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.
In today’s edition of Study Hall, Crit and I tackle the 14th issue, chronicalling the continued adventures of our heroes in their new arc, “P.E.” This time, we focus on Zoe, Hunter and Jun’s side of the Woodrun, as things go from bad to worse. We also meet a brand new and totally amazing new character, one who you will absolutely love and want to read more of.
So join Crit and I after the cut as we discuss the issue, its 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 and be on the lookout for Tim’s upcoming comic debut, Enormous! Many thanks to Tim for being fantastically awesome and providing it to us.
Previous issues: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13
Previous audio podcasts: second arc interviews, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, second arc wrap-up
Matthew Meylikhov: HELLO, and welcome to another fantastic edition of MGA Study Hall, starring myself and Mr. Crit!
Crit Obara: That’s me!
MM: How are you doing on this fine evening?
CO: I’ve been studying for a Spanish quiz all night, and will be going right back to studying after this… so right now, I’m good!
MM: Your evening is just one huge study hall.
CO: Indeed, except I like this study hall!
MM: As you should, Mr. Crit. As. You. Should. Well then, without further ado, let us dive right in!
CO: Splash!
MM: We open in Massachusetts, 1693. Something rather famous was occurring during this time, Crit. Are you aware of what that might be?
CO: The Salem witch trials ended that year.
MM: Yes indeed. Although they weren’t that long to begin with, as the trials began in 1962. Do you know what the basis for these trials was?
CO: People were accused of witchcraft. This included men! I learned that while looking it up.
MM: Very true, sir. The trials were born out of the concept that there was “bad” magic, which both men and women were capable of. Before, everyone was superstitious, so the general thought process was “whatever, magic is here, there and everywhere.” For example, if you are having bad crops that year, you can blame witchcraft and everyone will believe you. But once people started believing in a form of evil magic, then came the idea that there were people practicing this evil magic. Hence, witch trials. So men and women were put on trial and, in many cases, were tortured into confession. Can you perhaps name a form of relevant torture for us, Crit?
CO: Being forced to watch Whitney?
MM: That is a form of torture, sure, but not entirely relevant. Perhaps something more Morning Glories related?
CO: Are you referring to them almost being drowned in a classroom?
MM: No, I’m referring to the second page of issue #14
CO: Ah! Like, maybe putting rocks on someone’s chest!
MM: That’s the one! This is referred to as crushing, or (more eloquently, in French), peine forte et dure – “hard and foceful punishment.” This was used by the law as a way to torture defendant’s who refused to plead guilty for something, and was done by placing heavier and heavier stones upon the person until they either confessed or… died.
CO: I’d confess pretty quickly.
MM: That was the hope! So as we open in Massachusetts, 1963, during the final days of the Salem witch trials, we see a man (who suspiciously looks a bit like Danny McBride) questioning a woman named Mary as she watches a man tortured with peine forte et dure. Friendly stuff!
CO: Heartwarming! He does kinda look like Danny McBride, now that you mention it…
MM: I can confirm that that is on purpose, as well!
CO: And then we’re back at school, and Ms. Hodge is literally running into the depths of the school to meet Daramount and Gribbs.
MM: And ignoring Will. Poor Will.
CO: She Will not be talking to him now.
MM: HA! This is another example of characters going down in the school, I should note. Still haven’t seen anyone go UP stairs, to my knowledge, but lots of going down.
CO: Good point. I enjoy the contempt in her greeting to Gribbs. The look on her face, the dripping speech bubble, great stuff.
MM: Yeah, there is something very heated there. It’s easy to guess why. They maybe had a relationship at some point, or perhaps Gribbs has done something to her in the past. Given his history, I would surmount that Gribbs probably did something awful to her.
CO: I’d believe that.
MM: So they’re having some kind of planning session for the upcoming Woodrun. This is something Daramount and Gribbs have been working on for some time now, but with Lara just returning she has to be caught up to speed. Daramount notes that Woodrun has “worked wonders before,” but Lara makes a catty remark about how Woodrun has caused kids to end up “in padded rooms downstairs.”
CO: Two sisters with very different ideas, and certainly differing opinions about Woodrun. There were some real rich lines here. Ms. Hodge says, “he put the wrong daughter in charge.”
MM: Yes, I liked that one, because four kids died on Daramount’s watch!
CO: She points out that she wasn’t around when things went to Hell. However, Daramount comes back with “where exactly were you?” and Hodge just hangs her head. The scenes with them are so charged.
MM: That was an interesting line. I think you and I had sort of guessed loosely before that when Hodge was away, she was on some kind of “vacation.” But we truthfully don’t know where she was. It seems likely she could have been off planning things with Abraham, perhaps, or something along those lines. It’s also important to note that she was referred to as the “prodigal daughter”, which is the obvious reference to the parable Jesus tells of the son who leaves his father, wastes his fortune, and ends up coming home. Maybe Lara and Georgina were each given options by their father (the Headmaster) involving wealth, and Lara ran off with hers?
CO: Thinking in terms of that parable, that makes a lot of sense. Now she’s home and somewhat ashamed of it all.
MM: It’s possible, sure. Although she does seem to care about the student body as well, so it’s possible she left on the initial “vacation” excuse and at some point lost “her fortune”?
CO: Yeah, I can see that.
MM: So, the reason that the staff is having Woodrun: “We have a preadtor in our midst.”
CO: Yup. Yikes.
MM: And who is that predator? Well, apparently, it’s Zoe!
CO: Oh, Zoe… Then we see a scene that looks very familiar, with one added twist. Zoe finds a photo of her “friend” Amanda in her locker, that she crumples and throws onto the floor.
Continued belowMM: In loving memory, as well. Amanda, as fans may remember, was the girl Zoe murdered back in issue #7. Although, as Crit and I theorized, that might not have been entirely Zoe. Hodge has referred to Zoe as “not a killer”, despite all evidence pointing to the contrary.
CO: Right. I trust Hodge on this one. She certainly has more info than we do.
MM: Issue #7 visually is also fairly meticulously planned out, and I still subscribe to the belief that since we never see Zoe’s face outside of that one scene, there’s more to that scene than meets the eye. I do love that we get right back to that sibling rivalry though, with Hodge referring to Zoe as “not a killer” and Daramount referring to Zoe as “a predator in our midst.”
CO: They just can’t agree on anything!
MM: So Zoe gets yelled at by Hunter as we saw from the last issue, and now we see that Zoe goes off to the bathroom to be alone, and while there she overhears two girls saying some very rude things about her.
CO: That’s pretty awkward, no? Especially when she got up and ran off and was spotted by the girls. The girls are worried that she might come after more of them.
MM: Well, she is supposedly a murderer. I wouldn’t want to be overheard by a murderer while smack talking that murderer. Although, one line I really like in this scene: “Maybe it was –” “Don’t even say it. They might have a mic in here.” Who else could it have been?
CO: I’m not sure. You have any guesses?
MM: A tiny one. We know that Zoe is somehow connected to “David,” the mysterious ghost-like apparition who haunts the school. Is it possible he could’ve done it? Or, given their mysterious connection, that he perhaps possessed her?
CO: Hmm. I’m open to that idea.
MM: I like that other students are at least cognizant of the weird things going on at the school. That’s one of the things we’ve commented on before, how no one seems to acknowledge that the school is weird except for our main cast. This is evidence otherwise.
CO: Definitely, in a big way.
MM: So Zoe goes to talk to Miss Hodge, assumedly to talk about her hurt feelings a bit, and finds her office empty. With her office empty, she happens to glance upon a photo on Hodge’s desk, and she doesn’t seem happy about what she sees. What do you suppose was in that picture?
CO: I have this in my notes: “Isn’t this the same picture that Hodge picked up in issue #12 and looked strangely at?”
MM: Seems right to me. And back when we discussed that issue, we weren’t sure who it was. But now we know whoever it is, they mean something to both Hodge and Zoe. So… David?
CO: That is entirely possible.
MM: I’d say Hodge looked longingly at it, Zoe seems disturbed. Given that we also theorized that Hodge lost someone important to her (which might be Gribbs’ fault), is it possible…. and forgive me if I have gone too far off the reservation here, but maybe David is Hodge’s son?
CO: Hmmm. I’m not going to say no way, but that’d be pretty out there. Which means it would fit in very well here. Therefore, maybe.
MM: I mean, lineage and relations are pretty important and all over the place in Morning Glories. David was going to wind up being someone’s son at some point!
CO: Could be!
MM: I would also venture a guess that maybe – and this is really out there – but perhaps, if we stay along the lines of it being a family portrait and Hodge now having a son, what if it was a picture of Jason, the boy Gribbs murdered back in issue #5? That would certainly give Hodge reason to have disdain for Gribbs, as we saw earlier, and could work somewhat based on the earlier dialogue.
Continued belowCO: I don’t know. That sounds a bit out there.
MM: Yeah, probably. David makes more sense, and even that doesn’t make that much sense.
CO: And then begins Woodrun!
MM: We quickly flashback to 1693 for more of Danny McBride and Mary for a quick page, in which Mary relents to the torture and agrees to answer questions. Danny only has one question though: “What did you see when your eyes were opened?”
CO: Sounds familiar!
MM: So what do you think the connection between the Puritans of 1693 and the school?
CO: Once I looked up the date and saw the witch trial connection, it made me think of Woodrun in a new context, as in a witch hunt. Someone among them is a monster, time to find out who. And somehow, this game is going to do that. Not sure how, but that’s my thought.
MM: It is some sort of scavenger hunt. Perhaps the goal is to find the “witch” and maybe do something about it? Kind of like The Most Dangerous Game, which we talked about last Study Hall?
CO: Ah, yes. I remember that now.
MM: That would be an interesting twist, so to say. If all of this was being done to find Zoe and get rid of her. Or perhaps, to find the beast inside of Zoe and get rid of it? And perhaps make a show of it, for all the kids to see.
CO: That might be part of it too. The ceremonial aspect.
MM: That definitely seems right. I suppose that we could also note that, on some base level, the Puritans were killing witches for a better future.
CO: If Danny McPuritan had said “this is for a better future,” would it have been cheesy or awesome?
MM: Awesome.
CO: Okay, good.
MM: I was waiting for it, personally. So, we know that the influence of the school stretches across time, so maybe the folks who landed at Plymouth rock started the school’s secret society or something.
CO: We’ve seen lots of connections to the past before, so some kind of old secret society founding the school makes lots of sense. And for the record, Plymouth Rock is the most boring thing ever. If anyone is thinking of coming to Massachusetts to see it, go do anything else and it will be more satisfying than seeing the Rock.
MM: Ain’t that the truth. So we return back to our regular time period and find Zoe approaching Hunter, and despite their altercation this morning, she seems to get her mojo back and puts her bitch face on, essentially casually threatening Hunter for being rude to her that morning.
CO: She gets her epic bitch face on.
MM: She wants him to do all her work for her, and despite threats of violence he seems fairly resistant. She might have pushed him further too, if she wasn’t interrupted by a VERY, VERY HANDSOME AND TOTALLY AWESOME NEW CHARACTER.
CO: I was so turned on when he showed up. MEOW.
MM: What a great new character. He is so awesome looking and so cool. I hope he gets a major recurring role. I bet all sorts of cool things could be done with this handsome bearded chap. Although, he doesn’t have a name. He has AMAZING elbow patches on his jacket that I can only assume he got from the Howard Moon Collection, but no name! What should we call him?
CO: Who needs a name when you have ELBOW PATCHES.
MM: Let’s call him Mr. Meylikhov, then. Just for shits and giggles.
CO: Oh, okay. Fine!
MM: I mean, he and I do share some similar features. His grand beard. Those awesome elbow pads. I bet he could save the day, if he wanted to.
CO: I’d be his friend.
MM: So Mr. Meylikhov here, in his infinite wisdom (as the smartest and coolest character ever), puts Zoe and Hunter and Jun on the same team for Woodrun. How nice of him. And now, Zoe and Hunter get to be friends! Everyone wins!
Continued belowCO: YEAH! So it’s off to the woods!
MM: So here’s the weird part. Zoe starts to get a bit crazy. She seems really intent on winning Woodrun. Her eyes full of fire, she starts screaming at Hunter that they need to win “her stuff.” That’s a bit … insane, isn’t it?
CO: Yeah. That’s real nuts.
MM: But Woodrun is a trap for her, is it not? So maybe, her assuming the prize are “her” things is somewhat appropriate.
CO: Her quote makes me wonder if she knows that this is a trap for her. And if she does know, does she also know a way to beat the system? Is that too crazy?
MM: Perhaps. I’m willing to subscribe to both her knowing and attempting to subvert the system, as well as her being completely unknowing and walking into a trap.
CO: I can see both as well.
MM: As the kids head out into the woods, we go back to 1693. Mr. McBride asks what she saw.
CO: She says there were many children, and devils just like him.
MM: The line “devils just like you” was also timed to show Daramount. Nudge nudge, wink wink.
CO: The devils sent the children into a forest full of “the ghosts of your lies.” They played a game to see who could tell the truth from the deceptions, then it all went dark. And right on cue, the forest around Zoe and company goes dark. Ruh roh.
MM: I have two notes about this scene. The first note is “a forest full of the ghosts of your lies” and “who could tell the truth from the deceptions.” This, to me, seems to indicate that whatever the grand prize of Woodrun is? It’s not really… well, real. Whatever they’re supposed to win, they can’t actually physically win it. The second note is, all these comments Mary is making is in regards to the question, “What did you see when your eyes were opened.” There are two things we can somewhat extrapolate from this, given the situation. 1) The last time we saw this question asked and answered, it was being asked to Jade, and we learned that her answer to the question came from somehow being transported to the future to meet herself. So, is it possible Mary is somewhere around here, hiding in plain sight? And 2) … does this make Jade a witch?
CO: 1, I like that a lot. 2, …Maybe it does. If not a witch then something strange and supernatural that would not be tolerated in that time.
MM: Something magical, to say the least. So the woods go dark. Why do you suppose they go dark?
CO: The kids mention an eclipse, but I don’t think that’s it. Based on the reaction from the staff, I’m not sure it was supposed to happen.
MM: Do you think it is at all related to what Hodge and Casey did?
CO: I think Hodge might have something to do with it, because she’s nowhere to be found and Daramount immediately is calling for her to be found. Interestingly enough, Hodge is notably not in that frame with Daramount with the line about the devils.
MM: No, she most certainly is not.
CO: So somewhere between the Woodrun planning meeting and the start of Woodrun, she departs from Daramount/Gribbs. Here’s something puzzling on the last page. Gribbs is yelling at Daramount and it’s light out. The kids are then shown in the dark and the rain.
MM: Daramount lost the kids!
CO: But where are they!?
MM: I have no idea. But as much as Gribbs and Daramount do a lot of planning together, it seems she really screwed up this time, because now Gribbs wants to take her to see the Headmaster.
Continued belowCO: It’s like the Island from LOSTflashing through time, only some people skip through time while others stay.
MM: Yeah, that’s a good analogy. Also of note, when Gribbs approaches Daramount, there is a painting in the background. That painting is “Charon Carries Souls Across the River Styx” by Alexander Litovechenko.
CO: Wow, good stuff. Any significance?
MM: Well, outside of the obvious, I’m not entirely sure. Charon is the ferryman to the land of the dead from Greek mythology, and was referenced in Dante’s inferno. In the last issue, we had “Lucifer, King of Hell” by Gustave Dore, which was painted based on Dante’s Inferno as well. This is the second reference to Hell hidden in the background of this arc, though, and that does seem somewhat significant. I also want to throw out, and I don’t know if you saw this, but Pamela was in Woodrun.
CO: Ugh, Pamela!
MM: She was in the same page it started raining, in the first panel with two very buff dudes.
CO: I see.
MM: So, as we leave this issue, what do we have? Casey and Hodge are still missing, somewhere lost in the past. Ike and Jade are nowhere to be seen. Zoe, Hunter and Jun are stuck in the dark in the rain, trying to find “her” stuff, and they’re also in some form of displaced reality. And Daramount and Gribbs are panicking, because the children are gone.
CO: Indeed. Once again, it got crazier. Once again, it’s still damn good.
MM: Any last theories to depart on us about the ending? Or things we may have missed from your notes?
CO: I just hope we continue on this next issue. I want to know where/when they are and why they’re there.
My notes are all covered, and my dinner is ready, so I’m good if you’re good!
MM: I’m all set!
CO: Booyeah! Until next time!
