Line #27 Headscratchers/MagnusChaseandtheGodsofAsgard


1	* Is Taylor Swift a dwarf? Blitzed says her songs are dwarf music.
2	**That, my friend, [[DontExplainTheJoke is the joke]].
3	* How do all these Norse, Greek, and Egyptian gods and goddesses coexist with each other?
4	** There are different types of mortals as there are immortals and Gods. I tend to think of them as having their own piece of prime real estate in the universe.
5	** Pretty much this, giving what we are shown, it appears that in ancient times the gods have some sort of territory based on where the culture they came from is the strongest. E.G, the Greek Gods stay in Greece, Egyptian Gods stay in Egypt, the Norse stay in Northern Europe etc. Also given what happen in Staff of Serapis, some ''very bad'' things happen when you try to mix pantheons together. Right now it appears that the Norse Gods have Boston as their territory, Greek Gods have most of U.S. The Egyptian Gods appear to have gone global with the House of Life having stations everywhere.
6	** Oddly, the actual metaphysical system the world works on is almost completely consistent between the series. It's just a complicated. To summarize: The various gods have become [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Anthropomorphic Personifications]] of various aspects of human culture or the world, and take AFormYouAreComfortableWith consistent with that culture. This also lets them control various territories in the Underworld. In more detail:
7	*** It seems like the real estate is both cultural and metaphysical. So the Greek pantheon has tied it's power to various aspects of Western Civilization, and that lets them place a certain portion of the underworld under their power. Similarly, the Egyptian pantheon is invested in the culture of Egypt, which continues to have aspects in the modern day. And how, in a throwaway gag, we learn that certain monsters embodied blights on the modern world that undermining civilization [[TakeThat E.G fast food chains and similar institutions]] But the gods have existence and power beyond just their cultural ties: this is why they can take on different aspects, such as the Greek and Roman manifestations of the same god. [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith The power is manifested in a context appropriate to the culture they have bound themselves too.]] And, of course, there are beings like [[EldritchAbomination Apothis]]. So Maat, the order that maintains the universe in the midst of Chaos, is a power that both the Greek and Egyptian pantheons could see and interact with. But because the Egyptian culture has such a close connection to it, it has the best "tools" to interact with and manipulate it. Basically, the clearest vision we have of what's ''really'' going on is when Annabeth sees into the Duat using Egyptian magic or Percy sees the world through the eyes of Nekhbet.
8	*** It seems in the US that it is divided up as Manhattan is Greek, Brooklyn is Egyptian, Boston is Norse, and San Francisco is Roman.
9	*** The Greek gods seem a bit more spread out, though. Medusa's in New Jeresy and the Lotus Hotel and Casino is based in Nevada. It's possible this is because the Greek and Roman gods are just different versions of each other. Plus the two examples I just listed are very close to Manhattan (Greek) and San Francisco (Roman) respectively.
10	* I can understand the Greek Gods having demigod children, since in the myths they were always getting into affairs with mortals. But the Norse Gods? Is there some sort of prose or edda or saga that says that whatever Aesir or Vanir deity took up with a mortal? I'm not too familiar with Norse mythology.
11	** There are Skjöldr, first king of Denmark; Froger, king of Norway; Sigi, king of Húnaland and great-grandfather of Sigurd Dragonslayer. Gauti, ancestor of the Geats. Sigrlami, king of Garðaríki. Wecta (or Wægdæg), Beldeg, Wihtgils, Winta and Seaxneat, who become the ancestors of the kings of Wessex, Northumbria, Mercia, Lindsey/Lindisfarne, and Essex, respectively. Wihtlaeg (or Weothulgeot) and Casere, who became the ancestors of the royal house of East Anglia. All these guys are children of Odin. You can actually find a lot of them if you look up on Google.
12	** Also, "children of Loki" used to be a convenient fiction for people [[DisappearedDad whose parents ran off]].
13	** There's an entire poem in the Poetic Edda dedicated to how Heimdall (calling himself "Rigr") on his journey stays with three different married human couples and fathers children with all three wives. The Norse gods were not ''as'' likely to hook up with mortals as their Greek counterparts, but it definitely happened.
14	** Numerous noble British families claimed descent from Odin well into the Christian Age. Of course, I think they justified it under the euhumanization theory( or was it euhumurization?), the idea that various pagan gods were actually just humans deified after death. For instance, Odin was thought of as the sorcerer-king Othinus.
15	** The fact that there may not be as many Norse demigods is probably why those from other pantheons, as well as mortals, are also allowed into Valhalla - if it were restricted to children of the Norse gods, there'd probably be a lot less people there.
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17	* So, Magnus was a street orphan for a few years, right? What I am wondering is his orphaning occurred mid-way through the PJ series. Because if it happened when, say, Titan's Curse had Annabeth get kidnapped that might be a potential plot point.
18	** The guy has only been an orphan for around two years at the start of Magnus Chase and the God of Asgard. Given that it takes place just after Blood of Olympus. That puts his time of being an orphan at Battle of the Labyrinth. Besides Annabeth lives thousands of miles away.
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20	* Seeing how Frey's sphere of influence exists through a perfect balance of heat and cold, shouldn't that make Magnus ''more'' susceptible to extreme temperatures? Since the extremes, in this case, would just tip the balance, wouldn't they?
21	** The way I see it, his body is kept in a perfect balance of heat and cold most of the time.
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23	* Why is Magnus so willing to trust Loki whenever he meets him in his dreams? He's already been shown to have more than a basic knowledge of Norse mythology, and everyone and their grandmother has told him that Loki is a sociopathic liar...Even as someone who's only seen the Marvel movies, it would seem pretty obvious that you ''shouldn't'' pay so much attention to whatever it is he's trying to say.
24	** Well, Loki is the Norse TricksterGod. Can't be a very good trickster if you can't get people to trust you. This also fits with the Norse myths-right up until he kills Balder, he's more-or-less welcome in Asgard. As [[Creator/NeilGaiman another book on Norse mythology]] put it, you were grateful to him even when you hated him the most.
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26	* The new rope for binding Fenris Wolf is said to be made up of paradoxes, and one of them is said to be "a printer that prints." Was I the only one who didn't see much of a paradox here? Most printers (at least ones that I've used) have generally been known to print things out when they're supposed to.
27	** I just sort of assumed Riordan was having printer trouble at the time.
28	** Printer trouble can be a real pain in the neck. It's happened to me, as well.
29	** I understand that printer trouble can be irritating, but the joke itself seems kind of dated...I haven't experienced the kind of printer trouble that would make it a paradox since the 90s.
30	** Well, Junior does mention that he's had a replacement rope ready for a while. Maybe he made the rope way back in the 90s. Plus Norse stuff seems to have a thing for the 90s, like the sword Magnus got from Hotel Valhalla turning into a chain.
31	** Meanwhile, (if I remember right) Magnus points out that some bearded ladies exist when he's told about what the original rope's paradoxes were.
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33	* One of the chapter titles in ''The Sword of Summer'' references Jason Grace, then goes on to say that Magnus doesn't know who that actually is. So how was he able to make the reference?
34	** Rick Riordan has always had a tendency to be a bit meta in his chapter titles don't worry about it.
35	** Remember that Annabeth tells him about the Greek and Roman myths being real later. The story is narrated in past tense, so he could mention Jason in the title, and what he meant was that he had never heard of him at that time. At least, that's how I saw it.
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37	* So Alex has made it clear that, being genderfluid, she has no control over what her mental gender is, but can she change her physical sex to accommodate said gender? I don't recall the text being clear on that.
38	** I always assumed she was physically transforming too, but that was just my belief.
39	** It may be subconscious shapeshifting on her part.
40	*** If so though, that could be awkward. Say he gets dressed as a guy in the morning, then shifts.
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42	* When Magnus drops Mr. Alderman's dragon heart into the fire on accident, he licks the blood off of his fingers and somehow gains the ability to understand animals. Was this added for the sake of the {{Rule of Funny}}? It struck me as rather anti-climatic.
43	** It's a mythological reference to a german myth I believe.
44	*** Indeed. Sigurd's slaying of Fafnir to be precise.
45	* So Ragnarok is [[YouCantFightFate inevitable]], meaning that no matter what anyone does it will happen. Does this mean the world can't end any other way? Like, say, if the [[Literature/TheKaneChronicles Kane children]] weren't around to stop Apophis from eating Ra and ending the world, would he still be stopped because the world can't end any other way but Ragnarok?

Context Headscratchers / MagnusChaseandtheGodsofAsgard