THE MAGNUS ARCHIVES

Case ########-23 Considerations of knowledge. Recorded by the Archivist in situ. Content warnings: - Altered reality / Spatial disorientation - Futility / Inconsequence - Self-injury - Body horror & wounding - Physical violence / Graphic injury (inc SFX) - Mentions of: blood, falling, murder, isolation.
Thanks to this week's Patrons: Nicole Perlman, Devon, Cayleigh Latimer, Little King Trash Mouth, Joseph P Legander III, Qwenivere, Zsófia M, IRQ, Anna Godfrey, Tony Jasper, Obscura Noxia, Blair Riddle, Agatha Bird, ContestSylveon, Bianca Sofia Ricci, Carly Johnson, Ace Gifford, Emily Mundidyke, Samantha A., Cortue, Kathryn Blair, Hugh Smith, Marianna Jones, Jo, Kasserine, Elizabeth H., Kendra, Isabella Silva, Nuka96, Shy Magpie, Katie Nelson, Sam Quiche, TJ Hummel, SDD, Hannah McGinty, Socket saintdominicci, Elyssa, Haley, Lane Dolberg, Jamie, Maxwell McCandless, LCR, Samrath Kaur, Emily Of The Beef, Maddie Christie, Jess McKnight, Chloe Artice, brk5239, sunnyletom If you'd like to join them visit www.patreon.com/rustyquill.
Edited by Annie Fitch, Elizabeth Moffatt, Brock Winstead & Alexander J Newall
Written by Jonathan Sims;
Directed by Alexander J Newall;
Produced by Lowri Ann Davies;
Performances: "Martin Blackwood" - Alexander J. Newall; "The Archivist" - Jonathan Sims; "Helen" - Imogen Harris.
Sound effects this week by nextmaking, toxicwafflezz, nicktermer, SpliceSound, dersuperanton, tim.kahn, AlanCat, baryy, f_ilippo, Vurca, Thalamus_Lab, cribbler, ultradust, avakas, lzmraul, worthahep88, aglinder, Reenen007, sonictechtonic & previously credited artists via freesound.org.
Thanks to this episode's sponsor. For more information about this episode's sponsor search Burn the Dark by S.A. Hunt.
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[@savethebees2574]

Hearing the voice of Tim in the sponsor segment gave me whiplash and now I'm grieving him again :(

[@simonwahwah]

same man I literally yelled when I heard his voice I was like "YESSS" then I realized

[@AgentWaterBuffalo]

RIGHT?

[@aristynmuldoon7959]

Fr he was my comfort character... I almost sobbed

[@midnights2631]

Same ;-;

[@Didartie]

I rewinded that section like 4 times

[@thatonepersonyouwontremember]

"I'm sure I love you" "I love you too" MAH HEART-

[@quantumblur_3145]

__

[@davv6628]

@@quantumblur_3145 they be cuddling

[@juliapazosmaidana2929]

Aah~ the cuteness!! Is overwhelming!!!!

[@thebanditking8502]

hey it seems you’re one of the top comments on this one too. you better keep one eye open… cos you just made a friend of… *the bandit king* 👁✌️

[@user-th3tg4fb5g]

jonmartin is so cute omg aaaaaa

[@Q-werty30]

The fears @ Jon: Shut up Arcavitst.. The fears @ Martin: omg Martin hiiiii🥰🥰🥰🥰

[@rivermaxwell3834]

*archivist

[@Q-werty30]

@@rivermaxwell3834 thgats the joke 👍 (Also I made that 6 months ago wow)

[@FoxfurYT]

XD same

[@f_mva]

*extended sounds of brutal peer review*

[@Ghostrecall_M]

Repeatably with a lead pipe vibes.

[@fang609]

Bet ya Reviewer 2 has his own domain somewhere

[@faxonii]

“i’m sure i love you” “i love you too” THEY DID IT THEY SAID THE WORDS OH MY GOD

[@lonewaffle231]

Wow omg what an original comment. I knew there wpuld be some of you. I hate how early people were connecting dots in the comments talking about the statments, and now its just oh john/martin did a funny, lets repeat it a gazilion times. Or the "that part was funny, when _____ said _____" without prowiding a time stamp

[@znab5977]

@@lonewaffle231 why so cranky my guy

[@lonewaffle231]

@@znab5977 I explaimed why. I fucking hate these commemts. Be constructive or about the story at least.

[@cuppish_]

@@lonewaffle231 Cope

[@neos8421]

@@lonewaffle231 jsut say you hate it when gay people are happy and move on

[@CatBATd4rklycu73]

She's just trying to get under your skin. Well, she's really good at it! Aw, thank you sweetie.

[@maryroyceprisno2134]

I honestly thought she said "thank you fruity" and I was super confused

[@cupcaketv5673]

​@@maryroyceprisno2134Thank you for making me laugh out loud

[@shreddedcheese2659]

​@@maryroyceprisno2134i mean that also would be right😂

[@willcomputer9978]

Helen's "gasp" was the cutest thing ever

[@cookiedraw8173]

I can imagine the script had "gasp" in the side notes and hellen actor just decided to say it instead of actually gasping XD

[@Ace_Up_My_Sleeve]

"It must make sense. There must be a system!" That's... pretty much my world view, so I feel strangely attacked and understood by this statement. I wouldn't like that place, but I liked this statement too. I really liked all of the statements this season, they're all so beautifully unique. So many forms of suffering, so many aspects of the human psyche. "The Eye is... *fond of you* " The wording make it seem like the Eye, this omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent entity of fear has favourites, and that means that in fact it very well could "think" of Jon as its "special little boy", and I just love it! It makes me so happy, knowing that our precious little Archivist is appreciated. Even if it's by an eldritch fear god. The Beholding is proud of you, Jon! (And it likes you too, Martin.) ^^

[@anyoom9031]

that’s my world view too, esp when i’m faced with some problem, i felts attacked at the beginning of this statement LMAO

[@bladenot-runner1795]

How much you wanna bet it was because Martin recorded poetry and chatted absently to the tapes?

[@lonewaffle231]

Finally a good comment

[@lonewaffle231]

@@bladenot-runner1795 like Lucas I bet one John that it was because they were the only ones left that actually helped the eye win. John and Magnus are the real MVPs here

[@bugjams]

There is a system though, we know there is. It's mathematics and physics. Literally everything follows it. With enough time and knowledge, one could theoretically determine anything. It's just that things are so complex and happen faster than we could ever calculate. But if there were no systems, then evolution wouldn't work, and we wouldn't have gotten to the moon. This "fear" just reads like anti-acedemic propaganda. It makes fun of the characters for trying to use reason and understanding. It only works because they're literally in a chaos dimension where nothing makes sense - but in the real world, they'd be right. Their only character flaw is that they're arrogant and self-centered. But you can be both logical and kind-hearted. Look at Stephen Hawking, Bill Nye, or Neil Tyson. It's like, in this hellscape, everyone's fears are made real. So this is basically the domain of the fear of being wrong. They normally _wouldn't_ be wrong, but they are every time in this domain because it produces the most fear.

[@clarizamae09]

- Helen "you went missing and I couldn't find you 🥺" Richardson - "Anyway, such a shame about Basira and Daisy. I was really rooting for them to make up." *Helen really said WLW RIGHTS* - I WAS JUST MINDIN' YOUR OWN BUSINESS; COOKING SOME SUNNY SIDE EGGS FOR DINNER, THEN SUDDENLY MARTIN GOES "I'm sure I love you," AND JON REPLIES: "I love you too." NEEDLESS TO SAY I ALMOST THREW THOSE EGGS TO THE CEILING 😭😭

[@vilux-r5527]

May I add (late to the party I know, I'm binging the podcast and just came to this chapter today) you can see, at least in the Spotify version, rustling like that of clothes? They hugged. You can't convince me otherwise.

[@cupcaketv5673]

​@@vilux-r5527I imagined them hugging honestly, so it's great to see that lowkey possibly confirmed haha

[@witchy_whysteria]

I WAS WASHING YHE DISHES AND WAS SO STUNNED I LITERALLY SHATTERED A PLATE

[@anyoom9031]

i think it’s so funny how the ppl in martins domain r smug academic men dismissing the supernatural thing around them w/ their attempts at logic when that’s EXACTLY who jon was at the beginning of this series

[@cupidcalling5599]

ahh i was confused by this too! i think it's actually jon giving the statement about smirke's weird architecture and academic tomfoolery rather than martin's domain. i had to relisten to the whole episode and go like "OOOHHH wait nvm" bc i totally misinterpreted it all.

[@darwi_briste4624]

The cutthroat loneliness of academia. Martin’s hell is by Jon.

[@bugjams]

This isn't Martin's domain tho, is it? At the end they say they haven't traveled through his yet.

[@empanado8304]

yeah this isnt martins domain

[@nanuqo2006]

They didn’t travel through it in this video, John just saw insids

[@bridgetb.7965]

jon's tarot tower joke is more cute jon rights! martin finally realizes he's been unconsciously benefiting from the fear economy. he's been getting a bit better about the black and white morality he approaches the idea of avatars with, so it's nice to see him continue to accept more nuance than he'd previously considered, and i love that he's willing to face his part in this head on. the discussion of smirk's 14 is both appropriate for the statement in this episode, and also a nice reminder that the taxonomy of fears was human made. it's such a fun lens with which to examine the statements in the series, apply to other properties, use for personality test, etc. but within the canon of the series, it's just another way people try to make order out of the chaos of their reality. also, the way martin says 'i'm sure i love you,' like he's not sure about anything else, but that's not what matters, and jon's breathless laugh before he says 'i love you too,' like he still can't believe that despite everything else, he still gets to have this, makes me so weak.

[@phantomfandomfails3013]

"My name is Doctor... Docto-" Me: DOCTOR WHO?!

[@Companion92]

same

[@The-Busy-Beeeee]

Real

[@Pineapplecrispy]

My thoughts exactly

[@KaleChipss]

who knew a jonmartin "i love you" could be a jumpscare but I literally jumped and I think I screamed a little

[@flynland7366]

Forgetting your name but remember your title...mood I guess. This simple fact makes dr so unsympathetic!

[@bucketlist3727]

What nailed it for me is how the doctor didn't even care what he was a doctor of tf

[@flynland7366]

@@bucketlist3727 true

[@venusthebenus]

THEY SAID IT BOYS!!!! THEY SAID THOSE THREE WORDS!!!!!

[@dancingcat1796]

Helen is such a fun character, i hope nothing bad happens to her

[@roy-nyan]

🙂

[@guilhermesales9757]

:)

[@thatonepersonyouwontremember]

🙃

[@amniamin22]

:)

[@Nizati]

(:

[@raebaer8580]

how hard do you think it was for Jon to refrain from making a doctor who joke?

[@The-Busy-Beeeee]

It’s a crime there’s not more 💀💀💀

[@hillsophie334]

[SOUNDS OF BRUTAL PEER REVIEW] im dying lol

[@ollieri]

helen saying "gasp!" out loud i lover her

[@F0rsythi4]

I’ve heard “I love you” a million times from friends, family and my boyfriend. BUT EVERY SINGLE TIME THOSE TWO SAY IT TO EACH OTHER JABSKWBWNRKSKWELSSS

[@pasha6000]

"aww thank you sweetie~" god i love her

[@rorygiambalvo2955]

Martin's Domain is a mix of the Eye and the Lonely, but he can also be trapped in a Lonely domain and fed off of. So either Domain-holders that aren't full "Avatars" can still be Watched to a degree, or maybe a Domain-holder can still be affected by Domains within that same fear? I wonder if we'll come across any Eye-specific domains.

[@maple...]

"It must make sense. There must be a system!" -roy giambalvo

[@bleddynwolf8463]

also spiral, but that could be Smirke's influence

[@baguetteofchaos7083]

I think the cemetery one before they found the oasis kind of was. I saw a comment saying it was the fear of going to your abusers funeral but it was really more the fear others finding out about/seeing any of your hatred toward the dead.

[@reesespuffs_13]

I'm literally screaming- "I'm sure I love you" "I love you too" MY HEART CAN'T TAKE THIS

[@oak_w00d89]

Why is no one talking about Tim at the beginning? Hearing his voice again fills me with deep depression

[@phoenixbloomshadowsong7253]

Didn't Jon mention his domain back at the carousel?, and Martin said he didn't wanna know? Im gussing its just been long enough he forgot.. a lot has happened since then..

[@monke2229]

For all the horrible things in this season this is actually the most calm I've felt listening to a season because of Martin's and Jon's interactions throughout. Love through the apocalypse I guess :')

[@lyx8039]

"It's very simple, if you don't think about it" Helen did you know you are my favorite character

[@FiendTheWhacked]

So my second full listen through of the series, I listened on youtube instead of spotify, and read along with the comments to see people's thoughts on the series. There was one person who's name I can't recall, who was trying to fit the fears into patterns, balance them out, assign each an opposite, kept trying to force the theory to work, speculating that there were other unknown fears to balance out the ones they didn't think fit. Each time I saw a comment from them, I thought of 151(Big Picture), and of this one, the fate that awaits those who try to 'do the maths' in regards to fear.

[@Badficwriter]

It makes me think of the biological computers they're making. Human brain cells are grown in a liquid environment, some kind of connected circuitry. Its not a real brain, but enough higher neurons to fire patterns. And they found that the neurons LIKE patterns. Getting patterns seems to make the neurons happy. The neurons DON'T like chaos. Ungood. When I read this, it was so funny to realize that was one of existence's most basic drives. The creation of patterns, growing them, creating storage patterns for those other patterns. There would be no life if the nonliving things didn't start organizing and creating those weird little RNA constructs. Whatever made US, wants patterns so much, it will create pattern where there was none before.

[@mimkyodar]

Oh Helen. Look at you, such a good friend.

[@racoon_in_ankhmorpork]

Hearing the “I’m sure I love you” “I love you too” ARGGHHH I’m in public but I couldn’t stop myself from slamming a hand on my mouth in delighted surprise :))))))))) my heart is so full with this

[@Ausynja]

I love Jon's humour! XD And I love Helen! Oh woe is me!

[@Badficwriter]

I feel the same about Elias. Such an awful person. I hate to see what happens to him, that he so richly deserves, and I will miss him so.

[@laurahenriksen19]

Yep. I died. That was horrific and sweetness incarnate x

[@pyrosianheir]

This is one of the domains that intrigues me the most. Which maybe means it's one of the ones where I could have ended up, all things considered... Oh right, Helen exists! Shame she had to ruin the lovely flirty mood that Jon and Martin had going.

[@faxonii]

[SOUNDS OF BRUTAL PEER REVIEW]

[@lel1160]

okay helen is a babe and i love her, the [brutal peer review] comments killed me (like the peer review killed the professor) and THAT END THOSE WORDS I WANT TO SCREAM

[@melshinta2966]

AL;SDKJFAS;DFJASDL;FJ HELEN BLOWING JON A RASPBERRY!!! XDDDDD "OH BLPPPPPPPP!" I love her so much XD--ALSO EXCUSE ME??? MARTIN HAS A DOMAIN!!!!!?????

[@midnights2631]

Hearing Jon and Martin say "I love you" to each warmed my heart, I want them to be happy.

[@FurKid_the_Gg_roo_99]

PFF-

[@quentinschrader7104]

I love Helen so much I cannot even describe it

[@merryscooter519]

“ gasp 😐⁉️ „ helen . . ily . 😭

[@jamesmortimer4016]

Hi Alex! Hi Mike!

[@erinbathie-moore8478]

Jon and Martin being a healthy wholesome couple gives me life. Also Helen? Amazing! Very antagonistic, very fun.

[@chronos5882]

Oh my soul can't handle the sudden "I love You"s, I will treasure this T^T

[@SunlightHugger]

"I'm sure I love you." Ohhh, this is gonna come back to bite, isn't it

[@atomykebonpyre]

I know his domain is actively described as being mostly eye and lonely but I feel like there's a significant spiral theme in the monument too.

[@faxonii]

[CLICK] [FOOTSTEPS SET AGAINST A FAINT BACKDROP OF SLOW STONE MOVEMENTS] MARTIN Oh, bugger off! ARCHIVIST Everything alright? MARTIN Oh, no, w-w-what even is that? I-It’s like Escher ate a bad cathedral and threw up everywhere. ARCHIVIST It’s a building. A tower, in a sense. MARTIN Oh yeah? And what sense might that be? ARCHIVIST [Faintly ominous] The Tarot sense. [MARTIN SPLUTTERS WITH LAUGHTER] MARTIN Really? ARCHIVIST What? No. Sorry, it… felt like a good line. MARTIN No, no, it was. I just… I dunno, I… you did the look and… It’s fine, sorry. What, what’s the deal, though? Parts of it almost look like - ARCHIVIST The Institute. MARTIN Yeah. THE ARCHIVIST Yes. It makes sense. After all, it was built on the ruins of what Robert Smirke constructed. MARTIN Smirke? … What? No. But, but, surely he’s - ARCHIVIST Dead? Yes. Very much so. This place is… an homage, shall we say. A monument. To him and those like him, who tried to… categorise the world with themselves at the centre. In so doing, constructed the architecture of its suffering. MARTIN Bit of a mouthful. ARCHIVIST Would you prefer I described it as a cascading recursion of shifting arrogance and hubristic dead-ends? [DOOR OPENS] HELEN I would. [DOOR SHUTS] MARTIN [Weary] Hello Helen. Might have guessed you’d be into weird architecture. Very much your area of expertise, no? HELEN Hmm, depends. Would you describe ‘petulant poet’ as your area of expertise? I am weird architecture. Anyway, where have you been? I’ve been looking for you, but you both just vanished. ARCHIVIST Ah. Right. I see. HELEN I was so looking forward to catching up after that whole Basira and Daisy thing, but then pfft! You both disappear. I’d be very keen to know how you managed that little trick. MARTIN Why, it caught us by surprise too. I mean, w-we actually ended - ARCHIVIST [Firmly] We found somewhere to take a rest. That’s all. MARTIN Oh, yeah. Ah. Yes. HELEN Fine. Be like that. I can appreciate the particular pleasure of a kept secret. ARCHIVIST I’m sure you can. HELEN Anyway, such a shame about Basira and Daisy. I was really rooting for them to make up. MARTIN [Splutters] Since when? What happened to - I mean, how did you put it… “A quick shot to the back of the head, and then back in time for tea”, or whatever? [HELEN GIVES AN EXASPERATED SIGH] HELEN Oh give over. I was obviously just prodding her, trying to make a point. She didn’t want to kill her. ARCHIVIST What we want doesn’t matter much these days. [HELEN MAKES A RASPBERRY NOISE] HELEN Oh nonsense. What we want is the only thing that matters these days. And Basira wanted to join Daisy. ARCHIVIST She made her choice. HELEN With your assistance. ARCHIVIST It was still her choice. HELEN [Sighing] What a waste. ARCHIVIST No. It wasn’t. MARTIN Basira is… She’s going to be okay. HELEN Oh, is she? Do you want me to tell you what she’s been up to while you were ‘resting’? Where she is right now? ARCHIVIST You don’t need to. I already know. MARTIN I don’t. [FAINT STATIC AS THE ARCHIVIST SEES] ARCHIVIST She’s currently moving through “The Void.” Hungry shadows drifting in the dark. She’s been there a long time, now, struggling to find the path. MARTIN But she will. ARCHIVIST I think so. HELEN Yeah, she does always seem to manage, doesn’t she? It’s impressive, although a little bit… tempting at times. MARTIN Look, Helen, what do you even want? You keep turning up like a bad penny, and - Honestly, it seems like it’s… it’s just to be a dick! HELEN Gasp! I am trying to be friends, Martin. Forever is a long time. And I occasionally like to have some company that isn’t screaming. MARTIN What do you even think friendship is? HELEN I dunno, do I? The only personhood I have is from someone I ate. MARTIN You always said you were Helen. HELEN I am. I also ate her. It’s very simple, as long as you don’t think about it. MARTIN Look. Listen, I’m getting really sick of all thi- ARCHIVIST Leave it, Martin. She’s just trying to get under your skin. MARTIN Yeah? Well, she’s really good at it! HELEN Aww. Thanks, sweetie. But to be honest, I’m mainly just here to see which path you choose. MARTIN What do you mean? HELEN Well, you know, I need to know how much of a welcome mat to roll out. MARTIN Hang on… ARCHIVIST Martin, I’d prefer we talk about this alone. HELEN Oh, I bet you would. You were probably just going to bypass it entirely, weren’t you? I can’t believe you would deny him the choice to see his own domain. MARTIN My… my wha- John, my what? ARCHIVIST … [Sighing] I was going to bring it up at the crossroads. Inside. I only just realised we would be going this way. MARTIN I have a domain? ARCHIVIST Yes. [HELEN MAKES A CRINGING NOISE] HELEN Awkward! Right, well. Well, this very much seems like a conversation the two of you should be having alone. So I’ll, I’ll be off, then. ARCHIVIST Watching from a distance? HELEN The Eye rules everything, Archivist. We’re all snoops now! [DOOR OPENS] Ciao! [FOOTSTEPS] [DOOR SHUTS] [SILENCE OF THE WASTELAND]

[@faxonii]

ARCHIVIST Martin… MARTIN Are there people, John? ARCHIVIST What? MARTIN Are there people in my domain? ARCHIVIST Not many. MARTIN … Do you need to do… your thing? Make a statement about whatever’s going on in there? I could use a moment to think. ARCHIVIST Sure thing. Yeah. I’ll… Yeah. [FOOTSTEPS] [STATIC RISES] [THE SOUND OF SHIFTING, SLIDING, STONE UNDERSCORES THE STATEMENT] ARCHIVIST (STATEMENT) They scratch and scrape and scamper down the halls of icy granite, fingers that end in jagged nails probing, eager, desperate for the wide and stately passages of marble they are so convinced are just around the corner. This corner? No, the next one? Surely soon, it must be soon, yes, I have simply misplaced it for a moment. They scrabble over smoothly shifting steps that grow and shrink to hidden whims, and argue about the angle with nobody. If they are feeling very confident, they may lean down and stretch a curious tongue beyond their chipped teeth and rotten gums, desperate to add another sense to their observances, more evidence to support their declaration of what the world must be. Their beards are long and matted with their prevaricating spittle, and their hair is kept loose, hanging over their faces to hide the looks of confusion and fear. There is a way out of here. There must be a way out of here. There is a pattern to the movements, an unseen system to the shifting of the doors and the opening of the tunnels. It simply takes observation and thought and patience and, above all else, intelligence. And that is what these men have in abundance. Intellects sharpened to the keen edge as a chef might sharpen their knife. They have spent their lives in holy objectivity, cleaving one Gordian Knot after another in the arena of publication and debate. They must simply study and learn if they are to escape the labyrinth. They will be the first to escape. The one who sits in the central chamber cannot remember his name. But he knows that people called him ‘doctor’. He made sure of that. To ignore it would have been the greatest disrespect and he will not be disrespected. Doctor…uh, something, has been waiting here for a long time, timing and observing the rotations of the passageways above him. He knows for a fact that this is the central chamber because he is the one sat here. For his observations to make any sense they must be made from the centre of this place, and this is where he is observing from, so it stands to reason that it is the centre. The only firm and solid place in a cacophony of undulating architecture; the only point from which it may be solved. How long has he been watching now? Scratching his notes and formulae into his skin with a fragment of splintered obsidian. It does not matter, time means nothing in the pursuit of knowledge, and he has no concerns except the solution. And he has cracked it. His mouth breaks into a smile, lip splitting in the grin, spilling a drop or two of scarlet onto skin so pale as to now be near-translucent. He has seen the others pointlessly wandering the halls, of course. Simpering pretenders claiming to see patterns when they are only being led by the siren call of their pathetic little biases. Their ridiculous pet theories. Not like him. They’ll remember him forever, the first to escape the Monument. His name will be hallowed with the greats: Doctor…uh… Doctor… It doesn’t matter. There will be time enough for names and gloating and awards once his achievement is secured. And now is the time to put it to the test, to prove once and for all that his peers are ignorant amateurs beside him, who can finally boast that he has found the key to the system in which they all struggle. He begins to walk, calmly, and with a measured certainty, to the east. Figuring out which way was east was the first step, and the most simplistic one, for the central chamber in which he had positioned himself received a ray of light from above at regular intervals that could only be sunlight. And thus it was a simple matter to track the course of the light to determine which direction was east and which was west. Once he had noticed that, it was all about keeping a close eye on the timing of the shifts, cross-referenced with the compass-point. In a westward direction, the corridors would invert every forty-seven seconds and shift incline every twenty, as well as growing a door to a staircase every two minutes. The staircase would be always be descending except for every fifth door, which would go up and twist to the north. And just like that, he had plucked order from what would, to any of the other charlatans that wandered this prison of geometry, appear to be true chaos. It was east that he travelled now, however, because every eighty seconds, the second corridor to the east made a sharp upwards inversion, leading to a full minute where every seven seconds a door would sprout from the ground. Only the first of these doors would lead you through to the true path that will- A dead end. Wait. No. This… wasn’t right. The first of the doors would lead him… Maybe that wasn’t the first of the doors. But it, it was, it was the first door. But that would mean… No, he, he was right, he was certain, he had factored in all the timings. This didn’t make sense. It, it wasn’t fair! He had the answer! He - [SOUND OF BODY FALLING, HITTING STONE AND CRACKING] The ground opens up below the poor, panicking doctor. He barely has time to register before he is tumbling, falling, smashing bone and cracking skull on the stairs and columns he impacts on his descent, one after another. But it is not the fall that terrifies him, not the pain of the impacts, but the fact that none of them should be there. That it doesn’t make sense. And it must make sense. There must be a system. There must be, because if there isn’t… [THE BODY LANDS WETLY] He lands with a heavy smack onto rough limestone and lies still, his body twisted and broken. He knows it will knit itself back together, slowly, painfully, as it always has before. But the thought of starting over, of composing yet another theory, fills him with a deep dread. The broken doctor is not alone in the room where he now lies. Another figure, stooped and mumbling, staining bloody notes into a torn and discoloured robe glances over at him. A sneer passes across the cracked face of the doctor. He knows this man, a ‘professor’, at least he puffs himself up to be. His curled lip is reflected in the face of this pretender, who scampers over to where he fell, chunks of stone clutched tight in pink and bloody hands. ‘I told you,’ the professor gloats, ‘that your precious compass-point rubric is nonsense. It’s all about the stone, the rocks that make up this place. You see, here we have the limestone, here the granite. Taste it. No? Your loss. I have also identified basalt and slate in varying qualities shot through the staircases in veins. Now, if we ascribe a hierarchy of spiritual purity to these stones, with the hypothetical, but inevitable, marble at the top, then it is will be a simple matter of following the current of these stones through the-’ The doctor that lies on the floor has recovered just enough to laugh. ‘You’re still working on mineral theory? How painfully outdated.’ A flash of genuine fear crosses the face of the professor at this dismissal, before he picks up his chunk of granite, and begins to smash the doctor’s head in yet again. [SOUNDS OF BRUTAL PEER REVIEW, AS THE STATIC RISES AGAIN]

[@faxonii]

[FOOTSTEPS] MARTIN Finished? ARCHIVIST Yes. MARTIN Good. … I need you to explain something to me. ARCHIVIST Alright. MARTIN How do I have a domain? That doesn’t make any sense. ARCHIVIST It’s like I said. Everything here is either watcher or watched. MARTIN Subject or object, yes, I know, we’ve been over this. ARCHIVIST Well, you’re a watcher, Martin. You worked for the Institute, you read statements. The Eye is… fond of you. You’re not getting thrown into your own personal hell, which means… MARTIN [Quietly] That one of them belongs to me. But that’s… H-How can I be a ‘Watcher’? I didn’t even know it existed! ARCHIVIST But you’ve suspected for a while now, haven’t you? MARTIN Maybe. But that’s not ‘watching’! ARCHIVIST Do you want me to tell you about it? MARTIN No. Yes. N-No. No. I don’t know. [SEEING STATIC RISES] ARCHIVIST It’s a small domain. A swirling mix of The Eye and The Lonely. Inhabited by a few lost souls whose fear is not of their isolation or their agonies, but that no-one will ever know of them. That they shall suffer in silence, and be mourned by nobody. That’s why you can’t really see it. It’s why even if we do travel through it, you won’t be able to see any of the people trapped there. MARTIN But I’m not an avatar. ARCHIVIST [Heated] Avatar isn’t a thing, Martin! It’s not- It’s just a word. A word used by… fools like Smirke to try and sort everything into neat little boxes, to reduce the messy spray of human fear into a checklist: Human, avatar, monster, victim. Only now, now there’s a binary. There’s finally a clear dividing line and, well, I’m sorry you’re not happy with which side you’ve ended up on. MARTIN What about Daisy? Or Basira? ARCHIVIST Daisy carved through the domains of others. Basira, well… in a very real way, she was a sufferer in Daisy’s domain. Maybe the only one. Hunting, following, hurting. Now Daisy’s dead… she’s free. Sort of. She’s inherited something of Daisy’s ability to move through the other domains. For now, she’ll feed off what she sees in them. As to whether the Eye ultimately gives her a domain of her own… I don’t know yet. MARTIN You didn’t tell her any of that. ARCHIVIST I didn’t think the metaphysics of her place in the fear ecosystem was something she’d be particularly interested in at that moment. MARTIN Fair. But you seem very reluctant to tell anyone any of this stuff. ARCHIVIST I did try, right at the start, but you didn’t seem to want to talk about it, so I didn’t push it. It’s hard, I have so much knowledge but… how do I decide what people want me to share, and what they never want to know? MARTIN I guess that makes sense. … So What did you mean about the crossroads? When you were talking to Helen? ARCHIVIST It’s a maze in there. Something between a, a Rubik’s Cube and a Magic Eye picture. I can find us the way through easily enough but, well, for us, there are two ways out. Two paths to London. MARTIN What are the choices? ARCHIVIST One would be a long, winding route. We’d see a lot of horrors, but remain personally untouched. MARTIN And the other is my domain? ARCHIVIST Eventually. It’s a shorter path. With faces we know along the way. Including Helen. MARTIN I thought Helen was her domain, with all the doors and that? ARCHIVIST She is, but she has a position within this… pseudo-landscape like any other. MARTIN O-Okay. So, so, I mean, I suppose we’ve got to do that one, right? ARCHIVIST We don’t have to. W-We could just - MARTIN What? What? We, we could dodge around it? Take the path of denial? I guess. But… what is it you keep harping on about? ‘The journey will be the journey’? I mean… It’s pretty obvious this one is my journey. ARCHIVIST If you’re sure. MARTIN … I’m sure I love you. [FOOTSTEPS] ARCHIVIST I love you too. [FABRIC RUSTLES] Let’s go. [CLICK]

[@DungeonMistressC]

Thank you!

[@heatherhansen1453]

I'm sure i LOVE you I love you too The apocalypse is for LOVERS

[@agent_star]

slightly worried now, im going to guess Jon has a domain and that thought scares me

[@semiengima]

I listened this out of order so I am all over the place lol

[@zinganeatsr4011]

I wonder how Mike feels knowing that he’s making people cry just from hearing his voice. He’s just reading out a sponsor yet I’m weeping

[@bonsaidraws162]

if i threw helen into the sun do you think itd make a sizzle sound

[@spectatormoon9800]

I have now realised that Martin's domain would be my little hell. Hmmmmmm. Cause I enjoy organizing and Knowing things. I've got to know things. Otherwise I serve no purpose. And I want to be remembered. At least by someone.

[@Idran]

oh this isn't Martin's domain Helen meant that Jon was choosing a route that specifically avoided Martin's domain without telling him, not that they were at his domain and Jon wasn't telling Martin it was his

[@spectatormoon9800]

@@Idran Ohhhhhh thank you

[@laurengardella9524]

"I'm sure I love you " Martin "I'm sure I love you too" Jon Me: squealing with joy 💚🌈✨😭

[@alecxexists3046]

6:10 Martin: I always said you were Helen Helen: I am also ate her ALSO 21:54 AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH

[@takeoats]

love is a real thing fr tma invented it

[@BeautifulEarthJa]

The feels!

[@cultofthebloodgod429]

Wow jon way to steal helens thunder

[@ann-margretparke9525]

Two roads diverged in a hell scape, and I … I took the path less windy. Doesn’t have the same ring to it.

[@darlingpharrow4035]

21:53 i’m sobbing “i’m sure i love you”

[@alexisricardoalejandrecarr7361]

-The eye likes you Martin Sure it does especially since his avatar likes him too

[@destiny5321]

i want someone to hold my hand through the apocalypse.

[@BoxofMadness]

"avatar isn't a thing martin" clearly this was after m night shaymalans version

[@lety18chula]

I wanted to die until I heard Jon and Martin saying they love each other :')

[@mariegray9397]

Does anyone know what Martin says in the beginning? "What even is that? It's like _____ ate a bad cathedral and threw up everywhere"

[@rebeccahauer4406]

"Escher", as in the famous surrealist artist

[@mariegray9397]

@@rebeccahauer4406 Thank you! That makes so much sense. I was searching for an architect called Escher and obviously couldn't find anything.

@@mariegray9397 He was known for making paintings of impossible places and architectures, like stairs that endlessly continued into each other or self-contained rooms.

[@mariegray9397]

@ The weird thing is that I actually know him. I was in art school, but somehow totally unable to make the connection XD

[@neither_emonor_punk9355]

Helen is still the best she just went *blpppp* at The Archivist what an icon da hubris dudes deserved BRUTAL PEER REVIEW, hate that tipe of self-indulgent scientists (to clarify, I LOVE science and people who explore it, just not the elderly assholes) JONMARTIN IS BLOSSOMING THIS SEASON OMG

[@charmsthewitch]

Teared up so hard at the end I started sneezing 😭

[@FingerLickinEvilToTheBone]

Who else got confused as freck because this wasn’t in the season 5 playlist

[@SaYhITOme253]

This hits me hard, i mentally NEED order. If something is wrong, is not how it should be in my brain. I cant cope. The hardships of being autistic, with a literary mind.

[@dennis-ih8og]

i actually CAN believe they made an episode about fear of academia jdbdjdndkdjdkfnkfnfjfnfj

[@NoOne-bi4kc]

Snoopers gonna snoop

[@jankachowski]

Helen's a charmer; Tim's voice a major bummer.

[@Laughable-Umbrella]

When i read the first trigger warning i literally threw my arms up in joy

[@heathrackleff2178]

Helen cracks me the heck up!

[@teleutenachtigaller2762]

*GASP* (I love you Helen)

[@raebaer8580]

by far my favorite episode

[@rory1336]

Another domain that may capture me, damn good, damn bad, brilliant

[@Ghostito-cs2rr]

I think I've been watching too much doctor who cause i couldnt even pay attention to what was going on because of the doctor

[@Badficwriter]

It feels so wrong to laugh hysterically at the climax of this statement.

[@laurahenriksen19]

Only 30 likes? Wth! 😊

[@RandallStephens397]

why is the playlist scrambled after 182?

[@empanado8304]

this ep gives me the stanley parable vibes a bit

[@wonderwhatsgonnahappen579]

Im sure i love you I love you too... Me single af: 😢

[@katg5746]

❤Martin is such a mush😭😭

[@casvirgile]

MARTIN HAS A DOMAIN OMG I NEEDA SEE

[@somnia268]

giggling and kicking my feet

[@rosechan4999]

The hug!!!!

[@chloemoore4623]

I

[@ANIMAfelis]

Is it me, or was John doing a bit of poetry in the statement??? 😅

[@ROBOCAM3000]

the avatar of this domain is cyriak harris

[@HawkHermaphroditius]

NOBODY IS MENTIONING THAT MARTIN HAS A DOMAIN

[@casswohlgemuth194]

I know we're probably supposed to hate her but I fucking love Helen and how she gives absolutely zero fucks.

[@meganminer9931]

Am I caught up?

[@maguc5906]

There's episodes on the spotify, up to episode 198 i think

[@dragoncult666]

17:26 21:54

[@cezar3169]

its always nice to see Jon and Martn being as normal as they can be in their new world and Helen is an always welcome bonus spoiler: HELEN'S DEAD! I am both livid and relieved that Jon killed her. (she doesn't die in this ep tho so thank god)

[@teleutenachtigaller2762]

Next time, put spoilers a little bit lower in the comment pretty please ( i kinda spoiled this bit myself earlier, so it doesn't matter to me that much)

[@SunnyCapricious]

5:41

[@mayanah.2875]

CLICK] [FOOTSTEPS SET AGAINST A FAINT BACKDROP OF SLOW STONE MOVEMENTS] MARTIN Oh, bugger off! ARCHIVIST Everything alright? MARTIN Oh, no, w-w-what even is that? I-It’s like Escher ate a bad cathedral and threw up everywhere. ARCHIVIST It’s a building. A tower, in a sense. MARTIN Oh yeah? And what sense might that be? ARCHIVIST [Faintly ominous] The Tarot sense. [MARTIN SPLUTTERS WITH LAUGHTER] MARTIN Really? ARCHIVIST What? No. Sorry, it… felt like a good line. MARTIN No, no, it was. I just… I dunno, I… you did the look and… It’s fine, sorry. What, what’s the deal, though? Parts of it almost look like - ARCHIVIST The Institute. MARTIN Yeah. THE ARCHIVIST Yes. It makes sense. After all, it was built on the ruins of what Robert Smirke constructed. MARTIN Smirke? … What? No. But, but, surely he’s - ARCHIVIST Dead? Yes. Very much so. This place is… an homage, shall we say. A monument. To him and those like him, who tried to… categorise the world with themselves at the centre. In so doing, constructed the architecture of its suffering. MARTIN Bit of a mouthful. ARCHIVIST Would you prefer I described it as a cascading recursion of shifting arrogance and hubristic dead-ends? [DOOR OPENS] HELEN I would. [DOOR SHUTS] MARTIN [Weary] Hello Helen. Might have guessed you’d be into weird architecture. Very much your area of expertise, no? HELEN Hmm, depends. Would you describe ‘petulant poet’ as your area of expertise? I am weird architecture. Anyway, where have you been? I’ve been looking for you, but you both just vanished. ARCHIVIST Ah. Right. I see. HELEN I was so looking forward to catching up after that whole Basira and Daisy thing, but then pfft! You both disappear. I’d be very keen to know how you managed that little trick. MARTIN Why, it caught us by surprise too. I mean, w-we actually ended - ARCHIVIST [Firmly] We found somewhere to take a rest. That’s all. MARTIN Oh, yeah. Ah. Yes. HELEN Fine. Be like that. I can appreciate the particular pleasure of a kept secret. ARCHIVIST I’m sure you can. HELEN Anyway, such a shame about Basira and Daisy. I was really rooting for them to make up. MARTIN [Splutters] Since when? What happened to - I mean, how did you put it… “A quick shot to the back of the head, and then back in time for tea”, or whatever? [HELEN GIVES AN EXASPERATED SIGH] HELEN Oh give over. I was obviously just prodding her, trying to make a point. She didn’t want to kill her. ARCHIVIST What we want doesn’t matter much these days. [HELEN MAKES A RASPBERRY NOISE] HELEN Oh nonsense. What we want is the only thing that matters these days. And Basira wanted to join Daisy. ARCHIVIST She made her choice. HELEN With your assistance. ARCHIVIST It was still her choice. HELEN [Sighing] What a waste. ARCHIVIST No. It wasn’t. MARTIN Basira is… She’s going to be okay. HELEN Oh, is she? Do you want me to tell you what she’s been up to while you were ‘resting’? Where she is right now? ARCHIVIST You don’t need to. I already know. MARTIN I don’t. [FAINT STATIC AS THE ARCHIVIST SEES] ARCHIVIST She’s currently moving through “The Void.” Hungry shadows drifting in the dark. She’s been there a long time, now, struggling to find the path. MARTIN But she will. ARCHIVIST I think so. HELEN Yeah, she does always seem to manage, doesn’t she? It’s impressive, although a little bit… tempting at times. MARTIN Look, Helen, what do you even want? You keep turning up like a bad penny, and - Honestly, it seems like it’s… it’s just to be a dick! HELEN Gasp! I am trying to be friends, Martin. Forever is a long time. And I occasionally like to have some company that isn’t screaming. MARTIN What do you even think friendship is? HELEN I dunno, do I? The only personhood I have is from someone I ate. MARTIN You always said you were Helen. HELEN I am. I also ate her. It’s very simple, as long as you don’t think about it. MARTIN Look. Listen, I’m getting really sick of all thi- ARCHIVIST Leave it, Martin. She’s just trying to get under your skin. MARTIN Yeah? Well, she’s really good at it! HELEN Aww. Thanks, sweetie. But to be honest, I’m mainly just here to see which path you choose. MARTIN What do you mean? HELEN Well, you know, I need to know how much of a welcome mat to roll out. MARTIN Hang on… ARCHIVIST Martin, I’d prefer we talk about this alone. HELEN Oh, I bet you would. You were probably just going to bypass it entirely, weren’t you? I can’t believe you would deny him the choice to see his own domain. MARTIN My… my wha- John, my what? ARCHIVIST … [Sighing] I was going to bring it up at the crossroads. Inside. I only just realised we would be going this way. MARTIN I have a domain? ARCHIVIST Yes. [HELEN MAKES A CRINGING NOISE] HELEN Awkward! Right, well. Well, this very much seems like a conversation the two of you should be having alone. So I’ll, I’ll be off, then. ARCHIVIST Watching from a distance? HELEN The Eye rules everything, Archivist. We’re all snoops now! [DOOR OPENS] Ciao! [FOOTSTEPS] [DOOR SHUTS] [SILENCE OF THE WASTELAND] ARCHIVIST Martin… MARTIN Are there people, John? ARCHIVIST What? MARTIN Are there people in my domain? ARCHIVIST Not many. MARTIN … Do you need to do… your thing? Make a statement about whatever’s going on in there? I could use a moment to think. ARCHIVIST Sure thing. Yeah. I’ll… Yeah. [FOOTSTEPS]