Gunnerkrigg Court Chapter 1 Wrap-Up, 2005-05-26
Apr 1, 2021 4:17:16 GMT
blahzor, SilverbackRon, and 5 more like this
Post by Gemminie on Apr 1, 2021 4:17:16 GMT
[Admin note: We found this post from 2005 in the moderation queue – we don’t usually look in there, as this forum is unmoderated. We seem to have accidentally turned on moderation back then, then turned it off as soon as we realized it was on, but this post must have been submitted during that brief interval. We apologize for the inconvenience.]
So that new show "The Office" on NBC is supposed to be pretty good, though I haven’t seen it yet, and I'm sure we’re all watching videos on this new “YouTube” website, but meanwhile another webcomic I read linked to Gunnerkrigg Court, so I came to check it out. Hi everybody on the forum! I guess this comic is about a girl going to a boarding school that is maybe in England somewhere that has four academic houses ... sort of like Harry Potter? Anyway, with chapter 1 done and the story about to move on to chapter 2, I thought I would write up a summary of chapter 1 (spoilers for those who haven't read it yet), because there might be a lot more going on here below the surface than meets the eye!
Our protagonist is a girl named Antimony Carver, who’s just started at a boarding school called Gunnerkrigg Court, so we know what the comic’s title means, unlike Sluggy Freelance. The school seems to be haunted by ghosts, or ... shadows? There’s at least one spooky shadow entity, which Antimony has creatively named “Shadow 2,” because she already has one shadow. But Shadow 2 doesn’t seem to want to leave her alone, so Antimony decides to try to communicate with it. It seems to want her help to get back to its home in the forest nearby.
But there’s only one bridge across the canyon to the woods, and it’s got a lot of lights, so Shadow 2 needs help to cross it. And I guess Antimony can’t walk across the bridge with it herself because of school rules. So Antimony decides to build a "robotic walking device." Sometimes the dialog is really strange. She’s going to learn how to build a robot from scratch, but then she finds where they keep the spare robot parts. Lucky! So she grabs a box of robot parts, and it turns out to have all the parts for one robot – except for its right arm. But hey, she needs the robot to walk, not perform surgery.
So she puts the robot together, turns it on, and names it “Robot” (OK, perhaps naming things isn’t her forte), and it thanks her for putting it back together. What a nice robot! She shows Robot the bridge and tells it the plan. That evening, they say their goodbyes, and Robot walks across the bridge with Shadow 2. And when it gets to the other side, the woods are chock full of other shadow guys, who welcome Shadow 2 home with open arms, so he lives happily ever after! Mission accomplished! Robot apparently decides to look for a new arm. Maybe he could find a fallen branch and stick it in there.
So that’s the chapter! But Chapter 2 must be coming soon. I guess we’ll see what kind of strange events happen next.
Notes about Chapter 1:
Unanswered questions:
Speculations going into Chapter 2:
Well, I’ve got my Star Wars Episode III tickets reserved with Fandango, and I’m going to see it, even though Episode II wasn’t that great, but this could be the last Star Wars movie ever! I hope not, of course, and if there are ever more films in the series someday, I’m sure there will never be problems with buying tickets for them via Fandango! See you in chapter 2!
* Of course he gets better – a lot better – so please don’t hurt me! No, of course I didn’t really write this in 2005; I hadn’t heard of the comic back then, and I’m not sure this forum existed either. Happy April Fool’s Day 2018! I mean 2021!
So that new show "The Office" on NBC is supposed to be pretty good, though I haven’t seen it yet, and I'm sure we’re all watching videos on this new “YouTube” website, but meanwhile another webcomic I read linked to Gunnerkrigg Court, so I came to check it out. Hi everybody on the forum! I guess this comic is about a girl going to a boarding school that is maybe in England somewhere that has four academic houses ... sort of like Harry Potter? Anyway, with chapter 1 done and the story about to move on to chapter 2, I thought I would write up a summary of chapter 1 (spoilers for those who haven't read it yet), because there might be a lot more going on here below the surface than meets the eye!
Our protagonist is a girl named Antimony Carver, who’s just started at a boarding school called Gunnerkrigg Court, so we know what the comic’s title means, unlike Sluggy Freelance. The school seems to be haunted by ghosts, or ... shadows? There’s at least one spooky shadow entity, which Antimony has creatively named “Shadow 2,” because she already has one shadow. But Shadow 2 doesn’t seem to want to leave her alone, so Antimony decides to try to communicate with it. It seems to want her help to get back to its home in the forest nearby.
But there’s only one bridge across the canyon to the woods, and it’s got a lot of lights, so Shadow 2 needs help to cross it. And I guess Antimony can’t walk across the bridge with it herself because of school rules. So Antimony decides to build a "robotic walking device." Sometimes the dialog is really strange. She’s going to learn how to build a robot from scratch, but then she finds where they keep the spare robot parts. Lucky! So she grabs a box of robot parts, and it turns out to have all the parts for one robot – except for its right arm. But hey, she needs the robot to walk, not perform surgery.
So she puts the robot together, turns it on, and names it “Robot” (OK, perhaps naming things isn’t her forte), and it thanks her for putting it back together. What a nice robot! She shows Robot the bridge and tells it the plan. That evening, they say their goodbyes, and Robot walks across the bridge with Shadow 2. And when it gets to the other side, the woods are chock full of other shadow guys, who welcome Shadow 2 home with open arms, so he lives happily ever after! Mission accomplished! Robot apparently decides to look for a new arm. Maybe he could find a fallen branch and stick it in there.
So that’s the chapter! But Chapter 2 must be coming soon. I guess we’ll see what kind of strange events happen next.
Notes about Chapter 1:
- Antimony is also the name of a chemical element! It’s in the same group as nitrogen, phosphorus, arsenic, and bismuth – group 15, which used to be called group VA or VB, depending on whom you asked. It’s between tin and tellurium in the fifth period. I wonder if this is important somehow!
- Antimony is just starting boarding school, which I guess in England means she’s probably about 12 or so, but she sure wears a lot of makeup. I wonder why her parents let her wear it!
- I guess Antimony will be narrating the comic regularly, as there’s a narration box right on the first chapter’s title page!
- She’s got fiery, unusually red hair, an interesting artistic choice!
- The art style is ... unusual. I’m not sure why she has such a strangely-shaped head. I certainly hope Mr. Siddell’s art gets better with time!*
- She wears a bright blue hair clip on her left side. That seems like one of those permanent fixtures that’s always there throughout the entire run of the comic, like how Charlie Brown always wears the same shirt!
- Antimony doesn’t seem to be going to school to be a witch or learn any magic at all! We haven’t actually seen her classes yet, though, so who knows? Also, as she herself narrates, the school looks like some kind of industrial complex, not a castle. It doesn’t seem much like Hogwart’s at all!
- Antimony has two shadows! Or maybe her shadow split in two? She got one of them the normal way, and the other one came from the forest later. I wonder if that means anything!
- Antimony is very calm and collected about meeting a shadow ghost that just follows her around and silently stares at her out of the darkness, hiding whenever she tries to point it out to an authority figure. (Does that mean it follows her into the bathroom? Does it stare at her while she sleeps? Creepy!)
- She tries to tell a teacher about the shadow spook, but he doesn’t believe her. I guess that must mean that supernatural creatures are really rare at the school!
- Shadow ghosts can’t talk, but they can change their shape to spell out words. And to make a paddle-ball toy. But I guess turning their arms into wings so they can fly doesn’t work, or this one would’ve flown across the canyon already!
- There’s only one way to cross the canyon to get to the forest, and that’s across the bridge. That bridge is long, and it has a lot of really bright lights – the school’s electric bills must be insane!
- Antimony is really dedicated to her new shadow friend, because she’s all ready to start down the long path to learning how to build a robot from scratch! But she thinks she can do it! Maybe Annie will become this comic’s robot genius!
- The robot is missing its right arm. I’m sure that can’t possibly mean anything! Maybe we should watch for characters later who are similar in some way! Like if they’re a robot with an extra right arm!
- It’s a good thing Antimony doesn’t believe every sign she reads. And somebody is really no good at hiding where the robot parts are!
- The robot calls Antimony “Mommy!” That’s adorable! I think she will be a great mother someday! As long as she doesn’t send her child into danger, like across a bridge with no railing into a dangerous forest!
- There’s a weird green bird sitting on one of the bridge lights, going “tic toc.” That’s random. Is it a robot? If they’d known there were robot birds, maybe it could have flown Shadow 2 across. But it doesn’t do anything else besides just sit there, so it’s probably not important? Just a weird kind of security camera?
- How much of all this did that teacher see? Annie sure lies quickly! I wonder if he believes her!
- They go to school all day and all evening here?
Unanswered questions:
- What was Antimony’s life like before coming to Gunnerkrigg Court? Why did her parents pick this odd school to send her to instead of some other school? Or did the school pick her, by sending an owl, or a robot bird that goes “tic toc,” or something?
- How did Shadow 2 get to the school, with the megawatt light bridge and all? Maybe if he’s a shadow ghost, he’s the ghost of somebody who died? I’m sure that will be explained soon!
- Why was Robot taken apart and put in a box, then put in a closet that’s clearly labeled not to contain any spare robot parts? Oh well, probably not important!
- And why go to the trouble of trying to fool anybody about what’s in the closet if you’re not going to try that hard? I mean, why not just take the sign down entirely, or cover it with a different sign?
- Why doesn’t the bridge have guard rails? That’s dangerous! Aren’t they afraid someone will fall off? Even Annie is worried that Robot might fall off! I hope nobody does! Imagine the lawsuits from parents!
- Why is it forbidden for students to cross the bridge and take a walk in the Forest? Maybe because of the lack of guard rails, or maybe because the forest on the other side is full of shadow spooks, which I guess are dangerous? Shadow 2 doesn’t seem dangerous. But clearly the Court doesn’t trust them. Maybe it’s Antimony’s destiny to make peace between the Court and the shadow ghosts. I’m sure that will be a major plot point going forward!
- Are there other shadow ghosts in the school, or was Shadow 2 the only one? If they’re all over the place, wouldn’t that teacher have believed Antimony when she told him about it?
- Does that teacher have a name? There would obviously be some teachers in a comic that’s entirely focused around a school. We’ve seen him twice, so maybe he’s her homeroom teacher, if they have such things. He’s got to be important, or why would he be the only other human we’ve seen? And he knows Antimony’s name. We’re definitely seeing him again!
- I guess shadow creatures can only exist for a brief moment when they’re not touching a regular shadow? Shadow 2 seems pretty careful to stay attached to real shadows. I guess we won’t know unless Shadow 2 comes back!
- Why can’t Shadow 2 just cross the canyon via the underside of the bridge? It’s not like it’s going to fall or anything. Or does gravity affect shadow ghosts?
- Why is Antimony fixated on building a walking robot? Why doesn’t she think of something with wheels, which would be easier to make? Or, even better, something that can fly, because then the shadow ghost wouldn’t have to cross anywhere near that bridge with all its lights. Maybe some kind of remote controlled plane, or maybe helicopter? It’s not as if a shadowy spook would weigh it down much. But even some kind of catapult or giant slingshot could launch Shadow 2 across the canyon in some kind of capsule, and that would be easier to build than a robot. Of course, maybe she would have realized these things once she started trying to build a robot from scratch, but she never had to.
- What’s that odd symbol at the end of the chapter? Is each chapter going to have a different symbol at the end?
Speculations going into Chapter 2:
- Antimony hasn’t made any friends yet, so will she? She also hasn’t met her Draco Malfoy yet, so maybe she’ll have a rival? Will people make fun of her for wearing so much makeup? Or will they think she looks very mature and grown-up with it on? Whatever happens, I’m sure they’ll talk about it a lot!
- What are Antimony’s classes like? Are they going to teach her magic? Or maybe it’s all about science and technology, since the school seems so industrial? The comic’s called Gunnerkrigg Court, and it’s a school, so it will definitely be mostly about going to classes!
- Will Antimony make friends with more supernatural creatures? Or maybe with more robots? I get the feeling that the shadow ghost wasn’t normal for Gunnerkrigg Court, because the teachers didn’t believe her. It’s an industrial looking place, so it seems more likely that she’ll meet more robots.
- Will Shadow 2 and/or Robot come back? Shadow 2 seems happy, but maybe Robot will come back once he finds a good enough stick to use for an arm. Unless the shadow ghosts attack him or keep him from coming back.
- Who’s that girl explaining the houses on the bonus page? Will she appear in chapter 2?
Well, I’ve got my Star Wars Episode III tickets reserved with Fandango, and I’m going to see it, even though Episode II wasn’t that great, but this could be the last Star Wars movie ever! I hope not, of course, and if there are ever more films in the series someday, I’m sure there will never be problems with buying tickets for them via Fandango! See you in chapter 2!
* Of course he gets better – a lot better – so please don’t hurt me! No, of course I didn’t really write this in 2005; I hadn’t heard of the comic back then, and I’m not sure this forum existed either. Happy April Fool’s Day 2018! I mean 2021!
