Forum:2009-05-18 (Monday)

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Discussion for comic for 2009-05-18 (Monday) ✣ .

Merlot may not be a spark, but he's definitely a mad scientist. Emphasis on "mad" as in "gone completely fruitloops"! --NoSanninWa 05:02, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

Yes... I do think its safe to say ther the good professor has some anger management problems. Maybe a nice cup of coffee? -- Donovan Ravenhull 05:24, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

Only if it is decaffinated!! --NoSanninWa 06:51, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

Hmmm... need to do an experiment... give a person a cup of Spark Roast coffee... then smack them with a properly formalated calming pie... must make sure test subject is somebody I won't miss... -- Donovan Ravenhull 08:28, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

I agree that Merlot has the mad part of the qualifications for sparkhood down pat. I mean, even assuming for a second that the Baron hadn't made sure of an alternate source of information about what went on in Beetleburg, and further assuming that he wouldn't become suspicious and take steps to investigate, how did Merlot expect him to react to the crimes Merlot commited to cover up his inadvertent mistake?

Talking about idiot plots, how was Merlot able to commit those crimes in the first place? Did Klaus actually withdraw all his troops from Beetleburg? Without even reprogramming the Watchmen to be loyal to him rather than Merlot? Not up the the Baron's usual standards of forethought and paranoia. Rancke 11:11, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

You know, that's an interesting thought... [ponders]. Merlot, however, was put in charge of Beetleburg; having what was left of The Watch et al only take orders from someone who was not there would not be at all practical. Human troops would have been instructed what areas he could access (well, everywhere - he's the new Tyrant) ...and paper does burn awfully well. The Baron gave him a chance to make up for his petty betrayal; it was, sadly, a very expensive chance but these things cannot always be predicted. -- Corgi 16:47, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

The Baron told Bang early in Vol. 6 that he decrypted Beetle´s notes, getting the same information Merlot now has - meaning Merlot was not successful in destroying them. Klaus must have had copies made and have them brought onto the Castle before he left. Which means the cryptographers he left in Beetleburg were nothing but a test of Merlot´s loyalty (or obedience) - cold-blooded, but that´s Klaus Wulfenbach for you. Of course, in hindsight it´s perfectly obvious he didn´t trust Merlot - Merlot had betrayed Beetle (twice - revealing the hive engine and then "defecting" after Beetle´s death), so he might betray the Baron as well.

I wonder what Merlot was thinking, trying to deceive the Baron, when not even Beetle had been able to get away with that? He was in way over his head. -Sir Chaos 18:57, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

I would be more inclined to think that Merlot ended up being the Baron's fall guy for destroying Beetle's notes (after his cryptographers crack them and send him a copy of their results before informing Merlot), considering how the revelation about the Baron contained within was so potentially explosive that he wouldn't even share it with Bang (though he did share that it exists). Best of all, Wulfenbach didn't have to raise a finger to both get the notes cracked and then have all copies (and the cryptographers) destroyed, to ensure he alone had the only possible copy of the information... just put the cowardly, treacherous, and high-strung Merlot in charge of it all, dangle the threat of being sent to Castle Heterodyne over his head, and everything just takes care of itself, with even Merlot thinking the whole thing was his idea.

Knows the right monster for the job, indeed. --Tatter D 20:45, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

[stares at Chaos] Sure, a team of valuable resources left as a test of loyalty or obedience, because there couldn't possibly be more work to do, and everybody knows cryptographers are just so tempting.... I would ask 'what are you on?', but that would be rude. Your last statement, however, is very well put. -- Corgi 02:37, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

Why would we not believe what the character just said on this page? He said "I did x, y, z..." so how does that make it a conspiracy on the part of the Baron? Do you work for the 50 Families or somethin'? --72.210.64.73 01:25, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

What Mnenyver said. How stupid do you think Klaus is? He doesn't waste people like top cryptographers. If he wanted to keep them quiet, there were much more efficient ways of doing that than hoping a weaselly-minded git like Merlot would snap in the right direction. Did somebody put something in the Wikia's water this week?

Also, please note: 'The right monster for the job' has always been the Baron first. He's never had any illusions about what he is or what he has to do, he merely does not put as much importance on perceptions of personhood and social position as those who oppose him. -- Corgi 02:37, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

I guess it depends on whether you would rather believe the Baron is an idiot who would put an unreliable traitor like Merlot in charge of such an important project and not even guess he would be capable of such destruction, or a ruthless despot not afraid of arranging the death of an elite crypto team if the stakes are high enough.

Or, perhaps, it's another case of the Baron's plans getting away from him. He might have assumed the crypto team's skills would exceeed Merlot's, and they would easily dispatch him once he went off the deep end. But Beetle had an awful lot of time to study Agatha and her spark suppressor, and it might have given him the idea to dabble in some spark-suppression experiments of his own... --Tatter D 15:13, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

Merlot was Beetle's second-in-command at the University for years; he was good at it, if unpleasant. The threat of the Castle has certainly kept many from stepping over the line, but Merlot panicking that badly and having a complete mental breakdown was not predictable without having treated him as a patient (or lab subject) first. Consider there were also the bureaucratic staff for the town, and the rest of TPU's admin structure which should have provided some sort of check-and-balance... for a sane administrator. The Baron is trying to find the seat of madness tied to the Spark - I imagine treatment can extend into the rest of the population as an additional benefit once the hard part's done.

I really doubt the crypto team were there to do anything except their designated jobs. They weren't ninja. -- Corgi 15:27, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

The man already betrayed his mentor, his histrionics rendered Beetle unsalvagable right in front of the Baron, and still there was no way the Baron could have the slightest idea Merlot's reaction to a setback would usually default to "burn everything?" That's stupidity on the order of announcing that Tarvek can't have claimed to be the Storm King unless he already had a signed statement from the UN backing him. Perhaps the Baron would have chosen not to believe Merlot capable of such betrayal without a full psychological evaluation with Dr. Sun's personal endorsement, and a note from his mommy as well, but that would make him not only a fool, but an indecisive fool as well... and if the Baron has shown any great faults so far, it's in being too decisive, not too hesitant. --Tatter D 17:44, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

Uh- whuh? I read the comic to see how the Baron behaves; I don't blow hashish-dream second-guess WATs about how I say the Baron should act. --24.116.66.167 00:52, 20 May 2009 (UTC)Cerrberus

Feel free to read the comic, then, and skip the wikia. Nobody's making you read our fanspew. --Tatter D 01:44, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

The KDL go everywhere they're needed. -- Corgi 00:21, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

Why should we assume that Merlot is an accurate reporter? He says he burned the cryptographers. They may well have escaped. He probably did burn a copy of the notes and the labs and the hall of records, but I think Klaus may have thought that was a rather good idea, actually. Or perhaps he did go further than Klaus had expected, but probably not by a lot. One thing to remember is that when Klaus left him in charge, he didn't yet know Agatha's identity. He learned that later. And that was what triggered a lot of Merlot's final leap over the edge into insanity. Nekokami 12:06, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

Why would destroying all that be a good idea? Those weren't just Beetle's records, those were town and/or university records. Births, deaths, marriages, grades.... My point is, how could Merlot's actions have been predicted by anybody who was not his personal psychotherapist? Beetle was his Master, and he didn't even see the betrayal coming. -- Corgi 00:21, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

I wish this were on a regular forum, so that threads could be closed (or at least threatened with closing). But they're not, so I will just have to content myself with asking nicely: please keep debates in these forums polite. Sometimes it's just better to let something go. (I say this, knowing I'm often just as guilty of getting really fired up about things, so...) And everyone is entitled to an opinion, even opinions that one may think are horribly and utterly wrong. -- mnenyver 02:24, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

Merlot, never particularly bright, seems to have cracked and done some irrational things (e.g., burning the cryptographers, not realizing that the Baron had received copies of some or all of Beetle's notes). It would appear that the Baron made a mistake giving Merlot charge of Beetleburg, but given the Baron's distaste for administration, such mistakes are probably not all that uncommon. It's not as if Merlot had demonstrated that he was that unpredictable back in volume I. Plus, the Baron had already taken the dangerous stuff out of Beetleburg (namely the hive engine). I find the Baron's appointment of Merlot and subsequent punishment of Merlot to be perfectly in Klaus's character. I don't expect even the best of Sparks to avoid making mistakes when it comes to people. And, Klaus has the hardest people-management job of anyone. --DryBrook 18:44, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

Not that I'm necessarily on the page that Merlot had his break through, but here ✣ Wooster indicates that it is possible for a spark to break through even later than their teens. I'm not voting one way or the other--just fanning any leftover flames ;) --Axisor 01:37, 25 May 2009 (UTC)