Girl Genius XXXII: The scientific method at work!

[halfeye]

I thought Dupree identified Agatha as the woman in her visions of the future to the Baron.

Would she know momma could take over Agatha? There's no doubt it's Agatha's body, but whose mind is it?

[runeghost]

So there's a couple ways I can see this going.

1) "Oopsie, I took a little took much! Here, have some back." (Possibly as a segue into telling us a little more about the Spark/Flame.)

2) "Oh noes! We'll have to fix this!" (But it gets fixed quickly, only a dozen strips or two.)

3) This is a big problem/plot point. Whether Albia is malign or not, dealing with the consequences of this drain will consume a good chunk of a book, at least.

[BRC]

My money is on Agatha passes out and wakes up after a convenient minor timeskip so we can cut to "And then these things happened, okay, off to your next stop with you!"

[sihnfahl]

Would she know momma could take over Agatha? There's no doubt it's Agatha's body, but whose mind is it?

Momma has been removed from Agatha. Gil and Tarvek know that, so Bang would know as well.

So unless SOMEHOW Agatha got herself re-infected with a Momma Calling...

[Laurentio III]

3) This is a big problem/plot point. Whether Albia is malign or not, dealing with the consequences of this drain will consume a good chunk of a book, at least.

If I remember properly (has been a time), Albia has a "garden" where she wished to have Agatha. Assuming she doesn't need a gardener, can we suppose Albia is into "cultiving" potential queens to use as batteries?

[Rodin]

Momma has been removed from Agatha. Gil and Tarvek know that, so Bang would know as well.

So unless SOMEHOW Agatha got herself re-infected with a Momma Calling...

The biggest sign of it being Agatha is the way Gil and the geister address her. Gil puts “Mistress” in quotation marks, which implies he’s putting a bit of sarcastic emphasis on the word. When the geister shows up in the second window, she says mistress normally.

I read that as Agatha pretending to be Lucrezia. Gil has to call her mistress to pretend to be wasped and isn’t happy about it.

[Pax1138]

Also, the two time panes are supposed to be occur in reverse order, so actually, the Geister calls her Mistress first, then Gil echoes it sarcastically in the earlier-but-later one.

Edit: Read it again, and I remembered it wrong.

The time portals are in reverse, but Gil is sarcastic later. I did also note this time that Gil denounced Bang as a maniac, which is not his current or historical opinion, so she must get up to something real bad in the future before they take this time trip. Like real, real, real bad, considering her normal modus operandi.

[Traab]

Also, the two time panes are supposed to be occur in reverse order, so actually, the Geister calls her Mistress first, then Gil echoes it sarcastically in the earlier-but-later one.

Edit: Read it again, and I remembered it wrong.

The time portals are in reverse, but Gil is sarcastic later. I did also note this time that Gil denounced Bang as a maniac, which is not his current or historical opinion, so she must get up to something real bad in the future before they take this time trip. Like real, real, real bad, considering her normal modus operandi.

I mean, she is after zeetha. Who may well be his sister and is a close friend to agatha. I can easily see how that might change his opinion of her depending on what she does.

[Manga Shoggoth]

The biggest sign of it being Agatha is the way Gil and the geister address her. Gil puts “Mistress” in quotation marks, which implies he’s putting a bit of sarcastic emphasis on the word. When the geister shows up in the second window, she says mistress normally.

I read that as Agatha pretending to be Lucrezia. Gil has to call her mistress to pretend to be wasped and isn’t happy about it.

It's simpler than that - they are probably serving Agatha in lieu of Lucrezia (This and the following 9 pages), and Gil is just being sarcastic.

[geoduck]

It's simpler than that - they are probably serving Agatha in lieu of Lucrezia (This and the following 9 pages), and Gil is just being sarcastic.

Yeah, the print novels have Bang note that Gil was sounding sarcastic when he said that.

[Rockphed]

Here is where Bang identifies Agatha as the girl she saw.

[Rodin]

I knew Gil was being sarcastic. My interpretation was that it was an expression of annoyance. "Hey, MISTRESS..."

Because Gil isn't a minion, and wouldn't be calling Agatha mistress. Even if we go on Spark hierarchy both Gil and Tarvek consider themselves Agatha's equals - Gil as leader of the Wulfenbach Empire and Tarvek as Storm King.

Gil calling Agatha mistress raises questions about why he's doing so. It could be as simple as the rogue geisters getting angry at him for lese majeste, but I prefer to think they're undercover somehow.

[Fyraltari]

Well, it took a long while but it turns out that, yes, Albia does also use mind control.

That's not the reaction I'd have expected from Agatha, though.

[Kantaki]

Well, it took a long while but it turns out that, yes, Albia does also use mind control.

That's not the reaction I'd have expected from Agatha, though.

I don't think it's mind control exactly?
More some form of advanced Spark charisma applied to a intimidation check.

And of course Agatha reacts like that.
Getting her friends to listen is harder than herding fleas and Albia does it with a few words? Of course she wants to learn.

If it turns out to be something bad she won't use it, but asking can't hurt.

[Shining Wrath]

I don't think it's mind control exactly?
More some form of advanced Spark charisma applied to a intimidation check.

And of course Agatha reacts like that.
Getting her friends to listen is harder than herding fleas and Albia does it with a few words? Of course she wants to learn.

If it turns out to be something bad she won't use it, but asking can't hurt.

I would say that if Albia were visibly angry with my presence in a room I would find an excuse to leave that room quickly, lest I be turned into a newt. Agatha needs to get Zeetha et al to be afraid of her, that's all. A little more old school Heterodyne ought to do the trick, I'm sure Castle can provide tips.

[Rockphed]

I would say that if Albia were visibly angry with my presence in a room I would find an excuse to leave that room quickly, lest I be turned into a newt. Agatha needs to get Zeetha et al to be afraid of her, that's all. A little more old school Heterodyne ought to do the trick, I'm sure Castle can provide tips.

The castle will gladly provide tips. It will also provide examples from her family tree. Very possibly it will provide examples that resulted in one of her ancestors being conceived.

[Traab]

I would say that if Albia were visibly angry with my presence in a room I would find an excuse to leave that room quickly, lest I be turned into a newt. Agatha needs to get Zeetha et al to be afraid of her, that's all. A little more old school Heterodyne ought to do the trick, I'm sure Castle can provide tips.

Seriously, I didnt even think it was mind control till after agatha asked how she did it. I figured it was just the standard sparky voice +1 where minions obey the stronger spark only enhanced a bit by her being a queen.

[Fyraltari]

I would say that if Albia were visibly angry with my presence in a room I would find an excuse to leave that room quickly, lest I be turned into a newt. Agatha needs to get Zeetha et al to be afraid of her, that's all. A little more old school Heterodyne ought to do the trick, I'm sure Castle can provide tips.

Except the girls aren't spooked or scared. They have blank expressions (for this comic anyway) with vacant eyes, then they both feel hungry and decide to leave.

[Agi Hammerthief]

„these are not the cup cakes you are looking for“

[Laurentio III]

Except the girls aren't spooked or scared. They have blank expressions (for this comic anyway) with vacant eyes, then they both feel hungry and decide to leave.

I agree. Vacant gaze, and no show of subtlety, not even as a social courtesy.
Kind of mind suggestion.

Plus, we are speaking of a very stubborn and hard to impress princess and a smoke knight with a really high understanding of court life. If both of them decided that grooming Agatha was priority, no mundane force on Earth could have diverted them.
I'm more surprised that they didn't complete the morning routine in seconds.

More, "Don't fear they-" seems to indicate something that could lead to fear. Social clues are mostly harmless.

[DaFlipp]

I too think it's supposed to be mind control, because it makes the final punchline land better.

"Never fear, they--" is presumably the beginning of Albia reassuring her that there will be no long-term repercussions to this molding of their minds, which makes it doubly funny that Agatha blows right past that to ask how *she* can do that too.

(As for why she might want to, well, we all know the steps Agatha can take to preserve the right to sleep in...)

[Laurentio III]

There is a queen-killer around, who is somehow related to the very person near you who is also a target of said queen-killer.
So, you remove both of you from the security of your palace to go in a place connected to you being a queen.

I can't sense it to be a smart move.

[Traab]

There is a queen-killer around, who is somehow related to the very person near you who is also a target of said queen-killer.
So, you remove both of you from the security of your palace to go in a place connected to you being a queen.

I can't sense it to be a smart move.

Didnt they just beat back the queen killer? I honestly cant remember how it ended other than getting lucrezia out of agathas head. Also, i get the feeling this is more an astral projection into the mental equivalent of her queen flame thing. Its like jean grey and professor x chatting mentally. They didnt really "go" anywhere, they are just talking in a way that cant be recorded by any sparky eavesdropping devices that may or may not exist.

[geoduck]

Didnt they just beat back the queen killer? I honestly cant remember how it ended other than getting lucrezia out of agathas head.

They extracted the copy of Lucrezia from Agatha's head, and Albia has it/her stashed away somewhere. They destroyed the robot copy on the island. Zola presumably still has a copy imprisoned in her head; the last we saw of her/them, she was in the clutches of Grandma. The Muse of Time was released from her imprisonment in Paris and is roaming around loose. If there are any other copies, we haven't heard about them yet.

[Laurentio III]

If there are any other copies, we haven't heard about them yet.

Timetravel is on the table. Killing someone is only almost deadly.

[Manga Shoggoth]

"Nice furs"

"These old things darling? Had them for ages...."

[Shining Wrath]

Ancient fur clad Albia is rather chunky.

I wonder if they are inside Albia's memories.

[wingnutx]

Knowing too much about the flames may not be a good thing.

OTOH, Albia seems to enjoy helping another queen ascend.

[Rodin]

They extracted the copy of Lucrezia from Agatha's head, and Albia has it/her stashed away somewhere. They destroyed the robot copy on the island. Zola presumably still has a copy imprisoned in her head; the last we saw of her/them, she was in the clutches of Grandma. The Muse of Time was released from her imprisonment in Paris and is roaming around loose. If there are any other copies, we haven't heard about them yet.

Do we think the Muse of Time is a copy, or the original? We've seen from Albia's memories that Lucrezia has gotten cyberized at some point, and it's been my assumption that the Muse of Time (named as such by Van Rijin after he trapped her) is the OG Lucrezia.

Lucrezia was using the mirrors before and couldn't follow Albia when the mirror went dark, so Albia thinking her Henge is safe is pretty reasonable.

[Shining Wrath]

They are inside Albia's head, which ought to be safe from Lucrezia.

We're going to get an explanation of how Flames work, which may be something the Foglios just put some thought into during the Franz Interregnum.