Girl Genius

Ol Bear, I know you're stressy, but the final word on Zeetha is unlikely to arrive before, say, Wednesday or even Friday: a lot can't be determined until the entire combat plays out, and there are a huge lot of variables all cascading in the process. I know it's rough, but don't give up if tonight looks grim.

Whimper . . .

I think this scene—and Zeetha's fate—will be up in the air for at least three pages, maybe five. And even after that, if she is not dead, she won't get Fixed Up Real Quick Now. Not unless Agatha dares drink of the Dyne again. More likely she'll have to stay behind when Agatha leaves Castle Heterodyne. And if (as I continue to suspect) Higgs is left in charge, it will be about as perfect as it can get, Faramir and Eowyn.

We were talking just a few pages ago about the Big Build To The End of the Volume/Episode/Agatha-Takes-Back-The-Castle-Arc. This, THIS, right here and now, feels like the beginning of that end.

edited 17th Oct '10 8:14:59 PM by GreybeardFan

(Chuckle)

Well... Yes. That's usually how Big Ends go. Something horrible, something wonderful, something to catapult you out of your seat. (happy grin) I know. There's a lot of sadness right now, too. But this isn't the end, it's the halfway point, where you have to lose a lot as well as win a lot, because it ain't nowhere near over yet. It's just the Big End of the first half of the story.

edited 17th Oct '10 8:23:53 PM by Hippogrif

Sneaky Gate!◊

Now, that's a familiar accent.

The Sneaky Gate!◊

And in that last panel ... that ain't no hand-cranked runcible gun!

I wonder ... we see Violetta and Tarvek protecting Agatha. Were it The Other with her servants in similar danger, those servants wouldn't protect her. They couldn't. Foreshadowmirroring here, perhaps?

edited 17th Oct '10 8:50:12 PM by GreybeardFan

Ah zho. A very interesting update.

Mebbe that's how we avoid Zeetha dying or a long healing scenario - Zeetha chugs down some Jaegerdraught and we get Jaegzeetha!!

edited 17th Oct '10 8:55:13 PM by Vikingkingq

Ok. Interesting.

For the moment I would say Zeetha is technically dead, but possibly not, and possibly revivable. Honestly, if you can get a head up and running after it's been off the body for an hour or so, I think Zeetha is still somewhat safe.

My bets on Vi, however, are not all that sound. And...

Dammit, I am allowed to be glad that Tarvek cares that his little purple not-wife cousin is walking into the maw of the doomsday Zola.

And, yes, Greybeard, you got your Higgs Option...complete (oh, joy) with a touch of Jaeger accent.

But vas it dere from da beginningz, or iz it a reezent addishun, from da goot Mama Gkika's vine medicinez?

And let's not forget 'bout Gilgamesh, up there in that Nepenthes Man-Trap.

I wonder how long Phil worked on the Menace in that last panel. I shudder to think what would have happened if he'd had a whole week to work on it. Nightmare Fuel.

And in the lower left panel ... nobody does pallor like Phil.

edited 17th Oct '10 8:58:22 PM by GreybeardFan

I like to stick with the theory that Higgs is Jager offspring, raised among Jagers, and recently dosed with the same stuff Gil got. But he could also be a very new Jager not yet showing the physical effects. I am waiting to see if Vi lives. I am also waiting to see if her first move is actually to release Gil...or if he has to come out with a dagger in his teeth and a hella attitude problem.

edited 17th Oct '10 9:00:52 PM by Hippogrif

I think Wednesday's page will feature "Rhaaaaaaaaa!" Look at the way Higgs' chest has expanded in the last two panels. Don't you just get the feeling Zola's laugh will be short? And that face? Oh yeah, definite Nightmare Fuel!

Y'know, the Professors Foglio did show us the Jaeger taste in women.

D'you suppose that Higgs keeps a couple of Very Dangerous Throwing Sausages in his hat?

edited 17th Oct '10 9:07:19 PM by GreybeardFan

Awesome. I've thought for a while that Higgs was some kind of Jagerkin - Okestle knows him, after all, and he talks about the old heterodynes as if he knew them - but it's nice to see the reveal coming up.

Zeetha's probably dead right now - and though I doubt it's going to be permanent (as Zeetha deserves a death that's not so... sudden, if you know what I mean), I also doubt they'll deal with it right now.

In fact, by reducing the number of people witnessing the events, this strip sets up the perfect way to make a plot point that isn't a present conflict out of it. Tarvek and Agatha are both out of the picture - Violetta's probably going to try to fight but be unable to get to the battle, most likely due to someone finally remembering that Gil's in certain peril.

Either way, whether she saves Gil or not, she's going to be the only witness to Higgs' true power, and then something cataclysmic is going to happen such that it appears Zola, Higgs and Zeetha (and maybe but likely not Gil) have been lost forever - perhaps their fight causes the area to collapse or something.

Violetta barely survives, lugging Gil out of danger as well (or vice versa, perhaps), and has the horribly tragic duty of telling Agatha Zeetha's gone, and as sole witness to tell the rest, who no doubt react with suspicion upon suspicion, that Higgs was hiding something about himself that was ancient and powerful.

Thus, everyone thinks Zola, Higgs, and Zeetha are lost forever, but the audience is then shown either a single page or perhaps a subchapter showing Higgs, carrying Zeetha('s body), leaving the wreckage without a scratch on him, possibly in an area of the castle far beyond where the heroes are going, and thus, they will only meet up some point far into the future, long enough for Zeetha's "death" to do some sinking in for Agatha and lots of angst for all - not the least of which is Agatha blaming Tarvek and Violetta for stopping her from helping, as well as a fair bit of Survivor's Guilt.

Oh, and then we get another, small sequence of a haggard, pinkish silhouette staggering away, with a decidedly mad glint in her eye.

At least, that's my prediction.

edited 17th Oct '10 9:13:52 PM by KnownUnknown

Well, I am going to dig out Noel Rawsthorne's Hornpipe Humoresque and listen to it a few times this week. From the opening statement of the theme ending with two INCONGRUOUS taps on the lowest pedal to the hornpipe displacing the bass thundering over the upper melody of the Widor Toccata, it's just the thing to help me look forward to the next few pages. I recommend you all do likewise.

Seems like I was right about getting back story on Higgs now. The last panel does seem to indicate that Zeetha has passed although I don't think it will be permanent...there are far too many interesting plot points around her. Higgs does look like Klaus—I willed myself not to see it because I don't believe they are related, but it(the resemblance) is very obvious in the last panel. Well, we shall see, and likely soon.

On another, less pressing note, Tarvek shows a lot of worry for both Agatha and Vi, making the arguments that he is just using the protagonists less viable.

edited 17th Oct '10 9:23:40 PM by Questa

Greybeard Fan, That hornpipe is great and I really like the slight reference to "A Mighty Fortress" on the bass pedals. "For still our ancient foe . . ." It seems quite appropriate to the current state of the story.

Unknown Unknown, Actually, I rather like your version. Let's see how close you got to the Foglio's.

edited 17th Oct '10 9:38:59 PM by OlBear

The downside of the Klaus/Higgs relationship is that Axel and Zeetha become Luke and Leia. We already have Zeetha connected to Gil and Klaus; as much as I have argued the facial similarity, I'd prefer if Zeetha and Higgs could remain an item. I can't see Zeetha and Moloch.

(Ol Bear, I heard the H.H. live at Methuen a couple years ago. That casework might not fit the Kestle, but I bet it would fit in Mechanicsburg.)

edited 21st Oct '10 12:44:46 AM by GreybeardFan

This isn't the first time we've seen a human speak Jager when they were angry enough.

Ol' Man Death ran with the Jaegers, though. It's natural that he'd have picked up some of their accent.

Indeed he would have. Higgs meanwhile ... we know almost nothing about.

Soaring Trilobite, I kind of think that's the point of flagging that page. There are many ways Higgs could come by the accent honestly. My pet theory is he's a Jager Kid dosed with the same stuff Gil got from Mamma Gkika: Jager in culture, trained by Jagers, culturally a Jager, but dosed with a formula that works around the known problems with Old Style Heterodyne Jagerbrau. But he could also just be a local with the local accent. We don't know yet.

Contrast Zeetha's words and Vrin's. It looks bad. On the other hand if Zeetha survives this then maybe Vrin is still alive also.

All we know from Higgs accent is that he was a local boy who learned to cover it up. I look forward to finding out more. I still haven't given up on the notion that Zola and he know each other. There is air of familiarity in the dialog between them. Of course it could be read the other way too. This is the Foglios they like to watch us guess and squirm.

Things might go better for Zeetha if Gil finishes his Ceasarian salad soon.

My theory is that Higgs is one of the first Jagers, who actually retained substantially more intelligence then the average Jager, and learned how to disguise the usual Jager accent and other features (such as teeth).

Also, for the record, Higgs has a pretty Nice Hat.

There's another, apparently local, character that has a similar accent: the mother from the fake fight. Her daughter, though, doesn't seem to have the accent.