History Literature / ColdDays

** Mab is this. She could even be goddess off it because her "sinking" involved trying to kill Harry a different way each day for eleven weeks. If he could not survive these trifles then he would have even less a chance against what is to come.

* ServileSnarker: Cat Sith serves Harry on Mab's orders. He dislikes his position but he will do it and will show Harry only a minimal level of respect. If Harry shows him due respect by making it an order veiled in a request, such as "If you would please do X" he is a bit more cordial.

* ShipperOnDeck: ''Mouse'' implies he is all for Harry/Murph

** Harry [[spoiler: asks Mother Winter for help in stopping a great tragedy. She just laughs and reminds him she is the Queen of destruction and tragedy, finding sorrow and suffering extremely enjoyable. He has to tell her that Nemesis is involved in order to get her aid]].

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Harry receives one from [[spoiler: Bob after Harry takes him back. Bob calls Harry out on his Winter-style behavior of not trusting or even telling his TrueCompanions he is alive. Instead, he breaks into Butter's home, assaults Andi the werewolf, and won't tell her anything on the excuse it is for her protection. And the reason Harry only told Bob this information is because right now his personality is mirroring Harry, as Harry is the owner of his skull. So Bob would be a happy YesMan for Harry. Then Bob notes because his personality is mirroring Harry, part of this speech is Harry's own hatred of his current choices]].

* TheOathBreaker: Harry learns that he is bound by the Laws and Customs of the Winter Court, by virtue of being the Winter Knight. As such, he must honor [[spoiler:Lacuna's surrender to him and her being his prisoner in exchange for, among other things, no torturing for information]]. When Harry makes a simple declarative statement that he would ignore Mab's Law [[spoiler:his back goes back to being broken and all the injuries he isn't feeling are felt in their full form until he backtracks]].
* ObstructiveCodeOfConduct: [[spoiler:Mac operates on this. He is "out" and seeks to be nothing more than a neutral tavern owner. Not even when Sharkface crashes into his tavern, he is captured by Redcap's people, and there is a threat of the Well being breached will he talk about himself]].

* NotHelpingYourCase: When Harry figures it out and [[spoiler:calls Sarissa and Maeve ''identical twins'']] the response is [[spoiler:both speaking in perfect unison, with the same tone and inflection, claiming they weren't identical]].

* NotHelpingYourCase: When Harry makes the slip and [[spoiler:calls Sarissa and Maeve ''identical twins'']] the response is [[spoiler:both speaking in perfect unison, with the same tone and inflection, claiming they weren't identical]].

** [[spoiler:Demonreach's final barrier around the Well will prevent anything that is not ''of the Island'' from passing through. Thomas, Murphy, and Harry's other allies cover themselves in mud, every nook and cranny of their bodies where the barrier could touch. It worked.]]

* LossOfIdentity: This is what the Mantle of ''any'' Fey does to any mortal [[DrunkOnTheDarkSide who gives in to the power]] and does not control it. For example, a majority of the Winter and Summer Knights. This is because, as mortals, they have Free Will. Immortals do not and thus cannot resist their Mantles' influence, and according to Bob, the Mantles of the Fae Queens alter the personalities of their bearers. [[spoiler: Bob may be wrong, however. Lily, despite being claimed by Bob to be 'pretty much Aurora'... is still motivated by Lily, and Maeve's actions are because of who she was. However, since we never get a look at a pre-corruption Aurora and no look at Molly (yet), we can't say for sure if their actions and motivations are truly inconsistent, or whether it is Nemesis that makes them so. Added to this is Mother Summer's veiled assertion that mortals can choose to become like their mantles or choose to resist. Many fail in becoming different than the mantle.]]

** A second weakness about the Queens is revealed: [[spoiler:The Knights of their own Court. In a case of Like-hurting-like, as the Knight's Mantles come from the same source of the Queens, the Knight can bypass the opposing Mantle's blessing of Physical Godhood. This leaves the Queen on a power level equal to the average Sidhe against her Knight]].

** Mab considers Harry to have held it twice. First [[spoiler:when he fell into Maeve's gambit at the party]]. Second came [[spoiler:from him not realizing sooner that he could use the giant magic circle Lily and Maeve crafted to summon her sooner than he had]].

* TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry: When Harry first sees [[spoiler:Maeve and Sarissa]] together on the way to his party, it is clear the [[spoiler:Winter Lady has little love for Mab's pet mortal]]. Later, Harry and Murphy realize that they're sisters by the way they fight with each other.

** Harry [[spoiler: loves his daughter and cannot bear to see her in pain and suffer]]. This fact makes him realize that [[spoiler:Mab ordered Harry to kill Maeve ''because'' she loves Maeve so much that she cannot bring herself to harm Maeve even when it is for her own good. So she wants Harry to do it for her]].

* CorpseLand: When Harry travels [[spoiler:to the Outer Gates]] in [=NeverNever=], he finds himself on a hill overlooking a confrontation between old enemies. He wonders how long it has been going on and then realizes it isn't stone he's standing on, but bones so old and worn, they look like stones. They cover the entire field.

** It is revealed in this book, to slay a fae with iron is a horrendous act called "the iron death."

** [[spoiler:Subverted with Mother Winter, who is revealed to be immune to iron as she uses a real iron cleaver, to say nothing of her iron dentures. As Mother Summer is her equal but opposite, it is likely she can use it as well.]]

** Mother Winter considers Mab to be a weak romantic for [[spoiler:not killing Maeve when it is obvious what has become of her and won't seek redemption.]]

** The entire Hunt qualifies, who greet news they will be [[spoiler:hunting eldritch abomination Outsiders]] with cheers.

** The fictional hero from the Scottish ballad ''Literature/TamLin'' was also a Winter Knight. Mab comments that the way how Harry stood up to the Court's nobility during [[spoiler:his birthday party]] reminded her of him. This is not the only time that Tam Lin is referenced, either, with it being implied that he managed to divest himself of the mantle without dying[[note]]In the Child Ballad, it is Tam Lin's truelove Janet who rescues him from the Faerie Queen[[/note]].

** Mab does not like her subordinates giving her commands. [[spoiler:For daring to imply she should have consulted Harry about her plans for Molly, she was ready to fire a bullet between his eyes.]] She also doesn't like her rules being broken. So remember, at formal parties, first do not speak to her unless she gives you permission, and second, do not shed blood at the party. Those who do will likely be dead very quickly.

* AwfulTruth: [[spoiler:Mother Summer and Mother Winter]] debate revealing such a thing to Harry and warn him that knowing this could make him never sleep peacefully ever again. He chooses to learn it and learns [[spoiler:that all of reality is constantly under siege by Outsiders. It is only by the efforts of Winter that they are kept at bay]].

** This is how Harry [[spoiler:takes over command of TheWildHunt, by defeating the Erlking and Kringle (although he later figures out they threw the fight).]]

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: [[spoiler:Maeve coldly asks Sarissa "Does she [Mab] talk about me?" when her sister is trying to encourage her into a HeelFaceTurn and fight against Nemesis' influence. Sarissa's brief hesitation only further confirms to Maeve that she is TheUnfavorite and she shouldn't fight Nemesis as it's giving her the chance to get revenge on their mother]].

** [[spoiler:Fighting Harry on the grounds of Demonreach is not a smart choice. Though given what it contains, it is their only choice]].

After the events of ''Literature/{{Changes}}'' and ''Literature/GhostStory'', Harry Dresden is now the Winter Knight, assassin and thug of the Winter Court, specifically Mab. But due to his attempts to dodge his responsibilities, he was only a heartbeat away from death for a few months, so he is feeble and confined to bed. Once he is lucid enough to remember his own name, Mab starts his physical therapy.

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority:

* InstantSoprano: A GroinAttack leaves Harry briefly stuck doing a MickeyMouse impression.

** Mab and Titania refer to the other as sister. They are enemies engaged in an eternal struggle so when one tries to obtain something and the other aims to stop her sister. Titania notes she and Mab hadn't exchanged words in person since "Hastings" (presumably the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hastings Battle of Hastings]], which occurred roughly 1000 years ago).

** Serial killers [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilles_de_Rais Gilles de Rais]] (the ''toned-down'' [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory inspiration]] behind ''Literature/{{Bluebeard}}''), [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Haarmann Fritz Haarmann]] (a.k.a. ''Butcher of Hanover''), [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_George_Haigh John Haigh]] (a.k.a. ''Acid Bath Murderer''), and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrei_Chikatilo Andrei Chikatilo]] (a.k.a. [[Film/CitizenX The Rostov Ripper]]) were all Winter Knights. With this kind of predecessors, it's no wonder why Harry fears the effects the Winter Mantle will have on his mind.

* ManBehindTheMan: UpToEleven. [[spoiler:[[BrainwashedAndCrazy Nemesis]] is behind Maeve and most of the BigBad's from previous books, the [[NebulousEvilOrganisation Black Council]] may be behind Nemesis (or vice-versa), and the [[EldritchAbomination Outsiders]] might be behind both of them. [[WildMassGuessing Maybe]] ]]

* NiceHat: The Redcap has several red hats he likes to wear, from a baseball cap to a beret. Problem is, however, he dyes them red with the blood of his victims.

--> '''Thomas:''' That I was your brother, Harry. That I loved you. That I knew a few things about denying the dark parts of your nature. And that we would get through it.
That we'd figure it out. That you weren't alone.

--> "Why?" I asked him tiredly, "What would it have changed? What could possibly have said that would have mad a difference?"
--> "That I was your brother, Harry," he said, "That I loved you. That I knew a few things about denying the dark parts of your nature. And that we would get through it." He put his elbows on his knees and rested his forehead on his hands. "That we'd figure it out. That you weren't alone."
--> Stab.
--> Twist.
--> He was right.