Carson von Mekkhan
From Girl Genius
| Carson von Mekkhan | |
 | |
| Name | Carson von |
| Age | |
| Occupation | Heterodyne seneschal (emeritus); Doom Bell ringer |
| Residence | Mechanicsburg |
| First Appearance | enjoying retirement (but not for long) |
| Death | |
| Parents | |
| Relatives | Vanamonde von Mekkhan, grandson; Arella, relationship uncertain |
| Children | unnamed son (deceased), possibly others |
| Marital Status | |
- "Carson von Mekkhan. Former seneschal and keeper of the keys to Castle Heterodyne. Welcome, my lady-if my lady you be."[1]
Carson von Mekkhan (or perhaps Mekkahn, or even Mekken; the canonical sources themselves seem inconsistent -- also Carson Heliotrope) is the last surviving confirmed seneschal to House Heterodyne.
[edit] Role in the story
When we first encounter Herr von Mekkhan, he's comfortably retired and ensconced in a flat at Heliotrope Scribe and Book Works, the family store in Mechanicsburg -- or so it appears. His daughter (daughter-in-law? granddaughter?) Arella has been out and about, and brings him the news that someone claiming to be an heiress to House Heterodyne has come to town. This kind of thing usually doesn't get old Carson terribly excited; pretenders come through all the time, and Castle Heterodyne usually takes care of them for him, in a very ... final ... way. Still, he goes out for a walk to see what's going on. While waiting for the presumed pretender to show up, he has a conversation with one of the gargoyles on the town walls, then notices that, after a visiting party passes by and converses with him, the gargoyle is watching someone in the party. That's interesting.
Eventually Carson meets the visitors again, finding that they're Agatha, Zeetha, Daughter of Chump, Krosp I, and Ardsley Wooster, although he's dubious at the outset that any of them might be legit. A series of odd happenings leads him to suspect ever more strongly that Agatha might really be The Heterodyne, and he gets with the program of helping her out, going so far as to suffer the considerable indignities of letting the Throne of Faustus Heterodyne use him as a mouthpiece. This leads him to take the very unusual step of helping Agatha get into the Castle, not via the front door, but as a "prisoner" transported by Wilhelm Diamant so that she can get in incognito. And there, for the moment, the matter rests.
To be sure, Carson has his own reasons for playing along, even if it turns out that Agatha isn't The Heterodyne. Coinciding with these developments, Zola "Heterodyne" has shown up with all manner of pomp and ceremony, and he immediately recognizes her for what she is: a threat to take over Mechanicsburg. No way is he going to hold still for that.
When last we saw Herr von Mekkhan, he was on the way back to his routine life, waiting for the next shoe to drop. We can be pretty sure that it will.
[edit] Scholarly stuff about his character
The name "von Mekkhan" seems to imply that the hereditary office of Heterodyne seneschal may be one dating to the conquering of Mechanicsburg by the Ht'rok-din; one can imagine the lord of the city negotiating with the invading barbarian spark to the effect that he, the soon-to-be besieged lord, would be allowed to continue as master of the city and manage mundane administrative details, and in return provide the spark with a permanent settlement, supplies, and minions.
While the foregoing is purely speculative, the perspicacity and acumen -- shrewdness, really -- not to mention fortitude, required to negotiate such a covenant with a rampaging mad genius still shows itself in the extremely cagey codger that is Carson von Mekkhan. Although we have not seen Carson actually face down a spark in the madness place, he has managed to hide the intimate workings of Mechanicsburg from Baron Klaus Wulfenbach.[2] Moreover, and to amplify on the term "intimate workings", the Heterodyne seneschal (presumably as part of the confirmation process) is cranially modified[3] to enable a direct mental connection with Castle Heterodyne, via a neuro-mechanical interface known as the Throne of Faustus Heterodyne. Making this link without sustaining permanent physical or psychological harm, as Carson claims to, appears to be a substantial demonstration of neurological fortitude and force of will.
Although he is ostensibly retired, he still wields considerable authority within the town, and can be seen as the penultimate authority on Heterodyne authenticity, after the Castle itself.
