Girl Genius XVII: And Then He Had Pie

[HandofShadows]

Why should it be setting off warning lights? How much time has Agatha spent in the presence of the Baron? Pretty much none, actually. There was the scene in Beetle's lab, and maybe the scene where Punch and Judy ran into the Baron.

But she does know how Gil stands. And at some point she's going to put it all together though she may not know it's the Baron, he would be the most likely candidate.

[wingnutx]

Uh oh.

I hope Humongulous is OK.

[eee]

These two are SO impressive! I wonder if there's any way they can be friends, and maybe avoid killing each other...

I also wonder what just happened. Did they just transfer ALL the robot minds in the area into whatever they were trying for, along with (maybe) Brother Ulm's?

[HandofShadows]

Seems much more like an EMP to me.

[BRC]

These two are SO impressive! I wonder if there's any way they can be friends, and maybe avoid killing each other...

I also wonder what just happened. Did they just transfer ALL the robot minds in the area into whatever they were trying for, along with (maybe) Brother Ulm's?

Yes to the first, no to the second.

They'll be Best Friends.

And also try to kill each other.

Also, maybe they tried to make a Sentient Brother Ulm Train?

[Egneil]

You know, looking over the newest comic the beastie in the second panel looks like Tybalt. So depending on how much he heard, Martillus is going to get a lot more ammo against the empire.

[The Glyphstone]

You know, looking over the newest comic the beastie in the second panel looks like Tybalt. So depending on how much he heard, Martillus is going to get a lot more ammo against the empire.

That assumes any of it gets to Martellus intact. We have seen that Tybalt is not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer...

[Xel]

That assumes any of it gets to Martellus intact. We have seen that Tybalt is not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer...

My impression is that when it comes to sharp knives vs dull knives in the drawer, Tybalt loses out to some of the spoons.

[eee]

You know, looking over the newest comic the beastie in the second panel looks like Tybalt. So depending on how much he heard, Martillus is going to get a lot more ammo against the empire.

He's going to get information. Given the level of awareness Bang and Zeetha have been exhibiting, and Violetta's normal cunning, if they didn't want Tweedle to have that information he wouldn't be getting it.

If Seffie's observant he may already know most of it; ie, Gil's under some form of mind control and not at his best. That Bang, Agatha, and Zeetha also know it, don't like it, and want something done about it, IS new... also that Bang is more formidable than she appears, and Zeetha can match her.

And of course we can set off an infinite regression loop by noting that Martellus will realize they wanted him to have that information, and they'd know he'd realize that, and he'd realize THEY would realize that, etc, etc, etc.

[Deliverance]

You know, looking over the newest comic the beastie in the second panel looks like Tybalt. So depending on how much he heard, Martillus is going to get a lot more ammo against the empire.

Not really.

"One of my minions swears he overheard one of the Lady Heterodyne's minions tell one of the Baron's minions that the Lady Heterodyne suspected the Baron was subject to some type of mind control, and furthermore, the Baron's minion said blahblahblah" isn't all that useful as ammunition in a PR battle. That it happens to be true makes it neither more nor less valuable or believable than if it were a lie.

It is certainly possible to think of scenarios where that knowledge would be valuable to Martellus (if nothing else, in personal dealings with Gil and Agatha it might be a useful wedge), but there is no obvious way to exploit it against the empire. In war, truth is the first casualty.

[Lethologica]

Not really.

"One of my minions swears he overheard one of the Lady Heterodyne's minions tell one of the Baron's minions that the Lady Heterodyne suspected the Baron was subject to some type of mind control, and furthermore, the Baron's minion said blahblahblah" isn't all that useful as ammunition in a PR battle. That it happens to be true makes it neither more nor less valuable or believable than if it were a lie.

It is certainly possible to think of scenarios where that knowledge would be valuable to Martellus (if nothing else, in personal dealings with Gil and Agatha it might be a useful wedge), but there is no obvious way to exploit it against the empire. In war, truth is the first casualty.

I would be surprised if Egneil meant that Martellus would find the information useful in a PR sense.

[sherlock]

Wow, this was an unexpected twist. Very quick thinking by Violetta, not quick enough unfortunately.
Alas, Agatha didn't think that the EMP

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would affect her necklace too.

[Radar]

Oh snap!

[wingnutx]

Wow, this was an unexpected twist. Very quick thinking by Violetta, not quick enough unfortunately.
Alas, Agatha didn't think that the EMP

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would affect her necklace too.

I wonder about that as well.

[factotum]

OK, so we have one of our occasional "Agatha is a total idiot and didn't think through the consequences of her actions" things, do we? I suppose she has to show occasional weaknesses or she'd be a total Mary Sue, but this seems to be taking it a bit far.

[CWater]

I must say my first reaction to this update was: Seriously?

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Finally they have a chance talking/figure something out, and then Lucrezia steps in. Really?

[Deliverance]

I would be surprised if Egneil meant that Martellus would find the information useful in a PR sense.

Then I'd love to know what how he thought it would "provide lots of ammo against the empire". What, exactly, did he think Martellus could use this information to provide him with, that would grant him a significant advantage against the empire?

[Ibrinar]

I must say my first reaction to this update was: Seriously?

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Finally they have a chance talking/figure something out, and then Lucrezia steps in. Really?

Yeah I kinda looked forward to them talking a bit more.

[HandofShadows]

Oh snap!

This to the tenth power.

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Lucy is out and she KNOWS it's Klaus running Gil at the moment. And you can BET Klaus is going to figure out it's Lucy REAL fast. On the odd side though, Klaus was being rather protective of Agatha. Maybe being around her a little while changed his attitude a little?

[ryuplaneswalker]

This to the tenth power.

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Lucy is out and she KNOWS it's Klaus running Gil at the moment. And you can BET Klaus is going to figure out it's Lucy REAL fast. On the odd side though, Klaus was being rather protective of Agatha. Maybe being around her a little while changed his attitude a little?

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Didnt Lucy and Klaus have a fling? between that and the possible hormones going with Gil and Agatha, I think Klaus and Lucy trying to kill each other is the best possible outcome for everyone involved, if it goes the other way it could beat out Luke and Leia as the most awkward moment ever.

[SlyGuyMcFly]

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Didnt Lucy and Klaus have a fling? between that and the possible hormones going with Gil and Agatha, I think Klaus and Lucy trying to kill each other is the best possible outcome for everyone involved, if it goes the other way it could beat out Luke and Leia as the most awkward moment ever.

Awkward? Definitely. But it might turn out to be the shock that breaks the evil mind-control! It's foreshadowed, even.

[Egneil]

Then I'd love to know what how he thought it would "provide lots of ammo against the empire". What, exactly, did he think Martellus could use this information to provide him with, that would grant him a significant advantage against the empire?

Honestly I just meant that Martellus seems like the type to work that information to his advantage. Although you did bring up some good points about how the information would be limited in use, which is likely the reasons they wouldn't mind Tybolt being around to hear it. Mainly I was thinking about it in terms of getting the masses to support him over asking the empire for help, or if he's really good making those who already support the empire question it.

Really I just thought it was strange that they'd talk about that sort of thing with an enemies minion around, just seems like a bad thing really.

[eee]

Ohdearohdearohdear. So many possibilities. So few of them good.

You'd think Agatha would have foreseen this, when she considered the shock would knock out secondary mechanisms. Maybe Lucrezia was clouding her mind. We don't know how much Lu is aware of, when she's not in control.

You'd also think Lucrezia would have sense enough, the moment she manifests, to grab the locket and rip it off, these days. But then Lu doesn't have much sense. Brilliance, evil, and charm, but common sense, no.

So let's see. Martellus may - mistakenly - think Lu would make a better consort than Agatha. Klaus may react violently; but he should be restrained by the realization that 'Anevka' is the real danger here, assuming she still exists. And if Klaus brings Lu up to date as to what the current situation is regarding the Other - I suspect an unholy alliance between Anevka and Pinky, with the former unaware the latter ISN'T really a Lucrezia - she AND we may get a jolt.

I would also expect Zeetha will be coming along as fast as she can move to knock Agatha out. Unless Lu managed, in the few seconds she was unobserved, to construct a Deadman's switch, this may be a short conversation.

[PhantomFox]

I guess it's the kind of thing that if it's not bothering you for a while you forget it's even there.

[Porthos]

My initial reaction was, "You fejjing idiots".

My second reaction was, "Well, maybe Agatha didn't know about this side effect."

But upon rereading the 'we expected this' bit it makes me wonder if Agatha did this intentionally. Maybe to see if it would effect Glaus? Maybe to test what sort of thing (mechanical or biological) is affecting Gil? Perhaps she figured that her being surrounded with her allies, she could be taken down rather quickly.

This would be underestimating her mother, of course. But no one ever said Sparks always think through their plans.

As for other comments, are we sure that this version of Lucrezia knows that Klaus is living in Gil's head? I wouldn't think so given how things shook out. Also, it appears from Gil's lack of reaction that Klaus is in complete control right now (which was pretty obvious, but this shows Gil hasn't wrestled things back at yet). It'll be interesting to see HIS reaction to the mind-controlled Agatha and the present parallel.

[HandofShadows]

"So much to talk about, darling." Makes it fairly clear to me that Lu knows Klaus is in there.

Honestly I have been half expecting the two implanted personalities to "meet" at some point. But not so early and not in such an uncontrolled fashion.

And I just got a BAD though. Tweedle could well get enough info to break Gil's control of the Empire. That means everyone may be one the run soon.

[Porthos]

"So much to talk about, darling." Makes it fairly clear to me that Lu knows Klaus is in there.

I dunno. It seems like one of her go-to words. But if she does know, HOW does she know? Agatha might have deduced from Gil's actions that Klaus is somehow influencing Gil (patterns of movements/actions, whatever). But how would Lucrezia know this? Is she aware of what is going on while she isn't in control? I don't recall that being the case (though with such a long running comic, it's very possible I've forgotten this being addressed).

[Calemyr]

I dunno. It seems like one of her go-to words. But if she does know, HOW does she know? Agatha might have deduced from Gil's actions that Klaus is somehow influencing Gil (patterns of movements/actions, whatever). But how would Lucrezia know this? Is she aware of what is going on while she isn't in control? I don't recall that being the case (though with such a long running comic, it's very possible I've forgotten this being addressed).

Given how smoothly Lucy slides into control, it's fairly safe to assume that she either is constantly aware (but powerless) and thus has had all the time in the world to watch Gil, or that she has access to Agatha's thought processes as they were the second of the switch. Either way, she doesn't just pop in with no clue where she is or what she's doing, not the way Agatha does at times.

[Lochar]

Awkward? Definitely. But it might turn out to be the shock that breaks the evil mind-control! It's foreshadowed, even.

You know, everything considered it might have only been a week or so, subjectively for Agatha, since that conversation was had...

[Psychonaut]

Given how smoothly Lucy slides into control, it's fairly safe to assume that she either is constantly aware (but powerless) and thus has had all the time in the world to watch Gil, or that she has access to Agatha's thought processes as they were the second of the switch. Either way, she doesn't just pop in with no clue where she is or what she's doing, not the way Agatha does at times.

She does, in fact. On the other hand, she was aware that Agatha knew where to look for her lab and had intuited the principles of her work, so she does seem to have at least some awareness of what's going on when she's not in control.

I wouldn't take the "darling" here to mean anything about that, though. She uses it when talking to herself in the hospital* and in her lab's self-destruct mechanism ("Shouldn't have snooped, darlings, but it's too late now!" and "Self-destruct cancelled, darlings! Maybe next time!"), and I'm pretty sure she also used it with Tarvek and/or the geisters a few times during the Sturmhalten sequence (not 100% sure as she sometimes switches to "dear"/"dearie" instead). It's just one of her mannerisms, and its use here is likely meant to reinforce that she's taken control. Take away the "darling" and change Agatha's expression a bit in the final panel, and it'd be pretty easy to miss what was going on.

* Technically this was Zola, but it counts because she was impersonating Lucrezia at that point.