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Post by todd on May 19, 2010 12:11:05 GMT
We aren't likely to get conclusive answers to what the Court is until the last few chapters (and even then, not everything, to preserve a lingering sense of mystery), but I thought I'd look over the clues we have so far.
Coyote said that the Court is "man's endeavour to become God". While too vague to be helpful, it ties in with one thing we know about the Court: its research into the etheric sciences. Furthermore, it's not mere study; the power station is designed to control the ether. We don't know the details of its precise purpose, but its general goal fits Coyote's remark. "Man's endeavour to become God" would mean an attempt to increase one's knowledge and power to as close to omniscience and omnipotence as possible; discovering the secrets of the ether (that portion of the world commonly thought of as "magic") and controlling them would fit that goal.
(This goal may suggest that the robot horse quoting from "Paradise Lost" - the war in Heaven scenes in Book Six, to be precise - is not random. In Milton's epic poem, the war in Heaven was brought about by Satan's attempt to overthrow God and take his place. The Court is not that bad, obviously - though the Founders' murder of Jeanne fits the line "Necessity, the tyrant's plea" that Milton applied to Satan's schemes - but perhaps the robot horse's choice of poetry to recite is a hint at Gunnerkrigg's ambitions.)
The part of the Court that we see most often in the comic is the school, for obvious reasons. What purpose does the school serve the Court (clearly it must have advantage enough to outweigh the obvious problem of a group of curious, adventuresome children exploring the place - the Court's problems in the present-day portion of the comic generally seem to be caused by the children's presence and actions; without them, no bridge incident or power station incident)? One, I believe, is to train the next generation of Court staff; it must be clear that Gunnerkrigg can't achieve all its goals in a single lifetime, that new members must succeed the old ones. And we know that many of the Court staff (such as the Donlans and Eglamore - even Surma when she was the Court medium) were students there. (Jones wasn't a student, of course - but she's not a normal staff member, either.) The other possibility may be to study those children with etheric traits (let's hope, not in a "lab rat" sense) such as Zimmy, as part of its continuing goals.
One final thought: in Chapter Three, we get a mention of "Large Animal Holding Cells". This is "Cells", plural, so there can't be just one, suggesting that they did not exist for the sole purpose of confining Reynardine in Sivo's body. Could the cells be left over from the Court's attempts, before Coyote dug the gorge through which the Annan Waters flow, to control the great beasts of Gillitie Wood, now put to a new use?
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Post by lurker on May 19, 2010 17:06:51 GMT
[...]The part of the Court that we see most often in the comic is the school, for obvious reasons. What purpose does the school serve the Court [...]? One, I believe, is to train the next generation of Court staff; it must be clear that Gunnerkrigg can't achieve all its goals in a single lifetime, that new members must succeed the old ones. I agree with this. Jones appears to be a third party with her own agenda, but she happens to be a being so powerful (possibly at the level of Coyote), that the Court people have no choice but to play nice with her. I would not be surprised if they were studying people like Zimmy in the "lab rat" sense. Given the willingness of the Court's founders to murder Jeanne in order to advance their own agenda, and then cover it up afterwards, I wouldn't put this past them. It's possible that there are other Large Animals in the other cells that we haven't seen yet. Some of them may be captured etheric beings. |
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Post by Casey on May 19, 2010 18:20:28 GMT
I would not be surprised if they were studying people like Zimmy in the "lab rat" sense. Given the willingness of the Court's founders to murder Jeanne in order to advance their own agenda, and then cover it up afterwards, I wouldn't put this past them. It was pointed out to me recently that judging the current Court by the actions of the old Court isn't exactly fair. Just because they made those decisions way back then doesn't mean that the current Court would, especially when you consider that the current Court has no record of those deeds. Further, I would point out that the old Court may have done what they did out of a dire necessity... they may have concluded that doing what they did was the only way to survive or something. We don't know. But we do know that they felt that their actions should be hidden away and the records destroyed. That could be malice with intent to conceal, or it could be a guilty, remorseful conscience. We don't really know. |
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lovecraft1024
Full Member
What does anything mean? Basically
Posts: 118
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Post by lovecraft1024 on May 19, 2010 20:24:30 GMT
I've been pondering the Court for some time now. Here are some (incomplete) observations and related questions:
1) It's really big! Like a medium sized city, or bigger! And yet, there aren't a whole lot of people in it. Tall buildings next to man-made lakes are left abandoned. So were there lots more people at one time? What happened to them?
2) Very strange command structure. Everyone in authority seems to defer to Jones. Is she really the one in charge? If she is in charge, she actually has time to train mediums? Mediums must be really important.
3) They must have a lot of money. But money in general is not discussed at all. Is everything they need right within their walls? How did they get the money/resources to make the power station?
Anyway, I have no answers, just a continuing obsession with this story!
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Post by Casey on May 19, 2010 20:34:36 GMT
2) Very strange command structure. Everyone in authority seems to defer to Jones. Is she really the one in charge? If she is in charge, she actually has time to train mediums? Mediums must be really important. Perhaps Jones:Headmaster::Merlin:Arthur? |
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Post by blackboe on May 19, 2010 21:39:58 GMT
Casey: That's sort of what I was thinking. She seems to have incredible power and insight but she doesn't often seem to spend time much time exercising it in an obvious manner or divulging what she sees.
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Post by todd on May 19, 2010 22:15:26 GMT
Further, I would point out that the old Court may have done what they did out of a dire necessity... they may have concluded that doing what they did was the only way to survive or something. Mostly - except that we know that Diego's concern wasn't the safety and survival of the Court, but revenge for Jeanne turning him down. The rest of the Founders probably did see it as necessity, though (except for the one who walked out of the meeting and refused to take part in the plan). We know that Diego was tormented by his conscience over his part in Jeanne's murder for the rest of his life, even engaging in frantic self-justifications on his deathbed, blaming it on Sir Young. I've sometimes wondered whether Sir Young and the other Founders were troubled by their part in Jeanne's death similarly, and in private blamed it on Diego and his wish for revenge. But we'll probably never know. |
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Post by lurker on May 21, 2010 16:06:21 GMT
I would not be surprised if they were studying people like Zimmy in the "lab rat" sense. Given the willingness of the Court's founders to murder Jeanne in order to advance their own agenda, and then cover it up afterwards, I wouldn't put this past them. It was pointed out to me recently that judging the current Court by the actions of the old Court isn't exactly fair. Just because they made those decisions way back then doesn't mean that the current Court would, especially when you consider that the current Court has no record of those deeds. [...] Actually, I wasn't judging the current Court by actions of the old Court --- it was more a guess along the lines of, the Court was built for a particular purpose (which is still unclear to us at the moment), and that purpose apparently was sufficient for the old Court people to justify murdering Jeanne and erasing all records. Given that the purpose of the Court hasn't changed (one would reasonably assume), one could well expect that should a similar circumstance arise now, the current Court people would likely resort to the same actions. |
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Post by todd on May 21, 2010 22:40:37 GMT
Of course, much of the Founders' decision was manipulated by Diego's anger at Jeanne and wish to get revenge on her; without that, they might have come to a more reasonable solution that wouldn't have led to anyone being killed.
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Post by penguinfactory on May 25, 2010 9:17:54 GMT
The Paradise Lost connection is interesting. Did anyone notice the horse at one point mentions a "second omnipotenct"?
My personal theory about all of this: the Court is sentient. Several times in the comic characters have referred to decisions being made "by the Court", and Tom has said this as well. That could be construed as meaning a higher authority within the Court, but until we actually see such people I have a feeling it's more than that.
This theory would also explain why the place is so abandoned- projects like the power station only need minimal human supervision because they're being run semi-automatically.
Since Zimmy is left to her own devices even more than the other students from what we've seen, I think if they're studying her it's in a "let her loose and see what happens" sort of way.
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Post by todd on May 25, 2010 12:19:21 GMT
I've sometimes wondered about who runs the Court. People have already brought up that the Headmaster seems more like a figurehead than the man in charge; of course, that might be what he *wants* people to think, but it's still a possibility.
At first I thought that he just runs the school part of the Court, but since Ysengrin and Coyote's embassy was directed at the Court in general, not just the school, it's unlikely that he'd have appeared in charge in the great hall if he really was just the head of one division of the Court. The other possibility is that he's a figurehead leader, a kind of front man, which allows the people really in charge to carry out their work of running the Court in privacy.
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Post by todd on May 27, 2010 12:59:37 GMT
There may be another "Paradise Lost" echo in the comic, though it could be just a coincidence.
In Milton's poem, when Satan first begins planning his rebellion, one of the angels in his service, named Abdiel, refuses to take part in it and walks out (he enters God's army sent to deal with Satan and even strikes the first blow against him in the battle that follows). A parallel here, perhaps, with the Founder who refused to take part in the scheme to murder Jeanne and force her ghost to guard the Annan Waters?
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whosit
Full Member
So totally a self-portrait.
Posts: 105
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Post by whosit on Jun 11, 2010 3:14:13 GMT
Wonderful observations, there. I love the connections to Milton. To be honest, I believe that many of the most ambitious members of our race have the goal (if only subconsciously) of godhood in mind. What is the point of establishing an empire, political or financial? Why are we never satisfied with the knowledge and power we have? We reach the Moon and we look to Mars. Science, art, politics, business, religion... all of these things aim to make some or all of us more than we currently are. The drive for perfection is hardwired into our systems, and it is at the center of the Court's designs. Although I don't agree with the concept that Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey uses as its basis for the source and development of intelligent life, the book's cyclic theme of infinite progression and nurture is a core component of the human condition. |
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