Quote Originally Posted by HandofShadows View Post
Think you hit the nail right on the head. And we have already seen something that can be used as one of there power sources as well. The Dyne under Der Kastel. It would seem that the God Queens need to "refuel" their powers from time to time from a outside power source. I hope that Albia has hers VERY well protected. That line about the "flame wanes" does not sound good.

This also makes me wonder about the origin the spark. Might these power sources also have something to do with that?
Between the extra-dimensional forces showing up and other things, I wonder if the Second Breakthrough enables you to tap into power from some other dimension or "not our time" perception. Perhaps that's why the God-Queens are immortal; they don't age like normal humans or Sparks since they have a tie to a non-linear timeline.

Part of this also reminds me to one possible explanation for powers in the fan-made Genius: the Transgression game. PCs in it are basically Sparks, although the idea is that their powers are lies, not actual science, and it's only their insanity that lets the superscience work. And some hints that it might be something alien to our reality that enables PCs and similarly-powered to change reality to function to alien rules. I wonder if all Sparks are tapping into some extra-dimensional force that enables them to 'see' things needed for super-science.

I doubt we'll find out that Spark-made stuff isn't based on real science. That seems contrary to the whole setting of Girl Genius. But the idea that there's some extra-dimensional thing that Sparks tap into for power sorta makes sense. Or, perhaps, the Breakthrough is an alteration to a person that enables them to glimpse insights from that other reality. A Second Breakthrough enables one to see more clearly and draw power directly from the extra-dimensional source.

Anyway, that's a theory.