The Magnus Protocol 13 - Futures

[@bowlerhatfilmsandreviews2778]

Funniest trope the Magnus verse has is a statement giver claiming they’re not a bad person and then proceed to regale us with the most evil and idiotic backstory we can conceive of

[@Rietto]

Bad people almost never think they're bad. Evil people always have 'good reasons' for why they do what they do.

[@Ruuehxbfiqkxn]

Like Jurgan Leitner. I think. I can’t remember anyone else

[@bowlerhatfilmsandreviews2778]

@@Ruuehxbfiqkxn The guy from episode 14 TMA Piecemeal. He opened up with "this is not a confession" and then proceeds to blabber about his desire to kill a guy

[@kehlcassidy9562]

​@@Ruuehxbfiqkxnthat rich lady who was an avatar for The End who thought her philanthropy justified her killing babies and shit.

[@lazygravy_brook]

Tbh, I don't rlly see Darrien as evil, just reeeeally lacking self-preservation instincts

[@twindrill2852]

How to deal with an angry user on your stocktrader app: 1. Patiently and understandably listen to their concerns 2. Unleash the bugs

[@cjshattered2293]

I guess that's one way to get rid of bugs

[@Yumeki-san]

Yes, go ahead and trauma dump to the autoresponder

[@rita6355]

Just like in homestuck

[@Yumeki-san]

​@@rita6355 How does homestuck keep finding me wherever I go?! xd 🕶!?

[@cecilkeith1951]

Well the auto responder did it's own "trauma dump" as a rebuttal

[@syntia13]

After some consideration I've decided that there must have been some compulsion spell on that autoresponder.

[@kehlcassidy9562]

We've all been there lol

[@helinedmightbehere]

sam is not beating the burnt out gifted kid allegations

[@FiendishAura438]

I feel like Alice definitely knows something everyone else doesn’t, with how much she’s pushing Sam to leave everything alone

[@theanna8472]

her brother was also tested by the Magnus Institute.

[@hartplastikkaktus]

Oh 100% she is blinding herself metaphorically and has survived until now

[@valeriyav2149]

@@theanna8472 her brother's name is Luke Dyer, the name on the list of gifted kids was Connor Dyer. either Alice has another brother or it was her name before the transition (since Alice is canonicaly trans). I think Alice herself was tested by the Magnus Institute.

[@bogslut]

@@theanna8472 her little brother's name is Luke. The kid that showed up in the records is named Connor (and is older than Sam by a year). It's more likely that Alice herself was tested as a kid and Connor was her deadname.

[@RadioJadeo]

I'm hoping she's secretly an avatar, if only because she'd be EVEN FUNNIER if she was Evil

[@marinterry3055]

WE ARE ALREADY GETTING THE PRIMORDIAL FORCES TALK AND ITS ONLY EPISODE 13

[@catnerdadrian7601]

Oh God it's episode 13!

[@amalaspina]

I mean they are only doing 3 seasons, got to get to the goods fast

[@thedistinguished5255]

the talk, magnus edition

[@CamilleChauTempsDesCerises]

​@amalaspina Still, Family business is only episode 111 of TMA haha

[@ApioFluorescente]

If we're getting this at ep 13 CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT KIND OF INFO THEY ARE HOLDING BACK??

[@JeremyBuxman]

"yeah, the dad was from an alternate reality that got eaten by horrible nightmares..."

[@toastghost9145]

I think the dad is from the protocol 'verse? Celia had a wild few years *after* "moving" here, and Jack is roughly a year old.

[@bonyuki3872]

Calling it now: one of the entities will be based on luck/gambling. We’ve already had the cursed dice and now we have betting against your own future.

[@DoctorBabylon]

I've already come up with a potential name for the luck/gambling entity, "The Jinx".

[@ludo_narr]

Maybe "The Fate"?

[@lazygravy_brook]

And likely one based on Hunger, consumption, or thirsting for power/ other desirable stuff

[@candydreams1121]

But is it truly a fear? Perhaps the fear of losing it all because of things outside of your control. Although gambling is sometimes used as a way to put fate back in your own. hands.

[@lazygravy_brook]

@@candydreams1121 in that sense, Gambling could be an aspect of Desolation

[@TheNitpickChick]

21:43 “I’m happy you’re happy.” **audio glitch** Oh Alice. 😢 Edit: Also, didn’t catch this the first time round: 5:19 “That everything, you think?” “Yeah.” **buzzy glitch** FR3-D1 knows you’re still hiding something big, Celia… 👀

[@dragonicdoom3772]

Denial: It's not just a river in Egypt!

[@erinbathie-moore8478]

Sorry to ask, but what glitch? I don't hear anything :(

[@TheNitpickChick]

@@erinbathie-moore8478 It’s subtle, but it’s this faint chirp sort of sound, like a brief squeal of static, but quiet. It’s easier to hear with headphones on, although I can still hear it without them, if the volume is turned up loud enough. 🙂

[@somnia268]

i had to pause and reflect that broke my heart

[@mirrrarts]

So I’m betting that Sam’s “freak out” wasn’t just a break down and something supernatural was at fault

[@cecilkeith1951]

Same. Also the convenience of an old friend helping him into the Institute? Bad news.

[@CandyLover556]

I wonder if it was something he ... saw?

[@elvingearmasterirma7241]

Guy: Im not bad Guy: *explains how he is bad AND a fool*

[@Watchers_Puppet]

6:05 amazing that bonzo's theme softly plays in the background before morphing into a new one

[@TheNitpickChick]

Ooo! Well spotted! 😃

[@cecilkeith1951]

I think the HONK HONK noise in the intro is Bonzo

[@CamilleChauTempsDesCerises]

Good to be assured, I wasn't going crazy when I heard it

[@Vexxed_MC]

"But now just a friend." Damn at least he's not pulling a Season One Jon

[@charmsthewitch]

The subtle Bonzo music under what's playing when Gwen asks about whether she's responsible for the case she heard is *chefs kiss*

[@starblade8719]

I’m noticing a trend of misery in these stories. Rather than a focus on any one terror, it’s almost consistently about people chasing misery. Especially this and the dice episode

[@phantomkowai6621]

Noooo I think you’re on to something here. Cause like looking back nearly every case the ‘horror’ occurs because they are in a bad place mentally. Like TMA has characters like this too but the statements often happen TOO the victims, eg man on the stairs, homophobic vase, nes anchor chic, cave girl. But in TMAGP the horrors r more or less activated by the victimish, eg: dice dude, painter chic, gamble guy, ship people, garden guy. Like it’s not necessarily their fault but they are active participants in the horrors.

[@hamburgerdog25]

This is what I've been thinking. I think that the key difference between TMA and TMP is that Archives focuses mostly on esoteric nature whereas Protocol focuses mostly on human nature. A lot of what we've seen so far is obssession and addiction. There is still a supernatural element but its not what these statements revolve around so much as it does the people

[@elliesteele2027]

"The world is full of opposing forces. Some benevolent, most not. In order for the wheels to keep on turning, all these forces need to be monitored and balanced. That is where we come in." First of all, Lena, the last guy who tried to balance unknowable forces with the powers of gods ended up with his eyeballs exploding, and secondly... Are you implying that some of the entities in Protocol _aren't_ evil??

[@etienneporras7252]

The Entities are not evil. Destructive, yes. Manipulative, yes. Evil, no. There are positive aspects to each of the entites. The Buried is responsible for weighted blankets, the Web is responsible for the Internet, the Vast is reaponsible for the United States National Parks Service. The Entities are not evil. They simply are.

[@elliesteele2027]

​@@etienneporras7252The TMA entities feed on fear. The only ones they are good towards are their own avatars helping to spread that fear. If you love going skydiving, the Vast isn't gonna be nice to you, it's just going to use that to make you terrified of something you once found comfort in.

[@etienneporras7252]

I absolutely agree but lets take Michael Crew as an example. The Vast doesn't hate him, because he himself knows to feed it. It saved his life and keeps him safe from the Lichtenburg Figure, because Michael is smart enough to be afraid of it. Michael isn't evil, but he's made his pact with the devil and is willing to live with it. A little bit of fear is not a bad thing.

[@marinterry3055]

I think this series is to show us the The Magnus Archives was only addressing the fear entities, when in reality there are multiple other kinds. I forget when but Jon and Alex said that tma was about what makes a monster a monster and tmp is about what makes a human a human. Fear is what makes a monster a monster, but humans are pulled by all different kinds of forces, good and evil and everything in between. I think that’s why tmp is addressing the other entities.

[@cecilkeith1951]

Your gods are only scary if you don't feed em. "Feed your patron or it will feed on you"

[@elliesteele2027]

21:43 IT DID THE WEIRD DIGITAL LYING NOISE AFTER SHE SAID THAT 😭

[@dahbean2874]

This dropped 17 minutes ago, how you already at 21:43??

[@elliesteele2027]

@@dahbean2874 It released about 30 minutes earlier on various podcast streaming platforms.

[@Ren_zilla-12]

​@@dahbean2874 further proof that magnus pod fans are entities themselves. we're just like that

[@Ren_zilla-12]

ALSO OMG IT DID?????????? SCREAMING

[@waffleaffle231]

​@@dahbean2874 listening at 2x speed probably lol

[@yriiiiiii]

ok but are we gonna talk about how Sam is called a "recluse" AND already is suspected to have some affiliation with the web????

[@happymystake4123]

OMG!! I didn't notice!

[@helinedmightbehere]

WEB SAM WEB SAM WEB SAM WEB SAM WEB SAM WEB SAM WEB SAM WEB SAM !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@skyhideaway]

he's also shown manipulative traits a couple times and he's a good liar

[@moltenlefty92]

​@@skyhideaway Wait when??

[@benjaminjenkins2384]

​@@moltenlefty92he tricked alice into giving him the donut he wanted in an earlier episode

[@luniari7242]

I god damn love Alice, she steals every scene she's in. SHE WASN'T EVEN IN THE SCENE AND I LAUGHED AT HER JOKE PFF

[@ziasteele9332]

I think we have a new contender for dumbest statement giver

[@Ur_Local_Ashole11037]

Nah dude, coming from a genshin AND hsr player, trust me he just has a gambling addiction it's all good /hj

[@hamburgerdog25]

I don't know man. You remember that episode in The Magnus Archives where a plumber travels out to the middle of nowhere to work on a house, theres creepy uncanny shit happening everywhere IN HIS FACE, and he just goes "oh this is your problem right here, I'll fix it" and then he just LEAVES. _He invoiced the Stranger._ The fucking esoteric creatures had to _call him back_ just to show to him what kind of danger he actually was in. He is the bar and he absolutely my favorite, but moreover its gonna be hard to top that

[@maximusthedude8305]

@@hamburgerdog25I actually don’t remember that one, it sounds really funny though. Which episode was it? I have a pretty decent memory but 200 episodes is a lot

[@hamburgerdog25]

@@maximusthedude8305 I'll try to find it but read the youtube comments because those were gold. I have a feeling its season 3

[@hamburgerdog25]

@@maximusthedude8305 I was right it was season 3, episode 87, The Uncanny Valley. I'm gonna go relisten to it now. One of my all time favorite episodes

[@TheNitpickChick]

HOO BOY! Lots to talk about with this one!!! 😃 1. CELIA HAS A SON?!!! Just over a year old… I’m sure that will be important somehow. Is this a normal baby? Or is this a supernatural child of some sort?! I need more information!!! 2. Sam actually wasn’t accepted at The Magnus Institute?! Okay, that re-contextualizes some things, for sure! I’ll have to re-listen to the previous episodes again and re-analyze scenes where Sam talks about the Institute. 3. I’m curious about this “freak out” that Sam had at his previous job. I have a feeling it was worse than he’s making it sound… 4. Alice’s parents are dead. 😢 It makes sense why she seems to be who her brother goes to for support and all that. 5. Goddamn I feel so bad for Gwen. I can only imagine the kind of internal crisis she’s going through, both with the guilt of inadvertently being responsible for someone’s gruesome death, but also just realizing that this place she’s worked at for years is killing people and working with monsters. That would be one hell of a blow to process. 😬 6. Lena mentions some of the forces being benevolent?! Expand on that, please!!! 7. It sounds like the OIAR is indeed attempting to balance the Fears, similar to Robert Smirke, but in a much more direct and nuanced way. They are keeping certain monsters/avatars under “control” by sending them after specific targets, rather than having them run a muck and take victims willy-nilly. It’s a very interesting approach, to be sure, and I really want to know how their victims are chosen! 8. Another statement that focuses on fate and gambling. In TMA, gambling typically fell under the Web, along with addiction, and I definitely feel like there’s a strong element of Web here, but the continued focus on fate, fortune, misfortune, etc. in multiple, varied statements is definitely feeling a bit different, overall. 🤔 9. I have a feeling that, as the person of this group who’s worked there the longest, Alice has seen some shit, and is desperately trying to steer Sam away from the pitfalls she’s seen others fall into. She jokes most of the time, but there’s serious concern in her tone here, and it feels like it’s not just concern over Sam possibly losing his job. 😥

[@cecilkeith1951]

Hey, the kids name is JACK JACK BARNABAS?!?!?

[@TheNitpickChick]

@@cecilkeith1951 Unlikely, but damn that would be an absolutely _wild_ reveal, if true! 😅

[@michaelrobinson996]

Only one I can't get behind is Gwen. She asked for this

[@TheNitpickChick]

@@michaelrobinson996 Yes, she asked for a promotion by essentially trying to blackmail her shady af boss. Not great, I’ll admit. However, she very much did _not_ ask to be an accessory to an incredibly brutal murder via horrific monster. That’s a whole different level that she was completely unprepared for, that Lena just threw her into the deep end of without any warning. I don’t condone Gwen’s earlier actions, but I don’t think she deserves this.

[@theanna8472]

@@TheNitpickChick yeah, but she didn't get turned off for a next assignment. So maybe she just needed to know what was going to happen so she could be mentally prepared? lol

[@12ratsinatrenchcoat]

Nooooooooo, it’s a crypto bro

[@Salvage5681]

no sympathy 🙏

[@zesty6781]

Oh no…. Anyway

[@Ruuehxbfiqkxn]

I feel kinda bad.

[@glumbortango7182]

​@@Ruuehxbfiqkxn​​ He told his parents he never loved them, told all his friends he slept with their partners, and the proceeded to jump off a building for the sole reason that he _only_ had a million dollars in the bank. Dare I ask, how do feel bad for this man?

[@Ruuehxbfiqkxn]

@@glumbortango7182 he sounded like he wasn’t in a good mental state

[@Vickyeverythingelsewastaken]

Fluff aside, this statement giver took Marx' point of selling one's life for capital quite literally. I am fascinated by the masochistic enjoyment he got out of it. He is propably subscribed to a bunch of youtube channels of bald dudes in tank tops yelling at the camera.

[@glenexplainseverything8219]

I find it interesting how this episode’s statement giver describes the vertigo of being on that cliff, while being clearly weighed down his debts and feeling, buried. Bonzo, which combines elements of clowns and unexpected violence, also serves as an example. In MAG you may recall that a crew of the Slaughter was the one which interrupted the first Unknowing with Grimaldi. And the Vast and Buried are opposed by their natures, and are stated explicitly by Gerry and John. Perhaps the idea that those old powers have somehow, fused with their opposites, provides an idea of what we should expect from our newest monsters and mysteries!

[@Geesaroni]

Yeah, my going theory is that when the entities traveled through the dimensional rift, it wasn't metaphysically _big_ enough so they started getting squished together. And in this world they're sort of stuck that way, gooey amalgamations of different related and opposite fears that bubble up in unexpected ways.

[@glenexplainseverything8219]

@@Geesaroni I really like that theory! I think the best theories are the ones that are able to predict the ideas of future episodes, so I think that your current theory of the fears being a heterogeneous mess of themselves in this universe will mean more episodes focused on combining fears we haven’t seen as much of, such as The End and The Dark. I definitely see your theory working with the episode 10 ERROR entity, as I personally think its a combination of Martin, Jon, and Jonah that has squeezed through (perhaps with connotations of The Lonely and The Eye). I think that if the idea of opposite fears being combined is true, we should see an upcoming episode focusing on a combination between the End and the Hunt, since those were also heavily implied to be opposites in TMA. I definitely like these newest cases for the Magnus Protocol, they feel really fresh!

[@etienneporras7252]

I want to believe there's a link between Zorro and the Dice. I'm also convinced that Zorro is associated with the Web.

[@dragonicdoom3772]

Omfg I'm such an idiot for missing this! Sam said he was part of the Institute's "enrichment" program and in Episode 9 the Institute employee makes a comment that they should refer the person they're interviewing to "Catalystics for Enrichment Applicability Assessment" because they had a Medium viability for becoming a Catalyst. I think a Catalyst is what the Institute calls Avatars (they're catalysts for creating fear). So Sam was tested to see if he could be a viable Avatar, but was rejected despite having really high scores. Looking at his results, it seems like he was rejected for having a very high empathy index and pro-sociality score since both of these would make him hesitant to hurt people to feed on their fear (similar to how Jon resisted his Beholding urges for a long time).

[@TheNitpickChick]

Good catch! I like this theory a lot!

[@emilybarclay8831]

Sam’s golden retriever energy was simply too powerful for the entities to manipulate

[@marinterry3055]

Okay, crazy theory but bear with me: I think Sam WAS at the institute but had his memory wiped. It’s not too far fetched for this series AND why else would he go from being extremely gifted to his whole life going downhill and becoming obsessed with the institute?? I think some part of his subconscious KNOWS it’s important to him, hence the obsession, but his memories are gone. After the testing and the memory wipe, maybe the institute and his parents gave him the story about not being accepted. But the body remembers trauma even if the brain does not. Idk, I just think it’s weird.

[@TheLittleDiver]

Ur cooking with this one 🔥

[@thedistinguished5255]

inch resting

[@Observer_Decay]

Or he possibly repressed the memories. Maybe what he experienced was so traumatic that he locked it away, and the institute and his parents covered it up.

[@RaionOwO]

Thing is tho, his life didnt really go downhill. He still went to a prestigious University, got an excellent degree with top marks, got a job at a law firm right out of University which he maintained for years before having 1 mental breakdown. His life was far from going downhill.

[@marinterry3055]

@@RaionOwO but that’s how HE views it. In context, manz is doin great for himself. But he says in the episode he feels like stuff all got worse after. He didn’t get into the school he wanted and his mental health prevented him from holding down a stable job. Pookie was traumatized by SOMETHING I just know it 😩

[@dragonicdoom3772]

WOW what a lore drop! The conversation between Gwen and Lena seems to confirm at least part of my theory from last episode: that the OIAR was created to monitor and manage the Entities and their servants and that these "externals" are monsters and avatars who have been employed to help achieve this goal. When Lena said said some of the supernatural forces are benevolent I immediately got flashbacks to Jon's conversation with Gerard Keay about the Entities. According to Gerry, there are no Entities of good things like Love or Hope, only Fear. But it seems like there are some benevolent Entities in this world (how benevolent remains to be seen). We already knew that the old rules of TMA weren't going to stay the same, what with each statement being a lot less clear on which Entities they revolve around (e.g. Mr Bonzo is mostly Slaughter-coded but also has a lot of Flesh themes), but this is huge. Hell, maybe Gerry and Gertrude are avatars for these "benevolent forces", or at least aware of them. Since this pretty much confirms that the OIAR are aware of the Entities (maybe they don't have all the details but they know enough) I wonder if it has something to do with the tapes from TMA. After all, they were the bridge that carried the Entities from the old world to this one and Anabel specifically says that its Jon's voice which guides them through the gap in reality. Maybe that's why Freddy uses Jon's voice, the OIAR somehow found the tapes, learned about the Entities and extracted Jon's voice so they could use it to gather and safely store the cases. They effectively have an AI Archivist.

[@vaxshin]

OMG! I love this idea

[@dragonicdoom3772]

@@vaxshin Thanks! As I was writing this I also had a really depressing thought that might partially explain why Martin's voice is also in Freddy: wherever Jon goes, Martin goes. That was the deal 😭. I've also just made another realisation that might support the "Freddy using Jon's voice to be an AI Archivist" theory: a couple characters have mentioned that if they don't assign the correct keywords/themes to a case, they get notified of their mistake, but I don't think they ever mention WHO notifies them. I think it could be Freddy, using Jon's power to Know things like how the statements would have summaries at the start: Jon just Knew the gist of them before even reading them. Furthermore, in TMA the real statements couldn't be stored digitally but I'm starting to think that was The Web fucking with them to ensure that all the real statements were on the tapes so they could use them to escape the old world. I think that's why the cases can be digital now because The Web isn't interfering, although as I'm writing this I'm now realising just how powerful The Web must be in the age of the internet, of the World Wide WEB...

[@Itsmidnight_youneedtosleep]

@@dragonicdoom3772 I feel like I want this to work and it seems like it does, but that brings up the question of who augustus is. I mean, of course everyone thinks he’s jonah magnus, but then where did they find his voice? It wasnt on the tapes. I guess theres always a chance that the jonah/augustus thing is a red herring, and its just another random ai voice, but that feels improbable. I also cant tell from what you said if you think they are in the computer in some way, or if its just their voices. I assume the latter though. I honestly hope something ushanka-yhappened and they are in the computer in some way, because i miss john and martin :(

[@dragonicdoom3772]

@@Itsmidnight_youneedtosleep Yeah I don't think Jonny is nice enough to give us a straight answer on what happened to Jon and Martin, at least not for a LONG while. To clarify, I think Freddy just has their voices and some Eye powers but not the actual Jon and Martin. And yeah, Augustus does throw a spanner in the works. Its possible he's someone from this world, either a completely new character or an alternate version of someone from TMA.

[@krishadyn5211]

@@Itsmidnight_youneedtosleep I thought Augustus was Jurgen Leitner's voice.

[@CamilleChauTempsDesCerises]

Alice knows definitely more than she says, and it frustrates me so much to be left in ignorance

[@belen.asteinle426]

Celia being a mom was not on my bingo card

[@damianahmadi5433]

The forces here seem to get off on punishing people.

[@GarethOfByzantium]

How the OIAR “manages” them, I expect.

[@damianahmadi5433]

@@GarethOfByzantium That's what I was guessing, I wonder what did that Rugby player did to deserve being banged against the floor. It feels like the UK government of this universe weaponizing eldritch horrors somehow.

[@elliesteele2027]

1:34 Pre-case 7:29 Case (Unclear) [Voicemail: Darrien Laurel] 20:09 Post-case

[@elliesteele2027]

Another case that evades the usual categorisation attempts. My first thought was that this could be a new power, one focused around luck and randomness, but other than the unexpected loss at the end, it seems pretty predictable in how it works. It could also be the Web, note both the elements of addiction and the strange insectoid (possibly arachnid) creature that killed Darrien. There was also a brief moment of the Vast when he was at the top of the chapel but how that ties into the rest of the case is unclear.

[@CH1MERAKN1GHT]

could also be aligned with desolation since its all about getting hurt

[@_fishstars]

I personally think its web. Web has always been associated with addiction and control which are themes of this case. Second guess is that the corruption is leaning more into the corruption aspect of its name. This is assuming that the fear system is still the same of course, lena said there are "benevolent" entities and theres been theories about the fear system changing so I'm not sure this works entirely

[@thatjeff7550]

@@elliesteele2027 I think we're seeing more of hybrids from the previous fears. So instead of just the Vast, we're getting something that's a mix of the Vast, the Web, and the Desolation. A "Scottish Fold" breed of fear, if you will. :)

[@Ech_The_Sentiant]

I cannot wait to lose my sanity again after encountering horrors beyond human comprehension! (Please, Jonny, let me my see my family again)

[@Ech_The_Sentiant]

Update: I finished the episode. You still haven’t released my family, Jonny you bastard!

[@BoojumFed]

@@Ech_The_Sentiant "No, no, no you fool! You have to finish the episode while twirling counter-clockwise like dear Ms. GG said in this weeks letter of complaint to Rusty Quill !" ~ Mr. Sims in nightmarish greasepaint, probably.

[@Ech_The_Sentiant]

@@BoojumFed nooooooo!

[@animeshowfan8145]

def getting the vibe that this place is doomed to fall apart. they used some wording to suggest some of the entitys are possibly good and that they are simply balancing things out. gives me strong helen vibes tho. my guess is any kind of control they think they have is just a lie. simply just so they can crush that confidence and hope later on for fun

[@GenXSpawnPoint]

I'm pretty sure that Statement was Corruption, only of the white collar kind. He did seem to get devoured by insects coming through the phone at the end, so it fits.

[@EricaEE1]

i heard motor sounds, ill have to check the transcript though

[@GenXSpawnPoint]

@@EricaEE1 The transcript says "metallic insectoid chittering" so it looks like we're both right. :D

[@AngelCakes1997]

@@GenXSpawnPointCorruption and Extinction combo? Oh my.

[@keeratkahlon9035]

It felt more web and desolation to me? Like addiction is one aspect of the web and he seems pretty addicted to gambling, and then he goes on to destroy himself and everything and everyone who cared for him for some short lived satisfaction which is very desolation to me

[@infinitesimalphilip1470]

20:50 "Is she at least going to make an honest woman out of you?" lmao

[@mirrrarts]

Omg I love the episodes with gambling. The vibes are immaculate

[@SM-dl2ox]

This ep’s statement reminds me of the gambling episode !!!

[@deafeningoctopus]

Come to think of it, why do these guys work nights? It seems like the kind of job that probably doesn't need both day staff and night staff.

[@TheNitpickChick]

Good question! I didn’t even think to question that aspect! I have some theorizing to do… 🤔

[@kinrateia]

You're the first person i ever saw ask this question and now I'm intrigued. Maybe they have some kind of deal with the Dark or something

[@EduardoVazquez-hh5tz]

Because the Eye can’t see in the dark, and they purposefully don’t want to observe but catalog. Watching, researching forming opinions and investigation to shed light is NOT allowed at the OIAR

[@Ren_zilla-12]

i don't have a problem :D I was only here 49 seconds after it dropped. I don't have a problem at all.....

[@syntia13]

Of course! You can stop any time you want. :)

[@racoon_in_ankhmorpork]

Can I just take a moment to thank everyone in this comment section? Y’all notice so many more cool details than I do, istg. Also, is our idea here that the OIAR keeps entities under control by sending them to feed on specific targets? But where does the case classification come into play then? What is the agenda behind picking the targets? So many interesting questions now that we’ve gotten these morsels revealed to us! It’s also astonishingly early for higher powers to be mentioned, which makes me wonder exactly what’s in store for our characters…

[@a_jae_doe]

Not the ad being a "build wealth" ad for trading 212😭 ALSO with Alice's conversation w sam abt seeing ppl go off the deep end at work, her being on good terms with Gwen _and_ Teddy(even Gwen said "God knows why" after admitting Alice is the only one he tolerates)? I feel like there's someone of the OIAR team who's "left" (before Teddy did) that knew too much and is the trauma bond between the three very different ppl

[@The-Eye866]

Who’s watching this in 1887?

[@forestmeyersiscooltoday]

🤚

[@Flickerbeat]

Who isnt? 👀

[@lazygravy_brook]

?

[@cecilkeith1951]

It's always raining where I am

[@johnlemon1354]

​@@cecilkeith1951 In England you mean?

[@OctopusOwl]

Loving how the OIAR operates in similar ways to SCP foundation

[@jennyoutrageous]

I wonder: Is Jon's consciousness in machines.. like as a whole? Like is he feasting on people's secrets through machines itself? Because this specific episode is weird to me. We've been told only certain Reports get the Text to Speech thing, but there's supposedly many more that are just written text. Are they ones that get turned into Text to Speech ones Jon (or Martin and Elias) have influenced somehow? I only ask because the way this guy trauma dumps to an autoresponder really sounded like he was being compelled the same way an Eye avatar would compel someone. Like it almost sounded like the guy was about to hang up but then his tone went a total 180 and just very calmly told the phone his whole life story. And I don't know if that's just the series stretching out our suspension of disbelief or there is something more going on.

[@krishadyn5211]

Yeah, I also saw that. As if something just calmed him suddenly. Its possible that the victims stories are being compelled, just not directly.

[@nevka557]

Love the Desolation statements

[@patrickbailey2799]

Regarding the opposing forces, "some benevolent, most not." I don't know if this has any indication here, but there was an episode back in The Magnus Archives when Jon was talking about the various Fears and their attempts to make rituals occur. I just remember him saying that "The Web doesn't want to, and The End doesn't need to." To me, that always spoke of some ambiguity with those two entities. Maybe I'm reading into too much here, but Lena could be stretching the word benevolent into not actively causing harm.

[@malaizze]

Yeah, I don’t trust the idea of benevolent entities. I think the OIAR might be Web-run, and that would explain why they’d consider entities “benevolent” (the Mother). If the entire thing is a system for her to manipulate the powers then that could be seen as her “benevolence” towards humanity

[@_DragonHero_]

so Sam claims he was rejected by the Magnus Institute gifted kids program hmmmm....weird considering we have his files! makes me think even more that Alice was part of it too ...just memory wiped

[@theanna8472]

wasn't Alice's brother tested by the Magnus Institute?

[@_DragonHero_]

@@theanna8472 Is that confirmed to be her brother tho? Right now I honestly cant remeber if she called her brother by name thus far so correct me if I missed it. Because considering that Alice is trans, my running theory was that it could be her before she changed her name

[@joeb8935]

@@theanna8472no, same last name different first name, it’s generally assumed to be Alice’s deadname

[@theanna8472]

@@joeb8935I was thinking one or the other. I hadnt completely ruled out either but I guess it’s probably the dead name then. Edit: i didn’t know the brothers name was luke 😅

[@syntia13]

@@_DragonHero_ Her brother's name is Luke

[@marinterry3055]

This reminds me of the dice…

[@somenerdwhowrites6566]

We’re getting the forces knowledge so quickly!! It took like two or three seasons in TMA before we got ANY sort of knowledge about the deities!!! That’s so exciting!!!!!

[@customercareskeleton]

An excellent performance, and great writing. Quickly forgot the reader was a VERY familiar voice.

[@pygien]

YIPPIE NEW EPISODE! Edit: OMG MY BOY IS ON A DATE LETS GOOOOOO Edit: AWWWWW SAM IS SO ME ALSO BABY JACK Edit: LORE DROP (also im a former gifted kid so this is so me fr) Edit: YOOO okay so we aren't exactly serving the fears but managing them I see I see (pun semi intended)

[@marinterry3055]

I think this series is to show us the The Magnus Archives was only addressing the fear entities, when in reality there are multiple other kinds. I forget when but Jon and Alex said that tma was about what makes a monster a monster and tmp is about what makes a human a human. Fear is what makes a monster a monster (we become monsters when we are ruled by fear), but humans are pulled by all different kinds of forces, good and evil and everything in between. I think that’s why tmp is addressing the other entities.

[@robloggia]

Treason is fire, Alice be all on fleek, Sams got mad cringe rizz. Everything's coming up Gucci fam!

[@TheNitpickChick]

🤣

[@chs9999]

THURSDAY 🎉🎉🎉 SPOOK 🎉🎉🎉 O'CLOCK 🎉🎉🎉

[@inkycorvid3248]

oh hey I'm here at 13 minutes for once, epic. Spoilers below fellas - NOT what we were expecting when we heard the name Jack. But I suppose Jonny is known for reusing names. I really like the dynamic between these two. - None of the fears were realllyy benevolent so..Avatars?? Creatures?? If we look at this from the lens of the fears..maybe the web is playing management? I'm really on the fence about the 'desire' idea. I'm not sure what to make of that particular statement but the fact that things are..being managed this time around is interesting. - (Onto the case) Holy shit this guy is ..A LOT?? - Alice and Sam also have a good dynamic.

[@krishadyn5211]

The Web has always played the other powers against each other.

[@rainethegremlin]

Best part of my Thursdays!

[@felixrivera895]

Web and Desolation are an interesting mix

[@robertlong9591]

I’m leaning desolation for this one, given the themes of loss and pain. Reminds of the guy who broke Gertrude’s stone circle in Scotland.

[@LOBSTERMANN3000]

waitwaitwait “SOME ARE BENEVOLENT,”? LENA?? That’s a direct contradiction of what Gerry said to Jon when they had their talk. He said that there weren’t any gods of hope or love or goodness. IS THIS IMPORTANT OR AM I INSANE??

[@krishadyn5211]

The man's accent, his constant repetition of getting his money, I kept thinking of Maurice Walsh's The Quiet Man.

[@theanna8472]

This episode reminds me episode 194 of TMA - specifically because in TMA 194 Jon says that if he is the Pupil, maybe he can reshape the universe, make it more "fair." And then in TMP - Lena says they manage the powers so that there is balance between the evil and benevolent powers 🤔 I’ll be honest, I realized I never listened to the last 10 episodes and I’m just started listening to the last ten and I’m only on episode 194 😆 so I might change my mind when I’m finished. Though the Jon, Martin and Elias voices from Freddie (I don’t remember the acronym) would kind of make sense?

[@malaizze]

JMJ system. Jon, Martin, Jonah.

[@_fishstars]

So... (assuming the fear systems work the same) this definitely could be web. Addiction, fate, control and compulsion have always been strong themes of the web and also its literally about a WEBsite, the internet is also another common theme of the web Also what does lena mean by benevolent??? Did jon and martin's strong powers of homosexuality cause the fears to understand love or something??? Also i hope that the next "external" gwen will be visiting will be ink5oul ive been dying to meet them

[@theanna8472]

YES, I think they were mentioned in another episode briefly...

[@_fishstars]

@@theanna8472 the website?

[@theanna8472]

@@_fishstars ink5oul Atleast I think. Someone with similar tattoo description showed up in one of the episodes.

[@_fishstars]

@@theanna8472 oh yeah in the case about that one artists

[@theanna8472]

@@_fishstars and another episode too. I think 12?

[@SuperClass3000]

I don't get how this guy didn't realize that last bet on his life was if he died he would have definitely won but because he lived that the luckiest uptick in his life so of course he got to pay😂

[@EduardoVazquez-hh5tz]

I am hereby naming a new Entity, The Inevitable. Focusing on Eventual Balance and on righting the scales. The phrase that goes well with this new dread power I am deciding is “what comes up, must come down” (The Inevitable taking the form of gamblers dice and betting is really nice touch) It fits differently from Smirkes 13 but was present in TMA due to the fact that John needed all the dread powers to have a successful ritual and it was a significant part of the Web’s plan and the End’s shtick.

[@Doba.doorknob.509]

oh that is so good, especiaklly w lena saying there are benevolent powers!!!!!

[@BeautifulEarthJa]

4:12 I'm offended! U of Notts alum here...that's going downhill? I'm appalled 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@theanna8472]

well, he got eaten by an app. So I wouldnt take him too seriously.

[@hades_head_empty]

0:07 as a nerdy person named after a greek river i feel seen lol

[@shrimp4496]

Im a little miffed. I was %100 sure this case was the desolation until the guy got attacked by a giant spider.

[@happymystake4123]

Sooo, Alice has seen some shit, maybe she went into the same path as Sam and suffered the consequences or she has seen other coworkers do it, either way her warnings seem legit

[@happymystake4123]

So, her parents died, Is their date related to the supernatural stuff? How interesting

[@happymystake4123]

Was the OAIR involved in it? Maybe even responsible ?

[@azcdtixs]

CELIA X SAM REAL. CELIA X SAM REAL. CELIA X SAM REAL

[@RoseTintedPath]

i wonder if this and the dice ep are linked

[@witchy_whysteria]

Im scared..! Awesome!

[@rita6355]

Cryptobro statement????

[@cookiedraw8173]

Thank you odin :) good day to you too

[@itsgreyfaayy]

Oh boy happy birthday to me! Let’s get Spooky

[@boosqueezy2418]

it’s my birthday too!!!!!

[@extrasense.s]

LETSGOOOO NEW EPISODE

[@Yumeki-san]

If by some bizarre twist this really was shorting against what, my own life? Weeel now that you put it that way..

[@zesty6781]

Yes Sam dump ur gifted kid trauma on ur date no one else is listening :3333 6:07 THE BONZO THEME PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND IM GONNA HURL

[@KendarIgloo]

As usual, spoilers for the Magnus Archives. 13 episodes into TMP: Several indirect references to the dread powers, as well as one explicit mention of them, a canon ship ALREADY, a couple thousand mentions or appearances of characters from TMA including Jon, Gerry, Gertrude, and Georgie, a character who is basically confirmed to have come from the apocalypse, the jmj theory, multiple recurring suspected avatars (needle thingy and Mr. Bonzo), character development, probably some more stuff I forgot. 13 episodes into TMA: Jon no like Martin

[@mcr00kes]

This is like a rather literal take of the Fill Or Kill Orders in Day Trading.

[@luwucien]

I still have no idea what to do with the fact that Celia is an anagram of Alice I mean it could very well be a red herring, or unintentional but what if it's not???

[@quantumblauthor7300]

Huh

[@PunkPansy-]

I swear if sassy little Alice winds up being the new Elias I'll be so sad don't let my new sass master be evil

[@Lizzy_Stories09]

WOM WOM WOM!!!!! ❤❤❤❤

[@vaxshin]

Wub wub wub ❤

[@zypalitra8080]

BONZO MENTIONED ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@jellomiki]

"insider trading" made me laugh so fucking hard lol

[@allofashes]

this episode on protocol: crypto bro gets fucked

[@RubeeRoja]

To be fair, she was the one that brought up work first

[@magnusthemythic8061]

Gwen dont go fucking shit up please! Do not mess with the system and get someone killed!

[@ameliacrowther-davies6458]

POOKIES WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!! NEW EP JUST DROPPED

[@lorrainehatch4308]

I heard the theory that in this usniverse it's desires, which makes sense but my brain is doing it super abstractly? Maybe it could be a 7 deadly sins thing? I hope not, but eh. Tattoos seem to have a similar effect to Lighters? Though that may just be a specific person, like how an avatar does.

[@Tonyd5736]

I was wondering where the turn was going to be, "insider trading" that's funny

[@marinterry3055]

Oh this was SO good

[@karenschmalz3711]

I know Gwen is up to her knees in whatever she's doing on behalf of Lena. She's not too high into it yet, she's going to have to go deeper in her complicit working of the Fears.

[@endless_del]

"barely had a pot to piss in" "my last few thousand" oh so i'm BROKE broke i see

[@UlimiteinemL]

Might be due to English not being my native language, but again I couldn't catch the point when things switched from mostly normal to supernatural-weird, like in the first tattoo episode... I think it's also strange how neither of them questioned it, but just rolled with it.

[@krishadyn5211]

If you found a slider in your finance app that said, "Convert injuries to cash", and after breaking a leg you got paid by the app, thats when the weird stuff happens.

[@SaYhITOme253]

I keep forgetting the day-

[@tretizzle]

Needles was that you!?

[@theanna8472]

wait...

[@TheNitpickChick]

Do you mean at the end of the call? Because I don’t think that was Needles. He sounds more like a weird tinkling metallic wind chime, whereas the thing at the end of the call sounded more reminiscent of a large insect scuttling. I would love if Needles would come back soon, though! 😊

[@KHAEISTIREDxx14]

VERTIGO????? VAST IS THAT YOU

[@brainworm232]

I wonder, what benevolent entities Lena talks about? Because the only benevolent entities I can think of rn are Jon and Martin... Maybe there's something else out there, but what are jomart then? They are not exactly people, especially Jon. And they're actively trying to tell Sam something? I'm extremely bad at recognising voices I'm not used to, and it hinders my understanding of what's going on in tmagp significantly, but aren't they trying to help him figure out his weird connection to the institute?

[@quantumblauthor7300]

Same! It feels like the characters with the most similar voices spend the least time in a scene together, so I can't learn the difference!

[@quinnkaplan172]

yeah "benevolent"... sure ...