Girl Genius XXXII: The scientific method at work!

[St Fan]

I might be reading too much from the cat's full-fanged smile, but I can't shake off the feeling that Krosp is very much enjoying himself...

[geoduck]

The Wulfenbach spark is also unusual, in that it seems to bestow an incredibly high resilience to mania. To the point where Klaus seems to be outright immune, but he's also possibly got 'creation of mad science' going for him. It's possible that Gil also has some level of resistance to the spark heirachy, I'd argue out of the three he's probably the least sparky but certainly isn't subservient to Tarvek.

Klaus also made all sorts of mental and physical improvements to Gil when the latter was a child.

[wingnutx]

I might be reading too much from the cat's full-fanged smile, but I can't shake off the feeling that Krosp is very much enjoying himself...

He is enjoying this very, very much.

[Manga Shoggoth]

The comic does actually go in to the "where does Agatha stand" question here and the following few pages.

Note that I don't think Violetta knew about Tarvek being the Storm King at the time, since the argument she applies for Gil as "new ruler of the Empire" equally applies to "Storm King".

[Shining Wrath]

The comic does actually go in to the "where does Agatha stand" question here and the following few pages.

Note that I don't think Violetta knew about Tarvek being the Storm King at the time, since the argument she applies for Gil as "new ruler of the Empire" equally applies to "Storm King".

I read that as Violetta's entire argument rests on disparity in power, not status. "With that much of a power imbalance, is he asking - or ordering?" "... you'll both be starting from scratch".

She refers to Tarvek as rebuilding the Storm King's Empire. She knows he has a claim. She's concerned about power, with Mechanicsburg as a "rogue state".

Now, fast forward to today. Agatha doesn't have a state, but she's presumably about to have it back again after the Dreen kill the Time Monster. And then she'll be the most powerful Spark besides Albia and Monahan, ruler of the unconquerable Mechanicsburg, while Gil's Empire has largely crumbled. At this point we're talking Agatha having the power balance on her side.

In fact, as The Heterodyne with the Empire in tatters and Martellus' claim disputed, she might be the most prestigious noble in Europa, with the Master of Paris being in the running.

[Rockphed]

New thread title: Girl Genius XXXIII: Oooh, Tricky. She's an Autumn.

Let us just say that title-able quotes are fairly constantly produced by this comic.

[Manga Shoggoth]

Now, fast forward to today. Agatha doesn't have a state, but she's presumably about to have it back again after the Dreen kill the Time Monster. And then she'll be the most powerful Spark besides Albia and Monahan, ruler of the unconquerable Mechanicsburg, while Gil's Empire has largely crumbled. At this point we're talking Agatha having the power balance on her side.

In fact, as The Heterodyne with the Empire in tatters and Martellus' claim disputed, she might be the most prestigious noble in Europa, with the Master of Paris being in the running.

Even back then, "Storm King" would still have been on a par with Gil's position. But agreed, now it's a completely different ballpark, as you describe above.

I just wanted to point out that the positions had been considered in comic, and certianly at the time the Heterodyne would not have been considered an equal to either the Ruler of the Empire or the Storm King.

Interestingly, that same logic would put a wedge between Tweedle and Agatha, but I don't think Tweedle's up for that (Agatha, of course, isn't interested at all, naturally...)

New thread title: Girl Genius XXXIII: Oooh, Tricky. She's an Autumn.

Let us just say that title-able quotes are fairly constantly produced by this comic.

Noted, and may I congratulate you on the oldest quote for thread title thus far.

[Shining Wrath]

Krosp raises an excellent point indeed - what will the mental state of the denizens of Mechanicsburg be when the time stop, stops?
Captain Vole was nuts, but that was likely a by-product of how he was extracted.

And we know the Castle has some ability to communicate even within the Time Stop, being a sort-of Queen in its own right. So it probably won't be nuts.

Still, giving the Castle tempting targets is not a good plan under any circumstances.

[Traab]

What confuses me is the storm kings domain. Isnt that basically replacing the barons rule with the storm kings? Like, is it the same, is there significant overlap, is it random? Isnt martellus basically going "Ok gil, thanks for holding the fort. get lost, this is my kingdom now."?

[geoduck]

What confuses me is the storm kings domain. Isnt that basically replacing the barons rule with the storm kings? Like, is it the same, is there significant overlap, is it random? Isnt martellus basically going "Ok gil, thanks for holding the fort. get lost, this is my kingdom now."?

It's impossible to say, since the comic has never come close to giving borders for the two empires.

[Deliverance]

EVERY dish includes fish heads?

Given Krosp is the host, I can't decide whether,

1. He is being generous. He likes fish heads, so who wouldn't?
2. He is being being diplomatic, reminding Martellus that Mechanicsburg's works by its own rules, because, who wouldn't?
3. He is being mean to Martellus, because, who wouldn't?

Or all of the above.

[WanderingMist]

Krosp raises an excellent point indeed - what will the mental state of the denizens of Mechanicsburg be when the time stop, stops?
Captain Vole was nuts, but that was likely a by-product of how he was extracted.

And we know the Castle has some ability to communicate even within the Time Stop, being a sort-of Queen in its own right. So it probably won't be nuts.

Still, giving the Castle tempting targets is not a good plan under any circumstances.

It will be

"What's going on? Oh, Agatha's here. Nothing to worry about, guess we'll carry on."

[Grim Portent]

What confuses me is the storm kings domain. Isnt that basically replacing the barons rule with the storm kings? Like, is it the same, is there significant overlap, is it random? Isnt martellus basically going "Ok gil, thanks for holding the fort. get lost, this is my kingdom now."?

Simplest assumption is that neither domain is contiguous, but both claim the same de jure lands. Or rather, the Storm King conspiracy wants to outright replace the Empire as it was under Klaus, but with a Storm King and all the aristocracy being in charge rather than a Baron running a pseudo meritocracy that the nobles percieve as tyranny.

The Empire covered most of Europa, with the only major free states we know of being England, Mechanicsburg and Paris, and was originally centered in Hungary IIRC, but moved the capital to Castle Wulfenbach, which was of course a dirigible. The old Storm King's lands probably covered a similar area, centered somewhere in France or Germany, and also excluded England, Mechanicsburg and Paris.

Martellus's kingdom presumably consists primarily of members of the fifty families who hadn't rejoined the Empire after it's collapse two years ago, and who support his claim to the Storm King title, as well as the lands held by churches whose Popes have sworn allegiance to him. How much land this actually is is never stated. Where his nominal capital is hasn't been stated.

Gil's Empire will consist of any lands that stayed loyal during the collapse after the battle of Mechanicsburg two years ago, and anyone that has been convinced to rejoin since then. Numbers are again never outright stated, but we also know from Seffie that some of the fifty families were moving to support Gil during the two year time skip.