During my current bout of insomnia I got the idea to go check out the Jim Butcher spoiler forums and see what discussions were going on. I found this. Specifically, I found the idea that the well of dark energy that is the source of Demonreach might possibly be something trapped underneath Lake Michigan, and that the island is its attempt to push through the insulation provided by a couple million gallons of water.

Also, we know that Chicago has seen an unreasonably large amount of activity from the Denarians, the Black Council and vampire courts in the past decade or so. We know that the Intellectus at Demonreach has been around since before the last Ice Age. We also know that Rashid told Harry he couldn't handle channelling the power of the ley lines there without being corrupted, yet. This suggests to me that he may possibly be able to control it at a later date and not be altered by it. Finally, we also know that the spirit of Demonreach is powerful enough to defend against an extremely powerful being like the Naagloshii.

So, my theory is... that the spirit of Demonreach is a guardian set up in time immemorial, that the dark energy provided by the ley lines is either a tap straight into Hell or through into the Outside, and that the reason Rashid said Harry couldn't yet control the power is that eventually he will and that its his almost unique status as both Outsiderbane and 'master' of the island that will allow him to seal up a hole that will be bored through into Hell/the Outside in the Apocalyptic final trilogy. (Holy run-on sentence Batman!)

EDIT: Thinking on it a little more I'm gonna place my bets on it being the sacrophagus of a Great Old One, who may or may not have a cult/Council dedicated to waking it up. Add in the Empty Night curse (when the stars are right they will return), and the slip Butcher let loose that HP Lovecraft was the Outsider's equivalent of Bram Stoker and we have ourselves a nice little conspiracy to bring about an Apocalypse.

 

Holy Shit, I have no clue as to whether this will actually happen but it's a freaking awesome theory. It fits perfectly with a lot of the things that have been said and implied throughout the series.

Now the only thing to do is figure out what the heck those runes are. Butcher said that they made a brief appearance in the comic book but other than that we have no clue as to their origin. The fact that they smacked the Skinwalker around like it was absolutely nothing further supports your guardian idea.

Edit: Ohhh, I just remembered. It was mentioned that originally there was only a single Warden, capital W, this was in reference to the Mantle that Eb spoke of in the last book. A warden is generally a caretaker/guardian of a place, so chalk another point up in favor of this...

 

What? Wow thats actually pretty damned awesome, you wouldn't happen to have a link laying around for where he said that would you?

 

It was in the online Q&A session he did a few days ago. We've got a transcript of it in this very forum.

 

I like this idea...

Nothing much else to say about it, really.

 

My only quibble at all with any of this, is that it's the genius loci (spirit of the place) that's been around since the last Ice Age--Intellectus is a mode of existence for the spirit itself.

That said--I can hardly wait to learn more about Demonreach, and all the power and responsibility that comes with the place.

 

Your theory is similar to my own. However one part of my theory that you didn't mention is my belief that freeing whatever is inside is the goal of the Black Council and they want to get rid of Harry because he is the only heavy hitter in the area that could pose a threat. After all why would they go to so much trouble if they only wanted to get rid of Dresden because he killed his uncle who worked for them, they must lose members often so why would they consider his uncle indispensable. They must have other reasons.

 

Sorry to torpedo the gribbly-buried-under-Lake-Michigan theory, but Word of God said that Demonreach got it's limp from the glacier that carved out Lake Michigan.

So I'd figure this: it's a chunk of land so stubborn that when a fuckhuge glacier acting as the front line of an advancing ice age carved a 280 meter hole in it's ass, sat on it for a few millennia, then left it buried under wonderful magic-neutering water...

It shoves it's 300 meter long earthen dick through Lake Michigan with nothing worse than a limp to show for it.

Cthulhu ain't got shit on Demonreach.

 

LOL!

fucking filler

 

Oh shit that is awesome, that opens up a shit ton of possibilities for everything. Now that I think about it didn't they also say that the Necronomicon that Lovecraft wrote was completely legit until the White Council started mass distributing it to neutralize its power?

 

Backup

Harry also refers to some of the beings beyond the gate as the Old Ones