The Magnus Protocol Spoilers - Tumblr Posts
the way i’ve known this whole time celia was from tma universe and somehow the reveal still had me shocked like . girl why are you surprised you knew that
.jmj error
version without the blue light
I like this colour scheme a lot
children? in this economy? terrifying fr fr
glad to see that they're finally talking about some real fears in this podcast Babies
I think it's like they're both reacting to the idea that ignorance doesn't keep you safe in this world as pointed out by multiple people in tma
but Alice's reaction is don't get involved in the world of horrors to begin with and Sam's reaction is to not be so ignorant
I've seen a lot of takes about Sam and Alice's relationship recently and I really don't think it's as black and white as people make it. Being team Sam or team Alice feels like simplify the situation too much.
They're Exs. Ex long term partners at that. This wasn't a few months fling it was years. It was complicated enough that Sam stuck around when Alice's parents died but then drifted away when he could. Alice got him the job after a sad vague post not after an actual conversation.
They clearly want different things. Sam wants a friend but also clearly wants there to be clear boundaries between them (not talking about each others love lives) and not to forget the past. Alice wants her best friend back. She wants to ignore the bad bits from the past and be as close as they used to be. They're both clearly lonely but you really feel it with the way Alice is was Sam.
Alice is a protective person. You see it with her brother and even Gwen honestly. She's also awful at showing it. Don't get me wrong, she shows some really controlling behaviour but it never seems to be done out of malice or even done in a self-serving way (some exceptions). This was clearly a reason for their breakup.
Sam clearly feels like he needs to prove himself. He also wants to know what's going on. When Alice tries to stop him he's clearly remembering something she's done in the past. He clearly doesn't want to be babied by his ex. So, as a result, he's seeing everything she's doing to stop him looking into cases as a way to control him. Even when (most clearly in the latest episode) she's just trying to stop him walking into danger.
The issue is neither of them are listening to each other. They both think they're right and the other just doesn't understand. Instead of talking to each other, Sam's just shouting at Alice and Alice is trying any round about way she can to stop Sam.
Anyway. This post is a mess I just think they're both super interesting.
something about the cases in tmagp keep reminding me of multiple of the fears so theory that they're not actually separate here
that smirkes 14 genuinely won't work for them
they came here directly after tma after they'd been fully in the universe where Jon specifically said the old divisions don't mean that much anymore so maybe that's still the case
because even then the eye was very separate because it was in charge and that still seems to be the case for some cases but the rest of them feel mingled like they fall under multiple fear categories
and the powers working together isn't a totally new concept leitner mentioned The Key of Solomon had elements of multiple powers
I also could be completely wrong because I was also never great at leitners whole what does the thing represent but tma statements felt more distinct than these
Some of my first impressions as quick concept sketches I made in class! I’m so happy and excited. Alice is a Scene Queen that never grew out of it, but that might just be me. Love all of them!!!! Love them so much!!!!
Alice Dyer + More sketches
Genuinely loved that episode, particularly the statement part! Snakes don’t scare me, but my jaw was unhinged (pun intended) in revulsion at that description /pos
TMAGP EP 19 NOTES
ep19
ALCHEMY REFERENCE ALCHEMY JUST LIKE THE ARG ALCHEMY
How does Sam know stuff about alchemy?!?
MAGNUS INSTITUTE WAS DEEP INTO ALL THIS STUFF? 🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨
Chesta
“That most regrettable protocol”
Note Robert Boyle, might be important later (Scientist in the late 1600s)
WHAT IS ISAAC NEWTON DOING 😭
WHAT PROTOCOL
“Purgation of all that most dangerous and unfit knowledge was both necessary and good”. Okay. So. What if there’s a big ol conspiracy, DARK related? THINK ABOUT IT. Alice could be involved? Just think about it think think think
“Dread emission”…
Theory: Because the Web’s plan won’t provide an end to itself or the other powers, and The End desires an end, perhaps it’s a form of The End trying to wipe out all of the other dread powers through “the protocol”, and that protocol continues on through OIAR, with externals being used to essentially pit the dread powers against one another? Maybe it’s some sort of web-end agglomeration, because that much planning and manipulation might require some web involvement? 🤨🤨🤨
Is Isaac Newton dealing with… Alchemy?
DUUUUUDDEEEE ISAAC NEWTON CREATED SOMETHING LIVING OUT OF METALS, IM TELLING YOU THIS IS GOING TO HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH FR3-D1
AND THE BIBLICAL REFERENCES?! THANK YOU LORD FOR THIS EPISODE
“Knowledge of good and evil” (the translated latin) THIS REFERS BACK TO MY DARK THEORY
Another statement about something taking root?
THE EYE THE EYE THE EYE THE EYE THE EYE THE EYE THE EYE THE EYE GUYS THE EYE
I did not have “Isaac Newton the Eye Avatar” on my Magnus Protocol bingo card
This “Protocol” is definitely Dark related, or at least reactionary to the Eye
“Are the computers listening to us?” YES SAM YES SAM THEY ARE DONT LISTEN TO ALICE
Lena is MADDDD at Gwen’s classism
Colin what is happenniiiiing
We can’t let “him” know how much we know WHO IS HIM
“Doing mummy and daddy Stasi proud” Stasi is slang that refers to the German secret police. WHO IS HIM COLIN WHO IS HIM?!!?!??!? WHO IS WATCHING YOU
“As long as it all balances” ROBERT SMIRKE GUYS ROBERT SMIRKE AND ALSO WHAT LENA SAID ABOUT BALANCING THINGS AAAA
ALCHEMY AAAAA
He’s such a silly lil guy 🤭
okay okay okay, i’m on my premium bullshit today. take a seat and grab a coffee because this is gonna be a long one
i have a theory for the Magnus Protocol, and I am so not normal about it that I need to rant. Spoilers ahead for literally any part of the show from ep. 1 to ep. 23
Okay so, with this latest case, i think the supernatural shenanigans of Protocol have less to do with the Fears and more to do with self-image and identity
A bunch of cases have been about this—I won’t go on about all of them, just a few that i think either really point towards this or that i think can be seen as decently convincing when looked at another way.
The most obvious ones, to me, are Episodes 2, 16, and 23.
In 2, ‘Making Adjustments,’ the artist is literally reshaping herself to fit with her image of her “ideal self.” She’s pushing the “her” she wants to be out into the real world. It doesn’t escape my notice that Ink5oul is involved—don’t worry, I have words about them later.
In 16, ‘Anti-Social,’ Madam E (another Ink5oul victim/canvas) becomes wrapped up in her online identity and image—comments physically affect them, and when those turn into a stream of hate… well, it breaks her heart.
In 23, ‘A New You,’ I barely feel like I need to explain. The whole case is Alesis pursuing and following through with a means to become her ideal self. She goes through the entire process willingly and with the express intent to become the person she wishes she could be.
As for the ones that will need some more explaining, I’m mainly thinking of 10 and 13.
‘Saturday Night’ reveals everyone’s favourite children’s mascot/government hitman, Mr. Bonzo, and gives some background on him. Mr. Bonzo was a gag character in Nigel’s late night show. Not only did someone in a Bonzo costume do some murdering, but… Bonzo himself took over Nigel’s show and ‘imprisonment’ in the comedy dungeon due to his popularity. Perhaps this sort of thing got to Nigel, and he saw his life—because the show did seem to be his life’s work—being taken over by the mascot, and then saw that same mascot with blood on his hands. Perhaps Nigel made a monster out of Bonzo in his head, and that monster was made manifest… somehow. Or maybe some kid who loved and idolised Bonzo saw the murders and felt like a monster themselves, spiralling until they became Bonzo a la Episode 23, then attached themselves to Nigel because, well… Nigel and Bonzo were always together.
‘Futures’ is a bit simpler, I think. Darrien wanted to be rich again. He saw himself as “one of the elite,” as evidenced by his attitude and the company he kept when his experience started. His desire and ideal of richness lead to him throwing himself into worse and worse situations for more and more money… until, i think, he realised he needed to stop. He realised that his life had just turned into destroying himself for money, and he was ready to stop that… so he stopped seeing himself as “someone doing whatever it takes to get rich” and instead saw himself as “someone destroying themselves.” And the money stopped, just like that.
Now, for Ink5oul and alchemy. Every Magnus Institute case (the ones from their records/research, anyways), has mentioned the terms “subject,” “agent,” and “catalyst.”
These terms are pretty generic, but we pretty much know the Institute was deep in alchemy, and alchemy is, in essence, the art/science of transformations.
Transformations based on self-image and identity, perhaps.
The subject is what changes (Madam E, Daria, Alesis). The catalyst is what starts/actualises/accelerates the change (Ink5oul’s tattoos, Alesis’s “piece”). The agent is what sets things in motion to change in the first place (Ink5oul is the current main example of this).
This is already really long and I’m basically just rambling at this point, so I’ll stop. This could be the most surface-level take or a complete swing and a miss, but I like thinking about things like this, so oh well
nothing can happen to children in this podcast. they said. they never said anything about children happening to anyone though
Oh no. Oh fuck. I am relistening to some of the earlier Protocol episodes, and I have a horrible, terrible, no good very bad suspicion about Gerry.
I could, I want to emphasize, be completely wrong! I could be wildly, hilariously, off the mark. But--hear me out. This is going to take some explaining about what I think is going on in the bigger picture worldbuilding stuff; hopefully it'll be coherent, but fair warning, it may get a bit long.
First: there have been a lot of cases that have boiled down to trying to keep only the "good"/desirable/etc aspects of things or events or people, and discard the "bad"/unwanted, right? We saw this happening very explicitly in episode 23 with Alesis Newman, and way back in episode 2 with Daria the painter, but a number of episodes have presented variations on a similar theme.
Two variations in particular that I've been thinking a lot about are the violinist in episode 4 and the gambler in episode 9. The violinist can play his violin beautifully, but he wants to be rid of the price in flesh and blood that it demands. Similarly, the gambler wants the rewards of rolling high on his magic dice, but wants to be rid of the misfortunes that come with rolling low. Crucially, both episodes make clear that in this type of balance--something unwanted for something wanted--you can't just make the unwanted piece vanish. It has to go somewhere, it has to happen. But you can make it happen to someone else, somewhere else. And when that's how the game works, one of the major questions for players who want to get ahead then becomes: "how do I make the bad stuff stay happening somewhere else, and keep reaping the benefits of the good stuff that balances it out?"
Here's where this gets wildly speculative and from here on I freely acknowledge that I may be talking out my ass:
I think the Magnus Institute was investigating that question. I suspect a great many alchemists before the Institute, probably going back to the times of Albertus Magnus, were investigating it as well. I think the Great Work they were attempting -- the "universal transmutation" alluded to in episode 21 as the Magnus Institute's aim -- was the exact opposite of Jonah Magnus's own "Great Work" in TMA. In other words, I think they were probably trying to make the world an eternal paradise, rather than an eternal hell.
But if you're getting rid of all the "bad" stuff, all the suffering and misfortune, it's got to go somewhere.
I think they were sending it through to other worlds.
I'm not going to get into all the reasons I think that right now, because that's a whole essay in itself, but basically--the Leitners in TMA? The artifacts? All the little bits and pieces of evil given physical form, that never had a clear origin point in the world where they caused so much suffering for so long? We've all been worried about them winding up here, post-Archives... but I think this is where they came from in the first place. I think they were sent away in the hopes that an increase in "bad" in other worlds would lead to an increase in "good" in this one. Remember all those books Albrecht von Closen found in the tomb in the Black Forest in TMA, that Jonah Magnus later stole and let loose on the world? Remember that Albrecht found a mysterious coin along with them dated 1279? Albertus Magnus died in 1280; I strongly suspect he sent those books from the world of Protocol to that of Archives shortly before his death, much as the world of Archives sent the tapes away centuries later. But I think Protocol's world kept sending things away, kept trying to export "bad" and import "good". Remember all those happy, laughing volunteers bringing strange and sinister items to the charity shop on Hill Top Road in episode 7? "All for a good cause."
Okay so. Now. With that bit of hypothetical framework for Protocol's worldbuilding in place, let's next go back to Alesis Newman of episode 23. Her expressed wish is to create a new her. "Someone better. Someone the pain can't touch." Someone who can be everything Alesis wishes she could have been. Someone "free of all (her) mistakes."
But increasingly it sounds like what she actually wants isn't to create someone new. It is to create someone who is only a part of her current self. Someone who, she says in one of her last few posts, will "just be the good parts of me."
And if that's the case, if what she's really trying to do is make someone who holds only the "good" parts of her, someone who can be happy and strong and perfect and loved by everyone forever... what happens to the bad parts of Alesis Newman, as she currently exists? What about the parts of her that feel pain and fear, the parts of her that make mistakes, the parts of her that she rejects?
One might assume, from the experience she narrates, that those pieces of her are simply being destroyed. But that doesn't line up with the suggestion we've seen from earlier episodes that there has to be some kind of balance maintained in these bargains. What she actually says is happening to her--and what the forum members have apparently told her will happen, through this process--is that she and this "new her" are "becoming one... and then two."
I don't think the "bad" parts of Alesis Newman are dying. I think they're also going to become a "new her"--they're just going to go somewhere else, somewhere the new, happy, strong, perfect version of Alesis Newman never has to see them.
Still with me?
Okay.
Now let's talk about Gerry. Let's talk about the smiling, laughing, irrepressibly happy Gerry Keay we meet early in Protocol. Gerry who seems to have everything that the Gerry Keay of Archives was denied.
Gerry who underwent tests at the Magnus Institute as a child, and who, per the static over his and "Gee Gee's" words, holds a few more secrets about what went on there than he let on to Sam and Celia.
Back when I first heard Gerry's appearance in episode 8, it sure felt like a narrative gut punch: This is who he could have been in Archives, if not for the presence of the Fears. This is what Jon and Martin's final decision threatens to destroy--for this safe, happy version of Gerry, and for everyone else in his world.
I'm now suspecting it might be significantly worse than that. I think the Magnus Institute might have done to Gerry Keay something similar to what Alesis Newman later did to herself: made him New. Kept only the good parts--ensured a happy, comfortable, good life for him. In which case, all the bad stuff--all the parts of Gerry Keay that would ever have to suffer from bad luck, to feel pain and fear and misery...
...well. They'd have had to go... somewhere else, wouldn't they.
Which would suggest I had the causality the wrong way around the first time I heard Gerry's appearance in Protocol: maybe it's not "Gerry has a happy life in this world because he didn't have to suffer everything that the Gerry Keay of Archives did."
Maybe it's "Gerry in Archives had to suffer everything he did because Gerry in Protocol was made to always be happy."
Alice: we shouldn't get more involved in this
Sam & Celia: we need to investigate
Colin:
i would like to contribute this gem
The tone lines in this episodes transcript had me CACKLING
Also! Just a fun little transcript thing: Celia was staring out a window when Sam asked if she was alright, and she felt like they were being watched. During the moment of quiet, Sam goes to the same window. We might not be the only ones watching them!
the really long silent pause at the end of the episode when celia is putting jack down is so uncomfortable it works so well at making the audience aware of how much they’re intruding on a private situation, how they Shouldn’t Be There but they keep watching anyway. it’s not even the most tense or gory or explicitly horrific part of the episode, it’s just a moment, but it my me on edge more than anything else it’s so well done
just started this episode and all i can say is WELCOME BACK ANGLERFISH!!!