Gunnerkrigg Court 8: Thrown for a Loup

[sihnfahl]

Somewhere in England I believe.

You would be correct.

[Yuki Akuma]

You would be correct.

That says 'United Kingdom', not 'England'.

I've been under the impression that the Court was actually in Scotland, but I don't recall where I got that idea from.

[sihnfahl]

I've been under the impression that the Court was actually in Scotland, but I don't recall where I got that idea from.

Probably because the Annan Waters are a reference to the Annan River in Scotland.

[Shadow of the Sun]

...well that's sinister.

[JavaScribe]

Just the lightning would be kinda cool, even if I'd feel uneasy about embedding a prototype, hackable, magnetic piece of metal into my brain. But are the black eyes strictly necessary?

Kat is going to go well beyond transhumanity, and replace it entirely isn't she.

[Vinyadan]

She has her mother's eyes!

[sihnfahl]

Oh dear, Kat. Best stop now before going any further down that path. That way lies madness.

And bad clothing. Come on, you know every 'creative spark' scientist is absolute rubbish at looking decent!

[wingnutx]

She is in the madness place.

[wingnutx]

I Coyote is powered by belief, then I wonder what Kat gets from the robots' belief and worship.

[smuchmuch]

Someone is starting to defintively show "Dead goose in a bush near a lake" syndrom bad.

I Coyote is powered by belief, then I wonder what Kat gets from the robots' belief and worship.

That definitively seems to be the leading hypotesis as to how Kat is/will become the "Angel" and the thing that Anne and Paz have seen a few time in Ether innit ? Especialy now that with the "new people", the robots are closer to human than ever, why wouldn't they be able to influence the ether more than ever ?

[WanderingMist]

1) The Norns are explicitly Not Kat, they say as much that they're not neccessarily "Here is what Kat will look like in the future"

That's not what the person you're replying to meant. The Norns told Kat that she'd been there before, when the meeting we see in the comic is Kat's first meeting with them, so she has to have visited them at some point in the future for her.

[eee]

Canoodling takes time, Kat.

[137beth]

I think Annie suspects that this guy is actually Loup.

[Ionathus]

This is such a wacky scene. I love how these two are going about warning Kat & Annie in this roundabout way about Robot. I love that Jerrek is indignant about Robot making a deal with "a monster" when that monster was himself, and he knows it, but it's "the principle of the thing."

I'm just really enjoying the problem-solving process and logic of these "new people" and the seeming earnestness of Loup-turned-Jerrek. Loup as a character was never very interesting to me but I'm now quite intrigued what's going to happen with him.

Robot, meanwhile, has had a villain/antihero/antagonist arc brewing for a long time. I'm very interested to see how this all shakes out. Hopefully we can see some major revelations or another shakeup in the dynamic...feels like our holding pattern before the finale is drawing to a close, maybe?

[WanderingMist]

Oh, so they did know the whole time that he was Loup.

[Willie the Duck]

Oh, so they did know the whole time that he was Loup.

Probably not the whole time, or at least not completely. Early on Annie seemed to notice he had thoughts about omniscience and took note of it, but later was sharing rather important details with him. Unless that was to draw him out, I don't know why she would do so if she had fully figured it out. I'm guessing she put it together with the whole wanting to see the Star Ocean (for no clear reason), but then clearly having second thoughts.

[WanderingMist]

Today's strip makes all the past speculation about Robot being secretly evil funny.

[Ionathus]

Hmm, hopefully there's more going on here. Robot making the deal with Loup was super cool and one of the first times Robot's agenda seemed to be truly diverging from Kat's/Annie's. It would be disappointing to see that taken away.

Shame on you for not trusting Robot, dear reader.

Yeah Tom, shame on me for making predictions based on the behavior you showed me. Shame on me for thinking a fledgling ****ing cult leader might have some shady motivations.

I'm sure he's being tongue in cheek but the author's caption is still kinda rubbing me the wrong way here. Probably the first time I've been annoyed with Tom's commentary on his own work. Robot is obviously up to something. If it comes to nothing or winds up being totally benign, I'm gonna be so disappointed in all that "it was worth it" foreshadowing.

[137beth]

So the question now is whether Annie, the girl who was very quick to forgive Reynard, Ysingrin, and Jeanne for trying to kill her, will be in-character enough to listen to Lena and give Loup a chance.

[WanderingMist]

Hmm, hopefully there's more going on here. Robot making the deal with Loup was super cool and one of the first times Robot's agenda seemed to be truly diverging from Kat's/Annie's. It would be disappointing to see that taken away.



Yeah Tom, shame on me for making predictions based on the behavior you showed me. Shame on me for thinking a fledgling ****ing cult leader might have some shady motivations.

I'm sure he's being tongue in cheek but the author's caption is still kinda rubbing me the wrong way here. Probably the first time I've been annoyed with Tom's commentary on his own work. Robot is obviously up to something. If it comes to nothing or winds up being totally benign, I'm gonna be so disappointed in all that "it was worth it" foreshadowing.

Robot isn't a cult leader, fledgling or otherwise. Cult leaders are obsessed with their own power. Robot is merely trying to create a new religion.

Also, have you never heard of the concept of a red herring?

[WanderingMist]

What could Loup possibly due to prove sincerity?

[Ionathus]

Also, have you never heard of the concept of a red herring?

Wow, this is amazing! Authors are capable of misleading the audience? I had no idea! This changes everything...

Red herrings work best when the "real" explanation is also plausible - more plausible, even. The author is in charge of what they show us, and if they show us mostly a character being suspicious, and then undo that for no reason, that's not a red herring - that's just inconsistent writing. I don't actually think this is a red herring...I think Robot is up to something bigger here.

But if you don't see something malignant or at least concerning in Robot's behavior over the last few years (really, ever since "It Was Worth It."), then I don't see any way we're going to see eye to eye.

[WanderingMist]

[COLOR="#0000FF"]
But if you don't see something malignant or at least concerning in Robot's behavior over the last few years (really, ever since "It Was Worth It."), then I don't see any way we're going to see eye to eye.

I don't think we will, so here's my take on why I think you're reading too much into that.

Robot isn't human. He was created by humans, but his humanoid appearance is deceptive. His perspective is entirely alien to ours. Like Ysengrim, like Red, like Muut, like how I suspect Kat is becoming...there are fundamental differences in the way his mind works compared to someone like Annie.

I also think his relationship with Kat is meant to be a direct parallel to Diego and Jeanne. Diego turned Jeanne into a vengeful ghost and failed to ever come to terms with his own cowardice. Robot is unflinchingly devoted to Kat even when she casts him away.

[hungrycrow]

What could Loup possibly due to prove sincerity?

Since they already let him out of the cage, I guess all it takes is asking to prove his sincerity.

[Rodin]

Since they already let him out of the cage, I guess all it takes is asking to prove his sincerity.

He's out of the cage but not off the hook. Lana standing up for him probably counted for a lot. They're willing to give him a chance instead of killing him in cold blood while he's in a cage begging.

[hungrycrow]

He's out of the cage but not off the hook. Lana standing up for him probably counted for a lot. They're willing to give him a chance instead of killing him in cold blood while he's in a cage begging.

But if Loup really was just tricking them, it'd be pretty easy for him to escape. So they're giving him a lot of leeway here.

[Yuki Akuma]

Kat can probably just summon that cage anywhere.

[Clertar]

It would have to be some gesture, like conjuring back Reynard's body and giving it back, or doing something in detriment to himself.

[WanderingMist]

It would have to be some gesture, like conjuring back Reynard's body and giving it back, or doing something in detriment to himself.

Seems like he's going with "undo the burial of the Court and save all the robots" as his gesture.

[Devlerbat]

New theory: Annie, just trying to explain why she thinks she can trust Jerrek and think of him as only Jerrek, tells him the story of Coyote and the dead goose. This unlocks Coyote's memories and brings Coyote turning Jerrek/Loup into him. And that is how Annie kills Loup.