Discussion thread for Agatha H. and the Clockwork Princess. Beware, Here There be SPOILERS

[hippogrif]

Welcome.

This is a thread for discussing the Girl Genius novelization Agatha H. and the Clockwork Princess, as well as all Girl Genius in general. The subject matter is the property of Phil and Kaja Foglio.

No spoilers are required in this thread. The assumption is you've read the material already. That is why this thread exists--to provide a place for people to talk without having to try to avoid giving away secrets.

I own this account. If you're rude or a jackass, I will delete your post. If you're debating in good faith and not annoying the natives, I won't. If people really can't behave, I'll delete the whole fershlugginer thread.

Have fun. Talk at will. If you don't want spoilers, run away now.

Hippogrif.

Comments

Re: European Marriage Habits

[greybeardfan]

Violetta prefers someone more straightforward? Well, might Gil qualify? He certainly CAN be sneaky, but it's not something he drank with his mother's milk.

Re: European Marriage Habits

[claudeng]

Yes and no - she would not be a good influence on him, and she wouldn't meet his criteria anyway.

If Gil were not to end up with Agatha and Tarvek really is planning to resurrect Anevka and get Lu out of her head too, Anevka would be a politically useful alternative. She's royal and Sparky, and marrying the opposition is often a useful part of ending wars. Marrying into the recognized Storm King bloodline could only help, too. Not that I think this is in any way likely, but interesting for speculation.

Re: European Marriage Habits

[hippogrif]

Arg. Keep forgetting to log out of my other Dreamwidth account. Anywaayyyyyyyy....

On that note...

It's been part of the subtext from the very start that royals make royal matches. Yes, Klaus wanted to find Gil a wife partly to provide him with a bit of bedroom fun...but also to make a proper royal match for him. He wanted Gil to marry "the right kind of girl."

It's been made clear in a number of ways that if Agatha is the right kind in some ways, as a Heterodyne, she's also the wrong kind because she's a Heterodyne AND a dark horse.

So I've wondered if the possible intended final outcome is Agatha married to neither, and the two boys matched to "fitting" political wives. And in that context it has occurred to me that the novelization makes clear that, at least at one time, there was a Princess with a brain but no body, and also a body with no brain. I can honestly see an outcome with Tarvek married to Zulenna--a loyal vassal of House Wulfenbach under most circumstances--and Gil married to a Sturmvoraus who allows him to avoid the genetic burden of House Sturmvoraus: Anveka's brain in Olga's body. Especially as Olga was retrieved and revived under the belief she was the Heterodyne Girl.

(Shudders) Which suddenly leaves me wondering whose brain Klaus intended to put in that reanimated body, and what he then hoped to accomplish. Somehow I hope he was smart enough to know that convincing Gil to marry the body of the girl he loved without the brain to go with it would have been essentially impossible or inhuman.

Re: European Marriage Habits

[lightningnettle.livejournal.com]

Vi's not smart enough for Gil either; and she'd both hate and be horrible at the necessary diplomacy required at his level of political influence.

Who could Vi marry besides Moloch? Hmm. Van could probably handle her, though I'm not sure he likes that much drama in his life. I really can't see her with any of the other prisoners. The jaegers might actually like her style, but I'm not sure they're available. Maybe some of the other members of the town council have children or grandchildren; the lady with the crush on Klaus might have the appropriate sort of offspring.

Re: European Marriage Habits

[claudeng]

For anyone familiar with the Vorkosigan books, Violetta could be a future Drou. Find someone who actually respects her (which may go a long way toward moderating that temper) and raise socially well-placed ninja-trained kids.

I think her attraction to Moloch is cute, but in the long run I think she'd scare him. Moloch doesn't get a lot of control in his life - having a girlfriend/wife who could turn him into a pretzel does not like something he'd enjoy in the long run. I do wonder if he realizes how scary Sanaa actually is. If Violetta gets to make it to those parties she's hoping for, lets Tarvek (in a good mood, hopefully) at her wardrobe, dances with the boys too, and she'll find a better match.