Girl Genius XX: Endothermic Life Forms Are Inherently Heretical

[guttering flame]

It's a wonder any of them still exist

[Kantaki]

Most family reunions don't feature Sparks with a talent for poison and / or assassination.

I mean, mine do, but I always thought we were different.

Well sure, the details might vary, but I think the general "at each other's throat in under three minutes*" atmosphere is the same for all family reunions**, isn't it?
Doesn't always end in death, but some spilled blood isn't that unusal***.

*actually that's usually the time until the first person leaves.
**reunion as in any meeting between family members.
***Metaphorical blood at least. Usually someone leaves before it gets literal.

[Rodin]

They were married? I never got that impression from anything in the comic. I thought that Euphrosynia disappeared first.

What happened in the novel? Does anyone know?

Information is sketchy at best.

From looking at her Wiki page, the only place that says she disappeared is the Opera, and given the unreliability of the Heterodyne shows I'm less than inclined to take that as objective canon.

From Tweedle's conversation with the Jager, it does look like she betrayed him before actually marrying him, as the Jager talks about what would have happened if she had married him.

However, from the novel we know that she didn't betray him until the actual day of the wedding, at the very earliest. The scene in the novel takes place minutes before the wedding is to go ahead, and at that time Andronicus is completely unaware anything is amiss until the Muses inform him.

So either the Heterodynes betrayed him at the wedding itself, or did so sometime afterwards. Either way, the treaty was already drawn up and probably signed, making the referral to the Heterodynes as "your new ally" a reasonable thing to say.

[geoduck]

Spoiler: New Strip

Show

Yup, Madwa got the Lantern. Though I now wouldn't be surprised if the glowy thing it was hooked to proves to be more useful and important.

[Ellen]

I wonder if the Master of Paris was expecting this? Let a Heterodyne loose in your city. Next day, have a legendary king come to life in a possible state of less-than-sanity and run around terrorizing your city while time-warping devices are let loose. This is probably what the Heterodyne Boys did all the time.

Oh, and did everyone notice a certain princess pointing to the side? Apparently, they haven't given up the mission.

[Darth Tom]

I wonder if the Master of Paris was expecting this? Let a Heterodyne loose in your city. Next day, have a legendary king come to life in a possible state of less-than-sanity and run around terrorizing your city while time-warping devices are let loose. This is probably what the Heterodyne Boys did all the time.

His grumpiness is looking more reasonable by the page.

[Shining Wrath]

Madwa got away with the lantern; the lantern is necessary to save Mechanicsburg, and the Storm King is a serious threat to everyone's plumbing system.

[eee]

OK, so the Smoke Knights DIDN'T kill Madwa while she was down. What IS it with these guys, did their training not include "*bleep* fairness: Snuffing bad guys, how to do it (any way you can)" courses?

RE everyone else: They should have formed a line, passed everything in the vault out hand to hand, then slammed the door and let it hold back the lava while they gathered things up and moved away. But they WERE a bit rushed...

And yes, Larana is pointing off to the side. I wonder what they're after that's so important.

[Mando Knight]

OK, so the Smoke Knights DIDN'T kill Madwa while she was down. What IS it with these guys, did their training not include "*bleep* fairness: Snuffing bad guys, how to do it (any way you can)" courses?

It's pretty clear to me that in spite of things like sparky poisons, Smoke Knights are primarily sneaks, spies, and burglars, not assassins. Poisons and dueling skills are for when the kill is important.

[Kantaki]

"Dots how hyu know heez a king!" That's so true.

About warning everyone important and Martellus, if Valois takes the direct route to his sword isn't it likely they will already know by the time Agatha a co get out of the vault? Especially Marty, considering he is right next to the active (lightning) sword.

[eschmenk]

About warning everyone important and Martellus, if Valois takes the direct route to his sword isn't it likely they will already know by the time Agatha a co get out of the vault? Especially Marty, considering he is right next to the active (lightning) sword.

Yes, especially since Jiminez pretty much guaranteed that they will have trouble getting out.

BTW Larana and Aldin won't be heading directly out. Remember that the went into the vault to recover something that they won't tell Agatha about. In the last panel Larana is signalling Aldin to turn a different direction, apparently so they can get whatever they came for. I wonder if they will run into Madwa or if the main group will. I doubt Madwa will get away with the lantern.

OK, so the Smoke Knights DIDN'T kill Madwa while she was down. What IS it with these guys, did their training not include "*bleep* fairness: Snuffing bad guys, how to do it (any way you can)" courses?

Their training didn't include snuffing bad guys who have a huge skill advantage. There isn't even any way to know if Madwa was ever down. Madwa could have been faking all of that.

[geoduck]

BTW Larana and Aldin won't be heading directly out. Remember that the went into the vault to recover something that they won't tell Agatha about. In the last panel Larana is signalling Aldin to turn a different direction, apparently so they can get whatever they came for. I wonder if they will run into Madwa or if the main group will. I doubt Madwa will get away with the lantern.


Their training didn't include snuffing bad guys who have a huge skill advantage. There isn't even any way to know if Madwa was ever down. Madwa could have been faking all of that.

I suspect Madwa's arm really did get fried or aged, but that didn't slow her down much. And I have no doubt we the audience will be seeing her again some day, but probably not any time soon. I'll be happy to be proven wrong if she's gone for good, since the whole Warner-Brothers-cartoony Smoke Knight shtick she's displayed set my teeth on edge.

[eschmenk]

I suspect Madwa's arm really did get fried or aged, but that didn't slow her down much. And I have no doubt we the audience will be seeing her again some day, but probably not any time soon. I'll be happy to be proven wrong if she's gone for good, since the whole Warner-Brothers-cartoony Smoke Knight shtick she's displayed set my teeth on edge.

Yes, I feel certain Madwa's arm was really ruined. Mada could still be a threat, though. I wouldn't be terribly surprised if Dimo suddenly realizes that he's carrying around a doll that looks like Zardilev rather than the real thing. (Violetta could pull off a switch like that, so Madwa almost certainly could do that, too.) Or maybe we will learn that Zardilev was poisoned to keep him from talking. It would probably depend on whether or not Madwa thinks Zardilev will still be needed to fix the lantern or for some other purpose. OTOH, Dimo might smell Madwa thanks to the damage she suffered.

I've cooled on the idea that Agatha will leave the vault with Prende's lantern. She doesn't really need to free Tarvek anymore and still has a couple years to free Mechanicsburg and the lantern is broken anyway, so it seems less urgent now. Whatever Larana and Aldin are hunting for might turn out to be even more immediately useful anyway.

I think that the old Storm King complicates things, but probably not enough quite for the Foglios. I think that there is a good chance that Larana and Aldin will run into a certain Napoleonic talking cat. (Krosp, like Larana and Aldin, is uncharacteristically sneaking around behind Agatha's back. Coincidence?) Either that or Krosp and his "shiny thing" will somehow mess up Andronicus getting his sword even more than it would otherwise be messed up. (I would really like to have seen Andronicus crashing the costume ball, but I think the timing is a bit off on that.)

[geoduck]

I think that the old Storm King complicates things, but probably not enough quite for the Foglios. I think that there is a good chance that Larana and Aldin will run into a certain Napoleonic talking cat. (Krosp, like Larana and Aldin, is uncharacteristically sneaking around behind Agatha's back. Coincidence?) Either that or Krosp and his "shiny thing" will somehow mess up Andronicus getting his sword even more than it would otherwise be messed up. (I would really like to have seen Andronicus crashing the costume ball, but I think the timing is a bit off on that.)

Eh. I'm working from the assumption that Krosp's number one priority (very possibly a mentally hard-wired one) is getting his creator off Castle Wulfenbach. So unless he somehow found about something in these vaults that can help him do that, I don't see him trying to sneak giant sentient bears into the Paris underworld.

[lord_khaine]

it seems that Krops more or less gave up on his creator, acting like he were dead, when The Baron removed his spark.

[Adaon Nightwind]

I am worried about Krosp actually fulfilling all those dire warnings regarding him :( I like the dynamic between him and Agatha, and being a power player in his own right should not get between them.

[Rodin]

it seems that Krops more or less gave up on his creator, acting like he were dead, when The Baron removed his spark.

That depends on whether the Foglios are working off comic canon or book canon. In the comics, Dr. Dim is pretty much forgotten about and Krosp doesn't mention him when they're fleeing Castle Wulfenbach. In the books, he makes a major effort to bring him along. When the good Doctor refuses to come, Krosp is seriously broken up about it. I don't have the book in front of me, but I'm fairly sure he also promised to come back for him.

Given that the later books hew closely to comic canon, I'm betting that the books represent a proper retcon and give better indications to Krosp's true feelings.

[eschmenk]

Even in the comics, at the time he met Agatha, Krosp was still keeping watch over Vapnoople (Dr. Dim). Krosp befriended Agatha only after Agatha was nice to Vapnoople. However, the damage to Vapnoople was already done and it was Agatha who needed help at the time. Actually Vapoople was probably better off remaining aboard Castle Wulfenbach when Agatha escaped.

I could see how having the army of bears might have changed things. Although Krosp wouldn't have trusted Martellus, Agatha had Dimo, Violetta and Zeetha to watch over her. Krosp could offer the army of bears to Vapnoople now. The thing is that, although Vapoople wouldn't give up the idea that some day he would get revenge, he was happy now without actually getting the revenge. I don't know how Krosp would handle that.

[HandofShadows]

While Kosp has an army of bears now, I don't think he's going after revenge on anybody. I think by now he realizes that his creator was not a good person. While he certainly cares for Dr. Dim, I don't think he's going to cause trouble for Gil. He might do something to take Dr. Dim from Gil, but would avoid doing anything that would make it easier for the Other. Kosp might even show up to help at some point with his army in tow.

[eee]

Let's not forget, Agatha inadvertently pledged fealty to Krosp. She was his only non-feline and actual subject for a long time, and most of his efforts have been aimed at protecting, promoting, and advising her. The Bearz add a wrinkle to that, as they're his family and subjects too, in a way, thanks to Word of Vapnoople. Obviously he needs to do his best for ALL of them. And Agatha coming onto her own is his best chance to do that. She'd be as safe as a Heterodyne can be, the Bearz would have haven in Mechanicsberg, and I'm sure if Agatha asked, Dr. Dim could be brought to the city, too. So I imagine whatever Krosp is up to, and where-ever he's gone, it's got something to do with making sure things go Agatha's way when they need to. Although what that might be, we don't know.

[geoduck]

That depends on whether the Foglios are working off comic canon or book canon. In the comics, Dr. Dim is pretty much forgotten about and Krosp doesn't mention him when they're fleeing Castle Wulfenbach. In the books, he makes a major effort to bring him along. When the good Doctor refuses to come, Krosp is seriously broken up about it. I don't have the book in front of me, but I'm fairly sure he also promised to come back for him.

Given that the later books hew closely to comic canon, I'm betting that the books represent a proper retcon and give better indications to Krosp's true feelings.

When Vapnoople gets mentioned again, Krosp does refer to him as "Papa", the same way he does in the books, which is one reason why I think he's trying to rescue the man.

[lord_khaine]

I dont think he will attempt to resque him.

After all, it would be a lot safer for Dr. Vapnoodle if Krops made sure Agatha got back into power at the center of Mechanisburg, and then just ask Gil for him to be handed over to her care.

[HandofShadows]

New page.

Spoiler

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Darn it. The person Agatha needed to talk to!

[SZbNAhL]

So the lantern and Uncle Tick-Tock have disappeared with Madwa? I really hope England has a comparable time expert somewhere.

[eee]

This dungeon crawl has been a disaster! The only hope is they manage to catch Madwa and can salvage something.

Vi, don't poke at the mysterious object. It's hard to imagine things being worse; but that gizmo probably can do it.

[Shining Wrath]

"It's complicated".

I'm having a little trouble with suspension of disbelief on Madwa's abilities. If she could do that why not replace it with a bomb or something poisonous? If the "loyalist" Smoke Knights have a kill on sight standing order for Madwa, I find it a little difficult to think that the followers of the Other don't have a kill on sight standing order for the loyalists - and yet she passes up a chance to kill three of them. Also, three Smoke Knights plus a Jager can't spot Madwa at work within a few feet? Seriously?

Deux ex Machina annoys.

Hoffman, on the other hand, is delightful. "Whenever I unleash a monster on Paris he makes me sit through a huge lecture!". I suppose any lecture from the MoP would be huge by definition as he's, what, 15 feet tall?

[factotum]

I'm having a little trouble with suspension of disbelief on Madwa's abilities. If she could do that why not replace it with a bomb or something poisonous?

Because it wouldn't be funny if she did that? Girl Genius has never taken itself seriously.

[Shining Wrath]

Because it wouldn't be funny if she did that? Girl Genius has never taken itself seriously.

You mean all the times Bugs Bunny or the Road Runner swapped something for a stick of dynamite that blew up in Wiley Coyote's face it wasn't funny? I misspent so much of my youth

[halfeye]

You mean all the times Bugs Bunny or the Road Runner swapped something for a stick of dynamite that blew up in Wiley Coyote's face it wasn't funny? I misspent so much of my youth

Yeah, but that was the good guy doing it to the bad guy when that was all the plot there was.

This would be the bad guy doing it for no gain, and slowing down the main plot.

[eschmenk]

I wouldn't be terribly surprised if Dimo suddenly realizes that he's carrying around a doll that looks like Zardilev rather than the real thing. (Violetta could pull off a switch like that, so Madwa almost certainly could do that, too.)

Unsurprisingly, I'm not having any trouble with suspension of disbelief. If I can accept that smoke knights can do that to regular people, I can easily accept that an unusually skilled and experienced smoke knight do it to relatively inexperienced young smoke knights. It helps that Phil made all of the smoke knights young and showed the two new ones accidentally setting off traps. By doing that, he showed us that they are only so competent. Also, I would say that there is a long tradition of extremely high-level assassins having a very narrow focus and leaving a lot of people alive that they could have easily killed, so that doesn't bother me, either.

That said, the one thing that bothered me a little was that everyone but Dimo and Zeetha seemed a little too nonchalant about loosing Zardilev. Although I think it's a long shot, I wouldn't absolutely rule out the smoke knights (or at least Violetta) having swapped out Zardilev before Madwa had a chance to do it. Or as an even longer shot, perhaps they did it as part of whatever Aldin and Larana are up to. If Madwa really did the swap, it probably would have been better for the smoke knights to have acted more embarrassed by their failure to detect it.

Deux ex Machina annoys.

That seems like a particularly odd comment to me. Much of the fun of GG comes from all the Deux ex Machina that Phil comes up with.