Girl Genius XIII: "Gott's Leedle Feesh in Trousers!" - Page 32

Traab · 10-19-2012, 09:52 AM

Im honestly waiting for the big jolt to happen that wakes the castle back up and running. I am picturing a MASSIVE surge of defensive weaponry when that happens. Agatha NEEDS the castle to wake up and be useful or else she is royally screwed. Right now she is at the point where she is losing bit by bit. Her resources are being eroded with every action that takes place. She needs a major trump to even force things to stalemate.

Turalisj · 10-19-2012, 11:23 AM

My prediction: Next Friday, the Baron has all zeppelins outfitted with lightning cannons fire at the castle and, in the last panel, we hear "It's good to be back" from the castle.

Monday will then be followed by absolute destruction.

TechnOkami · 10-19-2012, 01:54 PM

*question*

Is the baron's son really infected by the Other, or is it just the after effect of that potion he drank based off of Lucrezia's notes to make himself immune from her mind-bug thingys? If its the latter, then why in the hell hasn't he told the baron???

thorgrim29 · 10-19-2012, 02:10 PM

Because it doesn't make sense... I'm not realy infected, you see, my mortal enemy Tarvek from a family of known rebels made me drink that thing that knocked Dupree out, and now even tough it looks like I'm infected, I'm realy not. Gil knows that would only worsen his situation. Plus he might be having doubts himself at this point.

eee · 10-19-2012, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TechnOkami

*question*

Is the baron's son really infected by the Other, or is it just the after effect of that potion he drank based off of Lucrezia's notes to make himself immune from her mind-bug thingys? If its the latter, then why in the hell hasn't he told the baron???

I don't think he actually drank the potion. He was going to, then he got distracted by trying to figure out why Bang was having such a massive reaction to it when he gave some to her, then before he could gulp down what was left she decked him and he didn't wake up until he was in the Baron's clutches. Gil isn't infected, he's been resisting and ignoring Agatha's orders all along; as he should have realized by now. What's confusing him is that Klaus spun a plausible story that he'd been infected, backed up by the weasel reacting to Gil and not Klaus. I'm hopeful he'll sort it out soon and manage to save himself AND Klaus; perhaps with Boris' help.

GaeasSon · 10-19-2012, 07:43 PM

It's VERY unlikely that Gil has been wasped, even though he didn't drink the potion. Even those very much "in the know" in Stumhalten seemed to believe that there was only the singular prototype spark-wasp. Gil may suspect this, but he doesn't know for sure. He's been given enough information to reasonably believe in his fathers waspyness.

Klaus (I believe) knows darn well he's been wasped, and is probably quite convinced Gil is clean, and means to keep him that way. (I note that Gils jar provides no avenue for a slaver wasp to get at him.) edit: And I just realized, the first confinement that Klaus orders for Gil is "Air-tight, level five containment". Revenants aren't infectious to others. The seals are to protect Gil!

Barring some sudden shift, Gil and Klaus are deadlocked with Gil observing his father looking for cracks in the control while Klaus tries to open cracks for Gil to latch onto. Klaus may not know that Gil already suspects that he's been wasped, or he might not bother with the pretense in private.

I suspect what will throw the board into disarray is the firing of a very curvy checkovs ~~gun~~ loose cannon. At some point someone is going to try to wasp Dupree. Thinking her controlled, they will let their guard down. The mind boggles at the mayhem that will ensue. She slaughters cities with girlish glee... Have we ever actually seen her mad?

Landis963 · 10-19-2012, 10:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GaeasSon

It's VERY unlikely that Gil has been wasped, even though he didn't drink the potion.

More than just unlikely - The Baron's timeline has him wasped before the plot started, i.e. before Gil met Agatha in the first place. What happened when Agatha met Gil? She gave him two orders: one very timid and easily construed as not an order, and the other with all the force she could muster. Selnikov seems to think that a full-blown spark state wouldn't stop the slaver wasp from working as intended, which contradicts the two linked prologue comics.

Traab · 10-20-2012, 07:19 AM

But neither of those comics had direct orders. In the first she is asking them to sit down and have tea, not telling them. And in the second all she is yelling out is no. Thats not a command. Perhaps if she had yelled out STOOOOOP! That would have counted.

Landis963 · 10-20-2012, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Traab

But neither of those comics had direct orders. In the first she is asking them to sit down and have tea, not telling them. And in the second all she is yelling out is no. Thats not a command. Perhaps if she had yelled out STOOOOOP! That would have counted.

Agreed on the first one. That's why it had the qualifier as "easily construed as not an order." You may be right on the second one, but it depends how the wasp takes cues from what the host hears, and how literal it is. If I were the Other I would like to think that "NO!" counts as a perfectly reasonable "Stop what you're doing!" command, if only for the extra amount of control on an infected spark. Besides, when I linked Selnikov's opinion, he was telling it to Boris, who seems to think that "NO!" was an order, and that Gil resisted it.

HandofShadows · 10-20-2012, 02:16 PM

Considering that when Agatha (unknowingly) asked a wasped researcher if he didn't have anything better to do and that researcher went and activated the Hive Engine, Agatha saying "NOOOO" would certainly be considered an order.

http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040310

NEO|Phyte · 10-20-2012, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HandofShadows

Considering that when Agatha (unknowingly) asked a wasped researcher if he didn't have anything better to do and that researcher went and activated the Hive Engine, Agatha saying "NOOOO" would certainly be considered an order.

http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040310

To be fair, she also told him to go do it, and apparently her ability to channel her mother's command wave works best when she's all worked up.

HandofShadows · 10-20-2012, 02:39 PM

True, but Agatha never gave him an order on what to do. He decided by himself what to do. Wapsed people are utter slaves and have total loyalty (except of the Baron, but he is a special case) to Lu. But they still have thier own minds and make their own decisions. Meaning they can and will extrapolate on what they think they should do in a given situation and act in accordance with what they think they should do.

Squark · 10-20-2012, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HandofShadows

True, but Agatha never gave him an order on what to do. He decided by himself what to do. Wapsed people are utter slaves and have total loyalty (except of the Baron, but he is a special case) to Lu. But they still have thier own minds and make their own decisions. Meaning they can and will extrapolate on what they think they should do in a given situation and act in accordance with what they think they should do.

Is it clear if the Baron is a special case, or is it that sparks are the special case (Academic at this point, since Klaus is the only wasped spark, but I think you get the point). The latter seems more likely to me, frankly.

Traab · 10-20-2012, 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HandofShadows

True, but Agatha never gave him an order on what to do. He decided by himself what to do. Wapsed people are utter slaves and have total loyalty (except of the Baron, but he is a special case) to Lu. But they still have thier own minds and make their own decisions. Meaning they can and will extrapolate on what they think they should do in a given situation and act in accordance with what they think they should do.

But in that comic she gave him a direct, if nonspecific, order. Thats way different from those first two comics. She wasnt even talking sparky, let alone trying to order gil to do something.

memnarch · 10-20-2012, 11:38 PM

Would "Now send me home!" count as a direct order? Even if it doesn't have the sparky tone?

Landis963 · 10-21-2012, 02:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by memnarch

Would "Now send me home!" count as a direct order? Even if it doesn't have the sparky tone?

Possibly, as I recall the "rules" for sparky tone and such weren't entirely set in stone at that point.

Analysis · 10-21-2012, 06:06 AM

Is this Chekhov's castle recharger here?

http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040517

Radar · 10-21-2012, 06:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Traab

But in that comic she gave him a direct, if nonspecific, order. Thats way different from those first two comics. She wasnt even talking sparky, let alone trying to order gil to do something.

Talking sparky is not a requirement. Lucrezia was giving Klaus orders in a calm voice.

HandofShadows · 10-21-2012, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squark

Is it clear if the Baron is a special case, or is it that sparks are the special case (Academic at this point, since Klaus is the only wasped spark, but I think you get the point). The latter seems more likely to me, frankly.

No. Klaus is clearly not in line with other wapsed individuals we have seen. Those people are loyal to Lucrezia, follow her orders and basically worship her. But with the Baron, he has to follow her orders but is NOT loyal to her in any way. He actually got a message out warning Gil that he had been wapsed. No normal Renevent woud have even wanted to do such a thing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Analysis

Is this Chekhov's castle recharger here?

http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040517

That is an early version of Gil's lighting stick. So yes and no.

NEO|Phyte · 10-21-2012, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HandofShadows

No. Klaus is clearly not in line with other wapsed individuals we have seen. Those people are loyal to Lucrezia, follow her orders and basically worship her. But with the Baron, he has to follow her orders but is NOT loyal to her in any way. He actually got a message out warning Gil that he had been wapsed. No normal Renevent woud have even wanted to do such a thing.

Enforced loyalty isn't exactly loyalty, and outside of the geisters, worship doesn't really seem to be a thing. The one revenant we really get a look at doesn't sound like he's particularly eager about the whole thing.

On the whole Gil thing, unless sparks as a rule are more able to slip the leash, he gets a direct order here and doesn't go through with it.

Landis963 · 10-21-2012, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NEO|Phyte

On the whole Gil thing, unless sparks as a rule are more able to slip the leash, he gets a direct order here and doesn't go through with it.

That's the lynchpin. If Gil can remember that he's got airtight proof that he's not wasped. The problem of course is a) whether he can remember it and b) an outside source. Which we have - Punch and Judy, both of whom were there to hear Agatha give the order, or at least close enough to knock out Gil when he started to get ugly.

Squark · 10-21-2012, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HandofShadows

No. Klaus is clearly not in line with other wapsed individuals we have seen. Those people are loyal to Lucrezia, follow her orders and basically worship her. But with the Baron, he has to follow her orders but is NOT loyal to her in any way. He actually got a message out warning Gil that he had been wapsed. No normal Renevent woud have even wanted to do such a thing.

Yes... But, we haven't seen another spark get wasped. I'm not talking about normal revenants (Although they seem to display more independence than you give them credit for), I'm saying maybe it's not so much a "Klaus" thing as it is a "spark" thing. Academic at the moment, but it might be important later on if Lucrezia is able to reproduce the spark wasps.

Traab · 10-21-2012, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Analysis

Is this Chekhov's castle recharger here?

http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040517

Nope, its the dimensional time travel whosiwhatsit that showed dupre those visions back at the start of the comic. If you read on you notice that whoever is using the device keeps vanishing and reappearing. The other guys watching froms afety mention them vanishing and popping back up, and agatha notices it when gil is the only one holding the device. Its a chekovs, just for a different plot twist than recharging the castle, imo.

GaeasSon · 10-22-2012, 12:09 AM

Aw hell! Here comes Mr. Tock! And Agatha is now VERY late for class...

Landis963 · 10-22-2012, 12:42 AM

Instanbul... Typo? Or Spark-induced spelling change?

petersohn · 10-22-2012, 01:02 AM

Am I the only one missing an elegant and finely crafted link here?

Qwertystop · 10-22-2012, 06:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Traab

Nope, its the dimensional time travel whosiwhatsit that showed dupre those visions back at the start of the comic. If you read on you notice that whoever is using the device keeps vanishing and reappearing. The other guys watching froms afety mention them vanishing and popping back up, and agatha notices it when gil is the only one holding the device. Its a chekovs, just for a different plot twist than recharging the castle, imo.

Oh, that's what that is? From the first time we see it activating, I thought it was a barrier, and the glare on the windows was why they "disappeared"

memnarch · 10-22-2012, 07:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Traab

Nope, its the dimensional time travel whosiwhatsit that showed dupre those visions back at the start of the comic. If you read on you notice that whoever is using the device keeps vanishing and reappearing. The other guys watching froms afety mention them vanishing and popping back up, and agatha notices it when gil is the only one holding the device. Its a chekovs, just for a different plot twist than recharging the castle, imo.

While it might fire again, I think that Chekov's gun has already gone off.

Grey_Wolf_c · 10-22-2012, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qwertystop

Oh, that's what that is? From the first time we see it activating, I thought it was a barrier, and the glare on the windows was why they "disappeared"

No, it is not. Not without heavy retooling. The bubble that makes them pop out of sight does not take them anywhere, since they can still see around them. It only confers invisibility. The time windows we see at the start of the comic seem controlled by a heavy duty keyboard, and in those moments the characters are fully aware that they are looking into other times (indeed, they use it to track VonZinzer's relatives).

Could they be the same device? In a mad science comic, sure. But so could be said of one of the forks shot at Agatha in the Castle's kitchen. The device, as presented, is only a source of electricity and invisibility.

Grey Wolf

BRC · 10-22-2012, 12:22 PM

Yeah, it's an invisibility device. Theo uses it later to dissapear Gil from the streets of Mechanisburg. It just ALSO had a power source, which Agatha hijacked to recharge the lightning generator, like hooking up a flashlight to a car battery.

Also, apparently the Wulfenbach Empire extends as far south as Istanbul, or at least close enough that he wants to position troops near there.

Although they are clearly getting at somthing. Why would Klaus call all his troops to Mechanisburg, at a time when the Empire is especially unstable. I see three possibilities, either lucrezia ordered him to use excessive force, he is using excessive force because he MUST try his utmost to carry out Lucrezia's orders regardless of other consequences (Lucrezia says to storm Mechanisburg, he must do everything in his power to make sure that is successful), or Three, this is somehow another manifestation of his subtle self-sabotage. Somehow, stealthily deploying all his troops and waiting until the Knights of Jove showed their hand will hinder Lucrezia's schemes.