Comic for Friday, May 5, 2023

[Darth Fluffy 302]

Comic for Friday, May 5, 2023

I'm not getting why the person on the other end of the phone (old school phone!) would think that Arthur's recruits would be good professors. It seems like in general there would not be a high positive correlation between having magic skill and doing well academically. In fact, having magic skill might be a reason to cut corners, though, yes, we have a few obvious exceptions. Adrian Raven being able, willing, and more or less available was a fluke, and he has good reason to not cooperate with Arthur.

It seems it might be easier to buy a building near the campus for a lab rather than put up with her nonsense in exchange for the donated space. Or, as is often done, fund an on-campus facility, thereby avoiding the notion that the school is providing the facility.

Arthur, for his part, seems to have decent human instincts about how to treat others, but seems too willing to compromise them 'to get the job done' (i.e. cutting corners), and ends up being manipulative, albeit somewhere below the pure @##hole level. I'm not seeing what he gains by not communicating with Susan; he knows she know Tedd and Edward, so hes probably aware that she knows about his organization existing, and of course she's already aware of magic. At the very least, if he talked to her, he could provide some developmental guidance. He should have picked up on her dad is not in her life.

Figuring out why an immortal is Susan's ally was pretty sharp. OTOH, she apparently already provided useful intel to Arthur, and he's discounting her ability to further contribute. He's adequate, but not stellar in his position, which seems on the nose for 'in government service'.

Sibyl is an interesting name to apply to a character. I wonder if that is intentional foreshadowing? She has yet to say anything outstanding, acting more as a reflector for Arthur's thoughts.

I wonder if we've met the woman on the other end of the phone.

Another question, we have not seen the source of Susan's mom's wealth. She seems like she's a professional at some job, not always home. Whatever she does, it appears to pay well. It is possible that she received a good divorce settlement, but that begs the question, "What, then, does Susan's father do?". It is also possible that it is inherited, but then Susan's family would likely be well known.

I don't think Susan's mom is a university administrator, but it could be a possibility. She'd have to be high in the food chain for that kind of wealth.

 

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,586]

What we don't know about Susan's mom is how much she knows about the esoteric side of Moperville, or if the powers that be have determined she has a need to know.  So as long as Susan is still living with mom, Susan's contact with the government regarding spooky matters must remain within a zone of plausible deniability.

Either Edward does not know the whole Paris story, or decided that was not his secret to divulge.  Either way, if Arthur wants more details or confirmation, he will need to ask Susan directly. 

If I remember correctly, Sybil is Arthur's daughter.  Possibly illegitimate.  And they play their roles in the office with excessive formality to hide their familial relationship. 

[mlooney 3,417]

29 minutes ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

If I remember correctly, Sybil is Arthur's daughter.  Possibly illegitimate.

Unlikely.  When it was reveled that Jay was his granddaughter Sybil used the term "your granddaughter", not "my daughter".  Also 3 letter agencies tend to not allow close family relatives to work as leader/subordinate pairs.  Sybil being Arthur's daughter is a popular fan theory with no canon support.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

1 hour ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

What we don't know about Susan's mom is how much she knows about the esoteric side of Moperville, or if the powers that be have determined she has a need to know.  So as long as Susan is still living with mom, Susan's contact with the government regarding spooky matters must remain within a zone of plausible deniability.

I don't think Susan's mom knows the story. None of her admittedly few comments and appearances have shown that she has any knowledge of Susan's magic abilities. Susan seems very private and as far as we've been shown does not share those details with her. We have not heard anything of Susan's mom regarding the mall incident (which is a bit odd, you'd think that as a parent she'd ask her daughter about the events at the mall). As far as we've been shown, Susan also has not disclosed her relation to Diane to her mother. I am not recalling that we are aware of which side of Susan's parentage her relation with Adrian comes from. So, yeah, I think the plausible deniability with her mom is needed.

 

1 hour ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Either Edward does not know the whole Paris story, or decided that was not his secret to divulge.  Either way, if Arthur wants more details or confirmation, he will need to ask Susan directly.

I'm pretty sure Edward knows Susan's backstory. It has been pointed out that he vets Tedd's friends (emphasis magic-capable friends) and has enough of a skeptical outlook to want to verify that the pieces line up properly (remember him zapping Elliot's mild mannered form to ensure it was actually Elliot?). We don't really know the extent of his capabilities, but it seems like a safe bet that knowing about Susan's history is within his reach. Maybe more germane, he has been a faithful ally to Tedd's group. Aside from Justin's mistrust of being in a government file (I can't blame him for that), I think he's earned their trust, and Susan would probably be far more open with him than she would be with her own mom. She has shared the story with others, after all.

 

1 hour ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

If I remember correctly, Sybil is Arthur's daughter.  Possibly illegitimate.  And they play their roles in the office with excessive formality to hide their familial relationship. 

I don't recall that from the comic. I agree with mlooney's post that it seems unlikely, for the same reasons. Places of employment with any level of public trust discourage multiple family members from working closely, especially within the same chain of command. In some settings, I believe it is illegal. In any case, Sybil acts more like a long term faithful, reliable employee than like a family member. We have also not seen Arthur and Sybil discussing their agency issues as if they were family issues, e.g. "Take care of your brother, Kevin."

 

An Arthur oddity: Why did Arthur attempt to have Adrian deported to Russia? What was Arthur's problem with Adrian? Why Russia? You'd think a man as detail oriented as Arthur would get Adrian's nationality right. Why is Adrian cooperating at this point? (Twice! Hunting for Magus and moving to the university) He seemed hostile not that long ago, clearly still resenting Arthur's attempt to deport him.

 

Curiouser and curiouser . . .

 

 

[mlooney 3,417]

Yeah, I'm not sure why Adrian is working for DGB at all.  I can sorta  see working as a  professor, as that lets him keep track of the majority of magical teens he's aware of. 

[Amiable Dorsai 70]

1 hour ago, Darth Fluffy said:

Why is Adrian cooperating at this point?

Tedd is his godson.   That's probably enough.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

5 hours ago, Amiable Dorsai said:

Tedd is his godson.   That's probably enough.

That is a fair point, but he is cooperating in capturing Magus, also working with Abraham, who he has some reason to dislike (although to be fair, Abraham's violence was not wanton; he didn't kill Adrian) and that has nothing to do with Tedd, nor with Tedd's associates that he'd be aware of. Elliot and Ashley go to North. Hmm, OK, he knows Ellen.

I'd favor an argument that 'he got over it'. Maybe participation is an olive branch toward Edward for whatever Adrian did that caused the rift. It would be nice to see more backstory about this.

[ijuin 572]

17 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

An Arthur oddity: Why did Arthur attempt to have Adrian deported to Russia? What was Arthur's problem with Adrian? Why Russia? You'd think a man as detail oriented as Arthur would get Adrian's nationality right. Why is Adrian cooperating at this point? (Twice! Hunting for Magus and moving to the university) He seemed hostile not that long ago, clearly still resenting Arthur's attempt to deport him.

Yes, why Russia? This would have been during or soon after the Cold War, so why would Arthur want Russia to have custody of an Elf Wizard of Adrian’s skill? It makes no sense that it would be intended solely as a punishment to Adrian, so perhaps it was a failed attempt to insert him as a mole within Russia?

[mlooney 3,417]

22 hours ago, ijuin said:

Yes, why Russia? This would have been during or soon after the Cold War, so why would Arthur want Russia to have custody of an Elf Wizard of Adrian’s skill? It makes no sense that it would be intended solely as a punishment to Adrian, so perhaps it was a failed attempt to insert him as a mole within Russia?

I'm wondering if they meant the USSR when The Dan said "Russia".  This would change the date of the attempted deportation a bit.

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,586]

Could it be agent Arthur is old enough that he attempted to deport Raven before the 1917 Revolution?

 

[Darth Fluffy 302]

7 hours ago, mlooney said:

I'm wondering if they meant the USSR when The Dan said "Russia".  This would change the date of the attempted deportation a bit.

 

2 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Could it be agent Arthur is old enough that he attempted to deport Raven before the 1917 Revolution?

 

 

We are talking about another universe. The default appears to be 'It's mostly like our universe', but there are enough glaring differences that we really can't assume much. Maybe there never was a Russian Revolution in the EGS universe.

[mlooney 3,417]

2 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Could it be agent Arthur is old enough that he attempted to deport Raven before the 1917 Revolution?

 

No.  That would make him at least 120 years old.  While Raven is that old (any at least a factor of 2), there is no way Arthur is that old.

[ijuin 572]

Yeah, Arthur is probably 70-85 years old, given that he retired several years ago and has a college-age granddaughter. He may be old enough to have been a child during WWII, but that’s about it. I like to imagine that he was a rookie agent during the 1960s.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

4 hours ago, ijuin said:

Yeah, Arthur is probably 70-85 years old, given that he retired several years ago and has a college-age granddaughter. He may be old enough to have been a child during WWII, but that’s about it. I like to imagine that he was a rookie agent during the 1960s.

I agree, I'd estimate in his 70's.

[Don Edwards 548]

Just want to mention that, at least in the US, it was common during the cold war to say "Russia" when one technically meant "the USSR". Two syllables rather than five...