MGA Study Hall: Issue #10

Hello and welcome back to Morning Glory Academy Study Hall! In this column, MC contributor (and TV Overmind writer/FuckYeahLost’s head honcho) Crit Obara and I sit down and analyze the latest issue of Morning Glories. Now we’re back for issue #10 – the Jade issue! We have hyped the HECK out of this particular installment, so get ready: this is a bumpy ride.

We also have a bit of EXCLUSIVE CONTENT to this installment, featuring an easter egg hand delivered to us by Morning Glories co-creator Joe Eisma!

So join Crit and I after the cut as we discuss the issue, it’s story and possible hidden secrets that we may or may not be picking up on. We should also note: this discussion contains massive spoilers for the issue. Colossal. Ginormous, even. The issue is out today, so make sure to read it first before you read our thoughts. It helps to give the issue a few read throughs before coming to us, but consider this your warning about impending spoilers.

As always, our very lovely/supremely awesome column header was designed by the graphic designer for the actual book, Tim Daniel! For more of Tim’s work, please visit his site Hidden Robot. Many thanks to Tim for being fantastically awesome and providing it to us.

Previous issues: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9

Matthew Meylikhov: Hello, and welcome to Study Hall! We have hyped this one for some time now, and here we finally are – issue #10, the one separating the boys from the men. With me as always is Mr. Crit Obara. Say hi, Crit!

Crit Obara: Hi, Crit!

MM: This is easily one of the most difficult issues to analyze and I am nervous as to whether we can do it accurately, but let’s just get right into it. The strangeness begins right at page 1, with Jade wandering down the dream-like hallways of Morning Glory Academy. Behind her? “THE HOUR OF OUR RELEASE DRAWS NEAR.”

CO: Of course!

MM: Cue the re-appearance of Megan from issue #3, who tells Jade they’re going to be late for class and grabs her by the wrist. Make a note of this, please!

CO: Noted!

MM: In the background, magical morning glories start growing from the lockers. I know we’ve discussed the importance of the flower and it representing “love in vain” before, but I figure nows a good time to give you some more facts about the flower I found while doing some further research. I do not know if ANY of it is important, but it helps to give some possible ideas: morning glories are symbolic of a single day, as they bloom in the morning and die by the afternoon. The reason for this is based on an ancient Chinese fable about Chien Niu and Chih Neu.  (Everyone taking notes please note that this is the second mentioning of the Chinese since issue #6.) For your notes, here is the story of Chien Niu and Chih Neu: “According to Chinese lore, Chien Niu was a boy star who was entrusted to take care of water buffalo in the heavenly kingdom. A girl star named Chih Neu was put in charge of seamstress duties. They fell in love, and the romance caused them to neglect their duties. In anger, God forced the young lovers to be separated on both sides of the Silver River and allowed then to meet only once during the whole year.” In addition to that, the morning glories are known in China (of all places, right?) for their medicinal properties, with the seeds having a laxative effect. Large amounts of the seeds, however, can be hallucinogenic – which may or may not be a clue as to what we’re seeing right now. What do you think of all that, Critter?

CO: My thoughts on that are: a) Nice research. b) Why do so many stories involve young lovers who fall in love and then goof up their duties? It’s not that hard to be in love and still be a functioning member of society! And c) The fact that morning glories are symbolic of a short time and die so soon makes me think of what we may be seeing at the school: people are in charge, there are students, the students supplant those in charge and then the process keeps repeating.

MM: Right, exactly. All very good points. If we think of the ancient Sphinx riddle of “What walks on four legs in the morning,” etcetera, I don’t think that comparing the kids to flowers that bloom and die by the afternoon is really too odd. I will also add that the story of the morning glory, specifically in that it dies young, is a clue towards the rest of the issue and what is in store.

CO: Uh oh!

MM: Megan leads Jade to a hallways full of hooded men in robes, similar to “the ceremony” we saw in issue #2. Only one speaks: “So we created our own Gods.” This is immediately followed by Megan standing in front of a door that is looking outside to a post-apocalyptic world with piles of dead bodies. Thoughts?

CO: I feel like this is another dimension/reality or parallel universe. As for creating gods, do you think the first leaders of MGA were some kind of drones or clones?

MM: Clones came to mind, indeed. Ever since you initially mentioned clones, that thought has popped up a lot while reading. Kind of like how once you’re told to see something, you see it everywhere. I’m reminded of issue #3, when Jade finds all those rooms filled with kids. Call me crazy, but I assumed the pile of bodies was made up of the kids from those rooms.

CO: Discarded clones?

MM: Maybe! If they are “creating their own gods”, that could very well have something to do with creating clones. What kind of gods they are creating I don’t know, but it’s an element at least up for speculation. I can also assume in creating clones you’d probably mess up once or twice. Or a few dozen times.

CO: That sounds plausible, and explains the pileup outside.

MM: The pileup could also just be due to the clearly apocalyptic environment they’re in. But I like clones more. Also, in regards to your mentioning of a parallel universe, I just want to throw out there that if this is true, we could maybe compare this to the comic the Invisibles in which there are two realities that overlap, one that is wonderful and one that is demonic, with our reality being the intersection of the two realities. It’s possible that looking through this window pane shows us Morning Glories’ “bad reality,” which is possibly defined by Bell’s theorem and what we learned about the defining of non-local reality?

CO: That sounds like it could be right.

MM: I don’t know. All this science is beginning to confuse me, hahaha.

CO: Ok! So their next stop is a lab of some kind.

MM: Right. We see a post apocalyptic world through the window pane, but the door opens to a lab. Odd. On top of that, Jade doesn’t enter it as if it’s an odd place. She acts as if it is familiar.  Although the man that is apparently running it doesn’t seem to know her. He thanks Megan for bringing Jade and notes, “Jade, is it? That’s a funny one.” Why is it funny?

CO: Not sure! Though he looks like he should be working with hazardous chemicals, he simply asks her what’s wrong. Nothing she does is good enough. She can’t make anyone or herself happy. Is he a psychologist?

MM: My theory here, if we are to assume the clone thing, is that wherever this lab is is manufacturing clones, that he is one of the lead scientists, and that they just talk to the clones frequently to making sure they’re “ok” and don’t realize what they are. Need I remind you, in issue #2 Gribbs and Daramount had a dialogue similar to “Do you think she knows?” “That one? She doesn’t know anything.” (I may be quoting that wrong.)

CO: That’s very true. It sounds right, and if it’s not, it’s close. The sentiment is the same.

MM: He then presents Jade with …. her mother. Uh oh.

CO: Things just went from super weird to mega super weird.

MM: They get into a car as if it’s not a big deal, and the doctor tells Jade, “Make sure to tell Oliver Simon that he was right.”

CO: Why does he say to tell Oliver Simon that he was right? I don’t know who that is, but Simon Oliver is a comic writer! He wrote the Wildstorm series Gen13 and the Vertigo series The Exterminators and Hellblazer Presents: Chas – The Knowledge

MM: Given that Spencer is obviously a comic fan, I don’t think it’s implausible that it could be a tribute to him? However, in addition to that, Oliver Simon is a) part of the duo from the band Mixed Emotions, b) a producer/writer from Germany, or c) a character from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I don’t think any of those matter, though. So Jade and her mother are suddenly transported from a car inside the lab to outside in the apocalyptic wasteland. Crit, would you like me to reveal an EXCLUSIVE EASTER EGG for Multiversity/Study Hall, care of one Mr. Joe Eisma?

CO: I SURE WOULD!

MM: Page 7, Panel 1: Jade and her mom are driving in their car. The license plate reads LGN 31E. Normally Crit and I would probably Google for hours to figure it out, but I can tell you exactly what it is. This license plate is an easter egg placed by Joe Eisma in honor of his son Logan, who was born on August 31st. In the next panel, the inspection stickers say 2008, which was the year Logan was born.

CO: That is pretty awesome.

MM: Big thanks to Joe for giving us that! So Jade and her mom are driving off, and Jade is telling her mother about the school and some of the events of the first arc, and her mother responds … uh, well, she asks if Joshua asked her to the dance. Jade is confused, and her mom responds “Nonsense, you’re a very pretty girl.” It’s almost as if Jade’s mother’s dialogue is pre-recorded to a specific event in time. And considering the car then crashes into “something”, I’m going to go ahead and tell you: this is the death of Jade’s mother.

CO: It definitely felt very… not fake, but that it was something replaying itself.

MM: This is a bit of spoiling, but Jade actually confirms that this is an odd replay of her mother’s death. Later in the issue, I mean. I also took the ’08 inspection sticker to possibly put a date on Jade’s mother’s death, for what it’s worth.  However, given that we know that the car thing actually happened…. well, is it possible that the stuff in the lab is also all true? It’s almost as if Jade has a set of repressed memories that are playing in what I feel we can say NOW is a dream, as Jade wakes up on the next page screaming.

CO: Maybe the stuff in the lab was only semi-true… those are the questions from a psychiatrist, not a guy in a lab like that. Perhaps she reimagined it to look different?

MM: That’s possible. I’m still subscribing to the whole “Jade is a puppet” thing to an extent, so I wouldn’t be surprised if all that we just saw is real. I mean, when we have dreams – even vivid dreams – they’re not always accurate to reality, usually mixing and matching bits of our memories together. Megan is here, and so is the school and Jade’s mother. They clearly didn’t always exist in Jade’s life all at the same time (I assume).

CO: I would assume so too.

MM: But they can collide and be rewritten on the dreamscape for metaphorical representations.

CO: Right.

MM: So before we leave the dream world, do you have anything you’d like to add?

CO: I really just felt like what you said explains how I feel – our dreams mix and match things, some true and some fantastic, into one big, crazy dream. That’s what we just saw.

MM: Obviously it’s all important and from her memory – we just don’t know where in her memory she’s drawing from.

CO: Indeed.

MM: So Jade wakes up, screaming – much to Pamela’s delight.

CO: Damn you, Pamela.

MM: Guards show up, and we learn that this is the third time this has happened since the first arc. They threaten to take her, but Casey goads them on, mentioning the headmaster and smiling rather wickedly at them. Clearly she’s trying to make fun of them and their inability to act, but the scene still felt… just a bit odd.

CO: Casey’s behavior weirded me out.

MM: She’s kinda acting manipulative towards the guards, in a way that I would expect from Daramount.

CO: I would agree that her words are similar to Daramount here.

MM: I can’t back anything up outside of our discussion from issue #6 and there being a “Casey of every generation,” but it does seem more likely here, doesn’t it? Either way, Casey helps Jade fall back asleep, and we enter Jade’s second dream.

CO: After Pamela creeps the guards out by asking to go play with the needles. Weirdo!

MM: She is such a super creep. Jade “wakes up” where Issue #3 began in a cell, where we first saw the writing on the wall. She exits a door and comes face to face with a new and unknown character, who I have in my notes as “Mr. Suavey Von Suaversmark.” Although, I also add in my notes, this could be Oliver Simon. Maybe?

CO: Maybe… if somehow the doctor in the first dream knew that this dream was next?

MM: Given how weird this issue is and how weird the book is in general, it wouldn’t be too odd!

CO: True!

MM: Mr. Suave here, who is alive during the 1490’s we should add, begins asking Jade if she remembers a series of dates they went on. We have seen none of this, but Jade acknowledges remembering it. Then – here’s the kicker of the scene – he says: “Do you remember how we swore to never leave one another, no matter what?” And. “Do you remember how I cut you open?” If ever there was a hint at cloning, or “this has all happened before, this will all happen again,” this right here is that hint.

CO: The time period, the cutting remark… absolutely.

MM: I think it’s clear now that the Jade we now know is perhaps not the “real” or even “original” Jade, and that’s why she is “empty.” Maybe Jade isn’t her real name, and that’s why the doctor/scientist/psychologist found it funny earlier? I don’t think it’s too odd to believe that the Jade we now know is a clone.

CO: I don’t think so either. Maybe others too, but especially her.

CO: Yes.

MM: Pavlov worked with dogs, and would feed the dog and ring his bell simultaneously so that whenever he rang the bell, the dog would recognize that it was time for feeding and would salivate. Eventually the bell being rung would just result in the dog salivating on cue. While I’m not thinking that this man is trying to make Jade hungry, this form of classical conditioning went on to be used in many other ways, including for the use of hypnotic suggestions. I’m reminded of the show Fringe which you haven’t watched, so I will do my best not to add spoilers, but in the show one of the characters by the name of William Bell had hypnotises at an unclear time the main character of the show Olivia Dunham to have very specific reactions to the ringing of a metal bell. It seems to be likely that Jade – whoever she really is, whichever version of her this is – has some kind of post-hypnotic suggestion in her (or however you want to define that) which is caused by the ringing of a bell, an element of which might be memory distortion.

CO: Interesting. Do you think it’s possible that Mr. Suave is not at all who he appears, and actually some kind of doctor who had worked on/with her?

MM: Mr. Suave could be anyone, really. He could be Benjamin Gerhardt for all we know, the man who designed Morning Glory Academy. It’s highly possible that one element of MGA and the whole “this has all happened before” shenanigans is him trying to resurrect his love in some … really weird way. Maybe.

CO: Hmm, maybe!

MM: But I’m just wildly throwing ideas out in the dark.

CO: I’m just dancing in the dark!

MM: This issue is so incredibly mysterious that ANYTHING is possible. So Jade wakes up and is greeted by the angelic visage of our heroine Casey. Given that we’ve been told to pay attention to the POV shots closely, I’m going to go ahead and say that Casey looking all glorious and bright and halo-y is important (and, I’ll throw in that there is an alarm ringing in the background, which could be connected to the dream bell).

CO: Casey looks angelic, which I noticed. I didn’t catch the alarm, but that makes sense as we just saw him ringing a bell in her dream.

MM: I still think the bell in the dream really existed somewhere at some point in time, but there is a connection there between the dream and reality. Jade goes about her normal morning routine, and as she comes out of the shower we see Hunter talking to Casey and the two of them “breaking up” due to the weirdness of the school, and Jade doesn’t really approve of this.

CO: Yet she doesn’t say anything. She’s silent, and looks quite empty, possibly reinforcing the “empty inside” idea.

MM: I didn’t think of it that way, hahaha. I just thought of it as Jade giving Casey the “Girl, come on, you know you like that boy!” look.

CO: Perhaps! Even on the next page, Ike comes over to talk to her and she’s still just very blank.

MM: That’s a good note. Ike at the locker is a very good scene in general.

CO: Then, the thing you mentioned we should take note of earlier happens.

MM: Right. So Ike comes to talk to Jade at her locker. He makes a “Great Escape” reference (which is a film about allied POWs trying to escape from a Nazi camp, which feels like a good analog for Morning glories), and he calls Jade’s attitude “plathesque.”

CO: As in Sylvia.

MM: That’s a reference to Sylvia Plath, a poet and novelist from our state of Massachusetts who is notable not only for her talent but also her very dark and dreary writing, full of death and gloom and surreal imagery. This made me think that it’s possible Ike has read Jade’s journals, given that “someone” stole Jade’s journals back in issue #1. Why else would he make the comment, aside from her outward “emo” persona?

CO: Nice. I wasn’t thinking about her journals at all, but that sounds good, and plausible. He seems like he’d do that, too.

MM: He would definitely do it. He’s shady like that. He also adds to really odd lines: “The world really is a horrible place full of people out to hurt you.” And. “Congratulations on not dying. Again.”

CO: He should hook up with creepy Pamela.

MM: I think he has different hook up plans, actually. Those two lines seem kind of eerie, though. I kind of get the feeling that Ike knows more than he lets on. He’s definitely the character we’re SUPPOSED to hate, but I’ll be honest: I don’t trust Spencer to make it that easy. It can’t just be “Here is the bad guy, boo him.”

CO: No, the comic is pretty good about featuring complex characters. Ike just being a bad guy so early on in the story doesn’t make a lot of sense. It’s kind of like Ben Linus from LOST. He starts out as a villain, but he grows up to be more of a hero by the end.

MM: Exactly. Speaking of hook up plans, Casey comes to the rescue, telling Ike to shove off and threatening to beat him. Then she tells Jade, “Come on, Jade. We’re going to late for class,” and takes her hand. What did I say to note earlier, Crit?

CO: The hand-taking!

MM: In her dream, Megan grabs Jade by the wrist. In reality (as we define it, anyway), Casey takes her by the hand. Hmm.

CO: Is Megan a Casey-clone? We don’t know much about her at all, but she seems to have some leadership qualities about her, I’d say, though it may be a stretch.

MM: It’s a huge possibility, Mr. Crit. Either that, or maybe Megan is the past Casey in the same way Daramount is the “past Casey” and Julie Hayes is the “future Casey.”

CO: Could be! The class they head off to is an interesting one, to say the least. They’re learning about the hangman’s noose. Um, what?

MM: It is called such because of the Elizabethan Era, which is 1558 – 1603, so don’t try and find a connection to the 1490’s or even 1760 when the school was built as a monastery. There unfortunately isn’t one.

CO: It’s something they might find useful “when you get yourself in a jam,” says the teacher. Not IF. WHEN.

MM: The when thing reminds me of “what did you see when your eyes were opened.” WHEN your eyes were opened.

CO: Very strangely worded questions.

MM: Jade agrees with us, because she thinks she is dreaming

CO: The teacher needs a volunteer, and Jade steps right up, though Casey pleads with her not to do it.

MM: Casey gets held back by other students. It’s as if they know what is about to happen. While we think this is “real”, it really could be a dream.

CO: Jade says it’s what she’s supposed to do. She says she’s sorry, and thanks Casey. At this point, I’m not ready to say 100% what is “real” or a dream. I think what appears to be dreams are, but what we are perceiving as “real” may also be a dream.

MM: It’s possible. INCEPTION! Another theory I have is that Jade knows what she is supposed to do based on a post-hypnotic suggestion given to her that was triggered by the bell ringing we saw earlier. She says, like you noted, this is what she’s supposed to do – and if there is a trigger in her mind from a bell ringing, that could be why she does what she does.

CO: It’s like she was programmed to do this during her hypnosis… yeah, I could buy that.

MM: Casey, on the other hand, says “this is because of whatever they gave you,” referring to Jade’s time down at the nurse’s office.

CO: And then she steps off. And we get a full page of a morning glory. The morning glory dying, I believe.

MM: Yes. We see Jade’s feet twitching and she hangs herself, and once she stops twitching the background goes white and a glory floats by. Given what we said earlier about the symbolic nature of the flower (what with it dying young), this seems pretty indicative of her death through a flower metaphor. Of course, the severed flower is then picked up … by Ms. Ellsworth, the Jade of the – uh.. well, future, past, or alternate reality! And now our Jade is face to face with that Jade, who has been waiting for her.

CO: Now, should we believe that was a dream that led to this dream? That seemed real. This seems more of a dream.

MM: Crit, I will be honest. I just don’t know what to believe anymore. It is possible that we have been incepted. It is possible that Jade killed herself and launched herself through time. Right before she died, she says “For a better future.” It’s possible her death has brought her consciousness through time to her future. Of course, that doesn’t make sense because if she killed herself in the past she can’t be alive in the future!

CO: Paradox!

MM: It all depends on who Jade really is. I mean, this is Morning Glories, right? The story of the Morning Glory is of two people who fell in love and neglected their duties and were then only allowed to be together once a year. Jade could be a a person of the past who is constantly being reborn/cloned/whatever in order to be reunited with whoever Mr. Suave is. That might explain how she can be alive again after dying.

CO: Other Jade says “you couldn’t have just drowned yourself?” Ha! So Other Jade was sitting around in this dimension/reality/heaven/dream waiting for Jade to kill herself.

MM: Other Jade clearly knew she would be coming, and the drowning references issue 2 and once again makes me want to quote, “Do you think she knows?” “She doesn’t know anything.” It appears Daramount and Gribbs knew that Jade needed to die so she could meet Other-Jade, but what this means on the grand scale I’m not sure. I also think we need a clever name for Other-Jade. Like… Jother. Jode. Jauxde? I don’t know.

CO: Ha, I like Jother. There was a sweet cheap Chinese place called Jade 2 that I went to often when I lived in Lunenburg, but I don’t like that as a name for her.

MM: I don’t mind Jade 2! … OH, YOU KNOW WHAT? There are a lot of references to Chinese culture here! AND AND AND! Jade is actually symbolic in Chinese culture! OH. I FEEL A THEORY COMING ON, CRIT.

CO: LET IT OUT!

MM: If we are to look at Morning Glories as a comic on the whole (looking at the big picture), we need to take into our memory banks and save the story of Chien Niu and Chih Neu, two lovers who keep trying to be together! Without them we wouldn’t have the name “morning glories” at all!! So now we have “Jade” and “Mr. Suave,” who are characters trying to be together “no matter what”! We have a cloning lab where the lead scientist finds the name Jade to be funny. Why is it funny? Crit, in Chinese culture jade symbolizes beauty, nobility, perfection, constancy, power, and immortality!!!

CO: BOOM.

MM: So… Oh. Oh. Oh. Brain overload here. Is it possible that an element of Morning Glory Academy is just a selfish ploy between two lovers to be together throughout time? For a better future?

CO: Possible? Sure. I think anything is, really. But there’s certainly some evidence of that now.

MM: I am putting this on my “official theory watch” list.

CO: Put it on the board!

MM: Jade and Mr. Suave are Chien Niu and Chih Neu. Reincarnated throughout time. With some sort of additional goal that involves the Cylinder. …ooooh, my brain hurts now. That was like a sugar rush. OH. OH GOD. I HAVE ANOTHER THEORY. I think harnessing the power of the Cylinder might be the goal.

CO: AW YEAH.

MM: What if the Cylinder is whatever powers … well, whatever allows them to be reincarnated? And – are you ready for this?

CO: I … think so.

MM: What if Ike is Chien Niu.

CO: Why Ike?

MM: Ok, well. Jade and Jade 2 go out of the dwelling, which is some sort of house in a field somewhere, and Jade 2 asks Jade about the relationship status at MGA. They mention Hunter and Casey and Jade 2 laughs at their on/off nature. Then Jade 2 asks how Ike is doing, and Jade hates Ike. Jade 2 says “Hmm.” It seems to imply that Jade and Ike WILL have a relationship (which messes up the whole “dead” bit). So, if Jade is someone reincarnated/cloned throughout time to be with whoever Mr. Suave is, then it stands to reason that Mr. Suave needs to be reincarnated/cloned too, right?

CO: Oooooooo.

MM: So… he’s Ike.

CO: So they’re the two, but don’t know it yet. They have to find each other each time they are reincarnated!

MM: Ike is Chien Niu, the boy who was entrusted to take care of water buffalo in the heavenly kingdom, and Jade is Chih Neu, put in charge of seamstress duties. And somewhere out there is an angry God, keeping them apart. Maybe Abraham? Maybe the Headmaster? I don’t know.

CO: Daaaayum, as the kids say. Kids say that right? Okay.

MM: Kids say that. Crit, if any of this is true, I think Nick and Joe might hate us after this is published online. This is kind of an epic spoiler.

CO: This is true. We might be sent off to a crazy school where the teachers try to kill us…

MM: Or they might just cut out the middle man and come after us with Pam and her needle fetish.

CO: UGH NO. ANYONE BUT HER.

MM: She’s coming for you, Critty-Witty! Ok. Let’s try and finish the issue normally. Jade tells Jade 2 about her weird dreams (which Jade 2 refers to as “going somewhere,” not dreaming), and Jade mentions the weird lab, her mother and the car crash, and Mr. Suave. Jade 2 laughs and says that he was shit in bed, implying that Jade will meet him again (GEE, I WONDER WHY, RIGHT, CRIT? HAR HAR HAR!) Jade smiles, and Jade 2 encourages her to smile more.

CO: Also, here’s an interesting line that might change your idea.

MM: Yes?

CO: “It never ends with those two” – Jade 2, speaking of Casey and Hunter. I like your idea better, but that one line COULD hint that “it never ends” for them. As in, they’re those two.

MM: OH, that’s a good point! And Jade is “empty inside” after all. Jade could just be the person who helps bring them together? And if Casey dies in the fire that destroys the school, it’s possible that Julie Hayes is the new reincarnated Casey? And that also adds a tiny bit of creedance to my previous theory of Jade being a puppet that Casey then inhabits. And if we are to remember the “star” element of the Chinese fable then that explains Casey’s glow earlier in the issue ….Oh, now I’m confusing myself. Haha, let’s just move on for now.

CO: Right!

MM: Then we get the odd finale of the issue: the silver streaks in the sky (likely meteors?) begin to go crazy, and Jade 2 tells Jade to remember the streaks and how they’re getting close and that when she wakes up she needs to talk about it. She also mentions the name “Alexander,” who could be Mr. Suave’s real identity. As the silver streaks begin to fill up the screen, Jade 2 tells Jade to remember all of this “for a better future.” We’re then transported back to issue #3, with Jade waking up in Nurse Nine’s office and telling what she saw when her eyes were opened. While we have no idea what the silver streaks actually are, we now know the origin of Jade’s quote. So the question we have is: how much of everything we saw was just a dream? Did any of it just happen? Is Jade actually dead? And where, throughout all this, was Abraham? Why did Jade not meet him when everyone else does?

CO: I wish I knew. I feel like it was all in her head, but that doesn’t make it irrelevant. It is all very, very important.

MM: I think the next issue will be very indicative of what happened. If Jade is still alive in the next issue, then it will “confirm” that ALL of this was a dream. If she is not, then there is some weird soul-hopping time jumps occurring. This issue might explain why she’s really crying at the end/back in issue #3 when she wakes up: she now knows that she is going to die, and she is stuck in an infinite loop of life and death. That seems Plathesque, if nothing else does!

CO: Aww. Poor Jade.

MM: Either way, I’d say that as much as we may have just figured out a lot, I think we have inadvertently just confused ourselves and – hopefully – our readers.

CO: Yeah. I’m pretty drained from this one, especially since we also just did 6, which was another doozy.

MM: Tell me about it. I can’t even think right now. Where am I? When am I?

CO: It’s Sunday night. 6:42!

MM: Oh, good call! Ok, so to wrap-up: Jade is a puppet/clone who is maybe the reincarnated/cloned version of one half of an ancient Chinese fable (the other half being Ike), and Morning Glory Academy is the tool that allows her to do stay alive and be with him for some reason we do not yet quite understand. Either that, or she is an element that allows Casey and Hunter to reunite throughout time – and that is one of the mysteries of the school. Maybe.

CO: Maybe!

MM: Do you have any additional theories/speculations/madman ideas to throw out there?

CO: I think you knocked this one out of the park. I think we should leave it as that.

MM: I think I need to soak my brain in some ice.

CO: That sounds good. I was planning on taking a shower, I’m gonna make it a cold one.

MM: Well, enjoy your shower! That wraps up this month in Study Hall. We’ll be back for #11 and the Ike episode if Nick Spencer and Joe Eisma don’t take us out for maybe giving away one of the endings to Morning Glories (and I say “one of” because clearly there is so much left to figure out).

CO: I think that was our best Study Hall yet. Readers, what say you!?

MM: They better say yes.

CO: Or else Pamela will get THEM.

MM: MWAHAHA! LOOK OUT, READER-WEADERS!