Gunnerkrigg status: Still rad!

[Paul le Fou]

I find this kind of...unsatisfying? But it's also very Gunnerkrigg. A lot of times it seems like there's some really big important build-up, or a twist with huge implications, and then the resolution is "Oh, yeah, I just went ahead and resolved that."

Like,

Spoiler

"I built the tic-toc(s)" is kind of a huge twist, and we're left wondering, whoa, how does Kat end up sending a bird robot back through time, what else has Kat or someone else from the future been responsible for, this feels huge.

And then the answer is, "Oh, time travel? That's not that hard. Here, we'll just take you to the time travel gods" and then they're like "go ahead and do your time travel stuff" so she does. And then it's "why were there multiple?" and she handwaved a "just 'cause" that didn't make a lot of sense. The end, case closed.

Again, this feels like a very typically Gunnerkrigg way to resolve things, though I can't think of any particular examples right now. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. Maybe this time is just a little more explicit about it, or a little more disappointing, than usual? I don't know.

 

[Nich]

Now that it's over, I think the takeaway is the ambivalent ending: it's great, but also a little terrifying, that Annie--someone who often acts carelessly and puts herself in harm's way--has a friend who'll go to these "impossible" lengths for her sake. This time everything worked out fine. We saw the loop and it was neat and orderly and no one got hurt. (Although even then, Kat put her mental health and her relationships at extreme stress trying to figure it out.) But it's not hard to imagine this cycle repeating and Kat having to do something a lot messier to get Annie out of it.

 

[Sarcasmorator]

Right, I agree. The story here is less about the bird and more about the lengths Kat will (and already has/will have) gone to on Annie's behalf.

This also suggests that Annie getting twinned isn't a corruption of the timeline, because all this happened well *after* that and Kat made no attempt to alter it or do anything else about it.

It's actually one of the things I like about Gunnerkrigg Court, that this isn't a momentous event, just a thing that happened. The deus ex machina of the Norns and their pool are in keeping. It's hard for me to tell if the story might be on its way to wrapping up or not; most of the older dangling plot threads and questions have been tied up and answered, and not much aside from Loup remains.

 

[Falselogic]

Okay! Starting this again. I think I dropped out around Chapter 5 or 6? Only 2360 odd pages to go. (oh goddess!)

 

[Falselogic]

I must have got much further than Chapter 5 or 6... I'm at Chapter 21 now and this all still seems vaguely familiar...

The comic really picks up once Coyote shows up.

 

[FelixSH]

It's hard for me to tell if the story might be on its way to wrapping up or not; most of the older dangling plot threads and questions have been tied up and answered, and not much aside from Loup remains.

We still know basically nothing about thecdirector of the school. I have hoped for years now that we would learn more about him. He always seemed to me like he had some plan himself, that we would learn about, with time.

There are also still the robots and there cult. Something will go down there, but it's also developed enough, that this could be part of a big finale arc.

The more I think about it, the more I see that you are right. The director is the biggest question mark for me, but elsewise, I can't think of many other misteries left. Maybe we really are nearing the endgame.

 

[Nich]

For me, the big threads left are: 1) Kat's potential godhood and the robot cult, and 2) whatever the "Omega Device" Anthony was assigned to was, which apparently also had to do with the S1 power stations and Zimmy's role. (These might actually be the same thread.)

 

[Falselogic]

Oh no, Mort...

 

[FelixSH]

I had also thought for years that a conflict between Annie an Kat would develop, with the robots on Kats side and the forest people on Annies side. Or maybe the two sides would use Kat and Annie as figureheads, or something. But that also seemed like it would need a big fight, which is completely un-Gunnerkrigg.

I'm still waiting for the robots the take over the court and imprison Kat for her own good. This I could still see happening. I have waited for years to see what comes of the robot cult, it was always clearly very problematic. Want to know more.

I'd also like for Reynard to get something to do at least on more time. I miss him.

 

[Violentvixen]

An overview posted with today's comic

Bonus Page 77: Book 8 Treatise

So! This is the end of the 8th book, which will be called Gunnerkrigg Court, Volume 8: Catalysis (no pun intended, I swear) and it wrapped up with some important stuff for the girls. When I first introduced the Tic-Tocs I knew they were made by Kat and sent back to save Annie when she fell off the bridge, and I've long been looking forward to getting to the point whre I can show this happening. I'm not joking when I mentioned that this was a referece to Oh! My Goddess, since that was a comic that I was really inspired by when I was younger and interessted in drawing my own stories. The inclusion of Verdandi (Belldandy), Urd and Skuld has been something I've been looking forward to for a long time.
That said, the story still has a lot to resolve and there is a lot more to come. This past year or so has been very eventful for me, and all of you as well. I hope that reading the comic has at least been a small escape for everyone that wants to exist in a different world at least for a little while. I've tried to make more material available for everyone, including putting the Coyote comic online and almost catching up with all the video retrospectives. Now what this book is over I'm sure Magnolia and I will be recording the last few chapters very soon!
In the meantime, regular readers will know that this is time for a little break as we get ready for the next book! Starting Monday there will be a little announcement, followed by two weeks of extra content before we catch up with Annie and Kat.
Until then, I hope you have found value in the comic, and if you would like to support us as we work on it, please consider visiting our Patreon or perhaps our Topatoco store. You can also look for our books on Amazon and various other places books are sold and look for the physical copies of the story!
See you on Monday and, as always, thanks for reading!

 

[Sarcasmorator]

Speaking of rad, check out the new treatise!

Glad to hear GC has some life in it yet.

 

[Falselogic]

Took three days but I'm all caught up. Now I get to be grumpy about waiting for updates, right? =P

 

[Sarcasmorator]

one of us

 

[Falselogic]

one of us

Do people post their wild theories here as well?

 

[Sarcasmorator]

Sometimes!

 

[Paul le Fou]

Do people post their wild theories here as well?

They do, and even if they didn't, you still absolutely should

 

[Falselogic]

Apologies beforehand. I just shotgunned the entire series and I haven't followed any of the fan theories, wikis, etc. So, maybe this is a really common thought!

I think Coyote will come back, probably with the his tooth. I also think that their return will coincide with the ascension of Kat as the robot god. Coyote's "revelation" that he doesn't exist ties directly in with the rise of robot belief in their own god. I also think that we will see a unification of Coyote/Kat because it seems people just can't seem to reject unification/Monism as a theme.

The revelation that what Kat/Robots/Court are pursuing is the same as what Coyote/Forest are pursuing are the same thing will allow Siddell to unify the appearingly disparate parts of his story into a monism. The rejection of Loup (which will probably include the "downgrade" of Renard and Ysengrim to what they were before they met Coyote.) will permit either Coyote absorbing Kat or the vice versa.

This will lead the story to either go into the familiar trope of fighting this new unified deity lead by either Annie and/or Robot. Or them becoming heralds for this new deity and ushering in the unification of the Court/Forest.

There will probably be a time caper side story. Now that the seal is off it will be hard to avoid.

Just my thoughts right now.

 

[Octopus Prime]

I am ready to Face the City

 

[Sarcasmorator]

re: Falsie's predictions, I don't see a big final conflict between Annie and Kat (in any form), but I think Coyote's tooth carving Loup back into Coyote and Ysengrim is probably spot-on.

 

[Nich]

I like the presentation of this character ranking so far (poor John!) but I wish I could remember who I voted for.

 

[Falselogic]

I would have voted for Mort!

 

[Octopus Prime]

City Face got robbed

 

[conchobhar]

I'm a few days late in saying this now, but…

While the last couple of chapters weren't particularly exciting in their own right, they do get to the core of what I think is so great about Gunnerkrigg Court: it's really, really good at playing the long game. It is always calling back to previous events and bringing it to a conclusion, or recontextualizing them, or threading them together, or some combination of that. It's all over the comic.

The twist that Kat made the tic-tocs is easily the most dramatic and impressive call-back to date. Not just that Tom had this twist planned so far in advance, but that he spent that time to set up various plot points— even things as simple as Kat's bird phase— and did it in a way that felt wholly natural and gradual, that some of it is only clear in retrospect. Very few authors would have the patience and restraint to see it through this way. Tom Siddell is a master at longform storytelling.

 

[Octopus Prime]

Honestly, kind of surprised that Parley wasn’t wearing a tuxedo t-shirt. But as long as she’s pumpin the guns, it’s fine.

 

[Violentvixen]

Parley in this panel is legit the goal body I visualize when working out. Damn.

 

[Paul le Fou]

It's always worth praising the representation of Parley, I think. Super-strong magic-warrior-in-training lady gets...well, super-strong and buff.

 

[Octopus Prime]

Wow, people like one inscrutable space dog way more than the other

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

Wow, people like one inscrutable space dog way more than the other

Fuckin' nobody likes you, Loup. GET! Get OUT! BAD dog.

 

[FelixSH]

I find it fascinating how Tom was able to create two big jerks, and make one of them very well liked and one of them very unpopular. Part of that is probably that Loup hasn't been around that long. But also, Coyote is fun to have around, as long as he isn't. Except if you are Ysengrin, which makes him never fun. Loup feels like a bully, all the time.

 

[Falselogic]

I think part of it is that you've had years to get used to Coyote. You like him! And now there's this other thing that is not Coyote and killed Coyote! I don't think Loup is going to last long but I think they were never going to be a fan favorite after killing a fan favorite.