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Post by maxptc on Nov 2, 2017 21:13:01 GMT
Not that I think Jones is that manipulative, but had Surma not volunteered Tony wouldn't have been able to go on the trip, and would have been alone with Surma anyways. That's true - so maybe the theory does hold water. But somehow I don't think that if Surma and Tony were alone in the Court, they would have started interacting. The Court is like a city, and there's lots to do there compared to the jungle. True, but they would have been the only two from the friend group around, both with nothing to do. It's not a stretch to think they might have hung out. But the "conspiracy" falls apart when you consider Jones is with James during that last training session. She couldn't murder anyone even if that was her game. Jones being manipulative and having an agenda makes sense to me, Jones even having a "romantic" interest in James I can buy, but murder seems outside her behavior. |
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Post by warrl on Nov 2, 2017 22:58:59 GMT
Jones obviously does not want to be alone - from roughly the time humanity came into existence, she has been around humans. And attempted to fit in. If she wanted to be alone she could walk into the sea, and either stay there or eventually find her way to Antarctica.
And, for some reason, in spite of a human life being comparatively as brief and delicate as a candle-flame in the wind, she cares about people. When young Mort was killed while trying to save her, she argued for giving him some semblance of a life. On several occasions (that we were shown) she bonded with individual people and stayed with them through the remainder of their lives, and beyond - up to the point where it became not merely inconvenient, but functionally impossible, to continue to living among what they left behind without drawing an excessive amount of attention to her difference.
And, without emotion, why should she care if people know she's different?
The claim that Jones is emotionless is obviously false.
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Post by mturtle7 on Nov 2, 2017 23:30:20 GMT
I do find Jones a bit unsettling. We've speculated about her emotional states, but, more pressingly: Does she have moral commitments? If the answer is "no" or "how could she?" or "probably not," I think Jones is potentially the scariest character at Gunnerkrigg, however benevolent she's seemed thus far. I mean, she is on no one's side, as far as we know - not GC's, not Coyote's; she doesn't seem particularly inclined to prevent World Wars or anything. Adding on to this point a little - Annie once pointed out that Jones may very well be the most important being on the face of the planet. Her moment of conception is so singularly significant as to be almost Biblical ("first there was nothing but chaos. Then there was Jones."), her knowledge and experience far outstrips any sentient being in all of history, she is literally invulnerable to any possible kind of physical harm, and her muscle strength is just about infinite. Even without considering what the heck her motivations are, this is DOWNRIGHT TERRIFYING. If Jones just decided to just kill every single living being on the planet, she could do it. Easily. I mean, even if we knew it was coming, there would literally be no way for us to stop her. She is both an immovable object and an unstoppable force, with billions of years worth of experience and knowledge in the bargain. And, as you say, she is on no one's side but her own. The only emotional attachment we're aware of is Jimmy Jims, and even that's kind of dubious. The only moral rule which she seems to follow is basically the Prime Directive, and any Trekkie can tell you exactly how reliable that is. Underestimate Jones at your own peril. |
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Post by vankersabra17 on Nov 3, 2017 0:04:15 GMT
Why? She's the female, she gets to make the ultimate mate choice. James failed her tests, for whatever reason. Tony wins the egg. That's all Uncle Darwin cares about. And it got us whatsername, Firehead Girl, whose kinda interesting, in her way. And who, not at all by the way, killed Surma by rehosting the family fire spirit. (Jeez, imagine who James would have fathered, some musclebound soccer player with her hair in a bristle-cut and a laugh like a donkey. No thank you.] Well,James also deserves better so in the end of the day, things worked out pretty well for him. Jones was and always will be a better woman than Surma ever was. |
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Post by spritznar on Nov 3, 2017 0:31:53 GMT
her knowledge and experience far outstrips any sentient being in all of history, she is literally invulnerable to any possible kind of physical harm, and her muscle strength is just about infinite. Even without considering what the heck her motivations are, this is DOWNRIGHT TERRIFYING. If Jones just decided to just kill every single living being on the planet, she could do it. this is why people hate the x-men. just because something is more powerful than you doesn't mean you should be terrified of it |
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Post by saardvark on Nov 3, 2017 0:43:51 GMT
Jones obviously does not want to be alone - from roughly the time humanity came into existence, she has been around humans. And attempted to fit in. If she wanted to be alone she could walk into the sea, and either stay there or eventually find her way to Antarctica. And, for some reason, in spite of a human life being comparatively as brief and delicate as a candle-flame in the wind, she cares about people. When young Mort was killed while trying to save her, she argued for giving him some semblance of a life. On several occasions (that we were shown) she bonded with individual people and stayed with them through the remainder of their lives, and beyond - up to the point where it became not merely inconvenient, but functionally impossible, to continue to living among what they left behind without drawing an excessive amount of attention to her difference. And, without emotion, why should she care if people know she's different? The claim that Jones is emotionless is obviously false. She might say that she "just wants to observe" - be a dispassionate observer of humankind and how they work. She does not want to interfere, and so since Mort was killed trying to save her, she tried to "correct for" her interference. She might "care" about people knowing she is different purely because it interferes with her observing (if they know they are observed, and she is "different", they act differently, like charging her with pitchforks....) So she can still argue that she is emotionless. That said, I still think you might be right (and Annie agrees!). Over time, enough observing of humans might have led Jones to evolve something akin to the real thing. Adopting their names, as Annie points out, as tokens of esteem(?) or pleasant(?) memory - mementos of their crossing paths. |
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Post by Zox Tomana on Nov 3, 2017 1:10:25 GMT
Jones obviously does not want to be alone - from roughly the time humanity came into existence, she has been around humans. And attempted to fit in. If she wanted to be alone she could walk into the sea, and either stay there or eventually find her way to Antarctica. And, for some reason, in spite of a human life being comparatively as brief and delicate as a candle-flame in the wind, she cares about people. When young Mort was killed while trying to save her, she argued for giving him some semblance of a life. On several occasions (that we were shown) she bonded with individual people and stayed with them through the remainder of their lives, and beyond - up to the point where it became not merely inconvenient, but functionally impossible, to continue to living among what they left behind without drawing an excessive amount of attention to her difference. And, without emotion, why should she care if people know she's different? The claim that Jones is emotionless is obviously false. She might say that she "just wants to observe" - be a dispassionate observer of humankind and how they work. She does not want to interfere, and so since Mort was killed trying to save her, she tried to "correct for" her interference. She might "care" about people knowing she is different purely because it interferes with her observing (if they know they are observed, and she is "different", they act differently, like charging her with pitchforks....) So she can still argue that she is emotionless. That said, I still think you might be right (and Annie agrees!). Over time, enough observing of humans might have led Jones to evolve something akin to the real thing. Adopting their names, as Annie points out, as tokens of esteem(?) or pleasant(?) memory - mementos of their crossing paths. This may be why she values having the Court as a place to return to. People knowing she's an oddity matter much less within the Court compared to elsewhere, because all the people who would know are aware of there being things beyond the norm, both within and without the bounds of the Court. Them knowing about her nature doesn't affect her observation activities as much. |
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Post by antiyonder on Nov 3, 2017 1:32:08 GMT
Why? She's the female, she gets to make the ultimate mate choice. James failed her tests, for whatever reason. Well to be fair, even if cheating is something to be forgiven, I think the person getting cheated on still has the right to be steamed without getting an angry glare in return (which Surma gave him in the recent page). Not sure what stef is bothered by, but that would be my one turn off from the chapter. |
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Post by wynne on Nov 3, 2017 7:26:11 GMT
Re: world wars. It wouldn't be so hard. She's friends with lots of etheric creatures and has seniority. Couldn't she just orchestrate some major quasi-religious intervention, and also just break all the bombs before they're used? If she wanted to. She just seems sort of indifferent. I kinda suspect no one's pull (save maybe Coyote's) is *that* big. The world must continue to spin, etc. You can get the feeling that the Powers That Be only have so much leeway. |
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Post by fia on Nov 3, 2017 15:47:28 GMT
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