Forum:Is Merlot a Spark?

Ok so, I have a theory.

First, the facts:
 * the Baron has said that not even he has a sure test for the Spark.
 * Wooster said that most Sparks break though in their teens - or later.
 * The Spark page has the quote from the Foglios: Sparks are "[p]eople who seem to have the ability to tinker with the laws of physics as we know them. They are brilliant, focused, and often impatient with those whose thoughts don't run with the speed or in the direction of their own. Because of this, some of those thoughts have veered off in truly alarming directions. This makes them dangerous [and] shortsighted..."
 * Gil broke through at age 8, Agatha at age 5. Both are very, very powerful Sparks.
 * Madness is a mark of Sparkiness.

So here's my extrapolation from this. Gil and Agatha broke through very early, even though Agatha was subsequently stopped by her locket. Both are powerful Sparks. The natural conclusion, based on how early they break through and Wooster's comment, is that a Spark breaks though earlier depending on how powerful they are. The flip side of this, obviously enough, is that the weaker you are, the later you break though.

The breakthrough is apparently triggered by strong emotions. I theorise that, if you are a powerful Spark, it doesn't take as much to trigger it - hence why powerful Sparks break through early. The flip side of this theory is that a weaker Spark needs a more intense emotional response to break through.

We don't know how old Merlot is, unfortunately. He doesn't look all that old - I'd guess middle-aged. His life up to the events surrounding Beetle's death doesn't appear to be all that traumatic. After those events and due to his own mistakes, he's lost his position at the university and ended up in a castle death trap surrounded by criminals.

So my idea is this: Merlot is actually a Spark, but a very, very weak one. He certainly fits the description of one - I mean, chalk into cheese? That's almost as insane as a calming pie. I think his going completely snooker loopy has finally caused him to break through. From this comic you can see he's talking in Sparky speech bubbles, but he's also talking like a bona fide mad scientist. He's been hidden like Agatha was up to this point because, as the Baron says, there's no real test for Sparkiness - other than breaking through and becoming a Spark!

His clank looks to be a pretty simple thing in comparison to what Agatha or Gil could make, and I think he just cobbled it together out of bits lying about in the castle - so obviously there's a Heterodyne symbol on it. We know Sparks can co-opt other Sparky machines bits to make new things - see Agatha's Othar-Rescuing machine - so it's not impossible for him to do this. It kinda reminds me of Dr. Robotnik, though. 84.203.168.206 13:13, 25 May 2009 (UTC)