Girl Genius XX: Endothermic Life Forms Are Inherently Heretical

[Porthos]

It is a world ruled by Mad Science! Things happen. Usually, they happen to other people. This is entertainment. That's when the front door gets blown in- And you belatedly realize that, once again, you are doomed to be the entertainment in another exciting installment of: GIRL GENIUS!

Many elegant, finely-crafted, and vintage links follow:

Links to Previous Threads

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Girl Genius! (thread)
Girl Genius II
Girl Genius III: Nize Thread!
Girl Genius IV: Because SCIENCE! is my mistress
Girl Genius V: Madre de Diodes!
Girl Genius VI: Der Pestle in Der Kestle
Girl Genius VII: Get on the Slab, I Want to Get to Work!
Girl Genius: VIII Will Show Them All!
Girl Genius IX: The Unstoppable Thread
Girl Genius X: The Othar Shoe Drops
Girl Genius XI: Ding Dong, the Baron's Dead!
Girl Genius XII: For Doom The Bell Tolls
Girl Genius XIII: "Gott's Leedle Feesh in Trousers!"
Girl Genius XIV: A Lightning Arc in All But Speed!
Girl Genius XV: The Weasel, the Spark, and the Wardrobe
Girl Genius XVI: The Wrath of Klaus
Girl Genius XVII: And Then He Had Pie
Girl Genius XVIII: Invisible Hand of the Legendary Smoke Knights
Girl Genius XIX: Worth a Third of Your Grade

Comic Links
Link to current comic and link to the beginning of the strip. (Updates MWF, usually after Midnight [Eastern Time])
The Continuing Adventures of Othar Tryggvassen, Gentleman Adventurer! (back on hiatus, may update in the future)
A compilation (and much easier to read if you're just catching up) of the first three chapters can be found here at the GG website.
And if one goes to snapbird.org and types in "Othar" in the 'Who?' field, all of Othar's adventures can be read on one page (albiet in reverse order of posting - Now must have a Twitter account to use).
Mirror of the comic found on LiveJournal (Sometimes will update before the main page is updated, so beware of spoilers)
Mirror of the comic found on Facebook (Will occasionally have Girl Genius related news)
And one can find mirrors of Girl Genius on deviantArt as well. (Occasionally Kaja will put up or link to interesting GG related art that is found on dA)

Reference Links
Wiki Project devoted to to Girl Genius
Wikipedia entry on Girl Genius.
TV Tropes page on Girl Genius.
The Secret Blueprints (NOTE: Contains background information on the GG Universe, so it should probably be read after "catching up" to the newest comic, as it contains many spoilers.)

Social Media and News Links
Phil Foglio's new Wordpress art, news, and blogging website.
Kaja Foglio's LJ Page and Studio Foglio News LJ Page (Not currently being updated)
Kaja & Phil's Personal Facebook Page (Not currently being updated)
A twitter account that basically is a catch-all feed for Girl Genius related news.
Cheyenne Wright's Twitter and LiveJournal Accounts (The colorist's twitter and LJ pages)
And finally,
Phil's old LJ page. (Occasionally contains crossposts from the Wordpress website)

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Q: What is this "Sneaky Gate" y'alls go on about?

Sneaky gate: Named from this hidden gate in comic, it has become a name for viewing new comics early. Remember, if you're going to discuss the new comic, put it in spoiler boxes until the release time (12am EST).

Sneaky Gate 101:

1. Right click the comic image.
2. Select view image or copy paste the image location into the address bar.
3. Modify the date to be the day you're trying to look at. (ex. 20120111 -> 20120113)
4. Go to the modified url.
5. Be disappointed when there's no early comic to read.
6. Alternately, enjoy the comic!

[Shining Wrath]

Alas, poor Bartleby. Alas. He should have preferred not to try to open the door.
Since we were told Wednesday that Zadilev had reached the door and Madwa was with him, the Spark is clearly Zadilev.
Obviously, since the door has a clock on it, it opens at the right time.

[eschmenk]

Obviously, since the door has a clock on it, it opens at the right time.

It's obvious is it? My wrist has a clock on it. That's a frightening thought!

That could be the case, though. As I said in the old thread, Zardilev might have known about the door all along, despite what he told Madwa. If so, he might have entered the vaults at the right time to be there when this vault opens.

From the old thread:

That's a thought. Zardilev's disconnect from family politics means he doesn't know about Madwa going renegade.

The fact that Zardilev lived as long as he does probably means that he is familiar with family politics. There is a big difference between not getting involved in and not knowing about. Even if Zardilev didn't know, Madwa killing off so many people would probably mean that something was wrong.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Most Sparks rack up a higher body count per month due to accidental explosions (to say nothing of Intentional Explosions).

[JavaScribe]

Think Hoffman's helmet would be able to see through whatever tech Smoke Knights use for their illusions?

[The Glyphstone]

The joke here is that Madwa is standing there in plain sight, but somehow no one notices her?

[Landis963]

The joke here is that Madwa is standing there in plain sight, but somehow no one notices her?

No, somehow between panels she replaced herself with a cutout that is highly specific to her pose and current action. Like the epic version of Violetta's "swap hostage for inconvenient object" trick.

[The Glyphstone]

No, somehow between panels she replaced herself with a cutout that is highly specific to her pose and current action. Like the epic version of Violetta's "swap hostage for inconvenient object" trick.

Yeah, I see now. I didn't notice the two-dimensional-ness in the 4th panel, I thought she was behind Violetta and not vice versa.

[Rodin]

It took me a couple reads to get it too.

Also, just a couple days too late for the newest potential thread title. SCIENCE!

[Agi Hammerthief]

Science, it works!

[Southern Cross]

But what is the price?

[smuchmuch]

Honnetly that caldboard cutout joke fell ...flat.

... I didn't quite get the "we'd have to let you live ... for a very long time" instead of the usual "we'd have to kill you" joke. (is it that he's implying and/or emprisonement ?)

[SZbNAhL]

Honnetly that caldboard cutout joke fell ...flat.

Yeah, if you want good jokes these days, you really have to spring for paper-view.

[Narkis]

Honnetly that caldboard cutout joke fell ...flat.

... I didn't quite get the "we'd have to let you live ... for a very long time" instead of the usual "we'd have to kill you" joke. (is it that he's implying and/or emprisonement ?)

Implying that the really long life would be a fate worse than death.

[geoduck]

Implying that the really long life would be a fate worse than death.

Yeah, they'll do horrible things to her while still keeping her alive.

[HandofShadows]

I think the joke is that if Agatha learned how to do it they wouldn't be able to catch/kill her.

[otakuryoga]

Yeah, if you want good jokes these days, you really have to spring for paper-view.

i prefer to see em in the funny papers

[eschmenk]

... I didn't quite get the "we'd have to let you live ... for a very long time" instead of the usual "we'd have to kill you" joke. (is it that he's implying and/or emprisonement ?)

He's saying that they would torture her for a long time and not let her die.

[halfeye]

He's saying that they would torture her for a long time and not let her die.

Nah, there's be no point to that, she wouldn't know anything that they hadn't told her. He just means they'd do nothing.

[eschmenk]

Nah, there's be no point to that, she wouldn't know anything that they hadn't told her. He just means they'd do nothing.

It's a joke. It isn't supposed to make sense. Also, if you think about it, what you said applies to the "If I told you, I'd have to kill you" cliche, anyway. This is merely a humorous exaggeration of that. He would make her live though something worse than death.

[petersohn]

I think it was a joke that didn't exactly go as well as it was intended.

[halfeye]

It's a joke. It isn't supposed to make sense. Also, if you think about it, what you said applies to the "If I told you, I'd have to kill you" cliche, anyway. This is merely a humorous exaggeration of that. He would make her live though something worse than death.

Yeah it's a joke. The joke is it totally inverts the "we'd have to kill you" idiocy. That means the joke works better, IMO, if there is no threat.

I think it was a joke that didn't exactly go as well as it was intended.

Au contraire.

Some confusion, but it's a fine joke.

[eee]

I am not sure Agatha's action makes sense. You've got a supremely evil renegade Smoke Knight here, she knows other Smoke Knights have a 'terminate on sight' order on her, they're going to be interfering with her efforts to help the Other, and Agatha expects her to stand down and not attempt to escape or fight to the death?

I like that it was when Madwa realized she could smell something but Zardilev couldn't that she knew the jig was up and it was time for gas masks. I expect she's going to be trying to kill the group all the way back to the entrance and maybe beyond.

Honnetly that caldboard cutout joke fell ...flat.

Yeah, if you want good jokes these days, you really have to spring for paper-view.

i prefer to see em in the funny papers

We need a jar people can put donations in to atone for inflicting such PUN...ishments on us. :(

[DavidSh]

You've got a supremely evil renegade Smoke Knight here

No we don't, we have a cut-out image of a supremely evil renegade Smoke Knight. Madwa has already escaped.

...

OK, I missed that you were talking about Agatha's point of view when she was asking "Stand down!"

[Shining Wrath]

Honnetly that caldboard cutout joke fell ...flat.

... I didn't quite get the "we'd have to let you live ... for a very long time" instead of the usual "we'd have to kill you" joke. (is it that he's implying and/or emprisonement ?)

I took it to mean, given Agatha's reaction, that she'd be a long time dying. Why they would need to torture her for having learned a secret rather than just cutting her throat escapes me as readily as Madwa escapes.

Also agreed that trying to negotiate with someone like Madwa is naive even for early-strip Agatha. Now? Seems out of character.

I just noticed that the cardboard cutout lacks the black diamond "caste mark" on the forehead.

[geoduck]

I just noticed that the cardboard cutout lacks the black diamond "caste mark" on the forehead.

Probably an art mistake, if you look carefully it's present in the next panel.

[eschmenk]

I took it to mean, given Agatha's reaction, that she'd be a long time dying. Why they would need to torture her for having learned a secret rather than just cutting her throat escapes me as readily as Madwa escapes.

They would do it (or at least say they would do it) because they are smoke knights. They would want people to think that if you learn a smoke knight's secret, you would suffer horribly, so you had better not try to learn them. It would be part of their mystique.

[Shining Wrath]

They would do it (or at least say they would do it) because they are smoke knights. They would want people to think that if you learn a smoke knight's secret, you would suffer horribly, so you had better not try to learn them. It would be part of their mystique.

For most people, dying is sufficient deterrent.
For Sparks, there probably is no sufficient deterrent. Telling a Spark "This is a secret no one is allowed to know" is like putting a wrapped bone under the tree and expecting your dog not to open it before Christmas.

[Traab]

Nah, they do the unexpected. I figure they would use the high end Moveit formula for some "CHOPHEADTINYBITS!"

[memnarch]

Spoiler: Sneak Gate

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This is sounding a bit less of "Heterodyne Boys" and more of "Gil and Wooster-crossed-with-Tarvek".