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Post by bicarbonat on Aug 5, 2022 16:45:39 GMT
1. I thought they'd be moving to the Americas, where they'd need to plow through Jersey devils and WaWa franchises – but of course not. Why would they go some place that already has human and etheric competition? Easiest conquest is done on a blank slate.
2. This is starting to feel a bit Jonesboro, in that I get the feeling "true believers" are going to have to overcome some (probably well-founded) instinctual fear/horror/repulsion in order to make the journey. I wonder if they have the right of it. Is this going to be like Tony, for all his intelligence and determination, operating under the wrong scenario? In that case, Zimmy was able to cut in and provide a reality check (ironically via ether). But if the Court is kneecapping any outside counsel/interference (esp etheric), who's to say?
3. Also, isn't Jones tied to this world? She has no memories before the formation, though the idea of her interminably floating out in space has always amused me. She's stronger than anything on Earth; is she stronger than anything on their woo-woo planet?
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Post by foxurus on Aug 5, 2022 16:57:51 GMT
Reading the top panels I thought the speaker WAS the ocean, and that it was Omega. I'd definitely be alarmed if the whole ocean talked to me!
But also I don't have a good grasp of who/what Omega is, soooo.
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Post by imaginaryfriend on Aug 5, 2022 17:15:25 GMT
Individually, many of the Court people are probably not aware of the specifics of how magic and stuff works, and the inner workings of the ether in particular. As an institution the Court's been here running experiments for generations and if it is ignorant at this point it is willfully so. ...and I think the Court being mindbendingly stubborn about rejecting anything they don't want to understand related to etheric principles is probably a safe-ish bet. Although, to be fair, interstellar travel via OCEAN is a pretty damn novel premise. I wonder how it works? Some sort of space warp that only works in the open water? We'll see, I guess. Maybe novel nowadays. It's a very old... premise, I guess. Before humans had the whole concept of "world" down there was the idea that if you travel to a foreign place you're... for lack of a better term, in another world with different creatures, monsters, god(s) and spirits, and magic didn't necessarily work the same way there. One of my ancient philosophy professors compared the ancient sailors of the Aegean to astronauts, with each island they landed on being like a completely different planet with its own unique opportunities and dangers. As Ursula K. Le Guin put it, "Rules change in the reaches." A month or so back I saw a YouTube video about someone from another country learning about the Sol system. If the translation can be believed she knew that other countries had lunar phases but was shocked to learn that it was the SAME moon. Reading the top panels I thought the speaker WAS the ocean, and that it was Omega. Neither of those has been disproven so far. |
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Post by gpvos on Aug 5, 2022 17:41:35 GMT
Hmm, the Other is rumoured to come from Mars, maybe they are behind the Court as well. Or if it's Dr. Disaster, maybe the court people are lured into some kind of simulation, never to come back. |
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Post by Gemini Jim on Aug 5, 2022 20:55:07 GMT
If this was happening in the real world (instead of in the Gunnerkrigg-verse), all of this talk of a select few sailing away to the stars, to create a new Court on another planet, would sound like a Heaven's Gate cult.
All that's missing is the special, totally-not-lethal drink to ease your passage to a higher plane of existence.
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Post by Bo No Bo on Aug 5, 2022 21:02:05 GMT
Well, this seems sudden?? Any reason I should've seen ALIENS coming for this particular arc???
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Post by maxptc on Aug 5, 2022 23:16:36 GMT
Well, this seems sudden?? Any reason I should've seen ALIENS coming for this particular arc??? Good question. We had space simulations being an official class, and thats connected to the headmaster. I suppose we also have the take you far away comment from Ysengrin to Annie, which might have been about this if he learned of the plan but not the detail of not including magical people. I suppose this could be the meaning of the moon and the stars above Kat in the fifth treatise. |
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manabi
Junior Member
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Post by manabi on Aug 5, 2022 23:19:08 GMT
We're told that with people (and all life) dying and going back into the ether the world gets to keep turning. So I wonder if they haven't thought this through. Wouldn't ether begin existing eventually on that planet as life dies? Probably wouldn't matter to them, I guess, since it might take hundreds or thousands of years. But it could be like on Earth where it crosses across time and goes backwards. The court's bad about thinking things through. They split from the forest because they wanted to get away from etheric stuff, then use etheric stuff to bind Jeanne and her lover into the Annan gorge to "protect the court." Also the seed bismuth must be etheric powered, because the court isn't built, it grows. Now they're using the Ether in some way to move to another planet. I would be quite surprised if they thought of the possibility of a new Ether developing on that planet in the future. Additionally, how do they know the Ether doesn't impact the entire universe? If they can reach this planet using something that requires etheric power, then... well, that planet's already affected by the ether and they're not really changing anything long-term. My guess is their hatred and disdain of the Ether causes them to refuse to understand it at any level, so they keep making bad decisions in regards to it. It's also possible this causes them to not realize Kat's work is based on the Ether as well. Robots can't be transferred to New People bodies without that etheric contract! |
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heranje
Full Member
Oh super wow!
Posts: 176
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Post by heranje on Aug 5, 2022 23:20:41 GMT
Beginning to think this is/was the last departure.
They have started relocating - probably the 'true believers', with this being the meeting for the last batch of people whose loyalties they aren't sure about but who they want to give the option of "get on board or seeya never", so it'd be too late for any of these wild cards to sabotage their plans. Llanwellyn is freaking out that Janet is not there and feels betrayed - if he knew there would be more ships leaving for space, that freakout would be a bit disproportionate. Plus, from the shots we've seen so far, there seem to be a lot more people at this meeting than the scattered group we saw standing in the not-ocean with Kat...
Bonus points if, once the boat is leaving, they shout something like "oh by the way the Court will self-destruct in three days", prompting the ones who chose to stay behind to run after it into the water.
If this is the case though, I wonder if Llanwellyn might choose to stay behind, as Kat appears to have done. In which case, the gang might get a new unlikely ally/source or information, as he's clearly somewhat in on the plan.
Also, the alarming-appearanced entity is probably Boxbot. Terrible.
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Post by davidm on Aug 5, 2022 23:30:34 GMT
There is a science fiction story with a surprise ending that reverses this... The hero and a small army cross vastness of space and conquer a new world, then in ending you realise that "space" was the ocean, the big ships crossing it are from age of sail, the transports that give them speed advantage over the natives were horses, the advanced weapons were muskets and you just read Cortes conquest of Aztec Empire but didn't realise it.
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Post by Runningflame on Aug 5, 2022 23:34:06 GMT
Going by the shape of the speech bubbles, this is not a robot or New Person. And while I would love to see Bud or Dr. Disaster again, they both have pretty distinctive ways of talking and this ain't them. It's formal, standard English. But I don't have any ideas about "Do not let my appearance alarm you."
Also:
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Post by todd on Aug 5, 2022 23:54:15 GMT
I wonder how the story will proceed after this departure. From the evidence, everyone closely involved in the Court's big projects and goals will be taking part in the move. Once they're gone, we'll have just a "former Court" inhabited by the people who stayed behind (as Kat will apparently be doing) or were left behind (like Annie and Reynardine). The Court's schemes will continue on this other planet, but it'll be essentially offstage; Annie, Kat, and the rest will no longer be involved. (The mysterious speaker may reveal what the Court's goal was - that would fit the chapter title - but once the boat sails away with the Court leadership on board, further interaction between it and the leads will be all but impossible.)
So one of the major elements in the story - the mysterious Court and its goals - is apparently being written out, and at a point when there's still much of the story to go (not only are elements like Loup unresolved, but if we were in the last chapter, Tom would have surely mentioned that by now). The comic could still be called "Gunnerkrigg Court", because the story after that will most likely be set in the former site of Gunnerkrigg Court, but the Court itself as the mysterious scientific organization will have departed, producing a very different story indeed.
(With the Court relocating to another planet to continue its strivings, I wonder whether Annie could use that to make peace with the Forest. The Court has left - is now on another planet and perhaps there, its experiments can no longer spill over into Gilltie Wood - or what's left of it - and endanger the ether. (Unless the Court's experiments interfere with the ether no matter where it is.) The main reason for the Forest's hostility is thus gone - though it's likely, alas, that Loup is past caring about it at this point, is just filled with the desire to destroy out of unreasoning anger and fury.)
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Post by Igniz on Aug 6, 2022 5:36:39 GMT
Here's waiting to see such "appearance" that might alarm them people.  Well, not really, Coyote threw all the stars up there, and Annie left a fingerprint on the moon However, is Coyote capitalist?  |
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Post by stef1987 on Aug 6, 2022 8:11:13 GMT
Hmm, the Other is rumoured to come from Mars, maybe they are behind the Court as well. I see you read Girl Genius too, but apparently you're not very far in it if you claim that ;p |
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Post by imaginaryfriend on Aug 6, 2022 8:18:34 GMT
"Do not let my appearance alarm you," quoth Aata, loath to explain why he didn't have time to change out of his One-Punch Man cosplay before the meeting.
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Post by mturtle7 on Aug 6, 2022 16:01:34 GMT
3. Also, isn't Jones tied to this world? She has no memories before the formation, though the idea of her interminably floating out in space has always amused me. She's stronger than anything on Earth; is she stronger than anything on their woo-woo planet? An interesting thought I had while writing my other post in this thread, but didn't really have the time/energy to include: Earth is the only world where Jones was around to confirm that the stars were always in the sky. Earth is (as far as we know) extremely unique for having her perspective around; I wonder if going to a truly unknown, unexplored planet could have larger implications than the Court realizes, as far as the development of the Ether goes.
Also, todd I can't believe I didn't see this until you (sort of) brought it up, but the exodus of the Court has some interesting parallels with the death of Coyote... |
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Post by foxurus on Aug 6, 2022 17:14:17 GMT
Reading the top panels I thought the speaker WAS the ocean, and that it was Omega. Neither of those has been disproven so far. I figure if the speaker was the ocean they would say "This ocean is YOUR method of traveling the stars" or "MY ocean is [...]" or something more like that. The court's bad about thinking things through. They split from the forest because they wanted to get away from etheric stuff, then use etheric stuff to bind Jeanne and her lover into the Annan gorge to "protect the court." Also the seed bismuth must be etheric powered, because the court isn't built, it grows. Well, for one, just because something is impossible in the real world doesn't mean it's powered by ether in the world of GKC. There seems to be other forms of fantasy powering the things in GKC as well; Kat's anti-gravity machine, her ability to materialize stuff, and the robots' new bodies are apparently all completely legitimate in the Court's eyes. But I was under the impression the hatred and rejection of the ether was new, and the formation of the Court was to get away from etheric beings -- mostly Coyote. In fact, I think it's quite possible that that's still the goal. Shell's biased against the ether and Aata has moral qualms with the ether, but perhaps the Court and the Shadow Men are less concerned with getting away from it than Shell's been led to believe. After all, the Headmaster is now in charge of the Shadow Men and he seems to have been falsely promised by someone else that his daughter would be here. Aata being "in charge" of the Shadow Men doesn't mean he knew everything. They could have easily fed him lies to keep him happy. And why would they want to be rid of the ether entirely? Even with all the ether present in the world, the Omega Device had been working to the point where it pinpointed when and where two random slugs would mate even with Surma playing with the ether in that location the whole time they were. Evidentially it can account for the ether when making its predictions. But as Loup shows -- and I'm sure as Coyote had shown -- very powerful being who bend the ether to their whims are a different matter. The Device can't always predict them. To put it another way...they can change the future. That's quite a powerful skill. Annie and Loup made a good point a few chapters back. What's the use of a prediction machine without being able to change the outcome? Why would the Court go to such lengths for that? I think they wouldn't. That's the function of the Omega Device, but it's not the point. The Omega Device is quite powerful; what if it's even powerful enough to simulate the future outcomes of a world with a slightly different atomic makeup? Now you know not only the outcome of everything, and all the events that will lead to it, but also what would cause other outcomes instead. And you have access to Zimmy, a being with the raw power to warp reality but no ability to control it. If you can find some way to control her and her reality-warping with enough precision that you can change things at the atomic level... Well. Now you can force events to go the way you want, can't you? The Court would be able to to design and orchestrate their preferred future. They would control everything. As long as no other reality-warping creatures are sticking their paws in things, at least. Which is why they need to go far, far away for the Omega Device to work properly. (It just came to mind that they probably found Zimmy by tracking events that didn't go as the Omega Device predicted.) I wonder how the story will proceed after this departure. From the evidence, everyone closely involved in the Court's big projects and goals will be taking part in the move. Once they're gone, we'll have just a "former Court" inhabited by the people who stayed behind (as Kat will apparently be doing) or were left behind (like Annie and Reynardine). The Court's schemes will continue on this other planet, but it'll be essentially offstage; Annie, Kat, and the rest will no longer be involved. (The mysterious speaker may reveal what the Court's goal was - that would fit the chapter title - but once the boat sails away with the Court leadership on board, further interaction between it and the leads will be all but impossible.) Hmm, fair point. I wonder if the Court's plan will fail and they'll be forced to return soon. |
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Post by davidm on Aug 6, 2022 23:30:57 GMT
One option is "other world" is a big practical joke by coyote, its more like those simulations the kids used to have in school, and once they get set up on new planet the simulation will get turned off and they will find they are in island middle of nowhere on earth with message from coyote of "haahahahahaahahahaha, you actually thought you could go to another planet by sea?
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Post by todd on Aug 6, 2022 23:57:02 GMT
Hmm, fair point. I wonder if the Court's plan will fail and they'll be forced to return soon. Or something goes wrong with its attempt to leave. (The ship had apparently left when Annie and Reynardine met with Kat at the end of the last chapter, but was still within sight - so there's still the possibility of something preventing it from departing the Earth.) |
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Post by pyradonis on Aug 7, 2022 9:28:55 GMT
Even with all the ether present in the world, the Omega Device had been working to the point where it pinpointed when and where two random slugs would mate even with Surma playing with the ether in that location the whole time they were. Aaaactually... It was never confirmed that this was the event they were looking for. It could also have been the twig falling down, or something that actually didn't happen. Only whoever evaluated Tony's notes knows. |
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Post by Bo No Bo on Aug 7, 2022 22:38:16 GMT
There is a science fiction story with a surprise ending that reverses this... The hero and a small army cross vastness of space and conquer a new world, then in ending you realise that "space" was the ocean, the big ships crossing it are from age of sail, the transports that give them speed advantage over the natives were horses, the advanced weapons were muskets and you just read Cortes conquest of Aztec Empire but didn't realise it. That's what 'John Carpenter of Mars' was about, right?... |
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Post by TBeholder on Aug 8, 2022 2:48:52 GMT
He did not say “another”. He said “different”.
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Post by rafk on Aug 8, 2022 10:34:56 GMT
Also, from the page that I've linked to: "Congratulations to those who figured this out. In my mind I am picturing a dart board with every available space riddled with darts." One of my all time favourite quotes, and applicable all over the internet. |
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