Girl Genius Comic for Monday, March 21, 2022

Well, kinda. I thought she would have gone for some kind of electric shielding, but instead she had the same kind of thing that Zola did. At any rate, it *did* seem like she was too good a villain to give up on just yet . . .

Michael Bacon

Well, you called it!

Since it's never been explained why Monahan wears the plague doctor-like mask, I wonder if she's already shielded it to prevent this kind of thing from happening. I mean she *has* been pretty clear-eyed about Lucrezia's eventual plans . . .

Michael Bacon

Ooh! That IS a VERY GOOD POINT! That could be a really good plot device. I do think it overused tho, that the person underneath somehow overcomes whatever is controlling it long enough to make a heroic save/sacrifice. But OTOH, anything to deny Lunevka a win!

I would be highly amused if it turned out she's really just a normal sized rat in a mecha suit piloting a human shaped mech.

A test of loyalty. She's clearly known our fellow rat enthusiast for a number of years and while she does maintain a "keep friends close and enemies closer until you can kill them" attitude, this would make for a good test to see just how quickly Ariadne would betray them when things went south, in this case, instantly. This in turn means that she would be the perfect "sacrificial vessel" and helps remove a liability for Lucrezia as well.

Whelp,... even "evil" Sparks don't normally lie,.... This is why you try to at most ne a "grey" Spark vice a Black like Lucrezia or a white like Agatha,.... hmmmn,... Now I wonder whether you can be grey if you are an "insane" Spark,... Something to argue with the kids I guess,....

Darnel D Cooper

... a test of what?

Michael Chui

Considering she has no idea what the flame even is and she was demonstrably ignorant of its possibilities? There is no way her lie would have been plausible enough for Ariadne, even before the rats factored in. She really had no options at this point.

Michael Chui

Ah. Yes, that would have been a smarter move. Seems she may be (oddly for a villain) too honest for her own good.

Elka Tovah Davidoff

Lie to Steelgarter about how quickly she could get the mirrors working.

Paul Burks

I don't see how lying could have helped Monahan. If she pretended to be amenable to becoming a vessel, it would be extremely unlikely that she could escape in mid-process. Her immediate resistance could have worked if Steelgarter hadn't betrayed her.

Elka Tovah Davidoff

Waiting to see if this was a "test" and she actually fires on Ariadne.

Possibly! Color made this a lot clearer.

BrokenThyme

Did any of us not expect that there would be one in this crowd before too long? It felt like there was a lot of tension between Monahan and Steelgarter to me, and, well, Lunevka's here, too.

Some Ed

Never stopped other people who had no respect for the martial art which would eventually do them in. I don't particularly mean that this one will be Lunevka's downfall, just that there's precedent.

Some Ed

I'm disappointed in Monahan, to be honest. I realize she just realized she was caught between a dead place and another dead place. But she could've lied on demand. I mean, that wasn't the time for having misgivings about not being completely honest to someone who has no reservations about killing her. Also, by 'killing her', I'm not necessarily talking about her body, just to be clear. I don't think she particularly makes a worthy vessel, so probably can't be used like some have suggested she will be. But I'm not ruling that out. I'm also not ruling out that she will live on in a divided mind state, similar to how Agatha and Gil did. I doubt she'd have as many in control moments, but the real point is that she, as of somewhere between the last panel of the last comic and the first panel of this one, did not expect to survive. Also, to be clear, I don't think a convincing lie would've worked. I think Steelgarter had her mind made up on how she'd respond to this event when it happened, and those filthy rats were a much bigger component to that decision than her desire to have a usable gate. The question she asked was merely to explain to Monahan a plausible reason for her choice for the highly unlikely possibility that somehow Monahan then gets the upper hand.

Some Ed

Great move on Monahan's part, but I'm disappointed in Steelgarter.

Elka Tovah Davidoff

But Monahan's counterattack /worked/! So Lu has no right to sneer.

Brian Harvey

Yeah, there's that.

Brian Harvey

I think this was discussed before, possibly on the Wiki, but there's an earlier page with a picture where Monahan briefly wears a different mask, that is much flatter. No room for a snout.

As if such a promise would be worth anything coming from Lunevka.

If Lunevka doesn't consider cheerleading to be a real sport, she certainly doesn't consider it practice for combat. So it makes sense. She's sneering at Monahan. Again.

What happens to the Rats without their master? They seem just as devoted to her as she is/was to them. Will they go berserk?

I think her hand is right next to Monahan's head. That's about where Steelgartner's lower left hand is. Maybe she is stunning Monahan? Or perhaps she has a device that allows her to transfer her consciousness that's miniaturized compared to what we've seen before, so she can skip that step?

This is just a wild prediction, but what are the odds that our good doctor’s mask hides a literal rat face when it eventually comes off?

Connor

...but it doesn't seem like Lucrezia is aiming for Dr. Monahan.

BrokenThyme

Betrayal... :-(

A Patreon of the Ahts

Steelgarter has made a serious tactical error in not also asking for a promise not to exterminate herself!

Brian Harvey

I suggest that the first "." in the first panel would be better as a comma. Also I don't understand Lu's scare-quotes around "practice." I get the ones around "sport." And no hyphen in "cheerleading" please!

Brian Harvey

I dunno, "bzzownt snap zzap zwee?" (last letter partly missing) sounds rather beyond rescue.

Brian Harvey

Really enjoyed that kick - and Monahan is absolutely right about cheerleading being a sport (although I can't imagine what that looks like in this timeline!) Wonder if our heroes will turn up and go "So who should we shoot? ...how about everyone and sort them out later?" Or, as William Ansley suggests, the rats. I'd like to see the rats jump in. Can't wait to find out! Hope the shipping goes well!

Le'letha

And on the next page, will it be rats to the rescue?

William Ansley

Oh, rats! (with apologies to Charles Schultz and the Foglios).

William Ansley