Girl Genius XIII: "Gott's Leedle Feesh in Trousers!"

[Grey_Wolf_c]

So, the first light lighted here. Anyone known when the second one lighted?

Grey Wolf

[Turalisj]

Not sure. I'm pretty sure this means Der Kestle has fully recognized that, yes, she is the real Heterodyne.

[Jimorian]

My guess is after the blood test in the library?

[Grey_Wolf_c]

My guess is after the blood test in the library?

That was my first guess as well (assuming you mean the chapel; there was no blood test in the library - I usually get them confused too), but we cut away from the test when she gets bit, and her next appearance is crossing the air bridge back. I may have missed it, but I don't think that was it. The connection seems to involve Agatha going into the madness, which she didn't in the chapel.

Grey Wolf

[Turalisj]

I cheated and used the GG wiki:

http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080820

[datalaughing]

So here's something I only just realized. The bottom of the new page says Volume 13 Page 002. We've moved into a new book. So time to start guessing what the title of volume 12 will be. I'm thinking Agatha Heterodyne and the Battle for Mechanicsburg. That is what the entire volume was about, after all.

[Jimorian]

I cheated and used the GG wiki:

http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080820

OK, confusion here. Did the 2nd light go off because the castle thought she ordered it to "KILL EVERYBODY!" or because she rescinded that order? Or was there another trigger that's much less obvious?

Spoiler

Show

OK, thinking about it, I think the common link is that she used The Voice of Authority all 3 times. In the first, the castle acknowledges that she's Lucrezia's child with the determination in her declaration of being the Heterodyne, but asks "... but are you the master's?"

So when she tells the Castle to NOT shoot down Castle Wulfenbach, that tells the Castle that she has her father's honor, not just her mother's determination.

Finally, for the 3rd light, she declares how she's doing it to save them all. So not just determined, not just with honor, but a LEADER who is deserving of control of the Castle.

Either that or she just accidentally unlocked the protocols keeping a very bloodthirsty Castle in check, and its about to go absolutely ape on everybody without restraint.

[Kislath]

I guess I don't recognize those lights from anywhere previously.
Are they coming on or going out?

[Douglas]

I guess I don't recognize those lights from anywhere previously.
Are they coming on or going out?

They are coming on, and they represent something along the lines of the Castle's recognition of a potential Heterodyne. Each time they've been shown previously, Agatha had just exhibited to the Castle some major indication of her genuineness as a Heterodyne. This is the first time all three have been lit up, though, and that combined with the sudden extreme influx of power to the Castle should be heralding something seriously major.

[guttering flame]

I know the Castle is great but even with full power is it really a match to the Baron? It's been outdated for a while and probably still has a lot of kinks left over. Frankly, I feel like the Castle is being overhyped. It will be the characters (mostly Agatha, Tarvek, Gill and most likely the Baron as well) that will save Mechanicsburg from annihilation, not the castle.

About the lights - Could it be that the castle already recognized her but lacked the power to light up the third lightbulb?

[Landis963]

My thought is that the first light reacted to the voice, specifically to Agatha's order to stop wasting time, while the second light reacted to the blood, as it appears during the Castle's recounting of what happened during the test. In that vein, then, the third light was waiting for her to claim Mechanicsburg as hers, which she does in this current page: "I'm keeping us all alive, ANY WAY I CAN!" In this way, she refuses to capitulate to the Wulfenbach empire, and is now indelibly marked by her desire to take, to keep, and to hold forevermore the city of Mechanicsburg. And thus the Castle wakes.

I know the Castle is great but even with full power is it really a match to the Baron? It's been outdated for a while and probably still has a lot of kinks left over. Frankly, I feel like the Castle is being overhyped. It will be the characters (mostly Agatha, Tarvek, Gill and most likely the Baron as well) that will save Mechanicsburg from annihilation, not the castle.

It'll win the battle, IMO, but not the war. The Baron's wasp has yet to be dealt with, and all three of the major sparks will have to work on that.

[HandofShadows]

What occures to me is that Agatha getting Der Kastel up and running will not really solve the problem. Sure it MIGHT be able to fight off the Baron, but war will still engulf the Empire as the Baron will keep Mechanicsburg bottled up while Lu enslaves everyone.

[Douglas]

Yeah, even an outright win by the Castle here would only give Agatha a secure home base. There's still a lot to be done beyond that, and with all the work that's been put into it even the Castle doing everything would still be just a proxy for all the earlier repair work paying off.

I would be quite well satisfied, after all this effort in building it up, for the Castle to beat off the Baron all by itself. It would be the payoff for some very long previous story arcs, it would finally justify the reputation the Castle has in every single character's viewpoint, and it would only be wrapping up one section of the story, not the whole thing. Other characters may help, but I think the Castle is about to take center stage, and I say it's about damn time.

[Jimorian]

The thing is, the Castle has already indicated its willingness to take on this fight, so the lights filling up probably has a significance beyond that. So my guess is that something new is in play now.

[eee]

The thing is, the Castle has already indicated its willingness to take on this fight, so the lights filling up probably has a significance beyond that. So my guess is that something new is in play now.

I think this may be the case. After the blood test der Kestle already recognized Agatha as the Heterodyne and followed her orders completely. In its own way, of course. But the lights... I'm wondering if there's something ELSE observing her. With its own criteria. This last light, for instance. It lit when Agatha proclaimed her determination to do whatever was necessary to keep everyone alive. Based on what we know of the old style Heterodynes, that's not a statement any of THEM would necessarily have made. Do anything to maintain their power, or wipe out the enemy, or because it sounded like fun, yes: Keeping people alive, maybe not. And yet the lights would appear to be connected with the Castle or Mechanicsburg, since they only started lighting (the Voice, the Blood, the Will) when she arrived. If it IS something else, I imagine it's going to come into play very soon; since as noted, unless der Kestle can blow the Baron and his forces out of existence, the best they'll be able to get is a stalemate, he unable to destroy them, they unable to drive him away...

[NEO|Phyte]

My guess on the lights since we're making guesses as to what is behind them is the Heterodyne boys. They knew about Agatha and were clearly trying to keep her safe, and they'd fit with peoples' theories on what triggered the third light.

[Traab]

It could have something to do with barry. After all, HE knew she was the heterodyne heir, and went to great lengths to hide it till she could be ready. It isnt impossible that he has something setup at the castle as a just in case. Also, while the way agatha is behaving isnt how the OLD heterodynes did things, the latest batch certainly did. It would not surprise me to learn they setup very specific criteria for heirs to unlock only as much potential of the castle as they deserved depending on their personalities. The first light is for a spark, the second light is for the blood, the third light is her meeting thier standards of heroic heterodynes. Now, exactly what will be unlocked is a surprise, but it could be anything from a secret stash of power like liquid schwartz from the spaceballs movie, the castle could discover a new set of super weapons it can use due to the huge number of lightning bolts, etc etc etc.

[anon62453]

Since we're almost at 50 pages, any ideas for the names for the new thread?

[Turalisj]

Girl Genius XIV: Off With a Bang

[datalaughing]

The fact that the first light went off when the Castle confirmed from her voice that she was Lucrezia's daughter does indicate that it was something put in place specifically for Agatha. Because that wouldn't have anything to do with any other Heterodyne ever. Even Klaus Barry wouldn't have had Lucrezia's voice. And since very few people knew about Agatha's existence, and even fewer had any influence over Castle Heterodyne, the list of possible suspects for building in something to recognize her specifically is pretty short. Basically Bill and Barry. Of course the problem with that is that there was no way for either of them to know that Agatha would have Lucrezia's voice, unless Lucy genetically engineered her to make sure that would be the case (entirely possible, given that we know the Mongfishes were dabbling in that sort of thing with the Storm King line) and one of them found out about it.

Then again, there is another possibility. We know that time windows come into the story at some point. If the three lights were put there by someone from the future, they could have been built into the Castle since its inception, and it could have been done by anyone, with Agatha herself being the top candidate. Though, if the time travel rules we learned from Othar's Twitter account still apply, it complicates things.

Something I find interesting is that we know the version of the Castle in the crypt when the first light went off had absolutely no communication with the piece that was operating the chapel when the blood test happened. Because it didn't remember speaking to Agatha in the crypt. Whatever system is involved in turning on these lights, though, it was in communication with both of them. That seems significant.

[The Glyphstone]

Girl Genius XIV: Der Kestle Cometh

[Morph Bark]

Girl Genius XIV: The Mayans Predicted Der Kestle

[Grey_Wolf_c]

The fact that the first light went off when the Castle confirmed from her voice that she was Lucrezia's daughter does indicate that it was something put in place specifically for Agatha. Because that wouldn't have anything to do with any other Heterodyne ever. Even Klaus Barry wouldn't have had Lucrezia's voice. And since very few people knew about Agatha's existence, and even fewer had any influence over Castle Heterodyne, the list of possible suspects for building in something to recognize her specifically is pretty short. Basically Bill and Barry. Of course the problem with that is that there was no way for either of them to know that Agatha would have Lucrezia's voice, unless Lucy genetically engineered her to make sure that would be the case (entirely possible, given that we know the Mongfishes were dabbling in that sort of thing with the Storm King line) and one of them found out about it.

The question is probably moot now, since it really seems to have been just a charge indicator (first light meaning "activated" second meaning "operating on reserves" - when the Kestle started pushing is last dregs to obey Agatha's 'order' to defend the skies - and all three "full energy reserves").

However, there is one way Barry would have known that Agatha had his mother's voice: if he sneaked back into the Kestle after he gave Agatha the locket, and after telling Adam and Lilly that Agatha would find help in Mechanisburg. By that point, Barry would know enough about Agatha, and her personality, to set up those three tests tailored to her alone.

Grey Wolf

[eee]

Gil is acting VERY oddly. I'm wondering if that's Klaus in a holographic suit. Or if Klaus somehow swapped minds with Gil...

Meantime, it would appear the Castle is fully charged for the first time in decades. Given that der Kestle said it wouldn't be able to use its big weapons until that happened - but that when it could, people better look out - I think we are in for suitable mayhem.

And I don't know what to make of the lights anymore. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

[slayerx]

Since we're almost at 50 pages, any ideas for the names for the new thread?

Give it just a few more pages; i can't help but think der kestle will do something very soon that will give us some grand ideas...

[GaeasSon]

"Gil is acting VERY oddly."

Could it be that Gil HAS NOW been sparkwasped? If Clankrecia has been working as hard on them as Agatha has been working on the castle it's at least plausible. Gil wouldn't be any more affected by the voice than Vrin. Possibly much less so as he is not a creature bred to obedience.

[Turalisj]

"Gil is acting VERY oddly."

Could it be that Gil HAS NOW been sparkwasped? If Clankrecia has been working as hard on them as Agatha has been working on the castle it's at least plausible. Gil wouldn't be any more affected by the voice than Vrin. Possibly much less so as he is not a creature bred to obedience.

Still don't believe it and will not believe it until it is 100% proven.

[NEO|Phyte]

"Gil is acting VERY oddly."

Could it be that Gil HAS NOW been sparkwasped? If Clankrecia has been working as hard on them as Agatha has been working on the castle it's at least plausible. Gil wouldn't be any more affected by the voice than Vrin. Possibly much less so as he is not a creature bred to obedience.

If he was wasped, he wouldn't still be arguing after Agatha gave him direct orders.

[tyckspoon]

If he was wasped, he wouldn't still be arguing after Agatha gave him direct orders.

He's not wasped, he's just easily lead. He's been convinced that Agatha does not know what her (and Europa's) best interest are in this case. Although it's interesting that he's trying the 'trust me!' gambit here, since if Agatha really IS The Other she certainly won't fall for it, and if she *isn't* The Other then she's not going to leave Mechanicsburg until she's exhausted everything that has even the slightest appearance of a chance. (And neither would The Other, since saving Mechanicsburg/reviving Der Kastle would be the best possible staging point for a new attack on Europa.)

[Turalisj]

We've seen it before.

Gil is an Idiot Hero.