THE MAGNUS ARCHIVES

[@MochiPuff58]

That dude from the first few episodes who did everything he could to not open that casket SUCCESSFULLY is still smartest victim in the whole series.

[@kninenights]

Key in ice bowl was ingenious.

[@nanahuatli2144]

Yes, but I'm still weak for the ones who survived purely on being too unobservant or distracted to notice.

[@MochiPuff58]

Nanahuatli Karolina gorka and that plumber were MVPs

[@klltsun_2576]

Still one of my favorite episodes because of that. Love the surprise when they saw him still alive lol

[@paulcastle2019]

Especially since it moans everytime it rains. Which is apparently everyday in England.

[@tifftom2132]

jon really yanked that statement out huh...iconic

[@BlueCat201X]

"Mind if I borrow that for a while?" * yoinks out a piece of your memory *

[@f_mva]

he really TOOK his statement lmao

[@tangible.7244]

The successor of Gertrude indeed

[@malaizze]

Eye-conic

[@teaarson]

"statement... *extracted* from subject"

[@theWeaverofTales]

So what you're saying is.... it lost Hope?

[@apollyoniguess]

You, my friend, are a genius

[@vaishaliwarrier6610]

This is exactly what I though

[@vX-ter_]

This is the best TMA themed pun so far!

[@americantoastman7296]

Bruhhhhhh

[@TheSilversepiroth]

They made the joke/observation in lore & now I'm wondering if they did it because of this comment

[@mimkyodar]

Me over here, just looking at everyone in season 1 being like "I love how Jon puts on the voice, like a drama boy"

[@trucetruce335]

I mean, it’s not DISPROVED that he’s a theater nerd...

[@germanerd6148]

In a Q&A the writer said that while there is the mystical reason for jons reading that Jon also just likes beeing really dramatic - so theatre kid is still true

[@purplecatloverrandompizza]

Ooh. OH NO

[@briawilson9200]

I feel attacked lol

[@somnia268]

simpler times

[@nanahuatli2144]

That part at the beginning where he cuts off his sentence and then finishes it himself awkwardly and sadly, still used to having Hope finish for him. you're NOT allowed to make me feel this sad about creepy delivery men. I wasn't expecting our monsters to be able to love. (They still had it coming for taunting Daisy. That was a stupid thing to do).

[@coollittlegremlin7243]

That's right. Just wanted t- To drop off a package

[@worrrmytheripper]

NO BECAUSE AS SOON AS I HEARD THAT LITTLE PAUSE AND HURT IN HIS VOICE WHEN HE CONTINUED,, I STARTED TO TEAR UP

[@darthchungusTHEOG]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, for some reason my brain just decided that he was talking that way because he was hurt and recovering. I was better off not connecting the dots correctly this time!

[@thedistinguished5255]

1:49

[@cryptic_kay]

No fr, the second I heard the pause I was distraught, and the “not right on my own” 😭 like I know he’s a bad guy but I couldn’t imagine loosing my other half like that. Especially with how long they’ve been together

[@dragonsubway]

Y'all mind if I'm sad over two eldritch delivery men?

[@Gooberpotomous]

I am as well, I don't mind

[@unslept_em]

he lost his eldritch husband :(

[@Barely_Here]

yeah but holy shit, john is evolving his powers, and its bad ass

[@nightmerp5791]

same honestly, although they were also really just terrible beings but still. man. (also uh,,, hi from leroy's server??? i did not expect to see anyone from there here sfjsfl;sjkf)

[@macabrecitrus2127]

Yeah I feel for him... I mean they were awful and terrifying, but goddamn it must hurt :/ Story-wise I really like that even supernatural beings can feel loss and grief...

[@vivkaupish7621]

I can't believe Breekon and Hope were the "BRING OUT YOUR DEAD" guys

[@SorchaSublime]

I'm choosing to believe that one of them was the one from monty python

[@broblerone413]

I WAS THINKING THIS TOO XD

[@stephenderry9488]

"I'm not dead yet..."

[@kyberserpent6397]

This was just really sad honestly...for all parties involved. Everyone is very Alone this season...

[@rottinginthewoods5955]

Peter lukas: 😳

[@beltaya276]

peter lukas is hungry >.>

[@epiphanierosenstern5635]

It's not Peter Lukas fault it's The Sad

[@Ghostrecall_M]

Oh I see what you did there! **finger guns** Ha... ha... um, where did this fog come from?

[@bee8632]

Guess you could say they're all... Lonely

[@Iquey]

The breekon and hope guys are like a stranger pair but they're like Tweedle Doom and Tweedle Don't.

[@trucetruce335]

_Tweedle Doom and Tweedle Don’t_

[@victoriansquirrel]

They remind me so much of those two bad guys in Gaiman‘s „Neverwhere“ (who definitely were in a relationship too btw)

[@beltaya276]

hI$JKN#QEWUIJKN@QEWJKNdiujkn2`

[@River_StGrey]

Sharing this comment everywhere I can.

[@midnights2631]

I'm now going to refer them as that.

[@Companion92]

Now I feel bad for these monster delivery guys. But I also really like it, when Jon uses his powers like this

[@moonlight_scribe]

After hearing all they've done I find it pretty hard to feel bad for them.

[@harshadasamant6211]

Statement of remaining half of the being that calls itself breekon and hope... What a sentence!

[@xfrobie9773]

Statement... _E X T R A C T E D._

[@lisawilson1010]

I honestly feel bad for Breekon, he lost his other half and doesn't know what to do with himself. It broke my heart when he spoke and paused, waiting for Hope to finish his sentence :(

[@Takapon218]

John: *yoinking out a statement from Breekon’s mind* Basira: “right in front of my salad?”

[@neganick]

Jon can harness the power of the eye to harm aspects of the stranger! Makes sense. Everyone worries about Jon's humanity, am I the only one who would be too excited by superpowers to worry about my mortal soul?

[@Ace_Up_My_Sleeve]

No, I completely understand you. Me too tbh

[@lemmetalkaboutthis]

oh naw dude, same here - if I was student who heard one of the later recorded statements (especially the one where he jsut read an entire statement before realizing that it's written in French) I'd march my ass down there and demand to get in on the gig

[@kingofpoliwhirls7464]

Oh shit! I'm an idiot, I didn't even realize that's what was happening! I thought Jon's powers had just evolved to the point where he could rip statements out of people and, of course, that sounds like it hurts, but your thing makes way more sense. Of course an Avatar of The Stranger would hate having his soul read, having something Unknown becoming Known.

[@SadLizardPerson]

I honestly don't understand why would anyone be so hung up on staying human (whatever that is) when it's literally the worst possible position to be in when you have to deal with a bunch of supernatural shit

[@ThatOneArchivist]

@@SadLizardPersonbeing human is like a privilege in this society, anything less than can be beaten and squashed and anything more than can be burned or worshiped unwarranted. Alienated. Especially prevalent with the people John is around, constantly seeing him only as a monster. Who would want to be this thing if everyone hates you for it. Jon’s human enough to feel the need to be what people want him to be and unhuman enough to be AWESOME.

[@namaschu9418]

I always kinda enjoyed when Breekon and Hope appeared/ got mentioned. This fucking ripped my heart apart. It absolutely killed me when he paused and had to finish his own sentence and it was the longest expression of grief from all episodes. I mean you could hear in every sentence how much he missed him.

[@littleintrovert7469]

I really thought Breekon and Hope would last through the entire series. Everyone is lonely in this season.

[@namaschu9418]

@@littleintrovert7469 everyone is lonely and suffers 😔

[@JulianneChua]

@@littleintrovert7469 figures. I blame Peter.

[@flying_pig_girl]

Imagine being an icon like Basira. What an absolute legend.

[@littleintrovert7469]

@Lana Douberly honestly

[@sunnlovesorange]

u've got a point, she's an icon, she's a legend, and she is the moment. now, cmon now -wendy williams

[@implodingcolon1058]

She's kind of a prick

[@imalittlelady]

Breekon mentions Hope’s laugh a lot.. he must’ve really loved that laughter…

[@AnanasVert]

"I ate the quartermaster's pen. He ate the quartermaster's tongue. And that was that." Okidoki!

[@theprideling]

What was that you were saying about Jon recording them to death, Elias? Also "He's lost. No partner, no purpose" Yeah... saying that to Basira's face Jon. Ouch.

[@mimkyodar]

Knowledge doesn't mean understanding. :P

[@neither_emonor_punk9355]

not me feeling sorry for eldritch delivery husbands... also, Breekon literally refers to ANY human as "them". only fellow abominations seem to deserve gendered pronouns?? Jon is a badass but he LITERALLY FELL FROM THE CHAIR after reading the statement. Basira deserves all the respect and more, keep it up queen

[@fossilfighters101]

anbas (assinged nonbinary by Stranger)

[@horizonpenblade1288]

Didn't he refer to Daisy as an 'it' in this one?

[@stranger666karma7]

​@@horizonpenblade1288gender neutral terminology (derogatory) Unless you wanna go by it/its then that's totally cool :D

[@Amy-oo7mm]

​@@horizonpenblade1288 I thought he referred to Daisy with masculine pronouns (not including John relaying the statement). The CC seems to support that. Then again, I've seen several examples of it being wrong, so... I'm not entirely sure.

[@Hey.its.lucy21]

I love the touch of Basira saying she was sent meet the “new boss” but she just stood alone in an office for an hour, because that is the boss now The Lonely

[@jamesmortimer4016]

No Homo, The magnus archives episode

[@macabrecitrus2127]

Two bros, chilling in a delivery van, not five feet apart cause they're quite gay

[@io_online]

I figured they were sort of twins

[@idasowa9225]

@@io_online Aren't twins locked in a perpetual state of being platonically gay for each other?

[@amandanaoexiste]

@@io_online twin flames ofc

[@skyclaude8847]

Jon just keeps sighing and everyone's angry or trying to ignore him. Everyone's just... alone. I mean it sounds right since their boss is the avatar for The Lonely I guess...

[@marylii04]

I was already excited about this season because of the whole avatar Jon thing, but upon hearing "statement *extracted* from subject," I almost screamed

[@Deadflower019]

*Jon slides papers off his desk.* "Who needs this _parchment_ anyway, huh??"

[@eabhaishere4558]

Catch me crying in the club about sad eldritch delivery man angsting about his dead boyfriend

[@justeundonut-moi.7979]

*husband

[@meloncaaat2050]

I literally just commented last ep that Jon was disadvantaged in powers and he just fricken killed a man

[@mimkyodar]

Nah, Breekon's alive.

[@fluffsnake]

bruhhh Jon using his powers like that sent a chill down my spine also did he just collapse in his chair when he finished? ;-;

[@theprideling]

He might have fallen off entirely, poor dude

[@shadowcattt]

Yep

[@Spider.0777]

He's so fine and I'm tired of pretending he's not

[@anomienormie8126]

amazing how Jon emulated the delivery man's voice

[@arifhossain9751]

*Breekon* here was once human I believe. Being under the Stranger's control _would_ remove you of any inkling of identity, be it yours or anything else's. He's also further proof that patronage to multiple fears is possible. So... The Stranger is a delivery mechanism for all other fears, eh? Yeah, that makes sense in a psychological way. Losing all recognition is the perfect delivery method for fear.

[@kingsaracoon9594]

Ooh nicely worded

[@tylerasw5103]

Except we also know that there are other _things,_ other beings that exist. The vampires, the things that make up the Hive, the servants of the Spiral. I don’t think that everything we see has ever been human. We know that everything we see at least comes from the fears _of_ humans, but I don’t think too many of them ever were humans.

[@Iquey]

Idk if all of them are former humans either. The Strangers seem among the most inhuman ones and yet they thrive off mimicking and parodying people and sometimes other animals.

[@himeow7454]

Was he actually ever human, though? There's really nothing suggesting he may have been human aside from his ability to feel sad about losing his partner.

[@arifhossain9751]

Well... most of them were human once. A few non-human entities i can currently think of are the Ex Altiora Lightning creature, The Darkness beast that hunts the Montauks, Nikola, and to some degree, Michael/Helen the distortion. I say the distortion "wasnt human" because before Michael got snatched it was pretty much formless and probably even benign compared to the other fear creatures. Probably just snacked on a few dimwitted urban explorers in "haunted houses". The weird mechanism that lets it merge with the people that finds its heart is hard to explain, but I think its intentional. If the hallways represents the concept of a fixed, confined reality, the heart represents the truth. That reality is not walls and mirrors, things that can be felt, seen, touched, tasted, heard and experienced... Reality is just electrical impulses. An illusion to keep the mere mortals from ascending beyond their puny prisons of flesh and become.... well... whatever that thing is staring at you from behind the mirror. And so anyone who reaches the heart just becomes the hallway. Cos who needs lungs and a heart when you can have carpets and fancy wooden wall fixtures. *I call dibs on the Mahogany*

[@sherbeauxs]

[BREEKON VOICE] i miss my husband, archivist. i miss him a lot. ill be back

[@ThatMothThoth.]

they felt more like brothers than husbands tbh

[@eitakou]

Is that a SnapCube Eggman reference 😂😂

[@f_mva]

lukas' lonely vendetta really is working wonders huh. it's not just martin, everyone is distant. he even separated the departments, like basira said. i hate it✨

[@TenjoTengeCT]

Basira is such a badass tbh. Also I'm so glad Daisy is alive, not so much that she is trapped in a perpetual nightmare tho. Basira, go rescue your wife already!

[@arifhossain9751]

We lost a Melanie and we're gonna gain back a Daisy. Hunt is easier to control than Slaughter anyway.

[@johnpears9558]

@Arif Hossain I want Tim back tho

[@itstictac2825]

Totally agree with you two, though I have some suspicions Elias is going to try to convert Basira to something, Hunt or Slaughter I don't know, but he definitely wants something tied to a "violent" one to be a "defender", right?

[@arifhossain9751]

@@itstictac2825 i am all caught up and let me tell you in the least spoilery way possible... basira and daisy are like... identical in power level.

[@tylerasw5103]

Honestly I’m just super surprised that Elias is so chill with non-beholder babies working in the Institute. Literally a servant of The Lonely is leading them right now! Like what??? And every other assistant is basically serving some other non-Eye entity. The entities don’t seem to throw fits about exclusivity until folks reach avatar level, but still. It’s weird.

[@johnpears9558]

@Tyler ASW Hunters in theory can work for all the powers since the hunt isn’t really focused on a ritual.

[@thatbleak1860]

Heavy goods. Yeah that's my ass' name

[@broblerone413]

i was looking for a comment about that line

[@Arya-el9ps]

bro I just realised..... Basira is the only one who isn't marked by any entity, I really hope it stays the same

[@trin-is-late]

Basira "I can trust ME not YOU Jon" haring off on Elias' word is quite the sight

[@Badficwriter]

I stopped trusting her the minute we found out she started by lying to Jon. She has the asshole cop personality: everything is up to her, she doesn't have to prove anything, blatant unfairness. She has a sliver of humanity to not murder innocents, but her judgement is extremely narrow. Jon is no longer human, and therefore no longer an innocent. Which is horribly hypocritical, considering what her partner serves, and maybe her, according to the dreams they both had.

[@Peach-mb7uo]

'he ate the quartermasters tongue' o. o diD hE?

[@trucetruce335]

“Eating tongue” sounds like slang for French kissing to me

[@maryagrimm8412]

finally our bro's the delivery service dudes get a backstory! They've been with us since episode 3 amiright

[@saurabhsharma6939]

Episode 2.... But yes

[@clovercard22]

Can Jon get a breather from people being angry/suspicious at him for everything he does? Some polite sympathy at least? Not much, tbh I would be satisfied with a mere pat in the back after he does his best for the 1000 time. Anyway that was so badass.

[@nanahuatli2144]

Even Georgie left him. :(

[@f_mva]

jon: hey i used my freaky powers that im deathly afraid of to get more info on where your friend is basira: ok. fuck you. don't talk to me

[@mechengr1731]

@@f_mva to be fair, going to get her 'friend' would be like opening Pandoras box (a) it goes to the buried, whatever that means (b) they probably can't get her out (c) the person going to get her will be trapped as well (d) if they somehow get Daisy out, there probably won't be enough left of her for it to matter

[@shewolfblacklink1062]

Why is nobody talking about how awesome Jon sounded when he used the cool Watcher voice. I'm gonna lose my mind. I've been repeating it for like ten minutes.

[@penusbutter4182]

oh... breekon is without hope...

[@Nizati]

Breeken lost his Hope... something kinda strangely sad about that.

[@sherbeauxs]

"And she doesn’t get to die for that. She gets to live, trapped and helpless, and entombed forever. No prey, no hunt." haha hell yeah! :) acab!

[@SorchaSublime]

All cops are bustards but especially section 31 hunt avatars

[@lizziejones2183]

That was the saddest "I am," that I have ever fucking heard.

[@petraivan6778]

[INT. MAGNUS INSTITUTE, ARCHIVES] [TAPE CLICKS ON.] [SOME PAPERS RUSTLE.] BREEKON (low, dark) Don’t say a word. [MORE RUSTLING. THE DOOR OPENS, AND THE ARCHIVIST COMES IN.] BASIRA John. Don’t turn on the light. Go get Melanie, quickly. ARCHIVIST It’s alright, Basira, I know he’s here. BASIRA So what are you doing? ARCHIVIST I imagine he’s here to deliver something. Thought it might need signing for. BREEKON That’s right. Just wanted to - to drop off a package. BASIRA Right, look, what the hell is this? Did you bring him here? ARCHIVIST No. BASIRA Is he here for revenge? ARCHIVIST I don’t - I don’t know. Ask him. BASIRA Like he’s going to answer me. ARCHIVIST Fine. (inhale) (to Breekon) Are you here for revenge? [AS HE ASKS THE QUESTION, A STATIC BUILDS IN THE BACKGROUND; THIS IS COMPULSION IN EFFECT.] BREEKON (heh) Yeah. Just like when we.. when I fed the copper to the pit. [BASIRA BRISTLES WITH A INCENSED BREATH.] ARCHIVIST Easy, Basira. [THE STATIC GETS STRONGER. A LOW RUMBLING BEGINS TO ACCOMPANY IT.] ARCHIVIST (CONT’D) What pit. BREEKON In here. [HE KNOCKS TWICE AGAINST BREEKON AND HOPE’S TRADEMARK COFFIN.] BREEKON (CONT’D) Realized I’m not tied- to it anymore. Not on my own. Thought you could have it. Pay your respects like - BASIRA Daisy’s in there. BREEKON That’s its name? Then sure, ‘t’s in there, whatever’s left. Find out if you like. ARCHIVIST Would you please drop that ridiculous voice? BREEKON (terrible Russian accent) Apologies. Is preferred like so? ARCHIVIST Christ, that’s worse. [BREEKON LAUGHS, STILL IN THE “ACCENT.”] ARCHIVIST (CONT’D) (with compulsion) What is your real voice? [BREEKON LAUGHS AGAIN, BACK TO THE ORIGINAL VOICE, THOUGH NOT AS DARKLY INTONED.] BREEKON Nikola said you were funny. Didn’t believe it. BASIRA What do you want. Why are you here? [SILENCE. THE ARCHIVIST SIGHS.] ARCHIVIST (with compulsion) Why are you here? BREEKON Dunno. (pause) ‘S not right, on my own. Not right. No point in doing it on my own. Don’t know what happens now. (pause) Thought I might kill you. Missed my chance. Thought I might just deliver something. So here’s a coffin. [HE SLIDES THE COFFIN CLOSER.] In case you want- to join your friend. [BASIRA TAKES A BREATH.] BASIRA Get out. ARCHIVIST Basira. [STATIC IS BUILDING IN THE BACKGROUND; THERE’S A STRANGE RUSTLING SORT OF SOUND.] BASIRA Get. Out. BREEKON Make me. [AND ALL AT ONCE THERE’S A STRANGE SOUND, MUSICAL YET HOLLOW, AND IT SEEMS TO BE BUILDING TO -] ARCHIVIST Stop. [THERE’S A NEW STATIC LAYERED ON TOP, NOW, HIGH-PITCHED - LIKE FEEDBACK FROM MICROPHONES TOO CLOSE TO EACH OTHER, BUT ANGELIC, SOMEHOW.] BREEKON What’re you doing? [NO ANSWER. THE STRANGE NEW STATIC COMBINATION CONTINUES; WHATEVER’S HAPPENING, WE HAVE NO CLUES AS TO ITS NATURE.] BASIRA John, what are you doing? BREEKON What are you - stop it. [THE STATIC BECOMES MORE INTENSE.]

[@petraivan6778]

BREEKON (CONT’D) Stop it! [WHEN THE ARCHIVIST SPEAKS, IT HAS AN ECHO TO IT, REMINISCENT OF THE HOLLOWNESS FROM EARLIER:] ARCHIVIST No. [HE SAYS NOTHING FURTHER, BUT BREEKON BEGINS TO MAKE AN UNCOMFORTABLE, ALMOST CHOKING SOUND.] BREEKON E-Enough - stop - looking at me- [THE STATIC - FROM RUMBLING TO REGULAR STATIC TO FEEDBACK-GROWS EVEN STRONGER. BREEKON MAKES MORE GURGLING/CHOKING SOUNDS, AND THEN BEGINS TO YELL, BUT ALMOST IMMEDIATELY AFTER HE BEGINS, HIS VOICE BEGINS TO FADE. HIS SCREAM IS STILL CLEARLY AT HIGH INTENSITY; IT’S MORE AS IF SOMEONE TOOK THE KNOB CONTROLLING HIS VOLUME AND TURNED IT DOWN MID-YELL.] [SOMETHING MAKES A KNOCKING OR BANGING SORT OF SOUND AS THIS HAPPENS; IT’S POSSIBLE THAT BREEKON HAS BEEN PUSHED OUT THE DOOR.] [THE STATIC CONTINUES, AND THEN THE ARCHIVIST LETS OUT A SOFT GASP AND BEGINS BREATHING HARD, AS IF NEEDING AIR.] [HE TAKES ONE FINAL, STEADYING BREATH, AFTER WHICH THE STATIC BEGINS TO FADE.] BASIRA John? ARCHIVIST (quickly) It’s fine. (more himself) Get me a pen. Please. [HE TAKES A SHAKY BREATH.] [TAPE CLICKS OFF.] [INT. MAGNUS INSTITUTE, ARCHIVES, JOHN’S OFFICE] [TAPE CLICKS ON.] [THE ARCHIVIST TAKES A DEEP, STEADYING BREATH.] ARCHIVIST (clearing his throat) Mm - Statement of the surviving half of the being calling itself ‘Breekon and Hope’ regarding its.. existence. Statement… extracted from subject, 3rd March, 2018. Audio recording by Jonathan Sims, The Archivist. Statement begins. ARCHIVIST (STATEMENT) We started in a plague. Not like the nasty crawlers, but like bringing any other doom. We had a cart of corpses, faces twisted, screaming, leaking pus. Knock on doors and cry roughly to bring their dead to us. I tended the shrunken, mangy mule, and he took the remains on shoulder, slinging them onto the stinking pile. I remember it clear. The fear on their faces as we rolled towards their hovels. Mud-caked peasant or bloated lord, every one of them saw us coming and trembled. It wasn’t the plague they feared; it wasn’t the death that waited in our wagon. It was us. Two strangers rolling towards them, unstoppable and uncertain, wearing faces they would only half-remember, bringing a fate they would beg their god to forget. They could not hate us, anymore than they could hate the rock that falls on them from a crumbling cliff. They did not know us, but they knew what we might do to them. What we might bring them. And we did. Villages that might have no bodies for us when we arrived would pile high our cart before we left. We did not kill them, did not lift a finger. We were the bringers of their awful fate, not its executors. They knew this and feared us in kind. And we drank it down, the taste of it sweeter than the food that now rotted on our plates or the drink that curdled in our cups. And we both tasted it together. When we left our destination, the mule whining at the new weight behind it, he would reach behind us and find a face, sagging, sloughing off its skull, and pull it to him. He’d place it over the one he wore already and he would laugh and laugh and laugh. Sometimes it fell off. Sometimes it stayed for weeks. I kept the face we chose, but I loved him for our levity. And the corpses piled ever higher. We served aboard the Robert Small, bodies of the time crammed into uniform as sloppily as anyone would expect. Enlistment wasn’t needed, nor was drafting. We were on the list for any crew that deserved us. And we were fitting deckhands for the Robert Small, as it made its slow and mournful passage to Australia. The quartermaster was too precise, though, and in counting out the rations saw us for what we were. I ate the quartermaster’s pen. He ate the quartermaster’s tongue. And that was that. The journey was magnificent. No waiting, no searching for a delivery. Every moment moved us towards, towards the completion of the task and the culmination of our charge’s terror. Poor wretches who emerged from Millbank, with tales of Australia and its cruelties on their lips, bundled into the cramped and creaking ship that would drag them away from everything they loved. And towards everything they feared. That was the first time we saw what would become this place: The Eye’s Pedestal. But we were drunk on the dawning horror of transportation and took no heed of it. A young man named Jack tried to leap overboard. When he caught the lad, there was such begging and pleading as you’ve never heard, just to let them drown, allow the sea to take its due. But he just laughed and laughed, and Jack died on land as he had always been meant to. We were conductors on a train, prim suits and scowls, a relentless beast of iron and steam that never seemed to get you exactly where you wanted to be unless there was something dreadful waiting for you. We punched tickets, ignored questions, and threw off those who looked like they were having too fine a time of it. We didn’t like this job, too many sat aboard dreaming sweetly of progress and the future, too few alive to the truth of dirt and struggle in front of them. We woke those we could, but too many stepped off with a smile. We had some luggage, once, a thrumming silk-wrapped thing of the spider, hiding away in an old steamer trunk. We stepped heavy through the dining car and found an old woman near the caboose. “Something strange in the luggage car,” he said, and I finished as was our way - “You should come and see it.” She stood and walked with us readily enough, though tears flowed silent down her cheeks and pattered onto the fading carpet. The Spider’s always an easy job, no fuss, no complications, everything planned and prepared. It knows too much to truly be a stranger, but hides its knowing well enough to endure. We knew she wouldn’t scream as she was hollowed out and drunk, but still he thought best to cover the sounds with a laugh. He was always our humor. (pause) I remember our first automobile, black and reliable, just about presentable for the London auction-houses we served. He squeezed its first owner until they stopped, and dumped them in a river, and I stayed with the second until they didn’t know who they were, anymore than they knew what they were. And then we had a car. It was noisy, and it juddered, but the name on the wooden siding was respectable, and now it was ours and good enough for Sotheby’s. We moved a lot of things in those years. Some of them even harmless. My favorite was the old knife, rusted from the trenches and lied about by a barking auctioneer. We delivered it to a leering banker who knew the second they saw us what they’d done. Sweat dripped from under their bowler hat as they took the knife from its dented metal case and screamed. They lunged at me, stabbing me over and through, then moved on to him, but he just laughed as the blade went in and out and no blood flowed from the holes they cut. And when the banker had screamed all the curses they had learned from German gas attacks, the knife turned back again and cut them, piece by piece. We delivered it back to Christie’s, and that was the end of the auction jobs. Then were the good times, the circus times. We always take what jobs are before us, deliver whatever will bring that fear and misery, but there is no joy in carrying meat, in shifting writhing spiral things. But with the circus, we were among our own kind at last. They all had names, true enough, but none would dare pretend that names were real. Faces changed more often than clothes, and nobody truly knew who anybody was, save for their function within the show. We carried and lifted and helped the circus move towards its next destination, the next doomed town. Sometimes we joined the show, lifting weights and things that looks like animals. Sometimes we lifted members of the audience. Sometimes we even put them down again. Even in our stillness, people were afraid. The winter in Russia was cold, and in the icy air, the absence of our breath was clear for all to see. I could taste their discomfort. But none ever mentioned it. We didn’t like the puppet, when Orsinov began to carve it. It seemed wrong to us to try and bring one like us about, to create or remake it in such a solid, static shape. We were wrong, of course, and when Orsinov carved into the thing that had once called itself Grimaldi, and fed the pieces they didn’t need to the shuddering organist, even we found ourselves impressed. And when the faceless puppet peeled its creator and moved itself with their tendon strings, he looked at me and laughed and laughed. We followed her a while, but she was unpredictable, while we are things of point and purpose. When she lost the ancient skin, we went our separate ways, and found ourselves a lorry, long and dirty-grey. We drove the motorways and country roads, and took great crates of nothing to and fro, driving towards a different sort of terror. It wasn’t our cargo that brought fear, then. We brought fear to our cargo. Smiling, waiting patiently by the road, with cardboard signs of gentle hopes. In they went to the back, that silent heavy place, with boxes that seemed too big or too warm. They usually screamed as we drove and drove, fear thick in the air, and sometimes they died.

[@petraivan6778]

Some tried to leap from the back into the road, and one even made it through. Most stayed, getting weaker and weaker, their cries fading away as hunger and thirst and despair took their final hold. But we were not content. He didn’t laugh like he used to, driving aimless, waiting for the call sat badly with us, who were meant to know our destination. We were meant to have a cargo and an address, so it was we found a man named Breekon, and took everything they were until there was nothing left but the sweet taste of a broken soul’s disquiet and confusion. We took the van and started to deliver once again. But we were reckless, desperate for the surety we had not felt since leaving the circus. And so we took the casket, a hungry thing of the earth, a crushing, choking tomb that will not let you die because it is too much what it is for death to find you there, within its mocking shape, buried alive. It was one like us that found it, a thing of shifting names and deja-vu. A fool, that believed because it found the coffin in chains, it would be an easy thing to control, to bargain with. But there was no remorse when the test finally failed, and it fed on the thing that considered itself the master. No face to change in the cold, dark earth, no eye to fool where it is now. But there was no mention of us in the deal, no thought to what might happen should a victim pass the test. And what happened was: we were stuck with it. It was still our cargo, nowhere to take it, no address or destination. So back in the van it went. A long time we’ve carried it, keeping it as close as it wants, not listening to it sing in the rain. Even when the mannequin that now called itself Orsinov came back to us, told us we could help the world unknow and fear again the coming of strangers, still we had to drag it with us, an unclaimed package. But I suppose it was worth it, in the end. When that Hunter killed him, when she took her violence of mindless instinct and unleashed it on us, it was there. It was waiting. I fed her to it. She took him from me, made us a me. And she doesn’t get to die for that. She gets to live, trapped and helpless, and entombed forever. No prey, no hunt. No movement. We failed, but I have at least that comfort. I am without him now. I am. I can feel myself fading, weak, no reason to move, nothing to deliver. But I am no longer tied to the casket, so you can have it. You can stare at it, knowing how your feral friend suffers, knowing how powerless you are to help. And when you can’t bear it any longer, knowing that you can climb in, and join her. I have never known hate before. I have never known loss. But now they are with me always, and I desire nothing but to share them with you. ARCHIVIST (voice shaky) Statement.. ends. [HE COLLAPSES.] [TAPE CLICKS OFF.] [INT. MAGNUS INSTITUTE, ARCHIVES, JOHN’S OFFICE, A BIT LATER] [TAPE CLICKS ON.] [THE ARCHIVIST INHALES.] BASIRA Here. [SHE SETS A CUP DOWN.] ARCHIVIST Thank you. [HE PICKS UP THE CUP.] BASIRA Was it worth it? ARCHIVIST I - I don’t know. Maybe? BASIRA Did you at least learn anything? [PAUSE.] ARCHIVIST Daisy’s alive, in there. BASIRA Right. ARCHIVIST Basira, we- we can’t [open-] BASIRA Yeah, I can read. [PAUSE.] ARCHIVIST Right. Short pause. BASIRA So why give it to us? ARCHIVIST I don’t- I don’t know. T-to taunt us? To (inhale) lure us in as well? [HE SIGHS.] BASIRA Hm. ARCHIVIST I-I saw that - thing’s mind; it’s lost on it’s own, no partner, no - purpose, I-I-I honestly think it just wanted to do another delivery. BASIRA And there’s no chance more of the circus survived the explosion? ARCHIVIST I don’t think so. I - at least - Breekon didn’t think so. [HE SIGHS.] BASIRA Where does the coffin lead? ARCHIVIST The Buried. BASIRA Right. [SILENCE.] BASIRA (CONT’D) (inhale, set) Right. Keep it safe; I’ll be gone a few days. I have some leads I need to follow up. [WE HEAR THE RUSTLING OF HER MOVING AS SHE’S SPEAKING.] ARCHIVIST Sorry? BASIRA You heard me. Don’t ask about them. And don’t know about them either. ARCHIVIST Well, I can’t exactly control that. BASIRA (cutting him off) Learn. ARCHIVIST (sighing) I’ll do my best. (breath) You can trust me, Basira. BASIRA Stop saying that. [SILENCE.] BASIRA (CONT’D) Do you know how I survived that-the Unknowing? ARCHIVIST I… No. No I don’t. BASIRA No powers, no.. magic or help. I was trapped in that place, and so I tried to figure it out. And I did, a little. So I kept doing it. I kept going through until I got out, I… reasoned my way out of that nightmare. ARCHIVIST Good Lord. BASIRA Then everything ended and Daisy was gone. And you were gone. And Tim. And then I got back to the Institute and Martin sent me to meet the new boss. Then I stood alone in an empty office for more than an hour. I can trust me, John. That’s it. [THE ARCHIVIST SIGHS.] BASIRA (CONT’D) I’ll try and be back in a week or two. Don’t think about me. ARCHIVIST Right. BASIRA And don’t open the coffin. [THE ARCHIVIST LAUGHS DRYLY.] ARCHIVIST It is addressed to me, (silence) (somber) Yes, alright. Alright. TAPE CLICKS OFF.

[@islaridland]

Thank you!!!*^*

[@petraivan6778]

You are welcome :)

[@thistleywistley681]

Petra Iván thank youuuuu

[@mrs.han_whitethorn]

YES JON WE STAN A POWER ICON

[@raskr8137]

It's kind of fitting that Breekon is the one who survived, since in the real Breekon & Hope company Hope wasn't a real person, the real Breekon just really wanted to name the company "Breekon & [something]"

[@kilarthmac]

1:49 The way Breekon paused before he finished his sentence got me so sad, Hope's not there anymore 😭😭😭 3:08 I'm sobbing into my pillow

[@seanthebluesheep]

I don't know how many episodes he's been doing it for but as I make my way through the series, I just spotted on this episode that Jon has stopped calling himself Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, London and now just calls himself Archivist. The way characters start their statements has such a fun insight into their character (like how excited Martin is when he reads out the case number) but seeing Jon abandon the mundanity for the resigned, sullen acceptance of his departure from normal positions like a job is both worrying and heartbreaking.

[@birdbrainiac]

Its been every statement so far this season, and I think thats when he started - an effect of his return from the near-dead, he has accepted his role as the archivist.

[@dianaquill9969]

I was so worried for Jon these past few episodes, how he's acting so differently. But then he worked himself to passing out like... Yeah. Yeah, there's the best workaholic I know. Good job, Jon. Be that unhealthy stick of a man.

[@birbelle]

LMAO JON JUST STOLE ITS STATEMENT HAHA

[@liaml.e.5964]

Poor Breekon, he seems so... hopeless.

[@sheolcodemonkey4027]

Okay so, it was already pretty obvious that the Lonely was getting Martin isolated, but I think it's actually doing the same to Basira. I think the goal is to get everyone at the institute to separate themselves from one another, perhaps as a self-powering battery of loneliness energy or some such? Without trust, the isolation sustains itself

[@hamburgerdog25]

Oh ok, I just realized. Hope died at the Unknowing. _Hope_ died.

[@TheJuliana0901]

who was trying to control the casket? I remember, in the first casket episode, that the dude who kept it had made an arrangement with another man but I have no idea who it might have been. that antiques dealer, salesa? he didn't die though, like Breekon said. hmmm

[@billedeverre7769]

I checked, wondering the same thing as you : it's an old man "with an odd density to him", who introduced himself as John ( if I got that part right of course) ; maybe just a fool wanting to have fun with the casket but who just got eaten, maybe to become an avatar for the Buried... SUSPENS

[@trucetruce335]

John from Liverpool

[@saurabhsharma6939]

It was the wolf guy there inside from episode 8

[@lightninghedgehog5963]

“John”, whose last name matched one of the Anglerfish victims.

[@SkyP9812]

​@lightninghedgehog5963 So... Either an avatar of the stranger, or a relative

[@cryan9688]

God, this might honestly be my favorite episode in the entire podcast. The last lines of the statement hit so hard every time... poor Breekon :(

[@silverkleptofox]

When Jon collapsed at the end of the statement, and you could HEAR the bonelessness…. I wonder what foley they used!

[@racoon_in_ankhmorpork]

Jon using his powers is just about the most exciting thing to listen to EVER. The high pitched sound, the pained cries of Breekon… beautifully rendered, incredibly cool.

[@ShadowyKatz]

I'm glad to confirm that Daisy was part of the Hunt and that B&H were Strangers.

[@ShadowyKatz]

Supplemental: A year later and I feel like a dumbass for this original statement. Elias straight up said Daisy was "mad with the Hunt" and B&H were in the f*ing Unknowing. But, I suppose that's why I'm doing a relisten after all this time. Paying more attention and whatnot.

[@somnia268]

​@@ShadowyKatz 😭😭😭 not the supplemental lmaoo

[@Myu142]

"Christ that's worse..." I know this is serious but that was really funny to me XD

[@Thundergoom]

Statement EXTRACTED

[@dallydaydream]

Hell yeah Basira has leads to follow up. I think she might be the most resourceful member of the team, in many ways.

[@Iquey]

Wow I almost feel bad for mr. "Breekon". He's all by himself now! 😭

[@XerxesTexasToast]

"Stop LOOKING AT ME" "NO."

[@brewenfichou7687]

Daisy's trapped in an eternal nightmare ? Good

[@tylerasw5103]

Brewen Fichou lmao

[@tylerasw5103]

But like actually imagine being stuck buried alive, unable to die. Coffin life has to be the opposite of wild. ALSO I JUST REALIZED THAT THE STATEMENT OF THAT DUDE WHO GOT STUCK IN A SHIPPING CONTAINER WAS PROBABLY A STATEMENT OF THE BURIED. Like, totally unconnected to my reply, but the connections I realize about this show a million years after the fact are always great.

[@brewenfichou7687]

@@tylerasw5103 the buried is the worst i think i cant forget lost john's cave

[@luminanightfall4111]

@@brewenfichou7687 Oh yeah, lost john's cave... Tho I thought that was also part of the dark? Because of their habit of experiencing the true darkness of the earth every time they got into a cave.

[@f_mva]

still haven't forgiven her

[@Drak_buddy]

Jon slowly accepting his powers but still sad when he has to acknowledge them

[@megalunalexi5601]

This is an excellent episode

[@jacobbonilla4269]

I like how Jon Just made a statement but says information has been extracted i'll give him props.

[@Deadflower019]

Man, I came to this series looking for horror and now I'm leaving with sadness.

[@yakketyyak6414]

NOOOO HE LOST “HOPE” AHHH

[@Piper_____]

“We started in a plague” _checks date of upload_ Yeah that makes sense. Hilariously, it is possible to actually gain a pretty good sense of what the culture at hand fears through this podcast, and I bet disease is going to be offhandedly mentioned a bunch more in episodes to come as that becomes a major thing that the world fears. Because funnily enough, despite the fears here having stabilized “since the industrial revolution,” it is still a product of its time. Oh man, the use of the word “meme” earlier in the podcast is going to date it eventually. This is wonderful.

[@oscaruncomfortable]

They have explained before how the parts of each fear are instinct based, but it's interesting how they both knew what they were supposed to be and NEEDED to be it, to the point Breekon fell back on their last delivery to take the coffin too.

[@xCiari]

when the circus music started playing i straight up took out my headphones because i thought it was coming from outside irl

[@xCiari]

the audio engineering is insane is this podcast i swear

[@shurkatheshark]

ppl should honestly learn from the entities, even breekon and hope are respectful of the they/them pronouns of the banker 😌

[@realiteaohansi3341]

Jack was referred to as they/them as well!

[@Deadflower019]

I think it was just The Deliveryman's habit of referring to humans as "they", the same way we would refer to a monster as "it".

[@Amy-oo7mm]

Actually, I'm pretty sure Breekon referred to Daisy as him. Specifically trying to rile up Basira.

[@PatrickLongblkwhtrbbt]

The coffin seems more like a thing of The Eye than the Buried. The coffin doesn't make you feel fear of compression, but the terror of not knowing what's inside it while it sings and is warm. More a pandoras box than anything

[@KenKen3593]

All of you feeling bad for Breekon but I’m just hung up on finally learning WHY DENNIKEN WENT INTO RETIREMENT.

[@dirt1774]

Breekon lost Hope

[@midnights2631]

I actually feel a bit bad for Breekon, he might be bad but I feel bad for him. Hearing him have to finish his own sentences is sad.

[@gaypanicatthewrongdisco912]

As a twin with identity issues, this hits so hard, i don't know what I'd do if i lost my brother, i can't imagine myself without him, like, it's always been us, and the thought that it might just be me one day is the single most terrifying thing to me, hands down, scariest episode for this reason alone

[@Drak_buddy]

Honestly me and my twin aren’t even identical and idk what I’d do if he died it’d be surreal

[@Deadflower019]

Comgrats, you just got Magnused (an episode touched on a hyperspecific fear that you probably didn't know about until now)!

[@oburci9596]

All this episode told me is that Elias is only staying in prison because he wants to Wait hold on what if that weirdo architect that made the screwed up prisons and the tunnels under the archives made them like that so that Avatars (Jon, Gertrude, Elias, Helen, That fire girl, Rayner, etc) and the like can could be imprisoned in a far more efficent manner, cus like lets say a stranger avatar could just go "Do you know that you're gonna open the prison door for me" and thats that, but in those prisons even if theyre free, they are screwed. Could also possibly explain wtf the thing was that almost got Jon murdered in the tunnels back near season 1/2

[@Badficwriter]

The thing in the tunnels was Jurgen Leitner, using his magic book of the Buried to move walls around.

[@randomlycoloredbrick]

Whatever Daisy is experiencing in there is terryfing me. I hope her fate is better than being left alone in there for eternity. I hope they'll find a way to get her out/end it.

[@margaridabento9726]

Iconic hot Jon moment

[@bugy_sponge]

WHEN JON TOLD IT TO STOP ND THEN IT DID HOLY SHIT i can see we have more powers unlocking!!! just, Jon can tell people to stop moving ffhfhgh holy shit

[@ManderB81]

Anyone else think of Monty Python and The Holy Grail when he was talking about how they started? "Bring out your dead! Bring out your dead!"

[@MrIsizukuri]

I strongly suspect that was a deliberate quote!

[@alexs2406]

So, now that he can no longer perform his role, Breekon doesn't know who or what he's meant to be. It seems like his nature as a manifestation of the Stranger has been turned back on itself.

[@AveryLiberg]

3:43 Just a little time for me Jon being... The Archivist

[@phosismyb1tch717]

I want a dating game where you can date the fears(or their avatars, I don't discriminate)

[@spring6066]

As a non-native english speaker the first bit of the statement was like a whole page long riddles thats so hard to understand😭

[@vithebi]

This statement almost raises more questions about 'Breekon' and 'Hope' than it answers. Were they once human and were corrupted by one of the powers or are they just aspects of one of them? Obviously they've been around since the Black Plague, but was being gatherers of the dead just a day job or were they literally aspects of The End? I feel like they could easily be aspects of the End or the Stranger, but they clearly have a strong tie to The Buried as well. I'm also confused on how Daisy actually killed Hope during the Unknowing considering it's never explicitly stated and the statement mentions Hope shrugging off multiple stab wounds with no blood flow. Could it be that the Unknowing somehow nullified their invulnerability? Or was it that Daisy's connection to The Hunt gave her some advantage over them? Not a question, but I think it's really interesting how there are so many themes of loneliness in this season. Martin being isolated from Jon, Jon being alienated from everyone, Basira feeling like she can't trust anyone but herself, and Breekon quite literally losing Hope, their other half. It seems The Lonely might be the main antagonist this season.

[@weirdhails3802]

Breekon said “we found another like us” that got eaten. I reckon that’d be Tom from episode 2 and Daisy’s statement.

[@solluxcaptorirl8735]

I AM CRYINGOVER AN EVIL DELIVERY MAN 😭

[@-S.L.]

yeah same :(

[@ohmyyomps2629]

why do I feel bad for Mr delivery man :(

[@ohmyyomps2629]

DID HE JUST THROW BREEKON THROUGH A WALL???

[@drit103]

He kept cutting off and waiting for hope to continue

[@suzerainty4192]

that was...way gayer than I expected

[@wonderwhatsgonnahappen579]

Rip Breekon.... And Hope I guess

[@RoseMultiverse]

Woah JOHNNY BOIIII 👀 I’m shivers tingles oh fuck

[@buddyboiwrath488]

The 13 fears really remind me of the chaos gods from warhammer 40k

[@flynland7366]

Oh nooo we lost Hope, quit literally!

[@thedistinguished5255]

basira is almost too good to be true. i dont know anyone like her, but the idea of the person she is is very cool