This is very very long. There are just too many great moments with jägers and I love them all too much. Most of it is under a readmore but if you open the readmore it will be jägers forever.

This was the moment I fell in love with jägers on my first readthrough. It’s awkward and funny and sweet. Gil’s being given a hard time by Klaus and it’s one of these monster soldiers that takes the time to reassure him. In, you know, a particularly monstery fashion.

Considering how tense poor Agatha has been it’s really nice to see her relax. And get fed! Maybe it’s some Heterodyne instinct or maybe she can just tell they like her, but she’s more at ease around these giant toothy constructs than around the students. And she’s not wrong to be.

I just laughed out loud finding this one. It’s so ridiculous and dramatic and actually really clever. Dimo uses some very precise wording to get the point across in a way only another jäger would understand.

I think everyone loves this one. Oggie, sweetheart. They’ve all been so lonely without a Heterodyne and detached from the pack. This is the first time they’ve really talked to Agatha and it breaks the ice for good. She wasn’t sure quite what to think of them before and they weren’t sure she’d accept them, but after this, after seeing how much she means to them, she loves all of them.

This one’s more a favourite Lars moment. The jäger approach to first aid has freaked him out, but he’s still helping to bandage Dimo.

Aw, no, sweeties, they look so sad about being split up. I like that it’s yes to looking after Agatha but they only say they’ll try to look after themselves.

The jägers aren’t the focus here, but I really like the way they’re positioned. It’s a dynamic way to show how much trouble Agatha’s party is in. They’re not just beleaguered and surrounded, Maxim is actively down but still trying to fight. Oggie’s had to move away from Agatha to cover Maxim and Dimo’s moved closer to her to compensate. It suits their personalities, too. Oggie is the quickest to notice a wounded comrade, Dimo is the most protective of Agatha and Maxim… well, whatever else you can say he tries really hard (to be fair Dimo gets wounded just as often).

I just like that this is one of those moments where you can really see the difference in the way they respond to things. Oggie completely accepts Bill and Barry are back. It doesn’t matter that it makes no sense, he can see them. Dimo immediately distrusts his eyes. He knows it can’t be real, so of course it isn’t, he just needs to see through the illusion. Maxim doesn’t know what to think, he knows it can’t be true but can’t figure it out the way Dimo can, so he’s just puzzled.

Maxim’s been my favourite jäger since he brought Lars’ body back. It’s not just that I’m glad someone did, or that it’s a sweet and oddly sombre moment from someone who’s mostly been a comic relief character. It’s that, given jäger reasoning and priorities, you might expect Maxim to have brought Lars back because Agatha cared about Lars. But, no, he never even tells Agatha he did it. He did it because he cared about Lars. The values and traditions he invokes to Abner are jägerish and, like most of his conversations with humans, it’s more than a little awkward, but he obviously cares.

I don’t know who this jäger is, but I love him. The jägers themselves have just seen a Heterodyne die and not been able to do anything about it even though they were all in Mechanicsburg. But this one’s trying to comfort Carson.

Luff und loyalty! The jäger manifesto. It’s a great moment, confirming the difference between the Old Heterodynes (evil as they were) and someone like Lucrezia.

I’m starting to feel like a lot of these moments are talking for people as action oriented as jägers. But then it’s the moments when they explain themselves that are often the most surprising. Oggie’s approaching things from a jäger perspective, but also with empathy and insight. He knows what it’s like to go through a big change all at once, he presumably had the support of other jägers when he did, and he considers that Agatha needs support from a friend as well.

I love Jorgi. Smart, contrary, volunteers to be left behind more than once, and is determined to mess with Tarvek to the end.

Wouldn’t we all like some jägers to do our shopping? (I’d like to imagine they fulfilled Faustus’ shopping list of people with the same enthusiasm six-hundred years ago.)

Awwwwwwwww. He’s so happy to see her.

Rerich’s such a badass. Now that we’ve met Andronicus I am far more impressed with Rerich nearly taking his hat. He’d probably consider this a good death but, damn, he deserved better than to be killed by Andronicus’ much less impressive descendant. I hope both his body and his hat were properly retrieved for burial.

Oh, Dimo. He followed her to Paris without asking because he was worried but still suggests she should send him away for the sake of public image. He blames himself for not being there for the Heterodyne Boys even though they ordered away jägers that were only concerned for them and genuinely curious about their heroics. And Agatha is the best. She would probably do more to save the world than she thinks (she has a track record of “I’m not a hero” and then rushing into danger) but she won’t abandon her own town to do it.

To end with we have our two most mysterious jägers. Exactly what Vole did and why is a mystery. Everything about Higgs is a mystery. But we get some insight into the Generals and also Higgs being oddly sweet. From the beginning of Vole being pulled out he’s oddly protective, saying regretfully that Vole will be a mess and reminding Gil that jägers used to be men. He acts like Vole’s banishment was somehow temporary – he did something stupid, but not unforgiveable – and he’s still a member of the pack if he wants to return.