A way-out theory

[occams_pyramid]

When Tarvek and Tweedle were both missing in the time stop, the next candidate considered for the Storm King was Gil. https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20130703

Tweedle stated that the Fifty Families would have accepted the Baron if only he had declared himself Emperor. https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20141031

So possibly the final outcome of the story once the Other is finally defeated is that Tarvek and Tweedle are somehow taken out of contention, Gil is declared Storm King, marries Agatha, and thereby unites the Storm Kingdom, the Wulfenbach Empire, and the Heterodynes, bringing peace to Europa and fulfilling the prophecy?

Comments

[marycatelli]

Theory: Gil is actually descended from Andronicus and Euphrosyne. This would explain why he's not affected by the Doom Bell. (Was Zeetha? Since they are siblings?)

This would feed into his status as the new Storm King.

[marieldraconis]

I think Zeetha was in recovery when the Bell rang. The comic didn't cut to her and Higgs in that segment. (And there's also the ambiguous effects of what General Gkika did to heal her - is Zeetha Jager enough now to have a Jager reaction?)
And there's also what, if any, modifications Klaus might have made to Gil - he reacted better to the battledraught than Gkika expected, and she thought it was because Klaus had deduced some secrets about Jager physiology.

So in both cases, the answer could be not descendance, but pseudo-Jager physiology.

On the other hand, it's a fun idea. And makes Gil a distant cousin to both Agatha and Tarvek (and, ugh, Tweedle). But... too many people were paying too close attention to lines of descent from Andronicus for Klaus being in some way related to be completely unknown.
[...which then brings it back to a question of portals, and is that descent via some relative who ended up in Skifander?]

[marycatelli]

Yup. It would have to be his mother's side.

[marieldraconis]

Which then leads to some interesting questions about, among other things, the portal in Mechanicsburg and what actually happened to Euphrosynia.

Although that would be the second (technically first) disappearing pregnant female Spark, and the second (technically first) Spark who disappears only to be actually in Skifander....
OK, I'm now hoping someone turns this into a fic, because the ideas sound interesting.

[spectrum_09]

The role playing game's notes on characters says Gil is distantly related to Andronicus Valois.

My personal take on why the DOom Bell didn't affect him is a bit simpler. Read the page carefully and note Mama Gkika's reaction. Gil explains quite clearly why he wasn't affected.

https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20111125

The bell produces "existential despair" in those who hear it, hence it's name. To Gil, his life is less important that Agatha's. To him the bell signals Agatha has fixed the Castle. He doesn't care his own life is worthless, the woman he loves is alive and fighting. Mama catches this, hence her statements in the last panel.

No need for Jägerdaught or actual Heterdyne DNA.

[marieldraconis]

Hm...

Only if Tarvek is facing a tragic ending. I don't think anyone cares about what happens with Tweedle (trips on a mimmoth and breaks his neck? His arrogance and overconfidence leading to his being killed by one of his creations in a standard Spark death?), but if Tarvek is 'taken out of contention', it's going to be in a way which means Agatha and Gil are grieving while being crowned.

Not saying that is or isn't a bad thing - it depends on which way the story goes - but I'm pretty sure if that happens, Tarvek dies in the manner of a tragic hero in opera.

Personally I'm rooting for some sort of shared crown, but one of Gil or Tarvek dying to save the other two and/or Europa, and the remaining two taking up all relevant titles and crowns seems a plausible ending. And Gil has more chance to claim the Lightning Crown than Tarvek to claim the Wulfenbach Empire (from what we know right now), so it probably would be Tarvek dying over Gil, if one were to die to neaten things up.

[marycatelli]

If Tarvek does something like falling love with a member of the Vesparian Squad, and supports Gil and Agatha so he can marry his true love, it would be of immense aid to their legitimacy.

[marieldraconis]

Possible, but that doesn't feel like where the story is going right now. 'Tarvek or Gil heroically sacrificing himself to safe Europa and the lovers' or 'Agatha saying "I don't care, I'm the Heterodyne, I don't have to choose" and taking them both' both seem more plausible at this point in the story.

Again, it depends on where the story goes - it's just at this point there are no plausible love interests to draw Gil or Tarvek away from Agatha. But if one does pop up, we can worry less about the probability of Gil or Tarvek heroically sacrificing himself.

[spectrum_09]

Early on I've envisioned Tarvek pulling a Sydney Carton.

https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20091111

[ffutures]

Personally, I'd like to see Agatha somehow becoming Empress - All shall love her and despair!

[marycatelli]

It may be the only responsible thing she can do. But there's likely to be a dynastic marriage in there somewhere.

[kelkyag]

The Castle will be Extremely Difficult if Agatha tries to decline to have genetic offspring of one sort or another. The marriage part is optional, and Castle's seemed happy enough for her to have as many potential mates as she likes, as long as that's more than zero. Engineering her own might be fine, too, but she's more mechanic than biologist.

[marycatelli]

Agatha is not the type to overlook that her marriage may be a matter of peace and war. And she's not plumping for war.

[elsane]

I've always done a fry-squint at Gil being sarcastically called the Storm King in this one
https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20081103
-- it comes right after Zeetha being sarcastically called the Baron's daughter.

[mathuaerknedam]

Didn't the The Muse of Geometries essentially tell us Gil has the strongest claim to the Storm king title?