Girl Genius!

[Dorizzit]

Ah.

...

Wait, what's that have to do with Jaegers?

[sihnfahl]

PS - I'm predicting Tesla Towers for Gil's super-weapon. Somewhere I've heard Sci-Fi folks describe ionized air / big magnetic fields as "greasy."

I suppose the superweapon could just be a dumb ol' EMP generator, but that'd be boring!

Well, he WAS working on a lightning generator; he only had problems with the recharge rate. He's probably ... fixed that problem by now.

[Porthos]

Ah.

...

Wait, what's that have to do with Jaegers?

In the SCA, if someone has been hit with a lethal blow, they are supposed to acknowledge it and fall down. Instead they might act like it was only a "slight wound". (Rhino Hiding, btw, is a pretty serious accusation/slur. )

In the GG comic, Oggie was accusing Dimo of trying to hide a (potentially) fatal wound. So instead of saying, "Hey.... You're not dying on me, tough guy, and not telling anyone, are you?" the Foglios had a slight wink-an-a-nod to it's audience by having Oggie use a SCA term instead. Yeah, it was somewhat obsucre.... what what "in-jokes" aren't?

Anyway, in both cases someone is wondering if the other person is lethally damaged with out telling anyone. Of course, like most jokes, if you have to explain it, it probably loses a little something in the explanation.

Still, if you are really wondering why the jagers would use a modern day term in "their" universe, just think of it as a very minor breech of the fourth wall.

[Dorizzit]

Oh, I see. Sort of...

[Lord Iames Osari]

hehehe... Psst, Agatha, your affection is showing.

Also, Wooster's reaction is priceless.

[Atheist_Cleric]

Haha even after being exposed as a spy he's still loyal to Gil...how quaint. And as for Agatha...the blush is cute, but that grin in the last panel is a little creepy.

[Dorizzit]

That's kind of the point of being a heterodyne....

[sihnfahl]

Haha even after being exposed as a spy he's still loyal to Gil...how quaint.

Well, it makes sense. Gil is a rather strong spark (more powerful than Dear Old Dad), and Wooster's Minion Material. When Gil went all Sparky on Wooster, well... heh. Cemented.

And as for Agatha...the blush is cute, but that grin in the last panel is a little creepy.

More like 'kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar'.

[Improbable]

"Any sufficiently mad science is indistinguishable from magic."

Corollary:
Any science which is distinguishable from magic is insufficiently mad.

[Nerd-o-rama]

So, I started this comic today and got to the beginning of volume 4 (after every single plot thread came together in one scene, and yet it worked). I haven't read earlier in this thread for fear of massive spoilers, but I will catch up tomorrow assuming work is slow, and contribute.

Anyway, Agatha is adorable (in an immensely capable way), the Wulfenbachs are both awesome, the Jagers are the best mooks ever, replacing the Venture Bros. henchmen, and...just the whole concept of the series is perfect for me. Steampunk, mad science, pulp adventure! Excuse me while I squee like a fanboy.

Also, it has always been my dream to live in an enormous zeppelin, constantly moving from place to place. Finally, I have found a man insane enough to have shared that idea. Thanks, Foglios!

[Occasional Sage]

...just the whole concept of the series is perfect for me. Steampunk, mad science, pulp adventure! Excuse me while I squee like a fanboy. Thanks, Foglios!

Frankly, anybody who doesn't squee like a fanbeing needs to be locked up for the betterment of society.

Or is that too Klaus-esque?

[Dorizzit]

-----------------------Occasional Sage:

--------------------------Klaus ITP.

[UncleWolf]

I have a theory. Maybe Agatha was a twin.
It would explain a lot.

and the Bulbs on the rooftop may be there to activate a sheild.

[Oracle_Hunter]

I have a theory. Maybe Agatha was a twin.
It would explain a lot.

and the Bulbs on the rooftop may be there to activate a sheild.

My theory is that Agatha is her own grandma - so far unmatched in sheer lunacy (and possible operation!). You'll need to get much crazier than that!

But a shield? That doesn't zap nearly enough for Gil - and Agatha would be very disappointed if the big shiny bulb didn't zap.

Not to mention the rest of us.

[sihnfahl]

But a shield? That doesn't zap nearly enough for Gil - and Agatha would be very disappointed if the big shiny bulb didn't zap. Not to mention the rest of us.

But what if that 'shield zap' caused all the war clanks to ignore the instructions being given to them by their human controllers, and have them quite merrily begin blasting each other apart?

[Occasional Sage]

I have a theory. Maybe Agatha was a twin.
It would explain a lot.

What would that explain? I'm not seeing plot holes in need of plugging.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Alright, caught up now. Perhaps Gil's device is a directed EMP? He seems to have some unnatural aversion to death rays, so I'm not sure it'd be a Tesla cannon.

Let's see...so far my favorite character is...everyone. Even boring people like Boris still have something amusing going for them.

So just to keep track...marking spoilers for newcomers like myself.

Spoiler

Show

There are two "Lucrezias"...one in the princess clank in Sturmhalten and one possessing Agatha, that's currently being suppressed by that anti-Spark amulet thingy. Lucrezia is also apparently "the Other", and manages to confuse Klaus enough that he thinks Agatha's her all the time and therefore the Other.

Or, the Other could be a great big biomechanical dragon from Mars. Weirder things have happened.

I wonder though...since Lucrezia-the-Other can possess Agatha, couldn't Lucrezia herself have been possessed? I mean, if that's really Lucrezia in Agatha, she takes the award for Worst Mom Ever from its previous holder of "Amy's Mom from Buffy".

[chionophile]

I'm not gonna bother spoilering this - Lucrezia has been confirmed to be the other on the cast pages as well. I don't think it's really up for debate any more. Of course, there's more to it than that; Klaus said at one point that the Other's creations were more advanced than anything Lucrezia had ever made.

Klaus is convinced Agatha is the Other because Agatha was being possessed by Lucrezia at the time. So Agatha was the Other when she last spoke to Klaus one-on-one.

[Gez]

Spoiler

Show

I wonder though...since Lucrezia-the-Other can possess Agatha, couldn't Lucrezia herself have been possessed? I mean, if that's really Lucrezia in Agatha, she takes the award for Worst Mom Ever from its previous holder of "Amy's Mom from Buffy".

This is possible, but apparently the possession engine could only work on Lucrezia's child... Is it a question of bloodline; and if so, which is the required one, the Mongfish or the Heterodyne bloodline?

[Nerd-o-rama]

Well yes, clearly, Lucrezia and the Other are for most purposes one and the same. I get that. It's just...I'm not sure if I buy "Lucrezia Mongfish, mortal Spark" as this hive-mind controlling, cult-having, civilization-even-further-collapsing Other. Some sort of alien presence that possessed Lucrezia for most of her life and is now possessing her daughter and a robot makes more sense to me.

Another mystery is "where did Klaus go?" and by the same token, "who's Gil's mother?" I will be quite upset if it's Lucrezia, for reasons I hope are apparent (especially since Agatha's back down to one love interest at the moment). Someone from Skifander, maybe? Klaus has obviously been there.

[Tirian]

I'm not gonna bother spoilering this - Lucrezia has been confirmed to be the other on the cast pages as well. I don't think it's really up for debate any more. Of course, there's more to it than that; Klaus said at one point that the Other's creations were more advanced than anything Lucrezia had ever made.

The cast page says that Lucrezia is The Other, but it also has separate entries for the two. So things aren't so simple even when they are spelled out in black and white.

[Lord Iames Osari]

Well yes, clearly, Lucrezia and the Other are for most purposes one and the same. I get that. It's just...I'm not sure if I buy "Lucrezia Mongfish, mortal Spark" as this hive-mind controlling, cult-having, civilization-even-further-collapsing Other. Some sort of alien presence that possessed Lucrezia for most of her life and is now possessing her daughter and a robot makes more sense to me.

Another mystery is "where did Klaus go?" and by the same token, "who's Gil's mother?" I will be quite upset if it's Lucrezia, for reasons I hope are apparent (especially since Agatha's back down to one love interest at the moment). Someone from Skifander, maybe? Klaus has obviously been there.

The Skifander connection is one of the most popular theories I've heard. It could also explain why Klaus fears that Zeetha is after Gil.

[sihnfahl]

Another mystery is "where did Klaus go?" and by the same token, "who's Gil's mother?" I will be quite upset if it's Lucrezia, for reasons I hope are apparent (especially since Agatha's back down to one love interest at the moment). Someone from Skifander, maybe? Klaus has obviously been there.

Well, I'm leaning to the theory that Gil's mom is from Skifander.

Klaus has obviously been there (he speaks the language fluently, so he was there a number of years) and he believes that Zeetha is there to kill Gil for some reason; Klaus never mentions that his own life is in danger.

Since Klaus returned to Europa when Gil was just a kid, then a plausible scenario is that the circumstances around Gil's birth makes him an 'unwanted' child.

[TigerHunter]

The Skifander connection is one of the most popular theories I've heard. It could also explain why Klaus fears that Zeetha is after Gil.

"I haven't seen my wife in years."

That theory would certainly explain why she's not on board the Castle with the rest of her family.

[Lord Iames Osari]

This has all been discussed before.

The most prevalent theory on the Yahoo discussion group seems to be that when Klaus disappeared, he went to Skifander, where he hooked up with some local chick (possibly a bigwig), with Gil resulting. He then left Skifander, taking Gil with him, and he expects Zeetha to be an assassin sent to kill Gill for reasons that I can't quite recall. Something to do with Skifander being a (presumably) matriarchal society.

Seems fairly reasonable. I'd agree that, while being vanished, Klaus spent some time in Skifander. I think that Klaus actually found a wife in Skifander, explaining his long disappearance, why he hasn't seen his wife in years, and why he was carrying an infant Gil when he rejoined Europe.

As to assassins - well, since the Skifander are probably a Warrior Race, I'd wager that Klaus left Skifander because he had heard of the Wasp Wars and wanted to see what happened. His abrupt appearance may have brought down the wrath of his wife, who wants her child back or dead. Alternatively, said culture may have forbidden such a pairing, and Klaus fled to protect the fruit of the union.

Of course, all of this is Wild Mass Guessing but I wouldn't be surprised to find it (or something like it) to be the case.

EDIT: Well, looks like this theory is supported by the Wisdom of Crowds too!

[Lord Iames Osari]

Is it just me, or does Rudolf Selnikov's little crest on his hat look like the stylized Lucrezia-holding-baby statue that our heroes found under Sturmhalten?

[chionophile]

"Shoot him"!? Does he really think shooting at Gilgamesh Wulfenbach is going to help him? Egad, Gil is going to slaughter these guys. I can't wait. Poor fools.

[Gez]

It's just like the Inverse Law of Ninja: a whole Clank army is no match against a single Spark.

[Occasional Sage]

It's just like the Inverse Law of Ninja: a whole Clank army is no match against a single Spark.

What if the just ignore him and march on? It'll spoil his dramatic moment and maybe not trigger whatever uber-ass-whooping plan he has in store. Plus, his reaction would be funny.

[sihnfahl]

What if the just ignore him and march on? It'll spoil his dramatic moment and maybe not trigger whatever uber-ass-whooping plan he has in store. Plus, his reaction would be funny.

They can't ignore him. He's the son of the Baron Wulfenbach. Both are STRONG sparks. You ignore sparks who give you an ultimatum at your peril.