“I can see your future, and so much more!” Maybe she can, maybe she can’t. Truthfully, we’ve never met her! The real her, anyway.
Madam Pygolampida is one of the many forms the shapeshifting ghost engine Proteus has taken over the years. While seeming infinitely versatile, a limit to Proteus’ mysterious powers is that he can’t take the form of someone or something he’s never seen. Sometimes you do need to see it to believe it! Then, you can do it. It might explain why he loves lurking in the background so much.
It does beg the question though, is Madam Pygolampida someone the infamous ghost viewed from afar, or knew personally at some point in time?
The answer is unclear. Skarloey and Rheneas remember very little from Proteus’ short-lived stay on the Skarloey Railway (a stay that quickly sealed his fate), and certainly don’t have any knowledge of where he came from. With that said, where did Proteus come from? How much do we know about the life he had before?
We do know that the fortune teller WAS Proteus all along, so what compelled him to ensure that the Thin Controller “narrowly” avoided being assassinated by Sir Frederick Aura’s hired gun so that he could spill bubble barrels onto the tracks, causing Thomas the Tank Engine to have a tarot card reading?
This would be one crazy hypothetical, except it’s not, because all of this actually happened. Regardless, Proteus’ moonlighting as this Madam Pygolampida certainly casts some mist and fog over the fine line between free will and destiny.
Trivia: Pygolampida is the Greek word for firefly.
Thomas and the Fortune Teller: