Girl Genius XXVII: Hoy! Hennybody else not dead?

[sihnfahl]

Wait, they're nineteen at the star of this? I thought they were all in their mid-twenties.

Agatha was 18.

[Squire Doodad]

I mean in-universe Agatha is still biologically a teenager.

Actually come to think of it it seems like so far we've pretty much just glossed over the fact that after the time skip Gil is now significantly older than Agatha and Tarvek. there's usually a pretty big emotional maturity gap between 19 and 25 (though I guess with sparks and nobility all bets are off).

* Tarvek X Agatha counter +1.2 *

[BRC]

Eh, ages in this make no sense, Bang was a pirate queen before she started working for Wulfenbach, but has been working there long enough to have been tormenting tarvek for years in Paris before the story started, and that's assuming Klaus's first instinct when he got the services of a bloodthirsty pirate was "She should babysit my incognito son while he's in Paris".

[Rakaydos]

Eh, ages in this make no sense, Bang was a pirate queen before she started working for Wulfenbach, but has been working there long enough to have been tormenting tarvek for years in Paris before the story started, and that's assuming Klaus's first instinct when he got the services of a bloodthirsty pirate was "She should babysit my incognito son while he's in Paris".

Who says she was working for wolfenbach when she was tormenting tarvic in Paris? Can't a pirate queen meet people in Paris for negotiations peacefully?

[HandofShadows]

Who says she was working for wolfenbach when she was tormenting tarvic in Paris? Can't a pirate queen meet people in Paris for negotiations peacefully?

Bang was working as Gil's "guard" in Paris. We see them both together in at least one flashback. Bang lost her pirate stronghold something over 2 years before the start of the main story. When we see Agatha on Castle Wulfenchach Gil had only gotten back from Paris only a few months before. I figure Gil was about 20 or so. Back years ago universities had a lot of different programs going on and many last only a year or two. Bang probably got assigned to Gil fairly quickly after she decided to work under the Baron. Klaus had a talent for picking the right monster for the job.

[Rodin]

I've always figured Bang as being older anyway. Even 5 years older would give her plenty of time to establish a reputation as Pirate Queen prior to working for the Baron. That would leave her at 27, and you could pad that by another 5 years if you want more time for her to become world famous.

[factotum]

I always had Bang pegged as being in her 30s...not sure why, though.

[SZbNAhL]

I read her as being Gil's age, give or take a couple of years. Let's say she first becomes a pirate aged 15. She's talented and swiftly ascends the ranks, becoming the pirate queen by 18. She reigns for a year before Zeetha does her thing, then from the ages of 19 to 20 she searches for whoever destroyed her fortress. Klaus hires her aged 20 to guard his 18-year-old son during his university days in exchange for the Empire's help finding the fortress destroyer, and she stays with him until he returns a year before the beginning of the comic, aged 21 (and she 23), making them 22 and 24 when the comic begins.

[Vinyadan]

Oh look, a giant mimmoth... and that's a lot of physical contact between Gil and Bangs. How wasted were they? And Gil, like a true debauchee, is reading Ovid

[Rogar Demonblud]

I figure he and Gil were about the same age, given how they bonded and spent time together, yet there's never any real difference shown in their sizes.

[geoduck]

I read her as being Gil's age, give or take a couple of years. Let's say she first becomes a pirate aged 15. She's talented and swiftly ascends the ranks, becoming the pirate queen by 18. She reigns for a year before Zeetha does her thing, then from the ages of 19 to 20 she searches for whoever destroyed her fortress. Klaus hires her aged 20 to guard his 18-year-old son during his university days in exchange for the Empire's help finding the fortress destroyer, and she stays with him until he returns a year before the beginning of the comic, aged 21 (and she 23), making them 22 and 24 when the comic begins.

It's never been discussed in the actual comic, but the print novels and various supplements have stated that in addition to being a pirate queen, she's also an actual queen in exile; her family ruled a small kingdom somewhere until her mother was deposed. The whole point of assembling that fleet and base was to violently reclaim her throne.

[Rodin]

Oh look, a giant mimmoth... and that's a lot of physical contact between Gil and Bangs. How wasted were they? And Gil, like a true debauchee, is reading Ovid

I just read a couple of pages before that to get the full backstory again.

Heh.

Hehehe.

This page.

Gilgamesh wanted to be somebody.

He thought he might be a lost Heterodyne...and there totally is one, just not him.

He thought he might be the Storm King...and there totally is one, just not him.

He thought he might be a Martian prince...and he is a prince of Skifander.

Those three hopes of Gil handily cover Agatha, Tarvek, and Gil...but only if Skifander is on Mars.

I always thought the theory that Skifander is on Mars was total bupkis. I'm starting to become a believer.

[Vinyadan]

He thought he might be a Martian prince...and he is a prince of Skifander.

Well, Zeetha is a martial princess

Gil also has had a claim to the title of Storm King, although it seems to have been dormant since the other two claimants came back.

The only thing he isn't is a Heterodyne, although his father features in Heterodyne shows, and now he does, too!

By the way, I wonder how much Albia's presence conditioned the current show. On one hand, since it's her home, the actors won't be turned into snails by Martellus or zapped by Gil. On the other hand, she could have chosen to have some political messages added in, to signal her position to the court, or the actors could simply have adapted their show to her political tastes.

[PraetorDragoon]

Why is "I have got an idea" sound like a terrifying sentence?

[Ailurus]

Why is "I have got an idea" sound like a terrifying sentence?

Because you've got a mad scientist saying it, while she is - for the first time in years - in a place where she (thinks she can) relax, and she's watching a bunch of old friends put on a show about her life. There is no way "I have got an idea" ends in anything other than the circus troupe, and quite possibly Agatha's posse, getting embarrassed and/or tormented here, for the amusement of Agatha and possibly Albia and the court as well.

[datalaughing]

In the first panel I thought they were random monsters recruited to play Jaegerkin, but in the second panel ... are those actual jaegers? Where would the circus have gotten some of those?

[factotum]

In the first panel I thought they were random monsters recruited to play Jaegerkin, but in the second panel ... are those actual jaegers? Where would the circus have gotten some of those?

Given the more, er, cartoonish appearance of them compared to regular Jaegers, pretty sure these are just people wearing masks.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Remember the Jaeger Gurlz in Mama Gkika's bar? Makeup can do wonders.

And now I wonder why I haven't seen more people doing GG cosplay at conventions.

[PhantomFox]

She's going to want to get on stage, isn't she?
At least it would go better than Sturmhalten.
Unless it doesn't. Though the chance of large amounts of Revenants are unlikely.
Unless Albia based her mind control off of Slaver Wasps...

[sihnfahl]

She's going to want to get on stage, isn't she?

Incognito. Of course.

Unless Albia based her mind control off of Slaver Wasps...

Albia doesn't have mind control, IIRC. What she has is mind manipulation.

Slaver wasps poke into someone's head and dictate what people do, based off orders. So if someone had a thought of rebelling, a command could stop them.

Albia? She probably just edits the pathways out that would allow for said thoughts in the first place.

[Fyraltari]

Unless Albia based her mind control off of Slaver Wasps...

I suspect you have that backwards.

[InvisibleBison]

I suspect you have that backwards.

Given the amount of time travel in this story, it's perfectly possible that both Albia and the Other based their mind control tech off each other's.

[Traab]

Given the amount of time travel in this story, it's perfectly possible that both Albia and the Other based their mind control tech off each other's.

Eventually the Other reforms and goes back in time to remove herself from the world she hurt so badly She erases her memories to avoid temptation but alas, her nature is to control others so she became the undying queen it is literally unthinkable to consider disobeying or whatever the phrase was. Thats right, Albia IS the Other. Only reformed and doesnt remember it.

[Agi Hammerthief]

Eventually the Other reforms and goes back in time to remove herself from the world she hurt so badly She erases her memories to avoid temptation but alas, her nature is to control others so she became the undying queen it is literally unthinkable to consider disobeying or whatever the phrase was. Thats right, Albia IS the Other. Only reformed and doesnt remember it.

you might want to bookmark this post so you can find it in 10 years.

[Rogar Demonblud]

That soon?

[Agi Hammerthief]

That soon?

I‘m an optimist, so probably not.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Excuse me while I go increase the property insurance.

[Scarlet Knight]

So are these ladies all smitten with Krosp's celebrity ? Or are they simply the Queen's hired distractions?

[sihnfahl]

So are these ladies all smitten with Krosp's celebrity ? Or are they simply the Queen's hired distractions?

A very smart construct in charge of a lot of bear constructs made by one of the most infamous sparks ever...

A bit from column A, a bit from column B.

[Deliverance]

So are these ladies all smitten with Krosp's celebrity ? Or are they simply the Queen's hired distractions?

He is exotic foreign royalty, which by itself ought to be enough to be of interest to any courtier, and connected to the infamous lady Heterodyne too. Of course he's a hit with the ladies.