Discussion for comic for 2011-01-21 (Friday) ✣ .
"WHY?!" --Tarvek 19:51, May 20, 1892
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"Why" indeed. Why is Gil so devoted to her, even after it's been amply proven before his eyes time and time again that Zola is not the ditsy, clumsy damsel in distress he knew in Paris, but rather a manipulative, murderous, power-hungry megalomaniac? A maniac who happens to be dead-set to make dead the only girl he has ever been attracted to as a true intellectual peer ✣ . There still seems a lack of information to clarify whether her behavior in Paris was a ruse or if she was changed after her disappearance. Does Gil perhaps think that a mental change was forced on her after Paris and he can restore her to her old, innocent self? Or is his devotion not even that clearly thought out? He'd better get his allegiances straight, because he can't play the dashing hero to both sides. Short of some sort of personality reset of Zola, Zola is unlikely to give up on killing Agatha any time soon, and Zola is too dangerous for Agatha to allow her to continue walking around (both for the "she wants to kill me" reason, and because of the whole "she's got a copy of the most dangerous consciousness to ever blight Europa" reason). Blind sentimentality is not something he can afford in these circumstances. —Undomelin ✉ 06:18, January 21, 2011 (UTC)
PS:Gotta love the great variety of weapons at the Castle's disposal. Or should I say "grate" variety, as their is indeed a variety of grate present. Note also the gaslamp, candelabra, hammer, what's either a fireplace poker or some sort of short, forward-hooked guisarme, corkscrew, drawing compass, etc. —Undomelin ✉ 06:59, January 21, 2011 (UTC)
Huh? There she goes!
Well, fiddlesticks! Another surprise, what? At least the Professors understand that predictability equals boring. Zola must've carefully brainwashed Gil in Paris. It is the only explanation I can think of that fits the circumstances. Undomelin is right. Gil needs to get his act together. He has coldly killed people previously in this story, only to come up with a completely inappropriate sentimentality when it comes to Zola. Tarvek has killed no one that we know about so far. I was expecting Gil to be the one to attack and finish off Zola, not Tarvek. Tarvek is supposed to be the sneaky sleaze-ball, right? -- Billy Catringer 08:18, January 21, 2011 (UTC)
That he said "I want her alive", rather than using some other phrasing, suggests to me he may even have some sort of plan up his sleeve Synalon Etuul 14:30, January 21, 2011 (UTC)
- I have to go back and check, but Gil may have overheard Zola say something about his father and how he was possessed by a slaver wasp. That would turn the trick, I'd imagine. -- Billy Catringer 15:53, January 21, 2011 (UTC)
No, wait, I've got it: He wants her alive so he has access to the Lucrezia in her head. He can't torture Agatha for information, obviously, but Zola could give it if she was so inclined (and if not, back to torture). He's just thinking strategically. Renidar 16:55, January 21, 2011 (UTC)
- Ah, you two are likely right. Tarvek almost surely overheard Zola mention the Baron's wasp ✣ while he was sneaking around the room and getting into position to jump so he could "THWAK" ✣ her, and he likely mentioned it to Gil on the way to the Seraglio. Gil would be desperate to learn how to remove the wasp from his father. —Undomelin ✉ 19:09, January 21, 2011 (UTC)
- If not, Lu-Zo would make an excellent peace offering for Gil to use while making up to Klaus. Now I am wondering if he knows about her having a copy of Lucrezia in her head. He appeared to be asleep in a nearby stasis tube while Ag-lu and Zola were going back and forth and Ag-lu downloaded a copy of Lucrezia into Zola's brain, but he may have been feigning sleep while listening to them. Or, as Undomelin theorizes, Tarvek may have said something about it to Gil on the way to the Seraglio. For that matter, Gil may have an entirely different reason for wanting her alive, but we still must eliminate these obvious possibilities. I haven't had this much fun since I read Huckleberry Finn.-- Billy Catringer 21:35, January 21, 2011 (UTC)
Gil and Zola in Paris[]
All we know about the relationship is that it was interesting and rewarding enough to Gil to be repeated. We know he saved her several times. We can suspect she got use to tending to the wounds he received in the process. Given her actual competence, she may have saved him a couple or three times. They were companions in adventure. She was annoying but good at keeping the boredom away. Zola was good at giving Gil tests for his skill by playing damsel in distress. We even know he helped her out with money at least once. Then she left Paris to seek her fortune, leaving a lot of questions in her wake.
The previous time Gil saw her she gave him valuable info on the plant and a knife with which to set himself free. A predicament he was in thanks to happily complying with Tarvek's request. She then went off to attempt to kill the future mother of his children. Leaving a whole lot of questions behind. --Rej
Knowledge is power. The Wulfenbachs are powerful and always seeking knowledge they can uses to stay that way. Gil has a better relationship with Zola than either Tarvek or Agatha do. So Zola might do things at his request that she would not do at the others. We don't know. Gil probably doesn't know. She also has a natural tendency to gloat and brag. That would be enough for him to give it a go. --Rej
Gil is the cool one. Tarvek for all his attempts to be cool still has the red hair and the temper to match. He has less power at his disposal than Gil. His choices work out worse for him than Gil's choices do for Gil. He's a great deal frustrated by that. --Rej¿¤¤? 22:45, January 21, 2011 (UTC)
- Okay, so here's another question. Did Zola know who Gil really was while they were in Paris? Can you now believe that she bought Gil's story about being a pirate? I cannot. This Zola is entirely too cold and too vicious to have ever been a naif. In fact, I am surprised that Gil did not see through her innocent act while they were together in Paris. Anyone as mean and vicious this person is, would have had to have let something slip while Gil was up close and personal. But this implies that we and Gil were seeing the same Zola we have in the story now as the Zola he was dealing with in Paris.
- We are here looking at a people with remarkable abilities. They can swap out souls. Zola's "family" kept Loremistress Milvistle captive for a number of years, long enough for them to acquire the ability to render Zola immune to such a process. That bespeaks of an extended family possessing a great deal of know-how. Might it be that they sent a mild and incompetent version of Zola to gay Paris, while keeping the original Zola safe at home and in training?
- Alternatively, it may well have been the same Zola in Paris. If so, then Zola is much, much more cunning than we have been led to believe so far. Cunning enough to fool not one, but two of the greatest sparks in Europa. I find it especially intriguing that Tarvek did not realize who she was upon seeing her the first time. Why had they not met at some time in the past? My mind has started running around the room in circles while chasing my Jack Russell worse, its time for my anti-siezure medication. I'll be back after I take my meds and catch my brain. -- Billy Catringer 00:15, January 22, 2011 (UTC)
Whew! That was a very near thing. Thought I was going end up like Johnny Depp aboard the Flying Dutchman. By the time it was over with, both my brain and my dog had run three laps around the room without touching the floor. Here is what Gilgamesh said to Zeetha about Zola. I think we need to settle for him meaning it. Gil has not told an outright lie not one time during this entire story. -- Billy Catringer 01:01, January 22, 2011 (UTC)
- The difference is that Zola has moved to the Malicious Idiot category.Naraht 02:08, January 22, 2011 (UTC)
- Hi Billy, That very page is what bothers me most versus the common wisdom about Zola. Gil must be a good judge of character. I mean he choose Agatha to fall in love with and understood her sparkiness way before his father. I can't see where his fundamental assessment of Zola is that far wrong. In terms of the current adventure Zola has only killed criminals, Veilhat and Diaz. She stabbed Zeetha, but Zeetha is a trained warrior, who had initiated the hostilities and so both fair game and the failure can be placed on Zeetha's part. She wants to kill Agatha but then so does the Baron and both know the other lives within Agatha. On the other hand she dealt with Violetta non-lethally. Tried to do so with Higgs. Tarvek is alive because she wanted him that way. She offered him a chance to stay neutral. Her main failing in the castle was to not realize when she had been outclassed. She should either have given up or taken a hint from Gil and switched her sides and loyalties. She remained steadfast in her loyalties, her goal and her purpose. She has also shown herself as self-centered and incompetent at carrying out the plans in their original form or knowing how to give up and run. As an arch-villain she lacks something. For that Tarvek and most of the readers of the comic want her dead. --Rej
- As for knowing who Gil is, we will have to wait until the Foglios tell us more about Paris. However re-evaluating her skills in light of her smoke knight training don't you wonder if she overheard the conversation Gil and Zeetha had when they thought everybody was asleep? --Rej 02:26, January 22, 2011 (UTC)