So I have some thoughts on this development. First, we can guess that the existence of the Devil's Prize is common knowledge among pirates (as is the knowledge of what happens to you if you try to claim it and you're blowing smoke). However, we know from one of the strips last week that a lot of British sailors turn privateer for a while, and it's not terribly noteworthy.
Given that, why doesn't British Intelligence know about the Devil's Prize? And given that Wooster was assigned to watch Gil...and at the time Bang worked for Gil's father...if so, why didn't Wooster know enough about it to put two and two together when he heard Zeetha's story? Perhaps we will find these things out in the next few days.
There's also at least one way that this can resolve without the Zeetha/Bang death match we've been anticipating for many years. Suppose that Margolotta's faction hired the pirates who raided the returning expedition, told them to return Zeetha alive, and failed to mention that, oh, she's a warrior princess of Skifander who could probably eat your entire crew for breakfast? We only have speculation as to why the pirates didn't kill her, and for all we know someone working more directly for Margolotta's faction on the expedition may have poisoned her to keep her docile during the trip.
So Bang finds out that Margolotta & co. basically sent her pirates into a death trap with no warning, and Zeetha finds out that M. & co. tried to poison her...and now both of them are really pissed off at the same people.
Since Margolotta is now conveniently dead, and we know very little of her faction, or what they were doing, Bang and Zeetha end up being pissed at somebody they don't know, or can't touch any more...
AND
they are STILL mad at each other -
SO
Come on, stop stalling and pass the popcorn, will ya?!
Not only that, but the Foglio's settled on Margarella in the final collected volume. They started with Margarella Selnikov, switched to Margolotta then back to Margarella.
Just like Sun Mingmei became Sun Daiyu then became twins - Mingmei and Daiyu - then became Sun Mingmei Daiyu in the novel.
Hm, well, having Ariadne Steelgarter setting up the pirates does sound intriguing...
But since she funded in the original expedition to Skifander, why would she send pirates to intercept and destroy it only to try later desperately to locate Skifander through advanced material harmonics?
Also, she seems to be aligned with the Boilergast (if that is the name of the big-eyed creature behind the bolted door), but not in charge of it. Their communication seems to imply they are peers/equals. I wonder what nobility rank Boilergast has?
Depends on why she wants to find out where it is, or (perhaps more importantly) who she wants to *keep* from finding out where it is. The trouble with a public expedition is that it's harder to keep the results secret.
Suppose for the sake of argument that she thinks that Skifander has the secret of how the Grey Witch killed Queen Luheia. (Maybe Steelgarter's working for Princess Urania, maybe for someone else completely.) If the public expedition returns, Albia will know where Skifander is, and will doubtless make some attempt to open communications with them. OTOH, if the expedition is destroyed by pirates, well, the world is a dangerous place.
Reportedly they don't have one, but an image comes to mind of a BIG whiteboard in the Professors' house with a matrix of which characters know which facts as the story progresses. The professors have been very careful to isolate some of the players at any given time to prevent them from learning significant facts.
For example, during the revivification of Tarvek in the Castle Heterodyne sequence, certain cast members were conspicuously absent and unaware that Tarvek had died, a fact that would make him ineligible to become the Storm King under the Fifty Families' rules.
(Will this turn out to be significant? Who knows! I still want to know what happened to the message that the flying cannonball dingbot was supposed to deliver.)
I'm impressed that the news reached Bang* so quickly. Seems likely that the so-far nameless pirate is going to fall out of the narrative rapidly, and the odds just shifted a little toward rich and retired vs. dead.
*Hasn't technically yet -- that could still fall apart. A dramatic interruption here could leave him dead and put Bang on his trail heading back to England and/or Steelgarter.
Not nameless. The previous page referred to him as Ulysses Bonny. But I agree he's just plot machinery, and we won't hear much more about him. Wednesday's page will probably shift scenes, and later on we'll see what Bang is on the trail of.
Bah, I looked back for his name but only focused on the pages he appeared on. Thank you for catching my oversight. Having a name increases his odds of staying on stage for a bit.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2018-10-01 09:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-10-01 09:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-10-01 10:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-10-01 01:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-10-02 12:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-10-01 02:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-10-01 02:58 pm (UTC)Given that, why doesn't British Intelligence know about the Devil's Prize? And given that Wooster was assigned to watch Gil...and at the time Bang worked for Gil's father...if so, why didn't Wooster know enough about it to put two and two together when he heard Zeetha's story? Perhaps we will find these things out in the next few days.
There's also at least one way that this can resolve without the Zeetha/Bang death match we've been anticipating for many years. Suppose that Margolotta's faction hired the pirates who raided the returning expedition, told them to return Zeetha alive, and failed to mention that, oh, she's a warrior princess of Skifander who could probably eat your entire crew for breakfast? We only have speculation as to why the pirates didn't kill her, and for all we know someone working more directly for Margolotta's faction on the expedition may have poisoned her to keep her docile during the trip.
So Bang finds out that Margolotta & co. basically sent her pirates into a death trap with no warning, and Zeetha finds out that M. & co. tried to poison her...and now both of them are really pissed off at the same people.
no subject
Date: 2018-10-01 03:06 pm (UTC)BUT
Since Margolotta is now conveniently dead, and we know very little of her faction, or what they were doing, Bang and Zeetha end up being pissed at somebody they don't know, or can't touch any more...
AND
they are STILL mad at each other -
SO
Come on, stop stalling and pass the popcorn, will ya?!
no subject
Date: 2018-10-01 03:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-10-01 05:54 pm (UTC)Just like Sun Mingmei became Sun Daiyu then became twins - Mingmei and Daiyu - then became Sun Mingmei Daiyu in the novel.
no subject
Date: 2018-10-01 08:04 pm (UTC)But since she funded in the original expedition to Skifander, why would she send pirates to intercept and destroy it only to try later desperately to locate Skifander through advanced material harmonics?
Also, she seems to be aligned with the Boilergast (if that is the name of the big-eyed creature behind the bolted door), but not in charge of it. Their communication seems to imply they are peers/equals. I wonder what nobility rank Boilergast has?
no subject
Date: 2018-10-01 08:19 pm (UTC)The big question is still - why does she want to locate Skifander?
no subject
Date: 2018-10-01 09:06 pm (UTC)Suppose for the sake of argument that she thinks that Skifander has the secret of how the Grey Witch killed Queen Luheia. (Maybe Steelgarter's working for Princess Urania, maybe for someone else completely.) If the public expedition returns, Albia will know where Skifander is, and will doubtless make some attempt to open communications with them. OTOH, if the expedition is destroyed by pirates, well, the world is a dangerous place.
no subject
Date: 2018-10-02 05:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-10-01 03:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-10-01 03:56 pm (UTC)For example, during the revivification of Tarvek in the Castle Heterodyne sequence, certain cast members were conspicuously absent and unaware that Tarvek had died, a fact that would make him ineligible to become the Storm King under the Fifty Families' rules.
(Will this turn out to be significant? Who knows! I still want to know what happened to the message that the flying cannonball dingbot was supposed to deliver.)
no subject
Date: 2018-10-01 04:12 pm (UTC)You and me both, Murgatroyd. You and me both.
no subject
Date: 2018-10-01 08:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-10-01 09:31 pm (UTC)*Hasn't technically yet -- that could still fall apart. A dramatic interruption here could leave him dead and put Bang on his trail heading back to England and/or Steelgarter.
no subject
Date: 2018-10-01 11:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-10-02 07:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-10-03 04:47 am (UTC)What?! That's crazy talk! That sort of thing never happens in this comic!