shows that it's possible to know about it. Knowing that Harry had him? That should have been almost impossible. If you knew that Justin took him, then you could guess that Harry took him from Justin, but it's hard to imagine that Justin was spreading that knowledge around either. So that doesn't necessarily speak for or against.

[Soras Teva Gee]

Well, the other odd theory I have, then:

Cowl = The Merlin, Arthur Langtry.

People have been fingering the Merlin as crooked for a long time. I'll have none of it. Any of the SC being evil is wonky enough, because well the Council you know survived the vamp war.

The Merlin is more problematic then most though, he's single handedly saved the White Council's bacon not once but twice. First with the Big Ward against the vamp army in Dead Beat. Second against the Mist Fiend in Turn Coat. Neither case would be suspicious if he just "tried his best" and failed, leaving the Council broken all to flinders.

Also the SC was in Edinburgh at the climax of Dead Beat, which we are to understand is protected from opening Ways (observe Peabody's later flight) and was you know in need of a god to tear down those defenses.

And I think you managed to invent your magic forest thing there. We never see Cowl go in or out of a way in Dead Beat, Harry writes him off as dead in the end remember. Peabody went out of Edinburgh the normal way being used all book he had to use his trigger phrase on the Warden checkpoints remember. Cowl was in the mortal world in Undertown I believe. Leaving only the Raith Deeps where I can't recall the sides of everything.

While more opinion I think we can clear the White Council of serious traitory action remaining. The butler clerk did it, nothing beyond intel leaks happened, and at this point it would be a pretty tedious retread. While they may show up to be Harry's goon squad some more I think if Cold Days established anything its that Rashid is the only one actually relevant going forward.

Bob can break off chunks of himself. It would have been possible to pop that knowledge out of Bob.

But that means that Kemmler planned for his death and loss of Bob. So he's what? Building up his power base somewhere? Switched with Elaine?

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Anyway, we now have a better deal to account for Justin's sudden personality change: The Nemesis!

Also I wonder if the plauge Red Court Lady dropped on the WC in Changes was Nemesis...

Okay Bob clarified that he cannot just make Evil Bobs or whatever on a lark. Evil Bob was possible because "he worked out" and represented a concentration of knowledge/power for Bob. Bob can't just conveniently bleed off bits of himself.

And well on the rest unless Jim is a far less savvy writer then...

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... Nemesis is not actually "the Virus" as it were.

Or rather if it can infect with such ease then there is no real reason for all this devious scheming business. Because it doesn't need to, it just takes someone quietly who takes someone quietly who takes someone quietly. It doesn't need to fight if it can infect its way to victory.

My speculation is that it has to get you to willingly accept itself in some way. Lea took the athame from Bianca in willing exchange for the power it offered her. It fits the pattern with Shadowman and the Hexenwulfs too, who obtained power from outside themselves.

Cowl never says, "I was Kemmler's student," but he implies it pretty hard. He says stuff like, ""We smile at one another and play nicely all in the name of Kemmler's greater glory, of course." Which definitely implies that they know each other in relation to Kemmler. Then "Pity. I would have enjoyed watching them in action again. But I was busy with the actual work. That's how it usually works out." So he's worked with them in the past, but not for a while.

IIRC Cowl describes Kemmler as a madman he regards with heavy disdain, which along with his markedly less insane manner heavily implies he wasn't actually.

Not that Kemmler's students are seriously all that detailed out, and its far enough back to not matter terribly at all one way or the other.

If you knew that Justin took him, then you could guess that Harry took him from Justin, but it's hard to imagine that Justin was spreading that knowledge around either.

Cowl does pretty much require a connection to Justin because of Bob. Which I addressed.

[Anderlith]

Langtry isn't evil.
Langtry isn't Cowl.

He's a good guy. Maybe not a good guy we like, or that likes us, but he's playing for the hometeam.

[SmartAlec]

And I think you managed to invent your magic forest thing there. We never see Cowl go in or out of a way in Dead Beat, Harry writes him off as dead in the end remember. Peabody went out of Edinburgh the normal way being used all book he had to use his trigger phrase on the Warden checkpoints remember. Cowl was in the mortal world in Undertown I believe. Leaving only the Raith Deeps where I can't recall the sides of everything.

On most we will have to agree to disagree, but this is the part I'm sure of.

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We do see Cowl open a Way in Dead Beat; not at the end, but after his face-off with Dresden just outside Bock's Books.

Cowl gave me a look that I felt, even if I couldn't see his face, and he growled, "This isn't -"
"Oh, shut up," I said. "You lost. Go."
Cowl's fingers formed into a rigid claw and he snarled a word I couldn't quite hear, slashing at the air.
There was a surge of power, darker this time, somehow more nebulous. The air around them blurred, there was the sudden scent of mildew and lightless waters, a sighing sound, and as quickly as that, they were gone.

We get the same hint in White Night, as a Way is opened in the Raith Deeps to admit the ghoul army.

There was a deep throb. Then another. Then a third. And then the air before the white throne suddenly swirled. It spun for a moment, and then there was abruptly an oblong disk of darkness hanging in the air. It spun open, pushing the space of the cavern aside, and a dank, musty, mildew-scented flood of cold air washed out of the passage that had been opened from the Nevernever and into the Deeps.

Dresden sees Cowl framed in the opening of the Way, which suggests that Cowl was responsible for it opening from his side - Vittorio Malvora doesn't do it.

We get a description of the Way leading into the Hidden Halls at Edinburgh. Dresden describes it as 'a dark wood that lay covered in frost and a thin layer of snow.' As he gets closer, it becomes 'evergreens crowded close to the trail.'

The Way that Peabody opens to escape Edinburgh, on the other hand, leads to this:

On the other side of the security gate, the Way was beginning to close.
I rose and rushed it, diving forward. There was a flash of light, and the stone tunnel around me abruptly became a forest of dead trees that smelled strongly of mildew and stagnant water. Peabody was standing right in front of the Way as he tried to close it, and I hit him in a flying tackle before he could finish the job.

Interesting to note that the gesture Peabody uses to open this Way is described as 'he ripped at the air', which isn't too far away from Cowl 'slashing at the air' with fingers like 'a rigid claw'.

In short, there's something odd going on with the Ways when Cowl and his crew are involved. In these three instances, I'd hazard a guess that they were somehow opening a Way to the same place each time, this mildewed, stagnant forest, which seems to break the established rules concerning Ways.

[Mewtarthio]

And well on the rest unless Jim is a far less savvy writer then...

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... Nemesis is not actually "the Virus" as it were.

Or rather if it can infect with such ease then there is no real reason for all this devious scheming business. Because it doesn't need to, it just takes someone quietly who takes someone quietly who takes someone quietly. It doesn't need to fight if it can infect its way to victory.

My speculation is that it has to get you to willingly accept itself in some way. Lea took the athame from Bianca in willing exchange for the power it offered her. It fits the pattern with Shadowman and the Hexenwulfs too, who obtained power from outside themselves.

That being said...

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We may not know how Justin got infected, but it would make a lot of sense for him to be infected. It would explain the personality change, the sudden interest in taking starborn apprentices, and the use of an Outsider to further his goals. The Justin -> Elaine -> Aurora connection is another point in its favor, and a pretty ominous one, at that.

I don't think Kemmler's responsible: As you point out, if it were that easy, Nemesis would have won by now. It seems there are various "levels" of possession, as it were. Cait Sith may have been infected by Nemesis or he may have been psychically enslaved by He Who Walks Before; either way, he was reduced to a shadow of his former self. Lea was under Nemesis's thrall for some time, but she was eventually able to recognize the foreign influence and fight against it enough for Mab to cure her. Maeve, on the other hand, liked being a slave to Nemesis and, according to Mab, was beyond saving.

Interestingly enough, all this talk of Nemesis subverting everyone's wills is nicely juxtaposed with Harry showing Mother Winter exactly how powerful the mortal will can be. There are several probable mortal Nemesis infectees out there, but only Peabody seemed to actually be in on the whole "tear down the Outer Gates" plan. It's entirely possible that Nemesis can't just override mortal wills, but instead has to bend their existing inclinations.

[datalaughing]

You know, when Harry was gathering his A-Team for an assault on Chichen Itza, I always wondered why he never thought to call Elaine. I mean, sure, it might be awkward putting Susan, Elaine, and Molly all in one place, especially to save Harry's kid, but you'd think her power would outweigh the awkwardness. She'd have been more powerful than almost anybody he brought with him (other than Lea and maaaaybe Sanya). But if

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the Adversary has infected Elaine, then Jim wouldn't have brought her along because anyone controlled by the Adversary might have sabotaged their quest. If that's the case, then it means that, at the time of Changes at least, no one else that showed up there was infected. Because no one else was sabotaging the quest. This includes the people Harry brought with him as well as his grandpa and the Grey Council.

That would be good to know.

[Mauve Shirt]

Elaine was adversary-free in White Night. I'd think were she infected it would have happened in Summer Knight while she was with Aurora.

[Mewtarthio]

You know, when Harry was gathering his A-Team for an assault on Chichen Itza, I always wondered why he never thought to call Elaine. I mean, sure, it might be awkward putting Susan, Elaine, and Molly all in one place, especially to save Harry's kid, but you'd think her power would outweigh the awkwardness.

Elaine's not that powerful. Certainly not compared to the Leanansidhe and the Grey Council. Contacting her would have been an unnecessary risk without much in the way of reward.

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Also, can we be certain that Nemesis would have tried to stop Harry? The annihilation of the Red Court created a massive power vacuum. The supernatural world is now in chaos, and the Fomors (who, given their obvious inspiration, are almost certainly tied to the Outsiders) are pretty much operating freely now that everyone else is too busy fighting each other.

Elaine was

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adversary-free in White Night. I'd think were she infected it would have happened in Summer Knight while she was with Aurora.

When was that established?

[BRC]

He might have had trouble getting in touch with her.
That said

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Nemesis seems a lot like "Indoctrination" from Mass Effect. It's an insidious force that influences one's actions and turns one into a puppet for a malicious power.

Also, something that just bugged me. "Nemesis" is just a Word, a word that already has a meaning. They call it "Nemesis", and then they start calling it "The Adversary", but wouldn't Nemesis already be a codename for it? You know, seeing as how it's already a word in the english language and all that.

That said, I doubt Elaine is Infected. The key symptom of the Infection is somebody betraying their very nature. Aurora, who SHOULD be trying to keep Winter in check, wants to give it more power. The FBI agents go wild, Maeve, a Sidhe, is suddenly able to tell a direct lie, ect.
Now, I don't think every enemy Harry fought has been infected,
The Red Court: Maybe Infected, Harry DID legitimately start a war with them. However, IIRC, they ALSO violated the terms of the formal duel designed to settle the dispute. One could argue that, since they were willing to go to war over a formal offense, they should not have violated the terms of the duel like that.
The Denarians: Not Infected, just Evil. The implication is that the Adversary's Infection has been relatively recent (Last 10-20 years or so), otherwise Aurora would have started her little plot much earlier (She could have done it any year).
It sounds like what happens is Soldiers from the frontline get infected, then go back into Fairie and infect others (Provided they slip past Rashid). It's possible that, with every major Offensive on the gates, more Infected manage to slip past, leading to Epidemics of Infection that get hunted down and stopped.
Either way, the Denarians are not betraying their Nature. It is within their Nature to be evil and try to cause the apocalypse and such. That said, if they're not too picky about their apocalypses, they might try to disrupt the defense of the Outer Gates anyway, but that doesn't seem their style. If the world Burns, it should be on their terms.

The Kemmlerites: Not Infected, probably. Grevane and Corpsetaker both acted like your standard issue power-hungry Necromancers, so no betrayal of ones Nature there. Cowl is a different story, the Infection is insidious, and Kumori's "We're going to stop Death" bit sounds like the type of well-intentioned motivation that would be easy to exploit.

[/spoiler]

[jindra34]

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At least one Denarian is affected by Nemesis if Nicodemus's lines in Small Favor are to be believed. And of the Kemmlerites none are probably affected, but Cowl (who or whatever he may be) is working with outsiders so same net effect from him. And he is the only one left around.

[SmartAlec]

He might have had trouble getting in touch with her.
That said

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Now, I don't think every enemy Harry fought has been infected,
The Red Court: Maybe Infected, Harry DID legitimately start a war with them. However, IIRC, they ALSO violated the terms of the formal duel designed to settle the dispute. One could argue that, since they were willing to go to war over a formal offense, they should not have violated the terms of the duel like that.

On the Red Court -

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It's possible Bianca had been a carrier. She was in close contact with the black dagger that infected Lea, and at the end of Grave Peril, Bianca uses magic associated with nauseating cold, which is usual Jim Butcher shorthand for 'Outsider power'. A number of characters use the same, such as the White King, the scarecrow fetch from Proven Guilty, and more. Could possibly have passed from Bianca to Ortega to Arianna.

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The Denarians: Not Infected, just Evil. The implication is that the Adversary's Infection has been relatively recent (Last 10-20 years or so), otherwise Aurora would have started her little plot much earlier (She could have done it any year).

On the Denarians -

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It's inferred that some of them are infected. Thorned Namshiel, Tessa and Rosanna seemed to be in on the attack on Arctis Tor in Proven Guilty, which was also the first time we saw Maeve seemingly conspiring against her mother - which suggests that Maeve and the Denarians were working together. A lot of Proven Guilty makes sense if you look at it as Nemesis vs. Mab at work in the background.

This is suggested again in Small Favor, another book with Nemesis working in the background (the subplot is possibly Nemesis trying to infect the Archive, with Tessa working behind Nicodemus's own plans), in which Nicodemus starts to suspect some of his people of working alongside another force.

[Soras Teva Gee]

On most we will have to agree to disagree, but this is the part I'm sure of.

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We do see Cowl open a Way in Dead Beat; not at the end, but after his face-off with Dresden just outside Bock's Books.



We get the same hint in White Night, as a Way is opened in the Raith Deeps to admit the ghoul army.



Dresden sees Cowl framed in the opening of the Way, which suggests that Cowl was responsible for it opening from his side - Vittorio Malvora doesn't do it.

We get a description of the Way leading into the Hidden Halls at Edinburgh. Dresden describes it as 'a dark wood that lay covered in frost and a thin layer of snow.' As he gets closer, it becomes 'evergreens crowded close to the trail.'

The Way that Peabody opens to escape Edinburgh, on the other hand, leads to this:



Interesting to note that the gesture Peabody uses to open this Way is described as 'he ripped at the air', which isn't too far away from Cowl 'slashing at the air' with fingers like 'a rigid claw'.

In short, there's something odd going on with the Ways when Cowl and his crew are involved. In these three instances, I'd hazard a guess that they were somehow opening a Way to the same place each time, this mildewed, stagnant forest, which seems to break the established rules concerning Ways.

Well. Spotted.

Though that still means Peabody couldn't open it inside Edinburgh or there'd be no reason to start running through screaming his trigger phrase. Ergo nobody else could either.

Its well spotted but at present not that helpful to anything.

You know, when Harry was gathering his A-Team for an assault on Chichen Itza

I'd point out that Harry wasn't exactly playing with a full deck through most of Changes. Having given it a lot of thought I've realized that he actually had a number of options, even aside from being an idiot on that latter as Uriel pointed out. Harry's narcissism didn't let him see it though because he did feels he has to be the hero.

Elaine is one of them, she's presented as more/less on par with Harry. Kincaid possibly owed Harry that much and could also bodily haul Harry on his back through the Ways handling transport.

Of course the involvement of Mab, Lea, Vadderung, the Grey Council, and (presumably) Uriel sock-puppeting Murphy all suggest that on that it was the night for the Red Court to die.

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Also, something that just bugged me. "Nemesis" is just a Word, a word that already has a meaning. They call it "Nemesis", and then they start calling it "The Adversary", but wouldn't Nemesis already be a codename for it? You know, seeing as how it's already a word in the english language and all that.

Umm not quite:

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Its a specific myth to start. Though what significance this has remains to be seen. I'm also of a mind to think there's some kind of connection to this idea.

I'd imagine the word nemesis doesn't trigger anything because to invoke a Name presumably you have to know what you are invoking.

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The Red Court: Maybe Infected, Harry DID legitimately start a war with them. However, IIRC, they ALSO violated the terms of the formal duel designed to settle the dispute. One could argue that, since they were willing to go to war over a formal offense, they should not have violated the terms of the duel like that.
The Denarians: Not Infected, just Evil. The implication is that the Adversary's Infection has been relatively recent (Last 10-20 years or so), otherwise Aurora would have started her little plot much earlier (She could have done it any year).

Well to this:

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Along with not being the Virus I suspect that Nemesis also doesn't apply to whole other factions. Probably had some agents in the Red for example but I'd suspect it may have just been presenting itself as an ace in the whole vis a vis the Black Council with a couple of advocates. With the general truth that the war would have happened sooner or later.

I'd be a little surprised if a Nickelhead could be infected actually. Correction, I'm absolutely certain one of the Fallen can't its a question of how the host/Fallen/adversary interplay. I'm leaning to that if Mab can detect and cure someone like Lea, a Fallen is going to murderrape anything but itself playing the possession card.

This does not preclude collaboration or being dupes of course, thus explaining the Black Council assistance from at least one Nickelhead.

Which I think leads me to my thought on the whole thing as relates to the Black Council:

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The whole devious background schemes would suggest to me Nemesis is again not the Virus as normal but effectively the head of the Black Council. Who is not merely an ancillary structure of Nemezombie (Nemobies?) slaves, but an organization with some infectees and other dupes and/or fools in collaboration for their own power.

[Mauve Shirt]

Mostly rambling.

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The Circle, which is the only actual Evil Dudes Club and is tangentially (through Nemesis/Outsiders) the All Encompassing Bad Guy of the Entire Series, was started by Maggie Sr. and Lord Raith and Justin and Cowl (who might be Justin) and others. All but Maggie have been directly connected to Outsiders. Maggie has been directly connected to Council Issues that are similar to Harry's, so probably fell in with the other group because one of their stated goals was to change the Council. One or most of these guys was infected. My guesses are Lord Raith and Justin. Cowl probably, he was responsible for spreading Nemesis to Bianca.

The ultimate goal of Nemesis is to drive the plot of the Dresden Files books. So his was Victor Sells, the Hexenwolfen, Bianca, Aurora, /probably/ not the Denarians but perhaps Ortega? I'm almost certain Lord Raith is one of the original infected, along with Cowl. Maeve is lying about Mab in Proven Guilty, we now know, and Lily may have been infected as well. Madrigal probably, I'm betting Vitto. ONE of the Denarians in Small Favor. Peabody, obviously. In Changes... I don't know if anyone in Changes. The Red King was going mad. Maybe Martin but the soulgaze indicates not. Ghost Story I don't think anyone was driven by Nemesis. There weren't any bad humans or bad faeries, and Corpsetaker's motivations were pretty much consistent.

Oh,

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I wonder if Uriel might be infected? He's of our reality, so he might be vulnerable to Nemesis. I don't think the White God would allow something like that. He's the Creator, but did he create our reality (maybe including alternates such as the one in which Spiderman resides) or did he create EVERYTHING? Including Outside?
Uriel being infected is not likely. He's not acting out of character, that we know of. He's working together with Mab, but we know now that Mab's not infected.

[Anderlith]

So Harry was told that one of his friends is infected, who do you think it is?

[Mauve Shirt]

Molly's got enough to deal with. She's been around faeries and winter more than any of his other friends, and Winter obviously gets infected a LOT, but if she gets another ****ing thing I will be INCREDIBLY disappoint.
Thomas, perhaps. He's also caught a ton of crap recently though. Murphy hasn't been acting out of character. One of the werewolves seems fairly likely.
The Archive? That's a truly scary thought. Carlos? A lot of the younger wizards got whammied by a possible nemesisy thing. Elaine? I voiced my doubt above, but we haven't seen her in a few books. Eb? He's the only other wizard who is allowed to reach beyond the outer gates, and it would be devastating enough for Butcher to do.

[The Glyphstone]

So Harry was told that one of his friends is infected, who do you think it is?

Who told him that?

[Anderlith]

Who told him that?

Away from book right now, but I believe it was Mother Summer

[Lamech]

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Along with not being the Virus I suspect that Nemesis also doesn't apply to whole other factions. Probably had some agents in the Red for example but I'd suspect it may have just been presenting itself as an ace in the whole vis a vis the Black Council with a couple of advocates. With the general truth that the war would have happened sooner or later.

I'd be a little surprised if a Nickelhead could be infected actually. Correction, I'm absolutely certain one of the Fallen can't its a question of how the host/Fallen/adversary interplay. I'm leaning to that if Mab can detect and cure someone like Lea, a Fallen is going to murderrape anything but itself playing the possession card.

This does not preclude collaboration or being dupes of course, thus explaining the Black Council assistance from at least one Nickelhead.

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We've seen a couple flavors of infection: The Cait Sith flavor. Controlled more or less outright, but at a far lower level than what Cait Sith could do on his own. Then we got most of the other infectees. They are subtly different from their normal self. Something in their nature is twisted. But no explicit working for Outside.

Also I wonder if Nemesis is limited in how wide of a net it can cast. Its one thing. It may not be able to infect everyone, because it doesn't have the space for it.

[datalaughing]

Mostly rambling.

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The Circle, which is the only actual Evil Dudes Club and is tangentially (through Nemesis/Outsiders) the All Encompassing Bad Guy of the Entire Series, was started by Maggie Sr. and Lord Raith and Justin and Cowl (who might be Justin) and others. All but Maggie have been directly connected to Outsiders. Maggie has been directly connected to Council Issues that are similar to Harry's, so probably fell in with the other group because one of their stated goals was to change the Council. One or most of these guys was infected. My guesses are Lord Raith and Justin. Cowl probably, he was responsible for spreading Nemesis to Bianca.

The ultimate goal of Nemesis is to drive the plot of the Dresden Files books. So his was Victor Sells, the Hexenwolfen, Bianca, Aurora, /probably/ not the Denarians but perhaps Ortega? I'm almost certain Lord Raith is one of the original infected, along with Cowl. Maeve is lying about Mab in Proven Guilty, we now know, and Lily may have been infected as well. Madrigal probably, I'm betting Vitto. ONE of the Denarians in Small Favor. Peabody, obviously. In Changes... I don't know if anyone in Changes. The Red King was going mad. Maybe Martin but the soulgaze indicates not. Ghost Story I don't think anyone was driven by Nemesis. There weren't any bad humans or bad faeries, and Corpsetaker's motivations were pretty much consistent.

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I don't think Lord Raith was infected. He's never been out for anyone but himself. There was no indication that he was ever taking orders or even really allied with anyone else. He may have made a deal with an Outsider to get his invulnerability, but no one was pulling his strings (until Lara came along anyway), and if he'd been infected, Lara would be by now too, and I hope that's not the case.

Interestingly enough, it seems like the entire Circle/Black Council isn't infected. It's pretty heavily implied that Mavra was a member, after all, she was teaching Bianca magic. However, she goes behind their back to stop the information about how to use necromancy against the Black Court from getting out. When we thought they were just an alliance of evil dudes, it made sense. Backstabbing is par for the course. If they're being controlled by some outside force so that they're working for it, trying to advance its mysterious agenda, then backstabbing would be off the table. So even among the mysterious baddies working behind the scenes, there may well be a mix of infected and non-infected.

[Soras Teva Gee]

Mostly rambling.

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The Circle, which is the only actual Evil Dudes Club and is tangentially (through Nemesis/Outsiders) the All Encompassing Bad Guy of the Entire Series, was started by Maggie Sr. and Lord Raith and Justin and Cowl (who might be Justin) and others. All but Maggie have been directly connected to Outsiders. Maggie has been directly connected to Council Issues that are similar to Harry's, so probably fell in with the other group because one of their stated goals was to change the Council. One or most of these guys was infected. My guesses are Lord Raith and Justin. Cowl probably, he was responsible for spreading Nemesis to Bianca.

The ultimate goal of Nemesis is to drive the plot of the Dresden Files books. So his was Victor Sells, the Hexenwolfen, Bianca, Aurora, /probably/ not the Denarians but perhaps Ortega? I'm almost certain Lord Raith is one of the original infected, along with Cowl. Maeve is lying about Mab in Proven Guilty, we now know, and Lily may have been infected as well. Madrigal probably, I'm betting Vitto. ONE of the Denarians in Small Favor. Peabody, obviously. In Changes... I don't know if anyone in Changes. The Red King was going mad. Maybe Martin but the soulgaze indicates not. Ghost Story I don't think anyone was driven by Nemesis. There weren't any bad humans or bad faeries, and Corpsetaker's motivations were pretty much consistent.

Oh,

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I wonder if Uriel might be infected? He's of our reality, so he might be vulnerable to Nemesis. I don't think the White God would allow something like that. He's the Creator, but did he create our reality (maybe including alternates such as the one in which Spiderman resides) or did he create EVERYTHING? Including Outside?
Uriel being infected is not likely. He's not acting out of character, that we know of. He's working together with Mab, but we know now that Mab's not infected.

I sincerly doubt Uriel is anything but on the (ultimate) up and up. Though his priorities are a more then a bit impenetrable. I think the Warrior serves as evidences he possibly thinking about more factors then anyone though.

The second... well I'm going to say that's probably not something the series will answer, its already confirmed enough I think though that the answer is yes. While the Venatori nominally provide us with how things got to this state. Its a big big big question though, so I doubt we will get an solid answer.

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We've seen a couple flavors of infection: The Cait Sith flavor. Controlled more or less outright, but at a far lower level than what Cait Sith could do on his own. Then we got most of the other infectees. They are subtly different from their normal self. Something in their nature is twisted. But no explicit working for Outside.

Also I wonder if Nemesis is limited in how wide of a net it can cast. Its one thing. It may not be able to infect everyone, because it doesn't have the space for it.

There's an interesting thought, makes a bit of sense too.

[Mauve Shirt]

Ferrovax is infected. He got a gift at the party too.

[jindra34]

Ferrovax is infected. He got a gift at the party too.

Technically so did Harry, so lets no go suspecting people based on that. No one other then Lea got a gift originating from Cowl though (iirc he was the one who brought the knife to the party).

[Soras Teva Gee]

At the same time it remains ominously possible and terrifying.

[GenericMook]

If Ferrovax is infected, then Dresden's going to be in one crazy boat.

And Nemesis could've just had Ferrovax attack Demonreach.

I kinda doubt it, but it would be interesting.

[Mauve Shirt]

Nemesis didn't just want Demonreach destroyed, he wanted Winter torn into disarray. Ferrovax might have been a more straightforward way to get rid of Mab (they're on the same power level) but Nemesis is about subtlety.

[GenericMook]

Still would be way easier and cause a hell of a problem if Ferrovax attacked..

[Soras Teva Gee]

The presence of quadruple ritual site redundancy and time echoing would imply otherwise I think.

However at the same time it was a covert op, and I bet Dragons with a D on the move are anything but. It plays that card and suddenly lets say Uriel is freed to take direct action. Or something like that.

Assuming at present Ferrovax is a card in the deck yet even. It remains plausible but going further is dangerously speculative.

[jindra34]

The presence of quadruple ritual site redundancy and time echoing would imply otherwise I think.

However at the same time it was a covert op, and I bet Dragons with a D on the move are anything but. It plays that card and suddenly lets say Uriel is freed to take direct action. Or something like that.

Assuming at present Ferrovax is a card in the deck yet even. It remains plausible but going further is dangerously speculative.

More Ferrovax (if infected) is the exact sort of entity Demonreach is meant to contain, an insane, powerful and otherwise unable to be dealt with.

[Mauve Shirt]

Dangerous speculation? In my Dresden thread? It's more likely than you think!

Ooo, I wonder if any dragons are in Demonreach. I wonder if the Questing Beast is in Demonreach!