extended author's notes for "there never was an apple that wasn't worth the trouble"

[grassangel]

The particular references I tried to make are:

Seeds are a symbol of new life. Apple seeds in particular are interesting, as each seed in an apple would produce a radically different tasting apple if planted and allowed to fruit without grafting.

Asgardian apple seeds aren't poisonous at all, in contrast to Earth apple seeds. While there isn't enough cyanide in an apple's worth of seeds to poison a person, prolonged exposure isn't exactly healthy. It's more out of habit that Jane goes to dispose of the seed in the first slice, and apple seeds aren't terribly nice to accidentally bite down on either.

Contrast and interaction with Christian and Ancient Greek mythologies. Eve and the fruit of knowledge, Persephone and the pomegranate.
Both Even and Persephone, in most traditional renderings of their tales, were deceived into eating their fruit or at least that eating it would bring no harm.
Jane however is fully aware of what eating Iðunn's apples will do to her and what she does next is entirely up to her. L
There's also more fruit of knowledge parallels in that, yes, Jane will able to study the universe for a couple thousand more years, as well as possibly learning how to use magic.