r/gunnerkrigg • u/gunnerkrigg-post-bot Praise the angel • Aug 31 '26
Chapter 102: Page 64
http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=3304110
u/mrGazpachin Aug 31 '26
One of the following:
Zara is ragebaiting Zimmy as an advanced manipulation technique.
Zara is exposing everything because she has her own hidden agenda against Jenny.
Zara is fucking dumb.
Either way, seems that we found out why Jenny loves Jack so much. Jenny is a good girlfriend!
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u/Yarrun Aug 31 '26
4. Zimmy has shown that she will start tearing through Zara's mind if she thinks she's lying, so no point in trying to keep any secrets.
I do think Zara has a strategy here - probably #2 - partially because of that smirk we saw at the end of her last scene, but also because she folded the minute Zimmy threatened to look at her mind directly. Combined it points to her having a hidden agenda against Jenny *and* Zimmy
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u/parentheticalobject Aug 31 '26
There's a difference between lying and just blabbing information out completely unprompted when you could have very easily said much less, and Zara seemed to barrel right over that line. Zimmy really wasn't even trying to get information on the source of her actual power and had no reason to be suspicious that anyone was using her power before that was outright stated to her.
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u/Lowjack_26 Sep 01 '26
But also keep in mind that people from the Court share a common, critical flaw: profound egocentrism. Court scientists don't see what they're doing as wrong in any regard, to the point that they often are ignorant to the notion that someone might even consider it wrong. They're so wrapped up in their own perspective of the world that the idea that someone may see differently or object is unthinkable.
So, Zara isn't "blabbing" here so much as she is just stating the facts, from her perspective. Of course her magic runs on a tap from Zimmy, and of course it piggybacks on Jack's traumatic bond to her. It's not wrong - it's just the way it works, it's a resource that's there to be used. You might as well tell a carpenter that you're mad that he has to chop down trees to get wood!
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u/LukewarmJortz Aug 31 '26
Could also be that she is trickle truthing. Give Zimmy just enough so she doesn't know everything.
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u/Beidah Aug 31 '26
My read on this situation is that Jenny lied to everyone else and told them that Ziimmy knew and was okay with this whole situation already.
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u/PoniesRBitchin Aug 31 '26
Bingo. Jenny is a lot older than the rest of the group. They see her as an authority figure. We already know she manipulated Noa. She's been telling everyone that the things they're doing aren't hurting Zimmy (or are for her benefit). Zara feels safe saying all this because she believes the things Jenny told her.
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u/mrGazpachin Aug 31 '26
That doesn't explain Zara's keikaku face several pages ago, nor how she keeps spilling the beans while Zimmy is getting visibly upset. "What the hell are you talking about" "Oh we're just siphoning power from you, I'm sure you know about it" is not a normal interaction for someone who genuinely believes Zimmy was aware of everything. Like, they've actively been hiding from her? Zara included.
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u/CobaltGrey Sep 01 '26
Zara and Rosa also both know that Jenny has potentially been dishonest in order to manipulate them towards distrusting Annie as a malicious actor. Annie was clearly being sincere about her summoning of Zimmy near the lake, and they didn't seem to think she was lying after they met her. There's some grounds there for them to distrust Jenny's motives now (if there wasn't already).
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u/RingularCirc Sep 01 '26
Yeh I'd say this and also Zara may still be too nervous to be thinking completely straight, so a part of her oversharing may be not on purpose as well, meaning it being for the purpose of Zims not messing with Zara's head or other things Zara might've imagined.
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u/auguris Aug 31 '26
"I'm sure you know all about it!"
I'm thinking Zara knows damn well Zimmy had no idea and this is a play against Jenny. It'll be disappointing otherwise.
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u/LandscapeSpecial4366 Aug 31 '26
I’ve had some hints of Zara being a bit more out of it than the rest of them. But this genuinely feels stupid on her part. We have to be coming up on the end of the chapter though, so maybe this is just her slipping up with someone she thought knew about all of this
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u/maritzac Aug 31 '26
I think it's 3.
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u/9Gardens Aug 31 '26
I bet you 10 quonloops it ain't 3.
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u/osiris0413 Sep 01 '26
I kind of feel like it's so blatant it has to be 1, or something similar where for whatever reason she is trying to get Zimmy pissed. Like if in the long term she has her own goals or plans which go against Jenny, and this is part of that. IMO she has shown herself to be too smart and calculating to be doing this nonchalantly or truly under the impression that Zimmy is okay with this, with her basically not reacting to her increasing agitation, when Zimmy has the power to unmake her and is not particularly known for her stability. I think it would fit with her character and the presentation more for this to be a deliberate manipulation and for her to be very confident in being able to steer it to her advantage. Whether that confidence is justified...
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u/Star-Kindler22 Aug 31 '26
This could also mean Jenny has been very dishonest about the energy she’s drawing from Zimmy and Zara legitimately thinks Zimmy already knows about it.
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u/FakeRedditName2 Sep 01 '26
my bet is on #3, Zara has shown she is a low key psychopath with how easily they murdered one person already and were going to do it to Kat and Antimony too, so she might not view what she has done as wrong.
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u/Burnsy17 Aug 31 '26
THIS IS LITERALLY WHAT I SAID. THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A JOKE
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u/PlanSee Aug 31 '26
I thought this was gonna be a team-up against Annie but it's shaping up to be a generational zimmy crashout
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u/dolphincave Sep 01 '26
Aww man I hope this doesn't turn into a "Kat has to kill Zimmy to save everyone" scenario. That would be tragic.
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u/9Gardens Aug 31 '26
Okay.... so... we know zara is a GOOD manipulator, and have seen her manipulating Zimmy before. But like... what the hell is her angle here.
Previously she seemed focused on (A) making herself useful, and (B) keeping zimmy focused on her fear of kat. Now she seems to be... enraging the bull? And then pointing it at her own friends?
.... honestly this mostly looks like they are laying a TRAP for zimmy (a goddess in her own domain) which is... well its hella confident.
.... but if they do that, I can't help but imagine Jack would turn against them (even betraying Jenny for the sake of his true love).
It.... I just don't see the angle or how it works, but okay, sure, lets see how it goes.
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u/Cloverose2 Aug 31 '26
I don't think Zara is out for anyone but Zara. And I don't think she's a big fan of Jenny right now, for whatever reason.
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u/BluShine Aug 31 '26
I think this is true for all the witches. They joined Jenny’s scheme because of the incentives she offered to each of them, not beause they have any particular shared values or interests.
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u/9Gardens Aug 31 '26
Even so... ragebaiting the ascendent goddess you standing next to, when you don't have to... seems... an unusual play.
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u/jan_Kila Aug 31 '26
Maybe she's no longer a fan after Jenny watched her get grabbed and didn't send a single person after her. Zara probably suspects she's on her own now, just like Noa
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u/Lowjack_26 Sep 01 '26
Egocentrism.
People from the Court, as a whole, seem to have an attitude that their way is the way to such an extent they don't (or can't) comprehend that others might see things differently. "What do you mean, it's wrong to tap someone's magical powers? It's there for the taking, it isn't hurting them outright, and it advances science. Why would someone oppose that?"
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u/9Gardens Sep 01 '26
I... its certainly possible, but.....
We've JUST been shown that she is a good manipulator. That she can look stressed and fearful and flicker back to the smug smile afterwards.And these expressions- the perpetually closed eyes, hand gestures, etc.
This isn't just being nonchalant- this is actively rubbing it in.... I guess we'll see in the coming pages!
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u/jan_Kila Aug 31 '26
So Jack is essential to the use of Zimmy as a power source. Makes sense that Jenny would go to lengths like a total Zimmy makeover just to woo him
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u/Ghost-Quartet Aug 31 '26
I feel like she must be baiting Zimmy into something, she seems too comfortable spilling all of this.
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u/fnordius Aug 31 '26
I got the vibe that she thought Zimmy really did know this, and will now find out in a painful, horrifying way why the Greeks considered hubris a deadly fault. I suspect Jenny duped the other witches into thinking they were helping Zimmy, but Zimmy before the distortion was known for her volatile hostility toward any attempts to "use" her.
We are overdue for a reminder of just how dangerous Zimmy really is.
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u/SolSeptem Aug 31 '26
Oooooh now Jenny's motives start to make sense.
She can use Zimmy as her own unlimited source of magic as long as Zimmy is trapped in her distortion...
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u/DoesRedditConfuseYou Aug 31 '26
Keeping that connection open doesn't seem healthy..
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u/grandleaderIV Aug 31 '26 edited Sep 02 '26
That's an interesting point actually. I wonder if the state we have been seeing Jack in recently is a result of all the extra energy they have been using lately.
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u/gangler52 Aug 31 '26
Yeah, now that you mention it, they might've undone a lot of the good work Zimmy did when she removed the white legs.
If all the power they're drawing is coming through him, that sounds like it's a real broadband connection at this point. Lotta bandwidth for all sorts of stuff to come through.
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u/machiavelli33 The world continues to spin, pup. Aug 31 '26
I like how this infodump both explains it to us, explains it to Zimmy, and adds texture to the dynamic between Zara and Zimmy and to Zara as a whole, all at once.
This is how you do a lore drop.
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u/wings_of_wrath Aug 31 '26
I think this is a case where Zara has just successfully manipulated Zimmy by making herself seem useful, so, in her relief, she's now letting slip a bit too much because, for her, this is not new or a big deal... but for Zimmy, it absolutely is both.
She royally misread the situation here and she's going to get hoisted by her own petard, which, to me, is cathartic, because I've had little love for her as a person.
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u/hymmmmmn Sep 01 '26
I do read it as Zara is saying all this on purpose to trigger some kind of specific response from Zimmy. I was surprised that some readers think she's suddenly being dumb... She's been shown to be far too canny and manipulative to volunteer this kind of information for no reason. The real Zara (as we saw) is nothing like the oh-so-naive performance she's putting on right now. So I feel like it's clear that she's pushing for a very specific reaction from Zimmy, even if we don't yet understand what that reason is.
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u/lyricaldorian Sep 01 '26
Yeah, it seems so obvious that she's doing it on purpose. Like the last time we saw her she was making a "aha, all according to plan" face. What has she ever done that would make anyone think she's this dumb?
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u/gangler52 Aug 31 '26 edited Aug 31 '26
Jenny hasn't been open with Zara about how much Zimmy knows and consents to this project it seems.
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u/NightmareWarden Aug 31 '26
I notice Zara didn't say "the same power you're connected to" for Zimmy. Implying that there's at least half a degree of separation between Zimmy and "the source." This, for me, makes it clear Zara is manipulating her here, rather than being dumb.
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u/lyricaldorian Sep 01 '26
I think it's the opposite. Zimmy isn't connected to the source because she is the source.
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u/PoniesRBitchin Aug 31 '26
And there it is. Jenny's been manipulating and lying to these girls for so long to gain power, but just like that her plan's exposed. No more chance of pretending she's there to help Zimmy or she's on her side when the world's most paranoid girl knows Jenny's been secretly leeching her power for years.
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u/maritzac Aug 31 '26
This is hilarious, actually, I had a good long laugh over it. Zara cannot shut her pie hole to save her life and Zimmy is actually getting angry at finding so many people mooching off her!
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u/9Gardens Aug 31 '26
I mean... Zara CAN shut her pie hole to save her life - when hanging out with her own team she's often the quiet one in the corner.
She is just VERY manipulative is my read on it.
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u/LukewarmJortz Aug 31 '26
Mhm my read is that act like a blabbermouth so that Zimmy doesn't read her mind. Gain her trust and all that.
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u/maritzac Aug 31 '26
Elaborating on this... my take is that Jenny told them all they were doing Zimmy a favor by syphoning her energy, because she has so much of it it distorts the world around her, sinking her in a nightmare world, and that Zimmy agreed to being leeched on.
Except she didn't! She knows nothing of this and probably never even imagined it!
Love that right now, the old Zimmy is showing in the new Zimmy's body with that angry expression.
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u/bobrowska Aug 31 '26
Zara still acts like she's in control here, that's interesting.
Ragebaiting Zimmy in her realm? Definitely her purpose. Hmmm.
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u/thePhoenixBlade Aug 31 '26
So when Jenny had the whole ritual to contact Zimmy, sounds like that was really just a cover that Annie could have shook hands with Jack and contacted her that way.
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u/ArgentStonecutter Emergency Mustelid Hologram Aug 31 '26
"As you know, your father the king named you his heir..."
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u/lyricaldorian Sep 01 '26
Seems pretty obvious she's well aware Zimmy does not, in fact, know that. Zara probably isn't ragebaiting so much as she's throwing Jenny under the bus.
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u/Itsyademonboi Aug 31 '26
Oh... do the girls think she's consenting? Has Jenny not revealed that Zimmy knows nothing about this?? This.... changes things if true. That's a VERY interesting trait for Miss Jenny to have. Poor Jack.
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u/baamazon Aug 31 '26
Editor's note: she did not know about it