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* That last bit has been [[Jossed]] by [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=373 page 373]: Humans were present at the Court's founding. But considering Jones' choice of words, it's possible those first humans were the ones who grew the Court in the first place.
* Furthermore, if the Court really did grow, perhaps the Tic Tocs are a sort of larval form. The Court unleashes them into the world where they eventually settle down and start growing into new Courts. Alternatively, they merely grow into new buildings at the Court's edge, allowing it to expand.
** So where do [[
*** TicTocs eat snow globes like parrots eat nuts?
* The "element that began the creation of the Court" was known as [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=583 Seed Bismuth].
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== Gunnerkrigg Court has taboos on directly manipulating life. ==
Zimmy's project that disgusted Annie (and that was [
* Perhaps Zimmy created the butt above the head creature in this [http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=198 webcomic].
* Considering the fact that Zimmy was clearly [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=463 upset] at Annie when she suggested that Zimmy should try to control her power, it seems unlikely that it was used in the creation of her project.
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* Jones. She's a double agent, and possibly a robot built from technology similar to the TicTocs.
** Jones is not a robot.
* That white circle on ''all'' of Zimmy's shirts. It's a tracking device, so the Agents know her status at all times.
These spies (and possibly the entire agency) are sympathetic to the Court, for the time being. Hence why the TicTocs rescued Antimony.
* Possibly [[Jossed]] by [[Word of God|Tom]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20141203053144/http://gunnerkrigg.proboards75.com/index.cgi?board=general
== Bismuth Seed was a [[Powered
Not necessarily Jeanne, as stated in an above guess, but it's possible. Antimony is chemically similar to Bismuth, and Bismuth is used in some cosmetics (which provides a relation to Antimony, or kohl, and Surma's name being a type of eyeshadow as stated above). Antimony's place in the Court is to replace whatever would have died along with Surma (in this guess, not Surma herself, but rather whatever Bismuth Seed did or was). It's going to be revealed that Annie is such a powerful medium, naturally able to see psychopomps and befriend ghosts, etc., because of what she is - that which is to provide balance between the technology of the Court and the magic that it has forsaken in recent decades.
== Queslett House is populated by kids who are going to live in the Wood ==
The North and South designations should also be important but I don't know how. This explains why Aly got sorted into Queslett for his week at the Court. And the opposite is in effect about the Foley house (the house the fairies got sorted into).
* Very unlikely. Remember that Queslett also has Antimony, Kat, Andrew Smith, Jack, Janet, Winsbury - are they going to turn into wood creatures too? As for Foley House, I'm pretty sure it's confirmed in canon that it's a hous for former forest creatures, so it's not much of a Wild Mass Guess.
** it just makes sense that if Foley house is for incoming residents of the court that are from the wood originally, that there should be an outgoing house that is Foley's inverse, if there is an outgoing house, then who have we seen who has left the court for the wood? only Aly who was in Queslett for his short stay at the court. QED: Queslett house is the outgoing house.
*** Gosh and golly! Does that mean Annie, Kat, Willie and others are all going to Gillitie-ify in the future?
** There's another problem with this theory; Surma and Anja were both in Queslett when they were at the Court. Surma died without becoming a forest person, and Anja is now teaching at the Court.
== The Court is a branch or rival of the [[
They study mysterious energies powering gods-knows-how-many mysterious items, they have a reality warper ''and'' a power nullifyer, a half-fire elemental, a Valkyrie, a teleporter, a guy with [[Homestuck
{{quote|
{{quote|
Judging from the recent story about students finding the {{spoiler|C}}U{{spoiler|R}}SED INSTRUMENTS room, the Court's containment procedures are horrible. It's amazing they haven't caused an XK world-ending-event yet.
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== The purpose of the Court's "trying to become like God" is resurrection ==
The Court's current goal is to resurrect people, probably starting with Jeanne. Because harnessing supernatural powers and science to bring someone to life [[Fullmetal Alchemist|never]] [[Neon Genesis Evangelion|ever]] [[
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The suicidal fairies needed to die to cross it. All of the people in Gunnerkrigg Court are dead.
* Unlikely. Several of the guides have shown up to take spirits away from the Court. Antimony's dead mother is nowhere to be seen, and she was fairly strongly linked to the Court before she died, so it would seem reasonable for her to be there if this was true. Also, there's Mort. If everyone's dead, what's the point of introducing a ghost?
** It doesn't seem like Mort has ever been a human. He's just young spirit whose task is to scare people. But the theory still seems improbable, when you take Joanne's fate into account.
== The Annan Waters are the River Styx's tributary. ==
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== Alternatively to that, the Annan Waters are... the Annan Waters. ==
It's a real river, in Dumfriesshire, which features in several folksongs. Gillitie is also a Scottish surname (though unusual).
* On the other hand, Kat writes to Annie from her summer holiday that she's "having a good time here in Scotland" -- which would indicate that the Court, and Gillitie Wood, ''aren't'' in Scotland. Apparently, the Court is in an alternate universe where the River Annan flows further south, passing through northern England. (Northern England, by the way, has a more pronounced Scandinavian influence than the rest of the UK, due to past Viking invasions. And the name "Gunnerkrigg" looks Scandinavian...)
** Perhaps it's an [[Alternate Universe]] where Gunnerkrigg Court is on the Annan Waters as they are in real life, but has the Court and Woods being another separate region of the UK unto themselves.
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* Doorbot actually believing Annie that robots never lie,
* The Guardbots not being properly equipped to deal with intruders who ''run away'', and
* The barber-bot that looks like a repurposed, battle-scarred warbot. Meanwhile, the Robot's tree-arm was cut off and planted in the artificial habitat room. It grew into that cherry tree.
== The Gillitie Wood is in a pocket dimension ==
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The placard on Jones' door (panel one of [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=161 this page]) does not have a first initial. The placard on Eglamore's door (panel three of the same page) does. And she does insist on being addressed without the honorific "Miss".
* Obligatory name derivation, for what it's worth: Jones originated as a Welsh surname, originally ''ap Jones'' = "(child/son) of John". It's the second most common English surname, after "Smith", and unfortunately I can't find any equivalent to the [[The Matrix|"Smith that blows on the coals"]] for it. Yet.
* [http://www.formspring.me/gunnerkrigg/q/261930246 Confirmed.]{{Dead link}}
** However, Coyote [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=817 disagrees]. [[Jossed]].
*** Coyote says nothing to the point on that page. ''Antimony'' says "Ms. Jones!", and Jones says "Just Jones will do". If anything, that looks like a confirmation to me.
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** Note when she goes to collect Antimony from the Wood, she flat-out tells Coyote "You know I can take her if I wish." Considering that Coyote was ''right there'', she'd have to be near his power level to be able to do something like that.
*** It may not be a pure power thing, knowing how many rules and laws there seem to be governing interactions between the Court and the Forest, there may be a 'Jones may pass freely from one to the other with anything she can carry.' It would also explain how she got in when Eglamore was stopped at the bridge.
== Jones is from Gillitie Wood. ==
As mentioned above, she has Only One Name -- because she didn't take a name [https://web.archive.org/web/20150310154233/http://gunnerkrigg.proboards75.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1170356483&page=15#1195118446 until she came to the Court.] She's not a fairy, as she lacks the [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=332 grey eyes and pointy ears] the other former fairies have. Instead, she's one of the "bunch of different stuff" that [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=321 Red mentioned]. Her past with Gillitie would explain her knowledge of the Woods and her neutrality between the Court and the Wood.
* She could easily be one of those "traitors" that Ysengrin mentions [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=494 here], a creature from the forest who decided to become Human.
== Jones is some kind of [[Anthropomorphic Personification]] of peace, mediation, or balance. ==
Hence the single name and the being able to grab swords by the blade.
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They aren't exact matches because Jones altered her appearance and changed her name over the years. Possible reasons for this:
* Jones developed her own personality and has sought to distance herself from Jeanne.
* Jones' robotic nature is a closely-guarded secret. She changes identities every generation so others in the Court won't start wondering how old she is.
* But Jones has brown eyes. I think that if she was a copy of Jeanne, she would keep the eye color (rather than hair color) when she switched forms. A lot of the robots have green eyes, especially prevalent in the chapter [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=634 Skywatcher and the Angel] and especially in [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=641 this comic] which compares the color of Jeanne's eyes in the painting to Skywatcher's eyes. I think Diego did that on purpose, which suggests to me that either Diego would do the same to a goldfish or that the author would keep the color for symbolism's sake (he does love cryptic clues).
* I'm posting this in all "Jones is a robot" theories to cover all bases. It has been proven that Jones is most definitely NOT a robot. [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=728 This page and its author's comments] can not be any clearer.
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Since the symbol has been showing up everywhere from the beginning, it's got to be of some significance. Traditionally in mythology, lead has [[Anti-Magic]] properties. Being a soft metal, it would explain why she can bend around a sword, and being, well, heavy, it explains why she walks across the river instead of swimming. She's just a little [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=727 "touchy about her weight"].
== Jones is Coraline Jones. ==
You know, from the [[Coraline (
...What?
== Jones is [[The X
And "that boy" that Reynard killed getting out of was Fox Mulder, if A is true.
* A: The X-Files show is a matter of the [[Literary Agent Hypothesis]]. Scully is so vehemently believing in the Christian god and nothing else [[Clarke's Third Law|super-scientific]] or magical because she was traumatized when one of her friend's powers went out of control, or something from the woods attacked. She was mindwiped or lost her memories on her own, and sent to live a (monitored) civilian life under a new name (Jones was a [[Doorstep Baby]] Name, and Dana Scully was the name they gave her when she was sent to the orphanage or a foster family). Shortly after she began regaining her memories once she was assigned to be Mulder's partner and acted as a [[Weirdness Magnet]] for their investigations, the two of them had their deaths faked to leave the FBI for Gunnerkrigg Court and a show was made starring Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny ([[Long Runners|originally]]) based on their declassified investigations.
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It's how she smashed her way through the wall -- she transmitted energy through her hand into the wall, which looked like she just smashed a hole in it. It's also how she won the sword fight with Eglamore -- she could just make his hands loosely grip it so she could pull the sword off him.
== Jones suppresses her emotions for reasons similar to [[
She is not emotionless nor always bored, but rather jaded and broken.
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== Jones is a human who was given powers by some kind of Court technology and became a spy for them. ==
Note what Coyote calls her -- 'Wandering Eye'. Seems like a pretty appropriate name for a spy. Possibly she was on good terms with the Forest and the treaty was altered to let her go into the Forest whenever she wished -- after all, with the powers she was given, you wouldn't want to tell her she couldn't do what she wanted. Her powers also include the power to change shape -- she stole the image of another woman called Jones, and took her name too. Whether the real Jones is alive or dead at this point in time is unknown.
It's also possible that she was formerly a student at the same time as Surma, Eglamore, Anja, and Donald who was in training to become a medium alongside Surma and thus was her rival -- it explains why Surma 'couldn't stand her' -- if Jones was an equal candidate to become the medium, Surma may have hated her for that. Surma became the medium and the Court, feeling that Jones' talents were too good to waste, decided to give her new powers. Jones, stung by losing to Surma, agreed and stole the identity and image of someone who may have been much more beautiful and powerful than her, and has kept it ever since as a warning to those who know her secret that she can do the same to them.
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== A long time ago, Jones was to the Forest as Annie is now. ==
A sort of combination of some of the theories above. Some time ago when she was a child, Jones was [[Curious
Whether or not she knew Surma and Eglamore's gang by then is up for debate; she could of stolen the name of the Jones they knew and took up her identity with her abilities, or simply took the name to let go of her past and had already come out of the forest and adopted the name by the time the picture was taken.
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== Jones is [[Not So Stoic]]. ==
Maybe it's way too early to tell, but Jones seems to be drawn to {{spoiler|the newly 3-Dimensional}} Shadow 2. Possibly it's a completely [[The Stoic|stoic]] version of the [[Cuteness Proximity]], but she shows affection to him as seen when she {{spoiler|1=[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=979 pet his head]}} (similar to how [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=376 she pet Eglamore's] 9 chapters previously) and {{spoiler|1=[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=980 gives him treats]}}. She refers to him as {{spoiler|1=[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=981 unique] in response}} to Annie thanking her for {{spoiler|helping him}} all while he is being [[The Cutie|cute as a button]].
* Shadow eating candy is the cutest thing in this comic so far. I can easily see that getting under Jones' skin.
== Jones is a corporeal etheric entity ==
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In Egyptian mythology Ra once grew so angry with humanity that he was determined to punish them; he took one of the eyes from his head and turned it into Sekhmet, the lioness headed goddess of war, and sent her to punish mankind. The problem was, Sekhmet wouldn't do as she was told, and when Ra tried to tell her she'd done enough she evaded all his attempts to reclaim her and turn her back into his eye, desiring to kill all of mankind. Ra had to get her smashed off her gourd before he could rein her in.
Obviously she's calmed down a bit since then.
Besides, look at her eyes and hair; don't they look leonine?
* But when Sekhmet was reigned in, most accounts had her turn (or revert back) into Hathor, the goddess of music, love, motherhood, beauty, and drink. That really doesn't fit her it at all.
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* It would also have to be a time machine, since they've now gone back to before the Court existed. (And Jones would have to be actively lying about [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=583 the seed bismuth].)
== Dr. Disaster is [[Doctor Who
They have similar names and Dr. Disaster seems to share some of the appearance of older doctors with the more manic, brooding mentality of later ones. Alternatively this could be a second Chameleon Arc binge.
== Dr. Disaster is [[Flash Gordon (
Oh-oh! Saviour of the universe!
* Now you're just being silly.
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* Tom Siddell is [[Ship Tease|evil]].
* A recent Formspring question answered by the author:
{{quote|
Yes Kat thinks Annie is very attractive }}
** ...and Kat is a [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=770 natural-born shipper].
* ''Second'' Treatise? Every single one except the First has something like that, with Kat wearing fairly masculine clothes and Annie in a dress, and holding hands at least. Let's wait and see...
** There was no third treatise yet when this was written.
*** And there's still no fourth treatise, so "every single one except the first" here means "two out of three".
**** Now that there is a fourth treatise, the pattern is continued. Annie in a dress, Kat in work clothes, and Annie's hair wrapped around Kat's wrist as she holds two intertwined pink doves.
* The pairing makes more sense if you take into account the series' embracing of opposites attract. Annie's mother was a medium, her father (implied) more scientifically inclined. Kat's mother is clearly more magically inclined, her father (implied) more scientifically inclined. And hey, look at that! Annie is magical, Kat is scientific.
* Lindsey the merostomatazon helped Annie apologize to Kat and save their friendship. A page later, we learn she's an "accredited couples therapist".
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* For that matter, all his "leash" can be a long-term ruse (he's a scheming Trickster, and ''not'' distracted as easily as Coyote). What he said about his condition while facing the one who can ''verify'' his honesty could be interpreted as merely being unwilling to harm Annie's property. What he said without being checked [[I Lied|is not necessarily correct]] -- just like his statement of powerlessnes in this body (which are soon revealed to be... not ''quite'' true) or not trying to defend Annie (which turns out to be a pile of bullshit when she faced the dominated robot and Ysengrin). Then he just claims to be weak and limited to avoid scaring her away, that's all.
** Tom has [http://gunnerkrigg.wikia.com/wiki/Word_of_Tom:_Reynardine#Annie.27s_contract_of_ownership_over_Rey said several times] that Rey is indeed under Annie's control and unable to deliberately deceive her.
* To be fair, it's possible that he could have tried to possess her while not trying to kill her. There could be some special quality Annie has that makes it possible for Rey to possess her without her dying at the end, and he could know about it because it might have been passed down from Surma. Out there, I know, but possible.
* The author does really like to mess with the audience. This could be more of a case of him wanting Reynardine to be an morally ambiguous character. He wants to take over Annie: she's not Surma, after all, and is a sort of representation of who Reynardine lost out to (she isn't just Surma's daughter, she's Anthony's too); besides, he's desperate. But as he gets to know Annie he recognizes more and more of Surma, and develops a parental attachment to her, especially after finding out about how her father abandoned her. This fits with his prior actions when he possessed that guy to get to Surma. He loved her deeply, sure, but he was willing to kill some whom she probably cared about to get to her. He's not precisely evil or good, which is what makes the comic interesting and unpredictable.
** Coyote stated that Reynardine loved humans, and he was clearly incredulous at the notion that Rey would have tried to possess and kill Annie, of all people. He seemed to indicate that it was ''because'' Rey cared for Surma's daughter so deeply that he ended up with her in the first place. Rey's special treatment of her at their first encounter on the rooftop, and his mental confirmation that she was indeed Surma's daughter upon seeing her necklace after she passed out, suggest that he didn't simply view her as just another human, let alone another body to steal. To be sure, Rey is a criminal due to his deliberate killings of an unnamed man (being blinded by passion) and Sivo (possibly considering his life to be less valuable than a human's?), but that doesn't mean he's evil to the point of murdering the daughter of the woman he loved simply to escape captivity. Besides, Tom has stated that Rey regrets his murders "every minute of the day" and that his current enslavement "gives him the opportunity to easily hide from the consequences". If Rey were truly that indifferent about the loss of a human/sentient life, how would he come to such a state of chronic regret when he can so easily hide from the consequences of his actions?
* Tom is trolling us all. [http://www.formspring.me/gunnerkrigg/q/410721326 He says]{{Dead link}} he planned to have the readership split in two over this very issue.
* Further justification: if Reynardine was REALLY planning on taking over Annie's body, he would have waited until Eglamore far enough away that he wouldn't notice the switch. He certainly wouldn't have loudly announced his intentions to Eglamore who just happened to be conveniently close enough to push Annie out of way and witness the "failed" attempt.
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== Annie's father is Reynardine. ==
Anthony could still technically be her father if Reynardine had possessed her father at the time. Coyote comes out and says that Reynardine had a thing for Surma and asked to steal bodies just so he could be closer to her. After a while, he probably got bored with human life, which was when Annie's father disappeared... Reynardine left his body and killed him.
* Tom's word on the subject: [https://web.archive.org/web/20101129210107/http://sentientonline.net/?p=1351 "Oh, also, Reynardine is not Annie’s dad in any way, shape or form."]
== Annie's mother was/was possessed by Reynardine. ==
She dies, Annie gets sent to Gunnerkrigg Court, a few weeks later Reynard shows up at GC and "accidentally" breaks through the roof of Annie's bunk (not just her dorm, her ''bunk''), and ends up possessing a doll that Surma pre-treated to be (or at least appear to be) a trap for Reynard or some other being with Coyote's bodysnatching power? It seems a bit like a [[Contrived Coincidence]]. If Sivo was supposed to have been known to be possessed since before Annie's mum died, Reynardine made a deal with him that Sivo gets him to the court and provides him with an alibi for not being Surma, and Reynard [[Death Equals Redemption|provides Sivo with an alibi for anything he did shortly before his possession]]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20101129210107/http://sentientonline.net/?p=1351 "Oh, also, Reynardine is not Annie’s dad in any way, shape or form."] [[Exact Words|Just]] [[From a Certain Point of View|like]] [[Norse Mythology|Loki]] [[Gender Bender|was not]] [[Shapeshifting Squick|Sleipner's dad in any way, shape, or form]].
== [[Body Surf|For]] [[Nerf|Reynardine]], [[The Mind Is a Plaything of
In his normal form in the spirit realm, and from what little we've seen of him communicating from [[Inverted Trope|inverted]] [[Sleep Mode Size]], he acts wise enough to know how little he understands, wise enough to inform instead of pointlessly rant about how little [[We Are
== Reynardine actually did try to possess Annie but failed ==
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In order for this to work, Y could not have used a legitimate grievance, such as Robot S13 being sent into the forest, or the apparent kidnapping of Shadow2. If Y had, then the Court would have attempted to solve things diplomatically. Y wouldn't have been able to storm out without either coming across like a warmongering ass, or alerting the Court (or Coyote) that something else was up. Y's plan specifically needed a grievance that (1) was false, (2) that he could convince Coyote was legitimate, and (3) that he could convince the Court that he believed it legitimate. The dead TicToc and the uniform sweater that Annie left behind provided Y with exactly what he needed: he could claim ''Anthony Carver'' had planted the bird, and it would look plausible, but it was still completely false and would be denied by the Court. So he planted the bird (and killed the two fairies who saw him, so word would not get back to Coyote), waited a few months, and then "discovered" that it had taken root, and demanded the meeting.
Coyote didn't want to be at the meeting; he only attended because protocol demanded it, or because he didn't trust his right-paw wolf-tree to behave himself. Finding the entire affair boring, he quickly focused on the only interesting person in the room and struck up a conversation with her.
When Antimony claimed the jumper as her own, she unknowingly threw a socket wrench in Y's plan. Y rolled with this and accused Annie of planting the bird, knowing that she would deny it. Y was working up to the dramatic outburst that would precede him indignantly storming out, and Coyote was just about to declare everything a tremendous misunderstanding and end the meeting, when Reynardine revealed himself.
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* Rey just tried to show off his new wolf body to annoy Ysengrin (no love lost between them). Otherwise, quite possible, as the planted TicToc is about the only "offence" imaginable that wouldn't be bounced back to his own actions.
== Coyote deliberately [[Blessed
First, Coyote is an admitted [[Trickster Archetype|Trickster]]. Attaching unpleasant conditions to his gifts--either as part of some grand scheme, or just for the hell of it--is a very trickster-ish thing to do.
Second, consider Jones' warning: "Coyote is no liar. Therein lies the danger." Apparently Coyote, the Trickster, deceives others by creative and selective use of the truth, rather than through outright lies. In light of this, [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=498 Coyote's description of these gifts] becomes rather ominous:
{{quote|
Ysengrin, too. I gave him power over the trees, but look how he shakes like an '''old man'''! }}
Coyote's words clearly ''imply'' that he doesn't know why Rey and Y's gifts were imperfect, but ''he doesn't say so outright''.
== The coyote-tooth dagger is the key to [[Trouble Entendre|sending either Gillitie/the Court away for good]], or sealing the rift. ==
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Surma's sickness was not caused by anything natural. Dealing with spirits on a regular basis like she would is bad for their health for some reason, most likely that human bodies were not meant for regular contact with them. Why else would she die from a chronic illness when the Court clearly has high technology? Annie will eventually suffer this fate as well. Anthony Carver abandoned his daughter because he realized there was nothing he could do to save her and he didn't want to grow any more attached to her. The Court went without a true medium for such a long period of time (and only had one before that) out of a desire to minimize the deaths. They're facing diplomatic problems with the Woods now, so they're training three mediums out of desperation.
* One note: We don't know whether or not Good Hope had access to the same technology that the Court has.
* Now that we know that the transfer of Surma's spirit to Antimony caused her death, we understand the inherent dangers of being a Medium. It also gives a reason for Anthony Carver's disappearance.
* Jossed. The reason Surma died is that she is (most likely) part fire elemental. Her "fire" was passed on to her daughter, and the same thing will happen to Antimony.
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Similarly, this explains why the ghost with the sword only managed to [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=143 nick Antimony's face]; Antimony's natural medium-ness repelled her unreality. If you look on the previous page, the arc the sword travels between the last frame there and the first frame of the link involves going through about half of Antimony's head; this would explain why she wasn't scalped. The mere fact that the ghost managed to wound Antimony is a testament to the strength of its unreality; after all, when she was dealing [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=354 with the gecko] as a child, Antimony could easily repel its fires. The sword-ghost's wound disappears when outside of the ghost's strongly unreal influence, as Antimony's natural medium-ness asserts itself. Notice, however, that the wound re-appears [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=200 just before] the rain washes Zimmy's horrors away, when (due to the pacing of the comic) it seems that there is a large amount of tension in the air, magical or otherwise.
* Alternately, Zimmy's illusions are different from those in Chapter 15. In Ch 15, Annie acted as latent [[Anti-Magic]], dispelling the illusions in her immediate area, as noted above. However, Annie's (and Gamma's) dispelling effect on Zimmy's illusions seemed to be a [[Power Nullifier]] dependent on ''how close she is to Zimmy'', while Zimmy can cause these illusions from any distance. Notice that the first time Zimmy saw the cut on Annie's cheek, it disappeared when Zimmy tried to touch it. Then the cut reappeared right before the rain came, even though Annie and Gamma were standing right next to each other -- they were on the opposite side of the courtyard from Zimmy.
** This has given me the idea that Zimmy might be an ''anti-Medium'', who instead of asserting reality, inflicts unreality into the area, normally in the form of [[Eldritch Abomination|Eldritch Abominations]] and other horrors.
** Also, by extension, this implies that Gamma may have some aptitude as a potential Medium, though her inability to speak English and her continuing presence near Zimmy may cause Court officials to either discount her as a candidate or prefer that she remain near Zimmy as a safeguard.
== Mediums aren't under any of the Guides' jurisdiction. ==
It explains why Annie had to take her own mother. Because mediums deal extensively with the Guides and restless spirits, they may not fall under the jurisdiction of any of them.
* Expanding upon this theory, Jeanne is a Medium.
* Mediums are shown to mediate disputes between psychopomps. I posit that this is the purpose of mediums. One could not be an impartial mediator to one's own psychopomp. Therefore, no medium has their own psychopomp, and must be guided by another medium. This also means that the skills of being a medium can never be truly lost, because the spirit of the last medium cannot move on until a new medium is trained.
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== Martin wasn't real. ==
Mediums get [[Secret Test of Character|one shot not to screw things up]]. If they succeed, they get real assignments. If they fail, [[Sink or Swim Mentor|they die]], but nobody gets their afterlife eternally mucked up. The obstacle is something that would be effectively impossible to get past if it wasn't the medium-to-be's [[Gunnerkrigg Court
== Martin shouldn't have been real, [[And You Thought It Was a Game|but was]]. ==
Same as above, but with a bit of [[Real After All]] due to [[Die or Fly|timely necessity]].
== Martin was supposed to be [[Death Note
The resemblance is uncanny, and his name begins with the right letter. Unfortunately, his experiments on hand-held portable fusion went drastically awry.
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== Annie's eye-shadow is protection from supernatural evil. ==
Consider the [[Body Motifs|eye symbolism]]. Consider that her mum, [[Meaningful Name|Surma]], is named after an [
== Annie refused to kill the regional fairies partly because of her grudge against the psychopomps. ==
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== We are NEVER going to see anything more about Annie's stay in the forest ==
We're so [[Genre Savvy]] that we discussed every possible scenario from [[Training Montage]] to ''[[Avatar (
== Annie will encounter Alistair and his family during her stay. ==
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== At some point in the story, Annie will be forced to choose (possibly permanently) between her association with the Woods, and her friendship with Kat. ==
Throughout the Treatises, Annie and Kat have literally started going in different directions. In Treatise One, they both face the same way - towards the viewer. In Treatise Two, Kat is looking over her shoulder at Annie, who has her head turned towards Kat. In Treatise Three, Kat is dragging/leading Annie into the Court, not looking at Annie, who has turned her head to look back at the woods. In Treatise Four, they are turned three-quarters away from each other, although Annie's hair keeps a grip on Kat. If that pattern continues, Treatise Five should have the girls facing fully away from each other (back to back?). The Treatises are based on "secret recipes" for alchemy, with everything included being symbolic of what is to come. Annie has been spending more and more time dealing with the Woods, and Kat has less and less patience for her stunts. It seems that some sort of reckoning is being built up here.
== Annie's current illness is caused by the scar left by Jeanne. ==
That thing has been a [[Chekhov's Gun]] for ages. Zimmy was fleeing from that scar before she finally agreed to deal with whatever Annie was suffering from. All and all, it's a pretty good bet that whatever etheral poison that the dead woman's blade carries is finally starting to take its toll.
* The cut got part-healed after Coyote licked it. He only commented on the power of whatever left this, so most likely there's nothing more to it. It didn't look worse the last time it was seen. And slow "bleeding" causing a sudden collapse doesn't fit well after all this time and with her current power level.
** The idea that Coyote would have healed the wound has been [[Jossed]] [http://www.formspring.me/gunnerkrigg/q/1847158949 by Tom himself]{{Dead link}}. Nothing has been done to treat or otherwise study it, as far as we've been shown. And Coyote doesn't always tell everything.
== Annie and Surma ==
== Annie is Surma's reincarnation. ==
Perhaps Surma was dying, and the world felt she was still needed. Perhaps a second life was a gift from one of Surma's otherworldly friends. Muut has bent the rules to help Annie, it would not be surprising that he did the same for Surma. For whatever reason, Annie is Surma, and as Annie grew up, Surma grew weaker. Surma's death meant that Annie is entirely 'alive'. For whatever reason, Surma must remain alive, so she is reborn as her own daughter. This is why Surma is so willing to send Annie off as a medium for dead spirits. This is also why everyone likens Annie to Surma all the time, and why Annie's father refuses to see her: he can't bear the sight of his wife as his child. More importantly, this is why none of the dead spirits came for Surma's spirit when she died; Surma was still alive as Annie, so it was Annie that sent her Surma self/memories to the afterlife. Or perhaps Annie's guiding of Surma only symbolized Annie letting go of her Surma self, and sent the memories to Annie's subconscious. It is uncertain how much Annie remembers of her life as Surma, especially since Annie views her Annie and Surma selves as separate entities, but it is possible that Annie's distaste for Eglamore is related to her past life. Annie's uncharacteristic maturity may also be (partly) attributed to her subconscious experience.
It is also possible that Surma's death and departure for the afterlife left Annie entirely bereft of her past incarnation's memories. Annie is still Surma, she is simply a clean slate. Annie has the potential to become a medium, and retains whatever spiritual aptitudes Surma possessed, such as using a Blinker Stone. Annie may have the potential to regain her memories as Surma, or she may be forced to rediscover her previous life through Surma's acquaintances.
Regardless of either possibility, it remains to be seen whether Surma has been reincarnated for a greater purpose, or simply to have another chance at life.
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A) Surma and Annie are decedents of [[The Phoenix|a phoenix]] who left the Woods and became human (possibly Surma herself), hence Annie's [[Wreathed in Flames|literal]] [[Fiery Redhead]]edness. The phoenix's regeneration powers were warped when she/it became human, so instead of the "parent" returning to the egg and becoming a "child", the parent's life is passed to the child.
B) Surma and Annie are descendents of ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|The]]'' [[X-Men (
* Partial confirmation: Annie's not completely human, and the red hair/fire powers seems to be pointing to "phoenix". [[Genre Savvy|Nah, now it's too obvious]] and it'll turn out her dad's a [[Kappa]] or something less flashy than a phoenix. ...What? Anthony Carver is a surgeon and kappas are known for being bone-setters and purveyors of medicine and medical knowledge.
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Surma fell in love with him because her medium abilities allowed her to see his feelings anyway.<br />Thinking back on it, this could simply be a form of autism.
* From what we learn about him in Chapter 37, this looks really, really likely... or depending on your reading, all but Jossed.
* Chapter 64 answers this conclusively: in certain circumstances Anthony can stop being wooden and start acting like a human being.
== Anthony is still searching for cure. ==
The prospect of death is still hanging over Antimony, and he already feels a failure for not saving his wife. Given his inability to save Surma, he no doubt thinks that all the time between now and when Antimony actually has a child, plus growing up time, should not have a second wasted. He knows it will be difficult.
== Anthony will turn out to be a major antagonist. ==
He's been driven mad by grief, and his idea of "saving" his daughter involves destroying (physically or otherwise) her or the court. The other main characters will rally to fight him, but ultimately Antimony will be the one who faces him down.
== Anthony knows something about the history of the Court, particularly regarding Jeanne. ==
He and Surma left because [[These Are Things Man Was Not Meant to Know|they found out something they weren't meant to know]] (much like Antimony and Kat). His return will kick off the conflict that will either heal the Court or destroy it, the main characters will all take sides, and Antimony will be both the wild card and the key to ending everything, for good or ill.
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* ''Divine'' shows that Anthony's done something to Annie that Zimmy sees as {{spoiler|bones through the centre of her being}}. Tony thinks he's found a way to revive Surma by {{spoiler|using the life force Annie took from her}}, and he's started the process. Whether or not whatever Zimmy does will work has yet to be seen, but he won't be happy.
** That requires a mighty conclusion leap even to the start of this. Double so given that Anthony barely conceded "that magic crap" exists at all, and only because he saw it. And now, suddenly, he outdoes Anja with her tattoo-terminals. Yeah, right.
** Chapter 53 answers the enigma of Chapter 38. The answer, unsurprisingly, is that Anthony had an extremely vague<ref>as in, standing out even in Gunner'verse where magic works in such ways that even people studying it tend to fall back on "look, it just does" after 2-3 questions</ref> idea of what the hell he was doing. And between his habitual quiet hubris and being hopelessly out of shape mentally, he neither was pondering long and hard on what can go wrong, nor even asked those who would know better for more details.
== Anthony is searching for a way to protect Annie from sharing the same fate as her mum. ==
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== Kat will go blind from the dual slit experiment. ==
She will never see again, thus letting her marry Alistair.
* How does going blind allow her to marry a bird?
** "And she never ''saw'' him again". Thus, if she goes blind, they will be able to meet again.
== Kat created the Ticktocks. ==
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== Kat grows up to be [[Dresden Codak|Kimiko "Thunderbolt" Ross]]. ==
[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=144 look] at [https://web.archive.org/web/20130726072036/http://www.dresdencodak.com/cartoons/dc_037.html THEM], clearly after all the interaction with hybrid tree people, Kat decides to start merging humans with technology, and a transhumanist is born.
* Thank you, I just read the whole comic in one binge and came to this page specifically to look for or add the WMG that Kimiko is related to one or both of Kat and Annie. Kat shares her interests in a lot of ways but Annie is closer in personality.
* Hey, isn't it Robot at the end of that comic? He's got those wings, and is referred to as "Robot"!
== Kat is [[SCP Foundation
Practically confirmed in-universe.
* Except the SCP-808 page has been moved above our security clearance. Care to elaborate?
** SCP-808 was a technopath that could communicate with and manipulate machines telepathically. Based on the photo on her article, she actually did look a ''little'' bit like Kat. She was removed from SCP Foundation canon with the departure of her author, however, so the article no longer exists (except ''perhaps'' in Google Cache, but I can't find the cached version of it.)
** Ah, isn't she the one that eventually [[Ascend to
** [[Tropers/Korodzik|Korodzik]] has a saved version of SCP-808 if anyone is interested.
* More proof: Kat can read the robots' programming language, which should be impossible for a human because it's basically ''too complicated for reality.'' Which means:
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== "Divine" isn't about Zimmy rescuing Annie, it's about Kat getting over what other people think about her ==
Any argument Kat can make to Zimmy and Gamma is bound to backfire:
{{quote|
'''Zimmy''': You have ''other friends''?
'''Kat''': What if my parents think I'm weird?
'''Zimmy''': You have ''parents''?
'''Kat''': What if Annie leaves?
'''Zimmy''': Does your mind ''poison reality'' if she's not there? ''etc.'' }}
Kat's lucky that Zimmy and Gamma are just amused at how silly she's being instead of dangerously insulted like Jeanne was with Parley.
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* This is pretty much confirmed by [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=574 this comic]. Note the smile again.
** He smiles again [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=576 here]. Could it be that the encounter of Randy and Jones would end on a less positive note, had Smith been absent?
== Andrew/Smitty is Coyote's counterpart, on the side of Order ==
Similar to the earlier Andrew's powers are greater than they appear WMG.
We have a recognisable entity of Chaos in the strip, the Coyote of Gillitie wood. So it stands to reason that there should be an entity of Order on the Court side of the Annan Waters as well. So who do we have within the Court, whose abilities - the scope of which have never been fully delimited - amount to manipulation of reality to promote both Order and the interests of the Court? Who is the opposite of the Coyote in that he is serious instead of playful, hidden instead of visible, and apparently young instead of ancient? Exactly.
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How long has Smitty been at the Court? Who are his family? What does his room look like? How can he be a medium, if he doesn't have access to the ether? If you think about it, there are a lot of suspicious unanswered questions. I'd be very interested in seeing what Smitty looks like in Annie's etherial vision, but so far he has been conveniently elsewhere...
* Smitty certainly does have "access to the ether", just not in the same way as Antimony, or Anja, or Paz, or Jenny. But then, they don't work like each other, either. Antimony eventually learned to see what he does, and Jeanne even counteracted, if in a limited way.
== Parley has Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome. ==
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== Zimmy's "pin" ==
Is just a pin. While she probably wasn't confined to a horrible orphanage like real-life orphans from Eastern Europe, she clings dearly to the few things she can call her own, like the pin and her friend/madness-dampener Gamma.
* [[
* Maybe not: high-tech tracking devices don't work on Zimmy, so something as crude as a faintly radioactive button should do the trick.
== The place Zimmy goes to is artist Zdzisław Beksiński's mindscape ==
I mean, [
== If Zimmy survives whatever Tom has in store for her, she'll eventually find peace ==
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== Zimmy grows up to be Kath from ''Wapsi Square''. ==
No logic to support this. Just... [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=75 look] at [
== "Zeta" and "Gamma" are code names ==
Code names are given to all children "adopted" by the Court; for instance, "Zeta and Gamma" could have been named "Zoe and Gina". The parents are given [[SCP Foundation
== Zimmy and Gamma's [[Reality Warper|pow]][[Power Nullifier|ers]] will be a key part of the story later ==
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== The [[He Is Not My Boyfriend]] scene at the end of Chapter 28 was the result of Zimmy's attempt to set up Jack with Annie. ==
She knew that he might eventually develop a crush on her thanks to the influence of the Whitelegs, but also knew that he initially might develop similar feelings for Annie for trying to help him out. As Zimmy is not interested in Jack, she might've tried to paw him off on Annie. So she tried to plant the idea in Annie's head by calling him her boyfriend.
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== Jack is a [[Fourth Wall Observer]]. ==
After a visit to Zimmingham, he somehow realized that he is just a fictional character in a webcomic. Initially, the shock of this discovery rendered him near catatonic, though now he got a bit better. He's still halfway insane, however.
This explains a lot of his behavior. He treats Annie and Kat without respect because he figures that if his world isn't real, he can do anything he wants without consequences. Also, his unique [[Medium Awareness]] makes him a [[Ted Baxter|megalomaniac]] - he believes that, as the only one who knows the true nature of the world, he has the right to treat everyone else with contempt.
** [[Jossed]] by [[Word of God]] [http://www.formspring.me/gunnerkrigg/q/370337133 here]
== Jack's [[Bullying a Dragon|teasing]] of Kat, whose parents are teachers and Annie the medium is a cry for help ==
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== Jack is becoming whatever Zimmy is. ==
This is shown because in [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=614 this comic] Jack is shown with spiderwebs and a spider, but only in the spiritual plane. In
[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=188 this one], See that second panel? Zimmy has one of those same spiders on her, only this time it's real. Also, Jack's eyes don't seem so much as "Losing-sleep" anymore so much as "Starting-to-ooze" in [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=700 this comic]. Just like Zimmy. He's been so deperate for answers because he wants to know both what's happening to him, and, well, because that world is batshit terrifying.
** Although it's just probably due to the lighting, look at Jack's eyes [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=706 here] in the fourth panel. ''They look exactly like Zimmy's''.
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== [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=615 Janet's arrow was so fast it just swept Willie's arrow] because... ==
...it has a red fletching. ''And [[Warhammer
* [[Mobile Suit Gundam|Three times]] [[Memetic Mutation|faster]], to be precise.
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== Janet, like Annie, is descended from an elemental. ==
Bud says that Janet's dad would go crazy if he knew about her and Winsbury. Maybe Llanwellyn is just a typical overprotective father, but the way Tom dropped in that detail makes it seem like a clue to me. If Janet is descended from an elemental, then motherhood would presumably be fatal to her, just as it was to Surma. What's the only foolproof way to keep a young woman from becoming a mother? Keep her away from anyone who could theoretically get her pregnant.
* Is motherhood fatal to all elementals? I got the impression Surma was a special case.
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* Plus, since Tom seems to believe that [[Lamarck Was Right]], it would explain why Kat is so good with technology.
* Additionally, in keeping with [[Generation Xerox]] tendencies, Kat has been made fun of for having a "big nose". Sound Diego-esque to you?
* Actually, if this were true, it could have a crushing effect on Kat's morale, given her recent disenchantment with the court and growing cynicism. [[Heroic BSOD]], anyone?
* OH MY GOD. THIS IS TRUE, I'M CONVINCED.
* I love this theory, but Diego considered his robots his children, and they were the only ones at his deathbed. This combined with his grief over Jeanne makes me think he never had flesh-and-blood children. If he had siblings, it's still possible that he is, say, Kat's great-great-great-great etc. uncle or something.
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== The statement "She died, and I did nothing," does not have the same meaning as the majority of us have assumed. ==
Well, the robots probably do mean the assumed "We did nothing to stop her from being killed," but the statement did not hold the same meaning for Diego. Instead, he was saying "She died, and I had nothing to do with it." Basically, he is denying any involvement he had in orchestrating her death.
* Another interpretation: She died, and they did nothing to avenge her. "We did nothing to stop her being killed" should really be "She ''was going to'' die, and we did nothing." The actual phrasing, to me, indicates a lack of response, rather than a lack of preventative action.
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== Jeanne was kept from outright rejecting Diego by the Court. ==
It's obvious that Jeanne doesn't feel for Diego what he does for her. Since Dego's defining character trait is his obsessive love for her, the Court could have seen this as a problem, as Diego's robotics made him a huge asset. If Jeanne rejected him, then Diego could have lost heart and possibly left the Court altogether. Not being able to let this happen, the Court silently ordered Jeanne not to reject, if only to keep him happy. They were nice enough to let her decide what else she could do about him. She chose to be indifferent.
* Jossed to the Jossiest Josses of Jossland. Any civility between Jeanne and Diego is now lying next to [[Dr.
== Once the Jeanne log is over, Annie will assume she knows enough to sucessfully get her to the other side. ==
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== Jeanne is an alternate universe Joan Of Arc ==
She's a woman more comfortable with a sword than finery. Reynardine knew that she was clearly a soldier. Plus Jeanne, Joan; it's fairly obvious!
** In fact, Joan of Arc is an English translation of the French Jeanne D'Arc.
== Jeanne wasn't angry with Antimony, she was angry at Parley ==
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== Somebody likes Boxbot. ==
Shocking as the idea may be, evidence does show that Boxbot has been through several design iterations, and remains in working order, meaning somebody must have been motivated to upgrade and maintain it.
* [[Word of God|Word Of Tom]] tells us that there is more than one Boxbot. Unless "more than one" means "exactly two: Boxbot and Boxbot Prime", it's possible the Boxbots are just repairing each other. Which would explain why they all look so terrible.
** Kat [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=510 apparently] thinks "Robox is pretty awesome".
*** Well, yeah. ''Everybody'' loves Robox.
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== Boxbot is an [[Old Shame]]. ==
Why else is Tom Siddell so needlessly hostile to the robot? Supporting this theory is the simplicity of his design; it looks like the kind of thing he could've drawn as a kid.
== Boxbot and Robox will combine to form a miniature [[Super Robot]] in a future chapter ==
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He started by spreading the 'angel' title around the robot community. Then he convinced Sky Watcher, who convinced King Robot to go to Kat for help. Now he's preaching that she's got the power of life and death to the other robots. This can't end well.
* Robot is sincere: Robot truly believes Kat is the robo-messiah and will have a huge crisis of faith when she inevitably fails him. Genius aside, she's still a teenager and teens make mistakes.
* Robot is a manipulative bastard or being manipulated himself: His increasingly creepy behavior isn't kosher and he's either using the robots' gullibility to stage an uprising or he's being influenced by, for instance, the Zimmingham spiders.
** Robot has shown some creepy behaviour, yes, but if anything, it emphasizes how sincere he is in his belief in Kat; he is so enthralled with her that he feels the need to follow her everywhere and protect her from everything he perceives as harmful. All this indicates that he's seriously taking her for an angel/liberator, and has great, possibly unrealistic expectations for her in the future.
== There could be a three-way battle between the Woods, the Court humans, and the Court robots ==
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== All the characters are either aspects, representatives, avatars, etc. either nature or technology. ==
This idea is long and kind of crazy, so bear with me. It also incorporates a bunch of ideas from this page and a lot of chemical/alchemical symbolism. The Court, we have been repeatedly told was grown from the Bismuth Seed. As it has been said before, bismuth is a chemical element. But I will go further and put everything into chemical symbolism: The Gillite Woods, etc., being natural and organic, can be represented by either carbon or oxygen, both non-metals. "Straight" humanity's symbol/ability seems to be technology, symbolically represented by transition metals, such as iron: Diego's robots, Jeanne's sword, Steadman's arrowheads, Kat's inventions.
Eglamore is a special case: his 'dragon slayer' armor (which coincidentally, is more like dragon RIDER armor, considering his friendship/partnership with the closest thing to a dragon we've seen) bears the alchemical symbol for lead, is both the material humans use for modern weapons (bullets are made out of it), and in addition to being toxic to living things, it is also used to shield from as well as the result of nuclear radiation. He also posses a glowing sword, the only real example of [[Power Glows]] in the technological Court, reinforcing his connection to nuclear power. (To me, this symbolizes both his role as the Court's counter to the Wood's, and specifically Coyote's, power, and the source of his power, (another WMG, see below).)
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== The Gunnerverse is the present day of the ''[[Girl Genius]]'' 'verse. ==
[[Word of God|Word Of Tom]] says that the story takes place in [https://web.archive.org/web/20150310195844/http://gunnerkrigg.proboards75.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=40&page=27#11036 "a current year"], and that Britain's queen is not Elizabeth II, but [https://web.archive.org/web/20150310113841/http://gunnerkrigg.proboards75.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=361&page=1#11150 a fictional queen.] This could easily be Her Undying Majesty, Queen Albia. Presumably, schools like Gunnerkrigg helped unusual children channel their talents for constructive purposes, preventing the destructive infighting that had ravaged Europa from taking root in the British Isles. This, and Britain's independence from the Wulfenbach Empire, allowed the U.K. to [[In Spite of a Nail|evolve into a society nearly identical to ours]].
The name "Gunnerkrigg" [[Shout
And Kat is obviously a Spark.
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** Thus essentially making her Antimony Heterodyne? On a semi-unrelated note, however, this troper would love to see a [[Fanfic]] wherein Jaegermonsters show up at the Court, claim Annie as the long-lost Heterodyne heir and try to get her to make the Court the new Castle Heterodyne. [[Hilarity Ensues|Hilarity would ensue]], as it so often does when Jaegers are involved.
*** But Kat is ''way'' more sparky than Antimony...
* The Minotaur under the library is obviously a construct. He may or may not be as old as he claims.
* Jones and Higgs could well be either related or otherwise sharing a common origin. Think about it. Jones; unflappable, superhuman abilities, mysterious, breaks walls, blonde. Higgs; unflappable, superhuman abilities, mysterious, breaks walls, blond.
== ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' is also in the Gunnerverse. ==
Tom Siddell is himself a student at the Court. (See [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=296 page 296] and the picture of Tea on the [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/art.html Art page.]) [https://web.archive.org/web/20151105233515/http://gunnerkrigg.proboards75.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=40&page=1#3226 Tom Siddell beat up Sonic the Hedgehog once.]
This ties in nicely with the aforementioned ''Girl Genius'' crossover theory, as [[Sonic the Hedgehog
== Ditto ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20131123045510/http://www.platinumgrit.com/ Platinum Grit]''. This is a big 'verse. ==
Science! Magic! Mysterious spirits! Even more [[Mysterious Parent|mysterious family backstories]] (complete with [[Generation Xerox|photos of the last generation looking a lot like this generation]])! A castle that's as damn well big as the plot damn well needs! A suspicious lack of clearcut villains in the recurring cast!
== Basil the Minotaur is the Minotaur from [[House of Leaves]] ==
In both stories, the Minotaur is a misunderstood son of Minos who is victimized by [[Jerk Jock]] Theseus. This also cements the "Johnny is nuts" theory, since the Minotaur is clearly a nice guy (a "homie", in his words).
== Gunnerkrigg Court takes place in the ''[[Hellboy (
The author has said Hellboy is one of his influences. Eglamore's office is ''very'' Mignola-esque, and [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=153 Mort has obviously seen] a few of the in-universe Hellboy comics.
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== [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=583 The cloaked, bearded figure in panel 1] is Rasputin. ==
I have absolutely no evidence, other than this would be really, really cool. Maybe the Court is linked to the Ogdru Jahad somehow?
== The Court is a bardo, and the inhabitants are [[Genius: The Transgression
The robots are wonders and the inhabitants of the woods are manes.
== Gunnerkrigg takes place in the same world as [[
Annie is a developing Stand user and somehow related to the Joestars. Jones is a Pillar (Wo)Man who achieved "Ultimate Lifeform" status (which is why she can be in daylight), except she's not evil like Cars. Ether is just a different way of saying "the Ripple". The Blinker Stones are related to the Red Stone of Asia. Eglamore and the previous Dragonslayers are Ripple Warriors.
== Hair correlates to etheric power in some way. ==
Bear with me. When Annie uses the blinker stone, we can often see her hair swirling around. Note that before she starts the blinker stone, her hair is straight, but after, it has a slight curve at the base. Her mother's hair is a freaking bush. Mrs. Donlan's is calmer but very swirly. Kat gets similar swirls, and while she doesn't seem to be etherically sensitive she might be repressing it due to her science-only biases. Parley had a swirl at the tip of her ponytail (not in the current chapter, however) and Andrew has what appears to be lively, possible curly hair. Jack had straight, spiked hair until his excursion in Zimmingham, where he gained curls around his face. Zimmy's hair is perpetually tangled, and when you see the transformation from Annie to Zimmy you see that Annie's hair starts curling more. On the other hand, Gamma, who is an etheric sink of sorts, has perfectly straight hair, and Jones, who cannot use a blinker stone, has very straight hair as well.
== ''[[
It's in some distant, forgotten corner of the robots-only area where pollution is so bad that it's deemed unsafe for human habitation, and it has slowly been forgotten by the human inhabitants of the Court, even as its robot inhabitants have forgotten the existence of humans.
== About the sigils. ==
I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who didn't notice that the sigils used in the "sky messages" can be seen as a very abstract way of representing certain messages and ideas. Cubish tripod shapes that vaguely look like computer monitors, flowing lines that resemble giant bird-ish shapes... ect.
{{quote|
[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID{{=}}264 This figure in the last panel] looks like a bird with outstretched wings. Possible rough translation: "You can enter."
[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID{{=}}480 This page] shows the same sigils, but sent up in the opposite order. This means that the sigils being used change meaning based on when they are sent. Specifically: these mean "can a representative come" and "a representative can come". }}
[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/index2.php?show_id=874 On this page]{{Dead link}}, the shape looks a lot like Khepi and her hair. It could mean something like "Tree-mother" or "Protector Matron". The hair looks like it is curling around a dot, which could represent one of her children. In this case, the sigil could mean something like "Protector Matron welcomes you" or "Protector Matron will house you". [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=833 The flowing symbol] on the blue banner with the dot on the end looks a bit like the one used when we see Khelpi. Considering the streamers, I wouldn't be surprised if it the flowing with the dot did mean "welcome".
== Everyone is playing a pre-destined role in a larger chain of events and these roles have existed since the beginning of the court. ==
Basically what I'm saying is this: each generation that has lived at the court has had some sort of role to play. It starts with Steadman the Archer, Sir Young the first Dragon Slayer, Diego the robotics guy and Jeanne who I think was the first medium (she lived at court, but communed *ahem* with the forest as well). Fast forward to the current time of the story. Either Llanwellyn or Winsbury are the Archer(s), Eglamore is the Dragon Slayer, Kat is the robotics whiz and Annie is the prominent medium who communes with the forest.
Like Diego, Kat has a very close personal relationship and devotion to the medium, Annie. Their friendship is mutual, but what if things are headed in the same direction as before? Annie will become increasingly sympathetic for the forest (perhaps take a lover there?) and turn away from Kat who will become distraught and angry. Perhaps the ghost at Annan will be released; Annie is attempting to figure her out and that could lead to releasing her from the waters. Without a ghost, whatever seal was made so long ago would likely expire. They would need a new seal. Maybe where things are headed is that Annie and Kat must make very difficult choices about where they stand. Maybe they will find themselves in the same situation as Diego and Jeanne where Kat might be placed have to consider killing the person she loves the most (but who has spurned her) for the good of the Court. Maybe the crux of this narrative will be that these people are faced with the same choices, but hopefully don't make the same mistakes.
* Gunnerkrigg Court appears to be home to a long series of [[Generation Xerox|recurring roles]], and Eglamore is clearly the Dragon Slayer from the kids' parents' generation. We know that by the time he was Kat and Annie's age, he'd been singled out for the role; perhaps we should be looking for Eglamore's successor.
** Oooh! What if ''Parley'' was Eglamore's successor? She's got the skills, and I doubt she'd turn down being a Dragon Slayer!
== The Court, the Woods and double-crossing. ==
The Court and the woods represent Order and Chaos respectively. The two sides are engaged in an eternal conflict behind the scenes, with both sides wishing to have a leg up on the other. The purpose of the mediums is as diplomats to prevent this conflict from turning into a full-scale war. The three current mediums represent different facets of the war; Smitty is Order, Parley is Chaos, and Annie is a mix of both. The conflict is dying down, but there are elements on both sides that want it to flare up again. Ysengrin is obviously one of these people, although there may be others.
There are traitors in the ranks of both sides. Reynardine was originally on the side of Chaos, but Surma managed to get him captured as a prisoner of war. He then swapped sides under Annie's control. Zimmy is a being of Chaos, but is not interested in the war; Gamma is Order, and is there to stop Zimmy from destroying reality. Jeanne and the Elf were tired of the war when it was at its strongest. The last traitor... is ''Anthony Carver.''
Line 1,028 ⟶ 1,031:
* Sort of confirmed in "Divine"- the tree is powerful because of the memories it evokes in Annie.
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[[Category:Wild Mass Guessing/
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