The Consequent Throes' Consequent[]
Vrin clearly died... or did she?
Dun dun DUN!
Just like the other Geister, Loremistress Milvistle, (also known as and the other mysterious platinum blonde, Jenka) the mysterious Lady Vrin is a favorite topic of fan speculation, inviting wild theories and the occasional epileptic tree.
She made all those hacking and choking noises, but we haven't seen the body!
Given that this is Girl Genius, there's always a possibility that any character may be seen again.
Theories aside, we will almost certainly learn more of her story.
Stay tuned.
One interesting point in favor of this unlikely theory is that Lady Vrin may have been able to reject an order from the Goddess if that order was issued using Agatha's vocal chords. Then again, her ability to follow or reject an order seems to have been based on her belief that she was answering to the one true original goddess, which meant that the personality in control was the deciding factor, not strictly a harmonic match.
There is also the possibility that if the Baron's forces collected her body (quite likely), then they may have been able to revive her for questioning.
The Revenancy Controversy[]
What exactly does being a Geisterdame entail?
What exactly do wasp weasels detect?
Theory: All "geister" stuff registers as infection[]
Many readers have a strong intuition that the Geisterdamen naturally follow their goddess, and a wasp weasel would naturally detect any substance from their world as wasp infection, and thus that when Vrin, who has a great deal of free will, is classified by a bug squad as a revenant, this should not be understood to mean that she has been wasp infected but simply that she is "wasp stuff". But there are no actual facts to support this intuition. It could also be that Geisterdamen neurophysiology is about as similar to an ordinary human being's as their external anatomy seems to be.
Similar to the idea above, some have raised the possibility that Geisterdamen and shk-ma are natural symbiotes.
Theory: All Geisters are infected[]
Another theory is that all Geisterdamen are infected with shk-ma, either as unwilling slaves or as part of their religion. The Geisterdamen could be as small a sect in their world as they are in this one; it could simply be the case that accepting a shk-ma is part of the induction as a priestess.
Theory: Vrin is unique[]
Some have suggested that Vrin may have been the only infected Geisterdame, or merely part of a subset of Geisterdamen who were infected. This possibility is usually raised in support of the theory that Lucrezia and The Other are not (or not exactly) one and the same.
Pro:
- Vrin's amoral personality seems to be unique among Geisterdamen. Eotain and Shurdlu seem friendly enough, though they still devoutly follow their goddess. This idea is supported if one takes Othar's Twitter as canon or even semi-canon, in which Othar gets to know a very pious Geisterdame. This same Geister also tells him that she has a choice in whether or not she returns to the others to serve the Goddess.
- Vrin mentions that there are those who "doubted the divinity" of the Goddess, indicating the existence of at least two factions within the Geisterdamen. It's possible that the factions are split between infected and non-infected.
Con:
- Must all those infected with a slaver wasp necessarily be ill-tempered or amoral?
- Said choice might be relevant only until they personally hear the commanding voice/meet their Goddess, who will override their will. More specifically, the choice is whether to seek the goddess to be subjugated or deliberately avoid her to retain free will.