Wild Speculation

[fjodor]

These robots seem to have a fair amount of autonomy. Even a sense of humour. On the other hand, Robot 1 asked Annie if he had to come back after delivering Shadow 2 to Gilletie Wood. So maybe the one who pieces the robot together, automatically controls it. I speculate we will see an army of robots later on in the story.

[mrw]

rastarogue said:

It seems to me that he has to enter/exit through the eyes of a thing, and if when entering he destroyed the ciecuits the eyes might no longer be eyes.

That probably wouldn't matter, as they still would be "representative" of eyes. After all, the "eyes" on the wolf doll aren't much different than broken robot eyes in the sense that neither of them work as real eyes.

[julieth]

yeah, I don't think the eyes have to actually see for Reynardine to enter and exit. Does he need two eyes though, or just one? Discuss.

[owl]

Probably only one...I don't see how multiple eyes would make a difference. Maybe if he can't enter anything with MORE than two, though, then he couldn't enter the Tic-Tocs (which are robots)(If the "thousand eyes" thing isn't just something Gamma made up to sound cool, which I don't thik it is).

[La Poire]

Since (the one and only) Robot seemed like he didn't want to come back to Gunnerkrigg, does that mean robots are mistreated slaves? Or perhaps Robot was just mistreated by his fellow robots, at the bottom of the robot heap. Or maybe he was afraid of someone/thing. The possibilities are endless!

[rastarogue]

I wonder if Reynardine has to "see" the eyes to eneter them. What if somebody wore mirrored glasses?

I think probably only one eye is necessary.

[owl]

I think he does. The way I imagine it is that he makes a connections from the eye(s) of his current host to the eye(s) of the next, then "jumps" along it.

[mrw]

Yeah, that makes sense. (...must be off topic then. oh well...)

Why do you suppose Reynardine was apparently not able to take over Eglamore? There must be some reason...

[owl]

heh. Yeah, what're we doing? The Wild Speculation thread is no place for sense!

*starts dancing around crazily and speaking in horrible German mixed with a language that's being made up on the spot*

Well, I figure it has something to do with all those huge "no eye" signs everywhere in the Large Animal Holding Cells. Perhaps Eglamore has some sort of built in "no eye" symbol, and this is why he's a Reynardine-hunter in the first place.

EDIT: Could also have something to do with the giant symbol for lead on his chest...Though I don't know much about the alchemical properties of lead, so I dunno. My google-fu is weak on the subject.

[julieth]

Lead blocks X-rays, which are used to see through things. That could work.

[Ben²]

I remember reading a bit on the old alchemical elements, and their meanings when I first started noticing those sorts of things in the comic. Interestingly, personal attributes were often given to the elements, much like they were for classical or oriental elements.

Lead when positively viewed, could be a representative of someone incredibly loyal and such.

Antimony, when viewed positively, represented the fire of humanity: its passion, and its spontenaity.

Mercury is pretty obvious: quick and clever.


It could be that these meanings might have been intentionally attributed to their representatives in the comic.

Edit: Okay, that was a bit off topic. Sorry.

[rastarogue]

Maybe because lead is one of the most dense minerals and mercury one of the most fluid, reynardine could not find a "crack" in eglamore's shield through which to take possesion.

Also, if Reynardine hits the back of Eglamore's armor, and if Rey needs the eyes of the victim to enter he would then not be able to take possesion through the back. This forced him to take possesion of the nearest vessel which he had not already takesn posession of, the doll.

[owl]

Does it ever say he has to be faced by the thing he possesses?Because he could, in his fire-mercury form, go around him and just get to his eyes that way. Tough maybe that's why there's the lead on the front - so he can't do that either.

[Aspen d'Grey]

I think he can only spend a limited ammount of time outside a host, which is why he was forced into the wolf doll.

[julieth]

Didn't Eglamore say that Renardine has to have direct eye contact to grab someone's body? I may be remembering that wrong.

[Ben²]

Yeah, there may be some sort of magic involved, a charm spell that keeps the victim from looking away or closing their eyes. If you look back to the point where Rey nearly takes over Annie, she certainly seemed paralyzed or something.

Of course, that may just have been shock from seeing a giant fire-being spring forth from a seemingly friendly dragon... but as has been pointed out many times, Annie doesn't seem like the sort who can be fazed easily.

[mrw]

Personally, I think it was shock. Annie's tough, but not inhuman. I don't think she's completely immune to surprise. Reynardine bursting forth may have been something new even to her.

In addition, for her it was likely two shocks, the first is obvious (Reynardine's sudden appearance), and second is the realization that she had radically misjudged him.

[Ben²]

Hum, you have a point. Even if it is coming from a living, breathing dragon, I guess a big ol flaming fox-thing would shock a lot of people.

[Aspen d'Grey]

seemingly friendly dragon....

That just made me laugh. Those are not two word you usually put togethor.

[aoeniac]

About why Rey couldn't possess Eglamore or Annie after Eglamore grabbed her out of the way...

It's probably all of these reasons combined:

1. Reynardine can't survive more than a few seconds without a host (Eglamore seemed to think he had died, and Eglamore had only had his eyes off Reynardine for a few seconds.)

2. Eglamore obviously has SOME sort of defense against Reynardine's possession. How else could he do battle with him while he was in Sivo's body if Reynardine could have just left Sivo and gone after Eglamore? I think you guys are on the right track with it being Eglamore's alchemy symbol that protects them, his armor is probably enchanted.

3. Reynardine probably wasn't foiled by Eglamore pulling Annie out of the way, not by itself anyway. It probably had more to do with Eglamore being in contact with Annie, spreading his protective enchantment to her by proximity.

[julieth]

Well, I went back through the archives, and while Eglamore doesn't actually say anything about breaking eye contact. Sorry about the mistake!
But yeah, I definately think Reynardine can't survive without a host. Few parasites can.

[owl]

Not even long enough to get around someone? He does have the symbol for Mercury, after all. He can probably move pretty fast. But I do see your point.

I think it may also have to do with Annie herself, and maybe the charm around her neck? Kat noticed it right before Sivo arrived, right? Maybe the timing has significance.

[Aspen d'Grey]

Maybe it was just that the doll was the first thing that he made eye contact with after he missed Annie. It does have her symbol with it, so maybe it dragged him into it rather than Reynardine choosing that path.

[mrw]

Looking at #81 and #82, I'd say that symbol is a representation of Annie's ownership of the toy, not that she put the symbol there. It only appears when Reynardine is trying to make his point, and at the instant he possessed the toy #54. My guess is he took the toy because it was nearby, and if he didn't take over something he would soon die outside a host (as others have suggested).

Any speculation on why Tom highlighted the lockpicks stored in the toy when Reynardine possessed it? It would have been easy enough to ignore them, but he didn't.
Do you suppose Reynardine will be able to pull them out at will? Use them as metal wings, or claws or something? They kind of look like wings in #54.

[yeochild]

New double-crackpotty theory!

This is a weird interpretation of Romeo and Juliet, with many of the genders changed.

Annie is Romeo before he meets Juliet, wishing for something she can't have (her mother back) and being all cold and depressed.

Kat is Mercutio; she isn't targeted by or involved with any monsters, but aids Annie nonetheless. She tries to get her all cheered up, and is so fun . . . just to make it tragic when Tybalt's incarnation kills her.

I have no idea who the Capulets are, if the school is the house of Montague. Possibly the monsters/ghosts/things? Sure, Annie gets along with them now . . . but I bet most of them don't have the same attitude towardsthe other children. And Annie might annoy some of them by accident; spirits are notoriously capricious.

Reynardine is SO Tybalt. He doesn't like Kat (Mercutio), has a short temper, and is fully equipped for bringing about her death in a way that will make Annie (Romeo) feel guilty.

Who (or, more likely, WHAT) Juliet is has really got me flummoxed. Maybe it's the idea of happiness after death. Maybe it's a boy who has yet to show his face. gosh golly: Maybe it's Mort!!



Soooo . . . in case you haven't read Romeo and Juliet, here's my crazed crackdown so far:

.Annie is depressed.

.Annie meets funny, useful, neutral, cheerful Kat, whom the audience likes. Kat tries to pull Annie out of her misery.

.Annie is brought back into reality by the lovely Mort, who probably wins her admiration by saving someone from rampaging robots.

.Just as Annie is feeling better, Rey manages to kill Kat and escape, in a way that makes Annie feel responsible (maybe with her body?).

.Elgamore thinks that it's all Annie's fault too and expells her. Annie resolves to hunt down Reynardine.

.She manages to kill Reynardine, but far from calming everyone down and redeeming the situation, it enrages and terrifies the monster/ghost community. Mort is forced to leave them and aid Annie.

.They both die tragic deaths in some over-complicated situation (Well, Mort already has . . . maybe just Annie then).



Of course, I don't believe a word I just wrote . . .

[rastarogue]

Love the crazy theory Yeochild.

the White-Ghost-sword-Lady would be from the Capulets.

[owl]

That's awesome! Yeah, Kat's totally Mercutio (even though Reynardine is Mercury...). Mort would be Juliet and Muut is the Nurse, bringing gifts and messages from Juiliet to Romeo.

[rastarogue]

mrw said:

Any speculation on why Tom highlighted the lockpicks stored in the toy when Reynardine possessed it? It would have been easy enough to ignore them, but he didn't.
Do you suppose Reynardine will be able to pull them out at will? Use them as metal wings, or claws or something? They kind of look like wings in #54.

I think reynardine can use them. After all he does get into someplaces whree he is not meant to be and he can't really use his magic right now, so I think he uses the Lockpicks. He may be able to fight with them.

[owl]

Oh My Feudal Goats that's an awesome image. Reynardine facing off against Eglamore, armed with his strusty lockpicks! Now if only I could draw....

I might try anyway. Just wear anti-ugliness lenses when you visit the Fanart thread next and you'll be fine.

[La Poire]

I think the lockpicks coming out of Reynardine's back was just the result of an attempt of his at powering up to attempt to take out/over Annie or Eglamore again, like he was literally pushing out fromthe inside.