Girl Genius XIV: A Lightning Arc in All But Speed!

[ChowGuy]

So. . . . how did the castle summon lightning? Is Gil the reinventor of something mechanicsburg already had at some point?

Gil had installed collectors all over town prior to the warstompers, and the Public Works people told Moloch they have been busy repairing them since they blew out in that attack. Now add the fact that the Castle told Zeetha Agatha has been working on some "calibrations" and it's likely this is a whole new deal.

[AgentofHellfire]

Mmmm, tasty meat creatures.

I have a theory: do you wonder if Klaus intends to lose this fight?

I'm almost certain of it.

He'd be following Agatha's orders, like he's programmed to as a Revenant.


(Note: The next page--or possibly the one after it, has Klaus shooting at her, so he at least might've been able to hear that)

[Qwertystop]

I just like the Jaegers' name for Zeetha. Assuming that's not their name for Violetta (hey, she uses knives too, though I'd think they'd call her "Shneeky Gurl"). In which case, still funny.

[Math_Mage]

I imagine he must realise the truth about that by now--it's not Agatha who's giving him the orders right now. Besides, if he *did* still believe that then he'd be in full-on Destroy Agatha mode, not attempting to capture her.

Not just 'must have'--he recognized Lucrezia when she jammed her Spark-controlling Slaver wasp down his throat. That was a while ago, though.

[Grif]

Well. I suppose nothing beats town defense like a lightning moat running through the entirety of the streets.

[eee]

Now der Kestle's just showing off...

[Morph Bark]

Oh Oggie, you casanova genius.

[eee]

Oh wow. Higgs has it much worse than I thought. His normal unflappability hides the depths of his feelings.

Is he younger than the Boyz? They're calling him 'keed' and messing with him... I thought the Generals reached their rank by being the oldest and the best of the Jagers. Assuming Higgs IS the mysterious sixth General, him being a junior Jager would suggest he's even more exceptional that we've seen, to have risen so high so fast...

[Fjolnir]

How old ARE the Jaegers? Are they functionally immortal unless violently killed or something?

[Kislath]

They're around 300 years old. Oggie has great-grandchildren in this town.

EDIT: Also, pretty much everyone is potentially immortal in this universe where resurrection is almost common. The laws of succession ( for royals & such ) even account for this, which I'm sure we'll see come into play in a big way when Tarvek tries to get his place in line back from that guy who was claiming it a few weeks ago.

[Lix Lorn]

Okay, 'Dots vy hy gots descendants!' is a great line.

[Oracle_Hunter]

EDIT: Also, pretty much everyone is potentially immortal in this universe where resurrection is almost common. The laws of succession ( for royals & such ) even account for this, which I'm sure we'll see come into play in a big way when Tarvek tries to get his place in line back from that guy who was claiming it a few weeks ago.

Resurrection is not really "common" -- you need a Spark to even try it and even then it don't vork much. So it is common in the sense that it is a known procedure.

Judging by canon resurrections it seems like the strength of a Spark (and inclinations) has a great impact on the likelihood of success. The Baron is a "biology Spark" and is likely one of the greatest resurrectionists in the world, being able to restore a body from charred bones. Dr. Sun, a specialized medical Spark, was only able to turn a freshly dead Selnikov into a Head in a Jar. Additionally there are different techniques -- presumably Gil chose the Si Vales Valeo treatment because it had a high probability of bringing someone back to life (although not necessarily sane).

...ok, this was mostly an excuse to do some Archive Trawling

[NEO|Phyte]

Dr. Sun, a specialized medical Spark, was only able to turn a freshly dead Selnikov into a Head in a Jar.

I suspect Sun could have done far better, and it's likely that if he doesn't end up dead, he'll end up getting that new body he was promised. Keep in mind that his head was retrieved for information, as we've seen, you don't need a body to talk.

[Eldan]

Cute. Really cute.

[Mauve Shirt]

All the ladies swoon.

[Traab]

So all I need to get the hot and strong gurlz to lurv me is to body slam a giant monster in the middle of main street? Good to know.

[eee]

Zeetha... Zeetha's got it pretty bad, too.This is such an interesting courtship.

"What's he going to do, SPANK me?" Ah yes, another one for XXXenophile: The Girl Genius edition...

[stsasser]

So all I need to get the hot and strong gurlz to lurv me is to body slam a giant monster in the middle of main street? Good to know.

That's why it's called a 'crush'.

[Balance]

Zeetha... Zeetha's got it pretty bad, too.This is such an interesting courtship.

Indeed. Dear Zeetha, he can't pursue you if you're not running from him. The real question is "How slowly do you want to run?"

[Avilan the Grey]

That's why it's called a 'crush'.

Badom-Tish!

[Thomar_of_Uointer]

So all I need to get the hot and strong gurlz to lurv me is to body slam a giant monster in the middle of main street? Good to know.

It's that easy? Who knew?

[John Campbell]

Snerk. "Mechanicsburg Shipping".

[Scarlet Knight]

OK, so Higgs is someone the Castle knows, doesn't want to anger, but would be angry at someone who tries to teach Agatha how to fight to stay alive.

He's Lestat.

[eee]

Now THIS is interesting: Der Kestle thinks Higgs' secret is so potent he'd feel the need to kill Zeetha if she found out prematurely. With the Other running around I can see why the mysterious sixth Jager general (if that's what Higgs is) wouldn't want news of his existence being bandied about. Of course der Kestle might be overstating the situation, not knowing Zeetha well enough and misreading Higgs. But all this might hint Higgs' secret is even bigger than Jagerdom, and we might want to be prepared for even greater revelations than we've had so far...

[Eldan]

Not how I understood it.

The logic as I understood it:

If I tell you who Higgs is, I have to kill you.
You want to teach Agatha how to survive.
I think teaching Agatha to survive is a good thing.
So I won't tell you who Higgs is, so I don't have to kill you.

[Rockphed]

Now THIS is interesting: Der Kestle thinks Higgs' secret is so potent he'd feel the need to kill Zeetha if she found out prematurely. With the Other running around I can see why the mysterious sixth Jager general (if that's what Higgs is) wouldn't want news of his existence being bandied about. Of course der Kestle might be overstating the situation, not knowing Zeetha well enough and misreading Higgs. But all this might hint Higgs' secret is even bigger than Jagerdom, and we might want to be prepared for even greater revelations than we've had so far...

Seventh general. The sixth is late and possibly a traitor. Personally, I think the missing general is off to fight the incoming army from sturmhalten or something of that sort.

And all things considered, I'm divided on whether Higgs being more than just an airman dedicated to getting out alive has been a good plot development. On the one hand, his unflappable nature made the antics in the castle much more interesting. On the other, it made the setting more interesting to have more people who stayed alive just by being awesome without the need for being a spark or a construct. So far we have Zeetha and Moloch in that category.

[Kislath]

I read it as Higgs would have to kill Zeetha if Zeetha knew Higg's secret, and that der Kestle would find that amusing but terribly inconvenient.
As if der Kestle weren't awesome enough already, I'm really digging it lately. He's ( it's? ) really perked up a bit and showing more personality.
It reminds me of Star Trek's "Q."
Very powerful, terribly bored, and easily amused by the antics of mere mortals.

[kagato23]

OK, so Higgs is someone the Castle knows, doesn't want to anger, but would be angry at someone who tries to teach Agatha how to fight to stay alive.

He's Lestat.

No, the Kestle is fine with her doing that, that's why he's not getting her killed. And Higgs is fine with that too. It's the secret of Higgs being known that'd make him have to kill that person.

[BRC]

No, the Kestle is fine with her doing that, that's why he's not getting her killed.

He'd have tried to get Zeetha dead if she'd been trying to teach Agatha to be a HERO (we've already seen it's thoughts on heroes, who no doubt in old mechanisburg were viewed somewhat different then other parts of the world)

For most of Europe, a "hero" was probably whoever managed to kill the latest Heterodyne.
The Castle just thought that forced Death By Higgs would be hilarious.

[Zazu Yen]

Ah castle, I've missed you.

I've been thinking Higgs may be Carson von Mekkahn's (the seneschal) son, who also supposedly died when the castle went kaboom in the Others attack. As the seneshal at the time of the attack he would know and be known by the castle, could be considered the "keed" by the Jagers, and may know what really happened that night and where the Heterodyne's went; all secrets he would probably kill to keep from everyone except Agatha.