Quote Originally Posted by Scowling Dragon View Post
Its just completely UNNECESSARY!

We don't know the full extent of the power in GG (We almost never do). She could have just set it to "High setting" or something similar. Whip out an extra battery.

This was just a dilly dally distraction.
Oh, sure, because if she suddenly was like, "Oh, look, Gil had it turned down to the low setting. I'll just flip this switch and make it 10 times as powerful," you wouldn't be crying foul at all. THAT would be poor writing. Girl Genius is meant to be read long-form. They're graphic novels. 4 pages devoted to explaining how they upgraded a weapon that will be important to the plot is nothing at all. Since it takes you a week and a half to read it a page every couple days it seems like a big departure. When you read it in context in the finished book, it will fit, just like everything else.