The Magnus Archives Is A Workplace Comedy@a-mag-a-day

The Magnus Archives is a workplace comedy… @a-mag-a-day

Five at some point in his sad fucking life:

meow

If I had to sum up The Umbrella Academy and The Sparrow Academy

Ok, so I want to talk about this. Because it IS very interesting and an important detail about Jonah Magnus as a character, his whole journey and the way he's lived his life.

First off, it's been pretty much established that he is close with the Lukas family to some extent. They are-- assumed monetarily-- patrons of the institute. Considering the way Magnus began this whole journey and the fascination he had with the fears from the start, it's easy to assume he and Mordechai were on the same page, allies perhaps.

When he mentions that he retrieved the bones "when the time came" to me that sounds like he waited for that moment. Waited for the moment when Barnabas was no more than bones. And why? Because he wanted to know EXACTLY what would become of someone stuck in the Lonely. He needed to see it first hand, and unfortunately poor Barnabas crossed the wrong family in the end. Always pay your debts everyone -- But, I think Mordechai probably told him where he could find them, or at least let them be released from the Lonely. But Magnus was probably free to come and go as he pleased anyway.

As to why he keeps them, and where they are, again, what he says is "bones you can find in my office if you know where to look." To me, sounds like they are locked away somewhere in the office, probably in a safe or just a locked drawer or something depending on the furnishing of his office. Honestly, I don't think he's told anyone about them, nor would anyone probably even hear that tape. We have NO WAY of knowing if Jon even heard that tape. I'm under the impression he never heard it, considering that it would have given a pretty big hint to who Elias really is, even for Jon. No, the only one who knows that secret is the one controlling the tape recorders.

Does he told to them? Perhaps. I think that's open to interpretation. My own personal headcanon is that he's careful not to say anything out loud he doesn't want overheard. He's careful, he knows better than to spill secrets before they're ready to be revealed.

But if he did, if someone walked in on him talking to them, that would be the funniest thing in the world. But, I think they'd probably get fussed at or just leave thinking it was totally normal. Because, you know, it probably is.

In short. Jonah Magnus is more sentimental than he lets on, assuming Barnabas was more than just a simple friend. Either he kept them because he did care for him or he keeps them as a reminder. But, that's just my opinion on it. :3

So, I have a series of questions concerning what may be considered a weirdly niche piece of TMA canon. Namely, the time Elias casually mentioned that someone’s bones have been stored in the office of the head of the Magnus Institute since the fucking Victorian era.

For those of you who either didn’t pay attention to the old-timey parts of TMA or just don’t remember, here’s a refresher on how this shit went down: A man named Barnabas Bennett ended up in debt to Mordechai Lukas, a man whose family is notable for serving an eldritch entity which embodies the fear of loneliness. Mordechai, annoyed at not being paid back, Barnabas to a fucked up Lonely pocket dimension. Barnabas was the only person in this fucked up Lonely pocket dimension, but objects in said pocket dimension could be affected by those in reality and vice-versa. So, Barnabas sent a letter to his close friend and probably-lover, Jonah Magnus, BEGGING him for help. Jonah, being a bitch, didn’t do shit, not out of any spite towards Barnabas, or because he didn’t think he could get Mordechai to let him go, or out of fear of meeting the same fate, but because he wanted to see what would happen. Then, when Barnabas finally wasted away into nothing, Jonah went and picked up his bones, then stashed them in his office. Where they remained for like 200 years.

I have several questions about this event, which are as follows:

1. How did Jonah acquire the bones? Did Mordechai offer them to Jonah, or did Jonah ask for them?

2. Did anyone else know about the bones prior to Elias talking about them on tape?

3. Does he ever talk to the bones like they can hear him?

4. If the answer to the previous question is yes, has someone ever walked in on Elias while he was doing so? Has someone walked into Elias’s office only to find him mid-evil monologue while tenderly cradling a human skull and, if so, how the fuck did they react to that?