Tom Sewell

I think an epilogue is more of a final chapter of a story which gives a the audience an idea of what happened after the conclusion of the main action. Good examples would be the final paragraph of "A Christmas Carol" and the "where are they nows" at the end of Animal House. Surely you remember Senator and Mrs. John Blutarsky? The Q&A's don't really fit that concept; they're more like a mix of Author's Notes and jokes. Those are definitely the things that should be addressed before the end of this arc and before whatever the epilogue turns out to be. The least complicated ways to deal with this would be for Magus, Elliot, and Ashley deal with Sirleck. I think this is where that ocular power that Elliot read about in his spellbook but didn't or couldn't really explain will be used; its something that Sirleck isn't likely to know about. I didn't mention Ellen because she's going to be knocked out as soon as Sirleck leaves her body to take over Magus. There's also the possibility that defeating Sirleck will destroy the Dewitchery Diamond, and the possibility that Sirleck will succeed in taking over Magus. Either outcome would end with Ellen, and Ashley safe because Magus won't harm them and Sirleck doesn't want to make powerful enemies. Helen and Demetrius can't be shadowing Elliot because they Sirleck is still alive; he would be dead if any Immortal was shadowing Elliot. That basically leaves Nanase to be looking for Ellen, and the plot would have to get much more complicated for Nanase to intervene in time. Now I'm assuming the minimum satisfactory resolution here is that Ellen and Ashley come out safe and free by the end of the arc. If Magus and Elliot remain merged, obviously that could call for an entire future arc which could involve going to another universe to find another Dewitchery Diamond, or finding a way to enchant a new one. Guess who's the only character we know of who can enchant a Dewitchery Diamond? Anyway, a situation that woudn't fit in an epilogue. Tedd would be likely to give either quest priority over other magic work. If Sirleck does run away with Magus' body, none of the Circle of Eight will care as much, although Ashley and Elliot would feel obligated. Pandora also might, if she remembers the regret she felt for treating Magus so badly. But if Magus gets saved from this, it could wait, and he could even be rid of Sirleck off-screen; Terra would certainly help if she could. Personally, I'd like the epilogue not to go too far into the future. I want to have a full treatment of the adjustments in the relationships between Susan, Diane, Adrian, Pandora--and Lucy. Even if Lucy isn't crushing on Diane, Diane's friendship is important to Lucy and Lucy has been a good friend of Diane's. Dare I say it? I love Lucy.

I was just reading through Sister II yet again and a maybe-not-crackpot theory popped into my head. It might have been floated years ago in our time and lost in a forum crash, but here it is: Has anyone else noticed the similarity between Abraham's magic and Susan's? Not all of the spells Abraham uses, but the spell Demetrius and Helena marked Susan with on her trip to France with Nanase. It's this: In the fights between Adrian and Nanase and, Abraham summons only one item each time. He fights with a summoned sword; then switches to a shield, then a Dreamcatcher sleep bomb, and finally an axe.. Sound familiar? Before Susan awakened, she could summon only one magical copy of an item at a time--initially either a sword, an axe, or a mace, all medieval-era weapons. Abraham has other spells; the first things he did when he got un-stoned was call up modern clothing and modern knowledge. He also used a spell that Edward knew about to summon a bloodgrem, and it was the only spell Abraham had to summon a magical seeker. Since Abraham was a wizard's apprentice, he would have to be able to learn spells because that's what makes a wizard different from other types of magic users.in EGS. But Seers are the only type of wizard we know of that doesn't get natural spells, meaning the spells that show up in your spell book on their own and you don't really have to read about them to use them although it would really be better if, like Nanase, you check your spellbook often instead of whining about how tough it is like certain other people. And we know from Sister III that the werewolf that killed Adrian's father when Blaike was ten could be traced back to the Dewitchery Diamond that was enchanted by Abraham. How many of you think that Abraham was born after Adrian? Maybe, but more likely earlier, maybe a couple of generations earlier, or even more. Which means (drum roll) Blaike could be a descendant of Abraham. And if so, both Susan and Diane would be descendants of Abraham since they are very-much-in-canon descendants of Pandora and Blaike, and they got their inborn talent for summoning magical weapons from Abraham.

Some implications from PRT and OH in these two posts: Tedd didn't know that his mother was a monster hunter, so his parents never told him. Adrian definitely knew about Noriko's magic and her magical background; Noriko mentions her frustration with Tedd's apparent lack of magic to Adrian in the only comic where Noriko actually speaks and says for our benefit (because by this time Adrian has known Edward and Noriko for many years) that this shouldn't be because of her family and Edward's family ancestry. And while that isn't any more explicit about that ancestry, it does leave open the possibilities that Tedd's mother, or father, or both know that they are descended from Immortals, perhaps even the Immortal who has called herself "Pandora." Pandora knew Noriko was a monster hunter but didn't know if she was really a travel agent or just claiming to be a travel agent. Tedd was an infant in the flashback with Noriko and Adrian, but we know Pandora talked to Adrian fourteen or fifteen years ago when Tedd was around four. We don't know exactly why Pandora didn't speak to or reveal herself to Adrian for fourteen years, but we do know from this that Pandora knew Noriko and Edward were his students

Nice idea, but Tedd can see magic, and magical illusions are magic.

So you admit that I'm the champion Amazing Crackpot Theorist?

Oh, now the Goo isn't good enough any more!

Here's a truly worthy amazing crackpot theory: Van's father is actually the Woman With Susan's Face. How can that be? Do you think Tedd is the only gender fluid character in EGS? Or that only one on the Moperville side of Earth with a gender changing spell? And have you noticed that Susan didn't seem to have any sexual urges until she was turned into a man? Or that Susan seems equally attracted to Catalina and Elliot? Or that Diane is attracted to both Nanase and Elliot?

Well, Arthur doesn't seem to know Van is Tedd's half-sibling, and Americans aren't supposed to say "Mum." And bringing in a bit of real-world history, Arthur seems old enough to remember how many Brits turned out to be Soviet agents. Or for that matter, to what lengths the Brits went to to get America into both World Wars. Yes, Van is a child, but he has Brit parents, right? At least he seems to, to Arthur.

Adrian gave that illusion to Grace so she could credibly look like his niece. Why would he do that? Because he didn't want other people to think he's with a young girl. This implies that he didn't need to make Grace resemble him; he could have made her look like anything he thought appropriate. So why would he have given Noriko his own face? Now that we know that Susan's dad looks like Adrian, it seems even creepier that he would have sex with someone who looks like she could be his sister or his daughter. So as I did speculate quite some time ago, perhaps Susan could have seen herself in the mirror but not really remembered how that blonde woman with her father looked. Or maybe like Jean Nessman over in C.D. Rudd's I Dream of a Jeanie Bottle, Mr. Pompoms has a website devoted to warning other women what a creep he is. Speaking of appearances, I wouldn't be terribly surprised if Noriko looks more like her sister now. After all, they both seem to be mothers of two. Plus, Van and Akiko aren't that far apart in age.

I'll take a moment to say I could be wrong about Adrian being Van's father, and if I come across as jumping on everyone who says he might not be, that's because I think I'm probably right... and because I love playing the devil's advocate. That said, here's what might be an actual new idea: Maybe Noriko always was attracted to Adrian, and it was only because Adrian pushed her onto Edward that she married Edward. Even if Adrian never did sleep with Noriko, he could feel even more guilt about Tedd. Seems like a stretch to me, but he is a horndog and he has (or had) the money to travel to Europe. And where did Susan get her magic from? Likely from her father, so Mr. Horndog could be a wizard or a monster hunter or both, and if he is and Noriko knows he is, he'd be a good candidate for Noriko if she was trying to do her duty of continuing the family line of monster hunters. Noriko might actually have been married to him when she conceived Van, which sounds like a dandy excuse for future plot points. Hmmm. Seem to be arguing with myself. Well, far from the first time.

Hmmm. Phill looks pretty old. Could he be Edward's father? Uncle? There's that doubled consonant at the end of Phill's name; where have we seen that before... Where would they had that relationship? There's no indication that Adrian has left Moperville since he was teaching Noriko, her sister, and Edward at Moperville South. Would it have been when Noriko came back to visit Tedd? Maybe the last time Tedd saw his mother? That's pretty dark. Kind of makes getting drunk and losing their inhibitions seem like a better excuse.

I'm not going to plow through my Forum posts for the past year or two, but I'm pretty sure I made a few listing reasons why Adrian having an affair with Noriko really fits uncomfortably well. Here's how it looks to me now: Adrian's feeling of responsibility for the breakup of Noriko's and Edward's marriage is extreme. Yes, Adrian was really impressed by Noriko's talent and encouraged her career. But wouldn't Noriko have always been inclined to give priority to her career? It's not only a career, it's a family tradition going back many generations. It's not her sister who's the traditionalist here; Nanase and Akiko's mother has specifically rejected that tradition. So why does Adrian shoulder so much guilt about Noriko? Edward hasn't forgiven Adrian. Encouraging Noriko's career doesn't strike me as enough reason for that. And there's the fact that Edward is still following the same career, the career Adrian trained him for. Dan just made it clear that Van is Tedd's half-sibling--and it doesn't seem that Magic is entirely finished telling telling Van the truth about his family. So unless Tedd's biological father isn't Edward, the only other possibility is that Noriko had Van with another man--and Adrian is the only other man Dan has shown that Noriko had any sort of relationship with. Dan's used up his trolling quota by leading us to believe Diane was Susan's sibling/half-sibling for so long. There isn't any other credible suspect we have a chance of guessing.

Oh, BTW, if Adrian is Van's father, Diane is also Van's half-sibling, and Van is Susan's several-times-great uncle. And, of course, Pandora is Van's grandmother. Can I say "fairy grandmother"?

The only suspect for Van's father is (surprise) Adrian. If this is true, Adrian doesn't know yet. Adrian is the only man other than Edward we know had any relationship with Noriko. I think the chances are good that Edward knows about Van, and better that Nanase's mom knows.

Pandora's last spell used the connection made by the reset to get all the other Immortals all over the Earth to kill the aberrations. So, she probably was using very little magical energy herself. It was sort of a magical version of a judo throw, using the strength of your adversary instead of your own. We should find out pretty soon (in EGS time) whether the ambient magic in Moperville has been drained. Tedd should be able to tell right away; Sarah would find out as soon as she tries to use her spell. Although it's never been mentioned, perhaps the base level of ambient magic for the Moperville side of Earth might change. If it was raised, it might make developing magic resistance through exposure faster and easier...

I disagree. I suggest re-reading "The Emperor's New Clothes" and perhaps listening to a song from South Pacific, "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught".

Greg's got some wonderful qualifications for Vladia: Moral uprightness, tolerance of weirdness, and a force field.

Headcanon so far, and I think I may be the head cannon. Love to see their kids someday.

Definitely. They can take away not only TF gun, but also Grace if they need to give him more encouragement. Let's see, Grace is fireproof, has a force field, can fly, can lift a car... any volunteers for this mission?

I wonder if Pandora's dam can be taken down now? We don't know if Adrian has the spell to take it down, and even after Pandora returns, we don't know if she will know how to do it. It could take quite a long time for Tedd to figure out how to make a spell that will work. Meanwhile, will Sarah be forced to keep using her magic to bring the ambient magic in Moperville down to safer levels? Because if the dam isn't brought down and the ambient magic level keeps building up, the remaining Aberrations and other pests like not-Tengu are going to keep getting drawn to Moperville. Hmmm. Sounds like Moperville might need some full-time monster hunters...

I don't think it's settled whether the Will of Magic governs just human magic. Perhaps the WoM does also encompasses Immortal magic. If so, it could restrict Immortal magic if it wanted to. While individual Immortals can have far more magic than most humans, there are a lot more humans than there are Immortals. And if the WoM is dependent on the use of magic, it could need human magic users more than Immortal magic users.

I believe I said something about the Will of Magic maybe needing the use of magic to exist.

Actually what I had in mind was a wyrd explanation behind Nanase and Susan getting into what seemed like an unlikely relationship, even if they don't have the same face like Susan, Diane, Diane's dad, the blonde Susan caught her dad with, and Adrian. And, yes, I have seen the Honest Trailer for Avatar.

I wonder if Adrian visited Japan before the Tokugawa Shogunate began isolating the country? Because Nanase and Noriko come from a long line of monster hunters.,..

Assuming Van really is Van's mother, how would she know Van has magic? He's a seer, which means he can't cast spells unless he's been granted them by another magic user, or made a wand? Would she use another magic-detection wand? She has to have known she traumatized Tedd with one. But suppose Noriko found out Van has magic. Who else did she tell about it? If she told Edward, why hasn't he told Tedd? Hmmm. Sounds a bit like another mom who doesn't want her magically-gifted child to know the whole story, doesn't it?