Even when they're mechanical, sea monsters thrash land monsters.

As for today's comic: Hmm. Highest authority? We already knew Jenka was going to someone for guidance, but I didn't really think much on it then. Considering this new tidbit, though, I think it was the Jagernals. They are ostensibly the Jagermonsters' leaders and apparently smarter than most other Wulfenbach Jagers (they didn't look smarter than the wild ones, or at least two of the three didn't and the third had to lead them by the nose if memory serves, but they probably were at the time plans were laid out). And they were on the castle, so they'd know about Gil and Agatha.

The generals' plan was to get Gil and Agatha married off _before_ anyone else knew she was a Heterodyne. Sparks have a way of messing up the best laid plans of mortal men.

Jagers eem to like a good bluff. Handy linky. Well, when they get him wherever they're going, I guess we'll learn more about any plans. But I expect a scene change very soon.

The Jagernal's, demonstrating in full effect their ability to follow the intelligent one's lead. And their inability.

Almost feel sorry for the one that still has a brain but has to take equal billing with those other morons.

edit: Also, why did you link to today's comic?

The link to help make the discussion easier to follow later.

Following your links reminds me that I've forgotten some things that may well crop up soon. I need to do another binge...

Stepping back for a moment to an earlier topic, remember when we listed all the instances of a high kick being used in a fight scene? Well, add one more. This one seems to serve about the same purpose that a kick does in a lightsaber battle—letting one side score a hit without dismembering the other—but all the others were in terribly one-sided battles in the first place. And honestly, I'm not sure getting a blow from an ordinary sword would automatically injure the baron anyways, and since []he was scheduled to be hospitalized after that scene anyways, [[/folder]]I bet Phil could've avoided it if he wanted.

edit: While running through the archives, I noticed this. So the same person that's been sent to help guard G Il is the person he's been warned was sent to kill him? Somehow, I don't think this is just gonna blow over after a few lines of embarrassed dialogue (especially since a whole strip was spent setting it up). . .

Also, assuming that Dr. Sun has half a brain, by now, all this information has been heard by the baron, though off-camera.

...And back to Agatha!

Nothing particular to comment on yet; I'll wait for the scene to develop.

Ah, love that Ironic Echo. And not just a line but an entire speech!

Agatha looks bigger than von Zinzer.

I think it's just perspective. You can see all of Agatha, but you can see Von Zinzer down to his waist, and she's closer to the camera too.

Although actually, if you go back and look at the beginning of book two, Agatha might actually be a little taller than him, not that it would stop him or anyone else from stomping all over her at that point. Of course at this point. . .

Does he actually know she's the Heterodyne heir, or just that she's not who she's pretending to be? He might've heard some stuff during the aftermath on the castle, but the Baron was trying to keep it under wraps. Either way, Castle Heterodyne seems to have turned him into a complete and pathetic mess. Kinda odd that he's scared of her unless he knows who she is now, though.

• Comes in from Archive Binge-ing*

I feel dumb... I just realized what Agatha was referring to back when she talked about Gil's Invisibility Device.

I don't know what Moloch knows or doesn't.

Where does Agatha refer to the invisibility device? All Gil and Agatha used it for was a power supply. I didn't think she understood what it was. I suspect that Gil's lightning machines guarding Mechanicsburg are parted powered by duplicated devices, but I don't think it's been stated one way or the other.

I wonder if the Baron knows that the Jager generals knew who Agatha was. Also, I wonder if they could smell that the corpse wasn't Agatha. We haven't seen them for 3 or 4 books now though.

stm177 wrote: She mentioned to Theo right before leaving. I don't know if she linked it to the Heterodyne device or not.

stm177 wrote:

I can answer that last one: They most definitely could tell the corpse wasn't her. Reread that scene—the smart one had to physically push the other ones out of the way to make sure they got the message that they shouldn't mention it, because they came within a word of doing so.

The scene with their tea party suggests they knew exactly who she was as well—reread that too. Those are, by the way, the only scenes with the Jagernals we've had, not counting the splash panels during the slaver wasp fight.

The HETERODYNE ARTIFACT would be the power source you're thinking of, not the invisibility device. And I wouldn't be surprised either way to learn whether or not Gil was using something like that for the big lightning rod. I'm really not sure WHAT Agatha used for her two improved guns; maybe having already done it once she was able to redo it with a more mundane power supply.

The invisibility device was mentioned once, by Theo I think, and never mentioned again. If it is a Chekov's gun, I am gonna be pretty disappointed, because there's been not nearly enough buildup for it. Gil obviously doesn't have it, or he'd have done something with it by now. Hopefully instead Theo's gonna bring it with him when he comes back into the story, or was plain wrong and such a device doesn't really exist (this is truly the ideal option in my mind, since I don't even want to think about how degrading of an effect such a device could potentially have on this story's dynamic in the hands of any protagonist. Course, you don't drop mentions of things like that into a story and NOT have them really exist, so that's not gonna happen).

Speaking of which, as a reminder to those who have forgotten: Othar is due to show up any day now, having given Agatha "three months"—exactly the time it takes to get to Mechanicsburg. Theo is due to show up too—he said he'd meet her there in three months. If we're lucky, he brings other students with him. Sadly, if they haven't shown up already, I doubt any of them are gonna appear until after the castle is reclaimed.

The Heterodyne Artifact is the invisibility device: Agatha notices here. You see that effect earlier as well.

Gil doesn't seem to know.

So wait, it made a wall invisible? Why?

(Honestly, I never spent enough time looking at that scene on any of my rereads to notice it didn't make sense).

It made Gil invisible- look closely at the lightning rod suddenly appearing out of the bubble.

//Later:

• Continuing reread* Hmm... Wilhelm?

Probably just a coincidence. But still... Now I'm wondering just where the Geisterdamen came from. Another Dimension? Or maybe another time? (Hey, we have one time machine unaccounted for...)

I believe they were made by the other. And yeah, that scene makes more sense now.

Well, yeah, the Other most likely made them, but when they mention being sent into the "shadow world" (our world)...

Also, I've passed the Coffee Engine in my rereading; I suspect that pink!Heterodyne is affiliated with that Sturv-whatsit Order that was made by the Storm King and may have Other ties.

The leader of those war clanks that Gil zapped referred to his forces as the Army of Jove. If I recall correctly, the Army of Jove, figured in that opera about the Storm King.

Yep. And seeing that Wilhelm was at Pink's briefing, her name matching Aaronev's (Tarvek's father) middle name seems less coincidal.

A reread is quite invigorating!

The castle is flinging stuff at her? Moloch is regaining his footing too.

Well, we know that the castle is crazy.

Incidently, that's the third reference to poison in the context of the Castle. First the pill Gil gives Moloch, then Agatha's cover story, and now that cook...

Speaking of third, I found another Wilhelm. Maybe they just like the name.

—-

Also, I found a piece of WMG on another site suggesting Moloch's brother was a Reverant. Thus, the locket didn't kill him, but her telling him to "die like the miserable rat you are!" Which might explain why she'll use the time device to see what happened on the ship Moloch & his brother were on.

Speaking of which, I'm still curious why it can suppress Lucrezia—considering the mind-suppressing mechanism within it was smashed against a wall.

The Foglios must not know the No Two Steves rule.

At least it looks like the castle is paying attention to her. I wonder what she has to do to completely prove her Hetrodyne-ness? Wait, she probably needs to Heterodyne when she's building something. I hope she brought along Dingbot Prime.