I think Flint’s got the right idea, especially regarding Hunter & Vane. Let them settle their disagreement first, then you can go after whichever one survives. If either. (I’m guessing neither will.) At a minimum they’ll weaken each other and makes things easier.
If you can be sure of killing either one at range, consider what the other will do. If you can be sure of killing both, absolutely do it. These two, fascinating and charming as they are, have killed so many people …
I had to go back and re-read The Golden Son to make sense of Markus’ gesture in panel 4. The Republic Army had no uniform except for the braided red and white hatband, and Markus is now wearing it around his neck under his kerchief. Maybe Lawrence is wearing one too.
Riiight! Those two joy girls came out of it okay when they had two handguns snugged right up against his John Henry’s head, didn’t they? What could possibly go wrong?
If they kill John before she can, she’ll kill them all. If they kill Vane before John can, he’ll kill them all. If they kill both of them, they’ll try to kill each other for the reward. Any way it goes, they’re all dead soon, or almost all.
As perceptive as John and Vane are, they may take out the trash before they get down to their own business, too.
I sincerely hope that it isn’t as it seems, Romeo and Juliet with hoglegs; these two are tragically damaged , in pain, and deserve a bit of peace and healing, closure, resolution, and the choice of their own exits. If they choose to die, may it be a mutual sacramental rite, and bugger the bounty hunters with their own rifles!
A different angle on that: JHH is a monster who used a poker as a running iron and branded his wife, and who dealt death left and right as it suited him. Vane’s body is now a soulless zombie obsessed with revenge, if Prof. Amaranth Crawford was right. (Back at Broken Sky he detected the demon in her body and the body’s lack of a soul. Later on, at the mission, JHH destroyed the demon. What is still animating the body? Sorcery of some sort?) JHH will be “taking the big leap” as he called it. Once he’s dead, with its purpose in existence gone, Vane’s mortal shell will probably collapse.
I’m not going to disagree he’s a monster, but you have some things wrong. Hunter branded Vane’s dead body to revive her into her current form. We saw him repeat the process with the horse, which he had to kill first (Whisky Bend 12) before branding and reviving it (Whisky Bend 14 – 15) into its undead/magical state. Hunter forced the remains of the demon back into Vane’s body in Via Dolorosa 33 – 34. We see it shatter, but then he gathers up all the remnants of flame in the area and puts them back into Vane’s body. After that she wakes up and is briefly herself before the flame returns to her eyes and she wants to kill Hunter. Professor Amaranth comments on her lack of a soul and her “guest” in Short End 15, not Broken Sky, which is after Via Dolorosa, confirming that the demon is back in her body.
My theory is that he’s done of all of this to set up an arcane rite of some kind that will ensure his and Vane’s souls will be together in an afterlife of some kind. He knew that binding a demon into her dead body would bind her soul into the body and cause her to hunt him down to try and kill him (since that appears to be the only way for the demon to free itself). That ensured she’d follow him all the way until the end when he had all the information (apparently gained from Professor Amaranth’s book in Broken Sky) and arrangements ready.
Ach so! That makes sense. Reanimated Vane has terrible flashbacks of the branding; that’s what caused her to shoot Jasper in the hand when she saw him in his smithy holding the piece of hot iron. I had assumed JHH had branded her when she was alive, which would have been extremely painful and traumatic. In Short End 15, Amaranth is talking about how, back in Broken Sky, he could sense Hunter’s soul and Vane’s “guest” — but says that he “now” (in Short End 15) sensed her deficiency (presumably lack of a soul). Recall that in Broken Sky she was unable to see anything through the subspectral resonance dowser, presumably because she was undead.
It’s clear some portion of Vane’s soul is still within her undead body, since she remembers things that happened between her and Hunter, and at times acts like the old, normal Vane. (Most notably in Via Dolorosa 34, but there have been other instances. For example Redridge Express 14 – 16 when her curiosity about the dowser overrode the demon. Her eyes have clearly lost their fire in the final panel on page 15.)
Dying probably damaged her soul severely, which is probably the deficiency Professor Amaranth was referring to, but whatever’s left of it’s still in there. The demon that’s the main driving force in her chasing Hunter is bringing whatever’s left of her soul along for the ride and I think that’s what Hunter wanted to happen.
My take is more pedestrian … Hunter wanted to keep Vane alive (quite against her will) and has become a serial killer (and an adulterer to her whilst she was on her deathbed) in order to make it so. That’s demonically touching. The worst evils are possible because they are combined with the best virtues … but that doesn’t make those evils LESS evil. Attila’s, Genghis’, and Hitler’s undoubted personal courage, for example … That said, I await correction.
I think Hunter’s and Vane’s actions mirror each other: Vane killed who knows how many people perfecting the vertebrae transplant surgery to fix Hunter’s spine. Hunter was probably luring in prostitutes to test Vane’s attempted cures for Violet Fever, leading to their deaths.
Both of them did horrible things to try and help the other, but neither bothered to explain what and why they were doing those things to the other, causing a lot of pain.
Very perceptive … though I care less about the pain to Hunter and Vane than to their other victims. Except for the fact that Hunter and Vane would likely use that pain as a motivator to kill whomever killed one or the other.
I think Flint’s got the right idea, especially regarding Hunter & Vane. Let them settle their disagreement first, then you can go after whichever one survives. If either. (I’m guessing neither will.) At a minimum they’ll weaken each other and makes things easier.
If you can be sure of killing either one at range, consider what the other will do. If you can be sure of killing both, absolutely do it. These two, fascinating and charming as they are, have killed so many people …
Vane is a undead and a killer machine, Hunter is almost invulnerable and very lethal too. It’s crazy to think it’s possible to kill them together!
Oh crikey! Doctor Faraday is about to fight the last war. That one’s over, doctor.
(As usual, the art is superb!)
I had to go back and re-read The Golden Son to make sense of Markus’ gesture in panel 4. The Republic Army had no uniform except for the braided red and white hatband, and Markus is now wearing it around his neck under his kerchief.
Maybe Lawrence is wearing one too.
Und Evy VUN a’Dis Cru stand T’Lose they-ah HATS.. Any Plan ver Ya Lose yur HAT iza BAD Plan!!
EEEEEEEE!!!!! My favourite Jaeger quote! I love when my fandom worlds collide!
They’re professional snipers. They’ll be fiiiine.
Riiight! Those two joy girls came out of it okay when they had two handguns snugged right up against his John Henry’s head, didn’t they? What could possibly go wrong?
If they kill John before she can, she’ll kill them all. If they kill Vane before John can, he’ll kill them all. If they kill both of them, they’ll try to kill each other for the reward. Any way it goes, they’re all dead soon, or almost all.
As perceptive as John and Vane are, they may take out the trash before they get down to their own business, too.
I sincerely hope that it isn’t as it seems, Romeo and Juliet with hoglegs; these two are tragically damaged , in pain, and deserve a bit of peace and healing, closure, resolution, and the choice of their own exits. If they choose to die, may it be a mutual sacramental rite, and bugger the bounty hunters with their own rifles!
A different angle on that: JHH is a monster who used a poker as a running iron and branded his wife, and who dealt death left and right as it suited him. Vane’s body is now a soulless zombie obsessed with revenge, if Prof. Amaranth Crawford was right. (Back at Broken Sky he detected the demon in her body and the body’s lack of a soul. Later on, at the mission, JHH destroyed the demon. What is still animating the body? Sorcery of some sort?)
JHH will be “taking the big leap” as he called it. Once he’s dead, with its purpose in existence gone, Vane’s mortal shell will probably collapse.
I’m not going to disagree he’s a monster, but you have some things wrong. Hunter branded Vane’s dead body to revive her into her current form. We saw him repeat the process with the horse, which he had to kill first (Whisky Bend 12) before branding and reviving it (Whisky Bend 14 – 15) into its undead/magical state. Hunter forced the remains of the demon back into Vane’s body in Via Dolorosa 33 – 34. We see it shatter, but then he gathers up all the remnants of flame in the area and puts them back into Vane’s body. After that she wakes up and is briefly herself before the flame returns to her eyes and she wants to kill Hunter. Professor Amaranth comments on her lack of a soul and her “guest” in Short End 15, not Broken Sky, which is after Via Dolorosa, confirming that the demon is back in her body.
My theory is that he’s done of all of this to set up an arcane rite of some kind that will ensure his and Vane’s souls will be together in an afterlife of some kind. He knew that binding a demon into her dead body would bind her soul into the body and cause her to hunt him down to try and kill him (since that appears to be the only way for the demon to free itself). That ensured she’d follow him all the way until the end when he had all the information (apparently gained from Professor Amaranth’s book in Broken Sky) and arrangements ready.
Ach so! That makes sense. Reanimated Vane has terrible flashbacks of the branding; that’s what caused her to shoot Jasper in the hand when she saw him in his smithy holding the piece of hot iron. I had assumed JHH had branded her when she was alive, which would have been extremely painful and traumatic.
In Short End 15, Amaranth is talking about how, back in Broken Sky, he could sense Hunter’s soul and Vane’s “guest” — but says that he “now” (in Short End 15) sensed her deficiency (presumably lack of a soul). Recall that in Broken Sky she was unable to see anything through the subspectral resonance dowser, presumably because she was undead.
It’s clear some portion of Vane’s soul is still within her undead body, since she remembers things that happened between her and Hunter, and at times acts like the old, normal Vane. (Most notably in Via Dolorosa 34, but there have been other instances. For example Redridge Express 14 – 16 when her curiosity about the dowser overrode the demon. Her eyes have clearly lost their fire in the final panel on page 15.)
Dying probably damaged her soul severely, which is probably the deficiency Professor Amaranth was referring to, but whatever’s left of it’s still in there. The demon that’s the main driving force in her chasing Hunter is bringing whatever’s left of her soul along for the ride and I think that’s what Hunter wanted to happen.
My take is more pedestrian … Hunter wanted to keep Vane alive (quite against her will) and has become a serial killer (and an adulterer to her whilst she was on her deathbed) in order to make it so.
That’s demonically touching. The worst evils are possible because they are combined with the best virtues … but that doesn’t make those evils LESS evil. Attila’s, Genghis’, and Hitler’s undoubted personal courage, for example …
That said, I await correction.
I think Hunter’s and Vane’s actions mirror each other: Vane killed who knows how many people perfecting the vertebrae transplant surgery to fix Hunter’s spine. Hunter was probably luring in prostitutes to test Vane’s attempted cures for Violet Fever, leading to their deaths.
Both of them did horrible things to try and help the other, but neither bothered to explain what and why they were doing those things to the other, causing a lot of pain.
Very perceptive … though I care less about the pain to Hunter and Vane than to their other victims.
Except for the fact that Hunter and Vane would likely use that pain as a motivator to kill whomever killed one or the other.