Girl Genius XXIII: Screaming, Ranting and Egregious Violence

[Rockphed]

I don't think anyone here believes mindjacking their kids is something a parent should do.

But it would completely eliminate teen pregnancy! Grades would go up! Drug and alcohol use would plummet! Labor participation rates would rise! It would practically be a utopia!

[Rogar Demonblud]

Only if you believe parents actually have their kids best interests at heart. My career tells me that they instead tend to view them as minions to use to relive their glory days or as avenues for wish fulfillment.

[Traab]

Back to gils threat against england. I dont think he ever even considered using the military to do what he threatened. Im pretty sure he meant, "I will PERSONALLY go there, obliterate everything that you have ever been proud of in your nation, and leave albia screaming in rage terror and agony at the heart of the destruction of her realm." So yeah, the loss of a significant portion of his military? (Even though its been years since then) Not a factor if albia makes this personal. And you know what? Albia should be damn well aware of this considering her ability to see the minds of those around her. Gil has a gigantic red glowing button labeled "Someone Hurt Agatha" in his mind, and if anything presses that, everything dies.

[Fyraltari]

And you know what? Albia should be damn well aware of this considering her ability to see the minds of those around her. Gil has a gigantic red glowing button labeled "Someone Hurt Agatha" in his mind, and if anything presses that, everything dies.

We don't know how much she can see of someone's mind. It's,possible she can just see how intelligent they are or maybe more like personnality, emotional state up to absolutely everything about them (probably not that last one that would be OP), I suppose we will get more info about in the coming years.

[Rockphed]

Only if you believe parents actually have their kids best interests at heart. My career tells me that they instead tend to view them as minions to use to relive their glory days or as avenues for wish fulfillment.

Well, yes, there is that. As I wrote the labor force participation thing I thought about how a sudden influx of teenagers getting dead-end jobs because their parent-in-head wants them to take a job, any job, probably wouldn't be good for mental health. Furthermore, I'm not sure that erradicating all of those things by downloading teenagers' parents into their heads is worth the cost of, well, downloading teenagers' parents into their heads.

I should probably have put some indication of snark in my last post. I was only half serious about any of them.

[Ellen]

Agreeing with those who think Rakethorn's too obvious. Pity.

Changing the subject, but I was rereading past comics and realized there's one way to protect people already infected by wasps from the Other's control.

I'm sure other people have thought of this bit, if people can't hear, Lucrezia's voice control doesn't work.

It's a bit extreme. Maybe a spark could come up with temporary deafness? Or some kind of zone of silence? Although simple deafness is probably harder to reverse.

There's also the option of releasing a lot of helium, though that's not a long term solution (or not for people who breathe). Again, a spark might be able to come up with something that changed vibration rates, so the Other just sounded high and squeaky. And, again, another spark could probably reverse that.

Maybe everyone in Europa just needs a really bad cold for the duration of the emergency.

[Rogar Demonblud]

It sounds like what you need is a continent-wide Iron Golems concert.

"We...Are...Iron...Golems! We...Are...Programmed...Only...To...ROCK!"

[Rockphed]

It sounds like what you need is a continent-wide Iron Golems concert.

"We...Are...Iron...Golems! We...Are...Programmed...Only...To...ROCK!"

Is that from "On the Origin of PCs"?

[Shining Wrath]

I remain dubious that Gil could single-handedly destroy all of England's military defenses, all the Sparks allied with Albia, and Albia herself, with only his badass self. We've never seen him do anything beyond what the other top-level Sparks can do. In fact, clear back in book one Agatha was useful to him, even before her powers fully awakened. Now Agatha is obviously All That because the strip is named for her, but a Spark who can single-handedly destroy nations ought to be much better than Agatha, or anyone else.

[Calemyr]

I remain dubious that Gil could single-handedly destroy all of England's military defenses, all the Sparks allied with Albia, and Albia herself, with only his badass self. We've never seen him do anything beyond what the other top-level Sparks can do. In fact, clear back in book one Agatha was useful to him, even before her powers fully awakened. Now Agatha is obviously All That because the strip is named for her, but a Spark who can single-handedly destroy nations ought to be much better than Agatha, or anyone else.

Well, he's Klaus's son. You know, the guy who claimed there were somethings only he could do himself - namely, fight a war. Sparks are the equivalent of tactical nukes, to my mind - they can do a lot of damage very easily if in the right place at the right time.

[DeTess]

I remain dubious that Gil could single-handedly destroy all of England's military defenses, all the Sparks allied with Albia, and Albia herself, with only his badass self. We've never seen him do anything beyond what the other top-level Sparks can do. In fact, clear back in book one Agatha was useful to him, even before her powers fully awakened. Now Agatha is obviously All That because the strip is named for her, but a Spark who can single-handedly destroy nations ought to be much better than Agatha, or anyone else.

He wouldn't have to though. If he could do even a 20th of what he'd claimed he'd do, it'd be more than enough to convince everyone that it's better to not mess too much with him.

Anyway, I'm voting for 'some sort of libertine', and would like to predict that either this book or the next ends with Gil, Tarvek, Agatha and co leaving England through one of those teleport-mirror thingies.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Is that from "On the Origin of PCs"?

"Affirmative!"

[Shining Wrath]

Well, he's Klaus's son. You know, the guy who claimed there were somethings only he could do himself - namely, fight a war. Sparks are the equivalent of tactical nukes, to my mind - they can do a lot of damage very easily if in the right place at the right time.

Klaus, by the time we meet him, has decades of experience. First he was a companion of the Heterodyne Boys of legend, and then he came back from Skifander and proceeded to conquer much of Europe. In terms of warfare, he is almost certainly the greatest Spark alive.

Question to muse upon: why does Albia not conquer parts of Europe? Surely she could make a play for the Low Countries, and with the Wulfenbach Empire in chaos at the moment, Gil might even welcome having a stable ruler on his western flank, with Colette in Paris anchoring the southwest.

Maybe she's constrained to stay in England. Maybe she dislikes the idea of conquest.

He wouldn't have to though. If he could do even a 20th of what he'd claimed he'd do, it'd be more than enough to convince everyone that it's better to not mess too much with him.

Anyway, I'm voting for 'some sort of libertine', and would like to predict that either this book or the next ends with Gil, Tarvek, Agatha and co leaving England through one of those teleport-mirror thingies.

I'll rephrase that - if Albia decides she needs to move against Agatha, she knows she also must move against Gil at the same time. It's a complication. The obvious solution is the application of Power Overwhelming. She has the resources of an entire nation at her disposal, including many subservient lesser Sparks - I reiterate that Trelawny is likely a peer to Gil in terms of Sparky power, and she seems to serve Albia without question. A Trelawny - Gil battle would be interesting. A Trelawny plus (12 main battle Clanks, 11 minor sparks, 10 ninja assassins, 9 spy drones, 8 expert snipers, ..., a partridge with venomous talons in a pear tree with exploding fruit) versus Gil battle is over pretty quickly.

EDIT: I like you idea about Team Agatha departing England via Mirror - there's been too much mirror build up for them to not enter the plot in a major way.

Now, why would they do that? I'm imagining a scene similar to "Everyone is going to die in the Castle basement" to get the mirror operational, as Albia's forces close in and the Jagers and Zeetha and Violetta fight desperately to buy time.

[geoduck]

EDIT: I like you idea about Team Agatha departing England via Mirror - there's been too much mirror build up for them to not enter the plot in a major way.

Now, why would they do that? I'm imagining a scene similar to "Everyone is going to die in the Castle basement" to get the mirror operational, as Albia's forces close in and the Jagers and Zeetha and Violetta fight desperately to buy time.

Years ago, the Foglios announced Agatha's itinerary, and so far it's held true...

Spoiler

Show

If they stick to the plan, Agatha's next stop is Africa. Therefore, my prediction is that Agatha and Co. finally meet up the Circus group again, specifically Embi, who tells her about a functioning Mirror in his homeland, and so they go there via (probably) airship, and from there, use that Mirror to travel to Skifander, which is the next stop on the itinerary.

[Calemyr]

Klaus, by the time we meet him, has decades of experience. First he was a companion of the Heterodyne Boys of legend, and then he came back from Skifander and proceeded to conquer much of Europe. In terms of warfare, he is almost certainly the greatest Spark alive.

Yeah, that's true. I just meant that Gil's got the lineage to back up his boast, if not the carnage. Give him cause and things will escalate. And, ultimately, meltdown.

EDIT: I like you idea about Team Agatha departing England via Mirror - there's been too much mirror build up for them to not enter the plot in a major way.

Now, why would they do that? I'm imagining a scene similar to "Everyone is going to die in the Castle basement" to get the mirror operational, as Albia's forces close in and the Jagers and Zeetha and Violetta fight desperately to buy time.

My theory remains that the Mirrors lead to the geisters' haven. My version of the story would have Albia playing a beneficial obstacle (playing games to keep Agatha happy and present), but the trail of the Lamp leads into the mirror. So the group has to duck around Albia to get where they need to go, and Gil just happens to know a working Mirror is. Once there, time behaves differently, and a number of myth-related revelations come out about Lucrezia, the Other, the Muse of Time, the Geisters, and who knows what all else. It is here that we finally get back to the windows that started the series, as Agatha tries to fix the Time Bubble, ultimately extracting Moloch and using him to find something that his brothers escaped their stricken vessel with.

Once that happens, the frame of the struggle will change drastically as the heroes now have a better understanding of what's going on and the audience loses their foreknowledge. What follows, I cannot predict.

[Shining Wrath]

Years ago, the Foglios announced Agatha's itinerary, and so far it's held true...

Spoiler

Show

If they stick to the plan, Agatha's next stop is Africa. Therefore, my prediction is that Agatha and Co. finally meet up the Circus group again, specifically Embi, who tells her about a functioning Mirror in his homeland, and so they go there via (probably) airship, and from there, use that Mirror to travel to Skifander, which is the next stop on the itinerary.

The mirror in the museum was found (in pieces) high in the Alps, and put together using Sumerian texts; ergo, it must be from Africa.

I don't think we have any evidence there was ever a Queen's kingdom in the Alps, though, so this mirror did come from SOMEWHERE - and if GGverse Hannibal served a still-living Queen Dido, he could have brought it from Carthage, possibly as a way to quickly transport elephants into Italy. In fact, that's what broke it - it was fine for transporting troops, but elephants were too much for the poor thing.

EDIT: Simultaneous posts.

Yeah, that's true. I just meant that Gil's got the lineage to back up his boast, if not the carnage. Give him cause and things will escalate. And, ultimately, meltdown.



My theory remains that the Mirrors lead to the geisters' haven. My version of the story would have Albia playing a beneficial obstacle (playing games to keep Agatha happy and present), but the trail of the Lamp leads into the mirror. So the group has to duck around Albia to get where they need to go, and Gil just happens to know a working Mirror is. Once there, time behaves differently, and a number of myth-related revelations come out about Lucrezia, the Other, the Muse of Time, the Geisters, and who knows what all else. It is here that we finally get back to the windows that started the series, as Agatha tries to fix the Time Bubble, ultimately extracting Moloch and using him to find something that his brothers escaped their stricken vessel with.

Once that happens, the frame of the struggle will change drastically as the heroes now have a better understanding of what's going on and the audience loses their foreknowledge. What follows, I cannot predict.

The back story seems to be that the mirrors traveled between the Queen's nations - in fact, possibly right into the palaces. The Geisters viewed Lucrezia as a queen, so possibly there was a mirror in the Giester domain.

I think we need to resolve the Baron-in-Gil's-head before we leave England. The question is whether or not Albia will try to put herself in when Klaus comes out, obviously via subtle sneaky ways. I don't expect Agatha to get rid of Lucrezia very easily, it's too central to the plot.

Open plot items:

1. Mechanicsburg
2. Muse of Time
3. Agatha and Gil's parental controls
4. Tweedle's attempts on Tarvek's life
5. Dr. Dim and Krosp
6. Zola and Grandmother
7. The Other Who Isn't in Zola's Head
8. The Lantern

Meta-logic-wise, I think we'll see a solution to 3(b) and 5 before leaving England, and some progress on (1) and (8), and maybe (2) as a side effect. It's possible they'll have to leave England to pursue the Lantern.

[PraetorDragoon]

The mirror in the museum was found (in pieces) high in the Alps, and put together using Sumerian texts; ergo, it must be from Africa.

I don't think we have any evidence there was ever a Queen's kingdom in the Alps, though, so this mirror did come from SOMEWHERE - and if GGverse Hannibal served a still-living Queen Dido, he could have brought it from Carthage, possibly as a way to quickly transport elephants into Italy. In fact, that's what broke it - it was fine for transporting troops, but elephants were too much for the poor thing.

EDIT: Simultaneous posts.



The back story seems to be that the mirrors traveled between the Queen's nations - in fact, possibly right into the palaces. The Geisters viewed Lucrezia as a queen, so possibly there was a mirror in the Giester domain.

I think we need to resolve the Baron-in-Gil's-head before we leave England. The question is whether or not Albia will try to put herself in when Klaus comes out, obviously via subtle sneaky ways. I don't expect Agatha to get rid of Lucrezia very easily, it's too central to the plot.

Open plot items:

1. Mechanicsburg
2. Muse of Time
3. Agatha and Gil's parental controls
4. Tweedle's attempts on Tarvek's life
5. Dr. Dim and Krosp
6. Zola and Grandmother
7. The Other Who Isn't in Zola's Head
8. The Lantern

Meta-logic-wise, I think we'll see a solution to 3(b) and 5 before leaving England, and some progress on (1) and (8), and maybe (2) as a side effect. It's possible they'll have to leave England to pursue the Lantern.

Elephants? You fool! Clearly those were mutated elephant-squid constructs! Why have one trunk when you can have many!

[Rogar Demonblud]

Yeah, common elephants are a bit tame for Sparks.

Maybe they tried to make constructs that resemble Ganesh?

[Calemyr]

The back story seems to be that the mirrors traveled between the Queen's nations - in fact, possibly right into the palaces. The Geisters viewed Lucrezia as a queen, so possibly there was a mirror in the Giester domain.

Well, that's the thing, isn't it? The Mirrors were used by the queens, until they suddenly stopped working. Picture, if you will: a neutral ground for immortal queens nigh onto goddesses, and a race of attendants that served and perhaps worshiped them. Mirrors stop working, and the attendants are left alone for several generations. Without their queens, culture evolves as it always does. The stories of one generation morph in the telling of another. All the god queens shift in the public perception into one goddess with many faces. Then someone finds a mirror that works - someone with all the haughty confidence of a queen and the arrogance of a goddess. Yay, the goddess is back.

I'll admit, I also think it's possible that their goddess is the Muse of Time, but a generation-warped mythology of the great queens strikes me as quite viable as well.

But here are the details I'm using to inform my theory:
1) The queens, before the fall of the Mirrors were undying. After all, they dwindled away to accident and warfare until only Albia is left.
2) The world behind the Windows has a Geister on friendly terms with Agatha and Gil decked out in Geister-style garb.
3) The Geisters we know were explicitly kicked out of their Haven and can't get back. They were also able to bring the beacon with them, albeit in pieces.
4) The Geisters are explicitly stated to have gone a long time between losing their "goddess" and meeting Lucrezia.

Those are the main points, anyway. Honestly, I'd like any version of the story that just got that hanging plot point taken care of ASAP so I don't have to watch waiting for the shoe to drop anymore.

[Fyraltari]

I like you idea about Team Agatha departing England via Mirror - there's been too much mirror build up for them to not enter the plot in a major way.

More major than this?

[Shining Wrath]

More major than this?

Yes - because the Major's very favorite piece of Museum equipment being a Mirror that he put together himself (point of order: evidence that the Major is at least a minor Spark?) is a very big coincidence if that mirror is not used. Chekov's Mirror, is hanging. We had several pages of discussion of the mirror by two of the most powerful Sparks in the strip.

Also, why is Albia not interested in this mirror? Because it was broken?

Or because she put it there precisely to interest Gil?

Conversely, maybe Martellus will come through the mirror from the other direction and do Dastardly Things. And, possibly, finally overplay his hand and wind up dead. If he tries to name himself Storm King in England Albia may be less tolerant than Colette was.

[DeTess]

More major than this?

That was pretty major, but it happened before all of the current build-up, so that checkov's gun is at least a two-barrel shotgun.

[Fyraltari]

Oh I'm sure someone will go through that mirror at some point. I just don't think it will result in another big change of status quo.

[SZbNAhL]

Conversely, maybe Martellus will come through the mirror from the other direction and do Dastardly Things. And, possibly, finally overplay his hand and wind up dead. If he tries to name himself Storm King in England Albia may be less tolerant than Colette was.

Considering that his own mirror was destroyed, that would imply that he either found yet another incredibly rare ancient artifact or built one himself, neither of which seem likely. If a threat comes through the mirror, I would expect it to be either Geisterdamen or Skiffandrians (who either recognise Gil and try to kill him, or recognise Zeetha and want her dead to cement a recent coup against her mother).

[Manga Shoggoth]

So that I can achieve one useful thing today: New Thread.