Discussion for comic for 2009-09-18 (Friday) ✣ .
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"Teufel"? Heh. Not subtle at all, I see. I'm wondering how long we have to wait for the explanation to panel 10. (Bah, bloody Wiki keeps signing me out while editing.) -- Elle 04:38, September 18, 2009 (UTC)
- Panel 10. Gil and incognito bodyguard Bang. --Rej
- I meant the fun one that will undoubtedly involve incredulity, turning the color of over-ripe tomatoes, screaming, possible projectiles being thrown, death threats and/or explosions, perhaps claims of being made ill by the very idea, and/or broken brained speechlessness/stuttering/requests for the brain bleach. Oh, and I'd like to see what Bang has to say too ^_^ -- Elle 05:49, September 18, 2009 (UTC)
- You have a very overactive imagination, me thinks. --Rej 07:06, September 18, 2009 (UTC)
- Not in the least. I'd say that judging by past responses, stuttering like an idiot and/or homicidal rage will be Gil's reaction. It's been a while since he's had a really good freakout session. Too long, really. -- 75.223.185.72 13:40, September 18, 2009 (UTC)
- I like Kaja's Description of that panel "Gil in Tarvek-o-vision" (a la the GG LJ Account's page of icons). Pretty much guarantees to be off from "reality" :) -- Axi 14:13, September 18, 2009 (UTC)
- Not in the least. I'd say that judging by past responses, stuttering like an idiot and/or homicidal rage will be Gil's reaction. It's been a while since he's had a really good freakout session. Too long, really. -- 75.223.185.72 13:40, September 18, 2009 (UTC)
- You have a very overactive imagination, me thinks. --Rej 07:06, September 18, 2009 (UTC)
- I meant the fun one that will undoubtedly involve incredulity, turning the color of over-ripe tomatoes, screaming, possible projectiles being thrown, death threats and/or explosions, perhaps claims of being made ill by the very idea, and/or broken brained speechlessness/stuttering/requests for the brain bleach. Oh, and I'd like to see what Bang has to say too ^_^ -- Elle 05:49, September 18, 2009 (UTC)
I wonder if Agatha is even listening to this story? Violetta and Moloch seem to be hanging on every word, but we've seen no reaction from Agatha thus far, and she is rather busy at the moment. It would be fitting if Tarvek's long-winded recitation of the unfairness of his life goes completely unnoticed by her as she hovers fretfully over Gil, waiting for the lightning to turn back on. Nekokami 07:27, September 18, 2009 (UTC)
"...the only way to keep my family in line would be to bury them in a row..." :-D True, though. -Sir Chaos 10:03, September 18, 2009 (UTC)
- How true is it as the family was hale and health untill a month or two ago? I can hardly wait for Gil's side of the story.
- Few days ago, actually. Well, "Hale and healthy" might be questionable for Anevka's position at the time, but she was in trouble for a few years before that.
- Anyhow, as they spent the time up until then conspiring variously to restore the Storm King and/or the Other, I think Tarvek's kinda got that part nailed. -- PersephoneKore 13:16, September 18, 2009 (UTC)
I think Agatha is probably busy hooking Gil's lighting weapon and/or the Heterodyne battery up to the lightning generator to get things working again. Can't waste this time listening to a story. AmariT 13:05, September 18, 2009 (UTC)
- Agatha is a smart girl, presumably smart enough to realize that although Gil may have told her to mind her own business way too many times, he's never lied to her... unlike Tarvek, who would rather tell the most obvious whoppers than be so gauche as to cut anyone off like that.
- I'm guessing that, while she works on the machine, she's also committing to memory everything Tarvek says, and will discuss it with Gil for cross-referencing purposes before she accepts any of it as anything other than a self-serving fairy tale Tarvek is trying to spin. Unfortunately, the parts where Gil clams up will be parts that she'll probably assume Tarvek is being as close to truthful as he ever is, which will eventually lead to even more misunderstandings and general hilarity.
- I'm going to go out on yet another limb and guess that, although she'll confess her love for Gil, she's going to end up marrying Tarvek and bearing his children for political reasons. It's already been heavily hinted that her primary motivation in all this is keeping her friends and loved ones from dying, and it probably wouldn't be hard for Tarvek (working in secret with Lunevka and her ability to drive villages to homicidal/suicidal behavior with secret wasp infections) to convince her, using emotions and suggestions rather than testable facts, that the people of Europa will never stop killing and dying until she fulfils her destiny as the Heterodyne Heir in the Storm King Opera. --Tatter D 21:19, September 18, 2009 (UTC)
- So, I take it you're not optimistic about all the setup for Gil to be recognized as the Storm King instead? -- PersephoneKore 21:21, September 18, 2009 (UTC)
- Not really, no. Recognition as the Storm King hinges on the proclamation of the Fifty Families, and they probably have an even dimmer view of the Pax Wulfenbach than Tarvek ("His illegitimate reign won't last a minute after he's gone!"). Even a resurrected Tarvek would be preferable to a commoner like Gil, no matter how many armies of war clanks he blows away.
- The story seems to be heading into a familiar theme replayed since "The Prince and the Pauper," highlighting the differences between the commoners who take care of the dirty jobs necessary for civilization to survive, but are hideously unpopular because of the ugly jobs they have to do; and the nobles whose only skill is weaving illusions of nobility and codes of honor they regularly (but secretly) flout, and win the hearts and souls of everyone (even the commoners) by never stooping to such disgusting things the ordinary folk do to survive. Both are required for a civilization to function, but there is an unending friction between the two, which makes for an unending fountain of dramatic stories to tell. --Tatter D 21:40, September 18, 2009 (UTC)
- The critical difference is that, though Tarvek is a liar and only competant at aiding villains, he always has an excuse for whenever he gets caught that paints himself in a favorable, if clownish and/or cowardly, light. Gil, on the other hand, has extraordinary skill and can actually get things done, and while people respect him for that, they will never love him, only fear and envy him, and the fact that he'd rather scare people off than misdirect them with a lie works against him even more.
- Tarvek can rule Europa through popular support, while Gil can only rule it through fear. If Agatha is as smart as she seems to be, she will consider this as well. --66.190.120.90 23:46, September 21, 2009 (UTC)
- The Knights of Jove think recognition as the Storm King depends partly on acknowledgement by the Fifty Families as Andronicus Valois's heir. Apparently they were also going for more popular acclaim as well, however, by setting up the whole scheme to "fulfill the prophecy." But while Andronicus Valois was presumably hereditary royalty (given the name), the Storm King title itself seems to have been a new thing, quite likely (given some other clues) related to some particularly impressive Sparky weaponry.
- While heredity (both genetic and the effects of your predecessors' actions) is certainly a major part of the story, I think perhaps you're underestimating the effect of the Spark in political practice. As an example, recall Sleipnir's explanation of Zulenna's grumpiness: "...the important thing is the Spark. Zulenna's family is just royalty." Sure, this may be influenced by growing up on the Baron's airship, and the royal families (Sparky or not) might not care for it -- but it's still there. For that matter, the Fifty Families' power itself is different primarily in age, not origin.
- Also, I would be utterly astonished if this story had Agatha manipulated into marriage. -- PersephoneKore 23:04, September 18, 2009 (UTC)
- I think that Tarvek is supposed to be the Storm King, according to the Knights (and the suitable heir ✣ that Lucrezia used her Mongfish science to provide) but that it will be Gil who manages to become the REAL Storm King (hence his lightning motif). CaptMorgan 00:57, September 20, 2009 (UTC)
I keep thinking this is going to be the point where Othar changes history. After all, in the Twitter future, he learns that Gil died in the castle (sure, he may not have died at this point, but it seems like a logical time he would have considering how much they built up how dangerous this procedure is and the fact that it just went wrong). Of course, he is trying to kill pretty much everyone involved, so he also probably isn't going to run in and purposefully save the day. AmariT 02:24, September 19, 2009 (UTC)
- Of course he would. He's a hero. --Rej¿¤¤? 02:24, September 19, 2009 (UTC)
- Only when it involves non-sparks. Sparks are the enemy and must die. What makes you think he'd try to save either Gil or Tarvek? AmariT 23:40, September 19, 2009 (UTC)
His mission could be anything. 1) Kill Agatha 2) (Re)Capture Agatha 3) Kill Tarvek 4) (Re)Capture Tarvek 5) Retrieve Gil 6) Retrieve one or more important prisoners (those with important knowledge) 7) Kill said prisoner(s) to prevent Agatha/The Other/the conspiracy from using them If he found out about the plan to shut down the Castle: 8) Destroy the Castle (using the Castle-killer machine) 9) Prevent destruction of the Castle 10) any combination of the above -Sir Chaos 17:06, September 20, 2009 (UTC)
- I'm not taking it for granted that Othar is in the castle. If he had already entered, wouldn't the castle have told Agatha? He might have been sent to Mama Gika's or following the Geisterdamen, or somewhere else entirely. Brrokk 20.133.0.13 07:47, September 21, 2009 (UTC)
- the castle is not completely functional yet and currently busy with system diagnosis to boot. so we can't rule out that othar is already inside. Finn MacCool 12:17, September 21, 2009 (UTC)