[288] Story Discussion - That disturbs me greatly

[Mezzaphor]

Early update, dawg.

"Closer to the brink of insanity." Quel surprise.

So how does this transparent ruse fit into Coyote's plan? Wheels within wheels...

EDIT: "Coming from you..." Apparently Jones is some kind of expert in her field. And whatever the heck it is, it involves wooden limbs and insanity. Dang I'm looking forward to finding out more about her... four chapters from now.

[Goatmon]

At last we have her name. I'm guessing Ysengrin planted those as a form of retaliation for the bird.

[Ed130]

They could have fallen when Coyote hit Yesengrin, also they look almost the same as the one he "planted" in Robot and logically in his arms as well. also it may not even be Yesengrin's at all, his body was gifted to him by Coyote.

[UbiquitousDragon]

mezzaphor said:

EDIT: "Coming from you..." Apparently Jones is some kind of expert in her field. And whatever the heck it is, it involves wooden limbs and insanity. Dang I'm looking forward to finding out more about her... four chapters from now.

That made me wonder if she's the school psychologist, or works/teaches in that field.

Heh, I love Parley's comment!

[nikita]

"Indiana Jones - Female Edition"
Hopefully the next pages will give us some more insight in what really happened. I've given up trying to speculate about what happens next.. ;D

[Mezzaphor]

You can see Y dropping the seeds in the last panel of [284]. It looks deliberate.

[todd]

I wonder if Coyote had Ysengrin drop the seeds as part of a misdirection tactic. As I've mentioned before, I've increasingly come to suspect that the real purpose of the visit was for Coyote to find out more about Reynardine as part of his goal to get him back out into the forest. He obviously wouldn't want the faculty to realize that this was really about Reynardine instead of the incident at the bridge and the "dead" Tic-Toc Bird, so he has Ysengrin leave those seeds behind for the teachers to find. They would suspect, thereby, that the purpose of the embassy was to plant those seeds in the Court, presumably in order to infect it (the same way that the Tic-Toc Bird was "infecting" Gillitie Wood). Also, the "fairly transparent" nature of the scheme might help to direct the faculty's attention towards Ysengrin (which indeed it does), and away from Coyote.

[Boksha]

I originally thought this was all a plan for Coyote to instill fear into the court people, but the headmaster and "Jones" don't seem fazed at all (or at least not because of Coyote's ability to instantly take out a near-invincible wolftree that Eglamore couldn't even scratch). Coyote's probably smart enough to have seen that coming, so I can pretty much bin that theory. The seeds are obviously not the real reason either; they're too obvious. I'm thinking they smuggled one or more shadow men with them across the bridge. In fact, I'm beginning to think the lamps on that bridge serve the sole purpose of keeping those shadows on the forest side of the waters.
Maybe Kat's research into Shadow2 will prove useful at some point?

[wanderer]

The seeds are obviously not the real reason either; they're too obvious.

Indeed. I can't imagine Coyote settling for a "fairly transparent" ruse. Guy doesn't gain a reputation as a trickster without actually being able to trick people. I'm not certain it was actually for the reason you propose, but there was definitely some other purpose going on here.

In fact, I'm beginning to think the lamps on that bridge serve the sole purpose of keeping those shadows on the forest side of the waters.

I've been assuming that as written, ever since we first saw them back in chapter 1.

[UbiquitousDragon]

wanderer said:

In fact, I'm beginning to think the lamps on that bridge serve the sole purpose of keeping those shadows on the forest side of the waters.

I've been assuming that as written, ever since we first saw them back in chapter 1.

So had I. We know that light kills them, as this was part of Ysengrin's case against GC (and because Muut turned up).

[Mezzaphor]

There's always the possibility that Ysengrin brought the seeds of his own accord, without telling Coyote. And that he was waiting the whole meeting for a chance to drop them, then saw a plausible opportunity to attack Annie (knowing darn well that he would be thwarted) to distract everyone. (Or maybe Annie dishing out the spankies made him so mad that he forgot about the seeds and unconsciously dropped them during his attack, but that would go against Jones' assessment, so never mind.)

Even if Y never told Coyote what he was up to, Coyote may have known anyway, and allowed it for his own reasons.

It's certainly possible that their Good Cop, Berserker Cop routine was nothing but an act, but I just have a gut feeling that Ysengrin wasn't acting at all. I think if this is part of some complicated scheme on Coyote's part, Y isn't in on it at all; he's just another pawn that Coyote's manipulating.

[La Goon]

Jeah, it's not my impression either that Ysengrin was in on some carefully planned scheme. Whatever reason he had to drop those seeds, I don't think that he himself thought of it as a diversion, though it is indeed possible, that Coyote thought it out that way.

Maybe it's more of a symbolic action. Even if the seeds are harmless when taken proper care of, they still have a potential, that Y maybe just assumes everybody is aware of (I - like many else - assume they could do something a lot similar to what that TicToc was doing). It could be his way to say "I'm gonna wreck this place!"...

[todd]

Coyote might have instructed Ysengrin to drop those seeds, or encouraged him to drop them, but not told him why - or gave him a false reason for it.

Certainly the teachers found those seeds very easily - maybe too easily, as if they were meant to be discovered.

[Mezzaphor]

Or as if Ysengrin was trying to be sneaky but failing miserably. That wolf-tree wouldn't know subtlety if it stabbed him in the back.

Therefore I can infer that the poison is in the glass nearest to Coyote! ;D

[rastarogue]

I keep getting this eery feeling that if anyone investigates the seeds, that they are likely to become "Active" and destroy the place.

[spritznar]

i get this eerie feeling that if anyone even touches the seeds they'll sprout into giant tree limbs or something and start wrecking the place. i'm hoping that's just the paranoia talking...

i also kind of want the court to plant them in the cherry tree room so we can see what they grow.

that's probably asking for trouble

[neal]

Well, I assume that they will take the proper precautions to prevent disaster with the demond seeds. Glad to know who staring woman is, too! Well, sort of know who she is... and I love that the Headmaster still looks pretty bored while saying that.

[papaya]

Like a hazmat team for magical seeds! Nifty...

So, Ysengrin is getting closer to the brink of insanity? I don't think I want to see him when he is actually insane.

[mudmaniac]

Forget the magical seeds! Im just happy Parley Parley gets another line!

[pudgimelon]

mezzaphor said:

You can see Y dropping the seeds in the last panel of [284]. It looks deliberate.

I just went back and looked at that page too. Sure enough, the whole stretch arm halberd thing was just a decoy for some more ninja-gardening by Ysengrin.

I'm going to have to start going over panels MUCH more closely to pick up those little details.

Nice divert, though, you have to admit. Tom had us all looking at the spike and speculating about who was going to get speared and who was going to jump to Annie's aid, and the REAL action in that panel was the seed drop, which nobody even noticed.

Clever.

[UbiquitousDragon]

pudgimelon said:

mezzaphor said:

You can see Y dropping the seeds in the last panel of [284]. It looks deliberate.

I just went back and looked at that page too. Sure enough, the whole stretch arm halberd thing was just a decoy for some more ninja-gardening by Ysengrin.

Of course, being a wolf-ninja-gardener he can now only be defeat by a pirate.

[breakfast]

This comic just gets better every page. I love it!

[miett]

I have a feeling of imminent doom about the seeds as well... however, they do have that wooden arm planted in a "garden room," and that seems to be under control, although if I remember correctly, it's in an area with lots of "keep out" type signs.

[todd]

pudgimelon said:

Nice divert, though, you have to admit. Tom had us all looking at the spike and speculating about who was going to get speared and who was going to jump to Annie's aid, and the REAL action in that panel was the seed drop, which nobody even noticed.

Clever.

Yes. (Though, as I've mentioned elsewhere, I think that even the seed drop is a divert, and the real seeds are Coyote's whisper to Annie that she can't trust anyone else in Gunnerkrigg.)

[pudgimelon]

ubiquitousdragon said:

pudgimelon said:

I just went back and looked at that page too. Sure enough, the whole stretch arm halberd thing was just a decoy for some more ninja-gardening by Ysengrin.

Of course, being a wolf-ninja-gardener he can now only be defeat by a pirate.

Pirate Gophers, actually, they are the natural enemy of all Ninja-Gardeners.

[Count Casimir]

Well, it seems like those seeds are probably going to grow into something dangerous, right? Well, what about Ysengrin's comment about controlling the trees of Gillitie? Does that mean that he could control whatever those seeds turn into? Three of Ysengrin's brutal tree-arms just hangin' out in some research lab couldn't do the Court much good; especially if they could reproduce.

[Ed130]

They already have a tree arm in the court, from Robot

Early update below

www.drunkduck.com/Gunnerkrigg_Court/index.php

[Count Casimir]

Well yeah, I remember that...maybe they're trying to get their own army in there (for Y to control? Seems too obvious for a trickster. I'd lean towards what others have been saying, that's just what Ysengrin THINKS is happening.)

I can see it now:

Coyote: Alright, Ysengrin. We're going to plant all these seeds, but it's really only a diversion for our secret SECRET attack!
Ysengrin: Kill them all?
Coyote: No, I-haven't you been listening? What--
Ysengrin: KILLY!
Coyote:...Yeah. Kill 'em all.