[363] Chapter 17 title

[popo]

Why did I think that he was a young Eglamore?

[thelonedragon]

GAH I was " " that close of posting and i thought well might as well check just in case to see if someone else had posted LAUGHING ON LINE.

anyways yeah it kinda looks like him as a knight, maybe he tells anne about when he started down his learning so she would like learning to be a medium or something?

EDIT ok looking at it... it looks nothing like him so i have no idea whats up.

[Asuka]

It almost looks like an illustration out of a storybook.

[Boksha]

"The Medium Beginning"?
What's next, Morgan Freeman explaining gadgets to Annie for added "realism"? Or maybe the real villain turning out to be Surma!


(no, I didn't really like Batman Begins)

[monkeybucks]

I agree it looks like an illustration from a book. It sure doesn't look like Toms usual style. I was a little surprised when the page loaded!

For some reason it makes me think of The Sword in the Stone, but as I've never read it (or seen the disney film) I don't know if it's relevant at all.

Boksha, why didn't you like Batman Begins? I thought it was good.

[todd]

It was hypothesized on the comments page that the chapter would revolve around a revelation of how mediums got started at Gunnerkrigg (which might fit the archaic costume depicted on the title page).

Though I hope that Annie gets to do more than just listen to a lecture in the story. The present-day Annie's been feeling marginalized so far in her second year - standing to one side while Red rants about her hair and Blue rejecting her, or telling Kat about her adventures at Good Hope when she was smaller. I'd like to see her doing more again.

[pulvissolaris]

This illustration reminds me of a medieval fechtbuch (a fighting manual), such as the ones published by the German master swordsman HansThalhofer. The man with the sword could be Mr. Eglamore, but he is not a medium, as far as we know. On the other hand, the illustration could be symbolic of something. Children of knights (the picture clearly shows a very young person. The knight looks as if the sword was much too heavy for him) were often apprenticed to experienced knights, so maybe this is the kind of story we are going to see in this chapter.

[Yin]

I'll be next to agree that it looks like something from a storybook- and an old one at that.

And for some reason, I keep thinking of Cyrano de Bergerac (if that's how you spell his name). That nose...

[Mezzaphor]

Maybe it just means that Annie's going to start her Spirit Medium classes, so we can look forward to seeing Parley and Smith again. (A brief history of Mediums in the Court would fit well in such a context.)

[traedl]

It's the Page of Swords from one of the more famous Tarot decks, or at least it's inspired by it:

[cenit]

Sigh, the whole point is to what "Medium" is referring to here. Thinking about the whole GC story one could take a risk saying that we're gonna learn more about mediums, what do they do, why does GC needs one, maybe seeing Annie in some classes, perhaps a cool Surma flashback from when she studied the same thing.

...or it could be something different. You can't really tell with GC.

The knight also got me confused, not only is very different with the rest of the artwork (giving a little more weight to those who said this is an illustration), but it doesn't have anything to do with mediums as far as I know.

I don't think he looks like Eglamore at all.

[traedl]

Why there's a Page of Swords on the cover may become apparent in the chapter itself, otherwise the tarot card - medium connection isn't too farfetched.

[Mezzaphor]

todd said:

Though I hope that Annie gets to do more than just listen to a lecture in the story. The present-day Annie's been feeling marginalized so far in her second year - standing to one side while Red rants about her hair and Blue rejecting her, or telling Kat about her adventures at Good Hope when she was smaller. I'd like to see her doing more again.

I hardly see how the last chapter marginalized Annie. Backstory is still story, in my opinion.

As for the seeming lack of progress on Annie's adventures with the Forest/Robots/finding out what the deal was with her parents, Tom seems to be using Rotating Arcs. I'm sure that particular plot thread will come up in good time.

[todd]

mezzaphor said:

I hardly see how the last chapter marginalized Annie. Backstory is still story, in my opinion.

True - but I meant the present-day Annie attending Gunnerkrigg. The little Annie at Good Hope is, in some ways, a distinct character from her.

But I don't think that the webcomic will do two flashback stories in a row, so I suspect that it'll be set in the present.

[Mezzaphor]

todd said:

The little Annie at Good Hope is, in some ways, a distinct character from her.

I'd say Annie's a single character evolving over time. She's changed since she was six at Good Hope, but she's also changed since first coming to the Court. Personality-wise, since Chapter 1, she seems to be growing more like her 6-year-old self.

I guess this is a question of interpretation, so I can agree to disagree here.

[Aspen d'Grey]

Heh, I totally saw that and thought 'PAGE OF SWORDS!"... Hmm, I would completely expect Tom to do that, too.

[todd]

Does anybody know what happened to the site? I can't reach it this morning.

[Aspen d'Grey]

I can reach it, todd.

[todd]

I was able to reach it again, a few minutes later that morning. I don't know what happened there. I just hope it doesn't happen again.

[Tenjen]

I got that too for a few moments.

[Asuka]

Update tonight! (At least, from where I am.) Personally I hope this means that Annie is starting Medium classes with Smith and Parley. Either way I don't think it will be another flashback. Who knows, maybe in these classes Annie will discover something else about her mother or about the connection between Reynardine and Surma.

[Mezzaphor]

Maelgrim wrote in the shoutbox:

Hey! That's after Von Danzig's gloss of Liechtenauer's fechtbuch. And that's actually a pretty damn god picture of a Fechterspiel.

Peter von Danzig's fechtbuch

Fechterspiel.

[todd]

I think, though, that Tom meant the drawing to evoke the Page of Swords rather than an illustration from a fechtbuch; Tarot cards are far more likely to be relevant to a medium's duties and abilities than would sword-fighting.

[AluK]

I really think the image symbolizes a scholarship of sorts. From my dim understanding, fechtbuchs taught a few fighting forms and combat skills using various weapons, weaponry basics. I feel that Annie will be taught these mediumship basics.