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Post by Oneiros on Nov 23, 2017 8:34:19 GMT
OR: "Storied past"
The doors to Archive open once again, only The Archivist is not at home. The Archivist is not at the centre of his web. Is an Archivist without an Archive, still The Archivist? The strands of history are thrumming hard with this one as we dig into Mr Sims' history and learn of his encounter with Leitner.
I'm guessing most people were also surprised with the age revelation...
Season 3 certainly doesn't pull any punches in its opener and it's good to see the Archivist come to some conclusions about what went wrong previously. And it also nicely dovetails with why he was so vehement all the way back in MAG004 (Pageturner) when Ex Altiora first brought up the topic of Leitners. I think we can agree that a narrow escape as a child has served the Beholding us well.
Am very keen to hear your thoughts on the opener - what did you all think? Do you need more red string? New corkboards are available in the atrium...
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Post by Alex Newall on Nov 23, 2017 8:50:23 GMT
“Thrumming hard?” You been at the fanfics again Anil?
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Post by cannonlongshot on Nov 23, 2017 9:06:26 GMT
Jonny, you landed this one perfectly - after the infodump that was the S2 finale, it was the perfect choice to go with a story that reminds us that Magnus is, at its heart, a horror podcast. When I saw the title I half expected it to be a light-hearted reference to Martin's testimony to Det. Tonner - I've never been so happy to be proven wrong.
Despite the fact that we're beginning to see the outline of the terrors the Archivist is facing, a story told from the POV of a young Jonathan reminds us of how little we know.
Children's books in the merch store please
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amethystend
Alphabet Squire
In the age of evening calm.
Posts: 17
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Post by amethystend on Nov 23, 2017 11:07:51 GMT
Oh baby, we're back and it feels so good (in the most horrifying way).
I wonder if a dark void would've just opened and pulled in young Jonathan if he had knocked on the book panel in the middle of the park.
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urchin
Right Honourable Poster
Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.
Posts: 52
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Post by urchin on Nov 23, 2017 13:38:58 GMT
This episode was spectacular! An evil childrens' book is a fantastic idea, and the statement itself feels like the kind of scary story that keeps children up at night. Plus, it had just enough about Beholding and the other entities to remind me how eager I am to learn more. I'm so excited that this podcast is back!!
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Post by Mister Donkey on Nov 23, 2017 15:06:38 GMT
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julsbo
Travelling Wordsmith
Posts: 30
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Post by julsbo on Nov 23, 2017 17:44:54 GMT
YAY. Welcome back, everyone.
I have my red string out and am wondering if the vampires are aspects of the Spider. (They communicate telepathically like the spider-husk people, they drain blood from their victims, they have just a long tube down their throats...)
What an interesting 8-year-old young Jonathan was, and what a sad childhood he had surrounded by unsympathetic elders. My inner armchair psychologist says that his paranoia was about 20% not-Sasha influenced and 80% feeling like an unlikable outsider even in your own family from the age of four. (FOUR. Seriously, that has to have an impact on your ability to bond with others.)
So, a number of entities are aware of Jonathan Sims. The Spider, The Beholding, The Stranger, The Hive, and the Michael/Fractals/Maze. Hmm.
And Jonathan thinks he needs help from Elias? REALLY?
And finally - Jonathan is friendly with Georgie from What the Ghost? And not just that, does she have any idea she’s sheltering him from the law...?
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Post by danae149 on Nov 23, 2017 21:44:01 GMT
Great episode! I usually wait until my morning commute to listen, but I was so excited about the start of the season that I listened to it last night and again this morning.
I loved the peek into Jonathan's worldview and motivations. Being difficult to please and argumentative and prone to wandering off alone--all traits Jonathan has grown out of, clearly! And now I need to re-listen to The Bone Turner's Tale to catch some of his reactions to that particular statement, given some of the parallels.
I'm excited to see how he goes about gaining allies now, too. Could make for some interesting alliances, given that his most likely allies are currently under the impression that he beat someone to death with a pipe.
A+ podcasting jokes with the sock money and mattress mentions, too.
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Post by cannonlongshot on Nov 24, 2017 8:24:10 GMT
So, a number of entities are aware of Jonathan Sims. The Spider, The Beholding, The Stranger, The Hive, and the Michael/Fractals/Maze. Hmm. A reminder that one of Leitner's assistants gave the Fractal entity the amazingly-cool-sounding name of Esmentiras, and that's what I'll be pushing for the use of ;P When does he say this? Yep! Melanie King mentions this in MAG 63: The End of the Tunnel (Also I too did some very amateurish fanart because "Sims in casualwear" was an image I had to get onto the page - imgur.com/a/Lmz1a )
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Post by spacesquid on Dec 18, 2017 15:39:08 GMT
Really liked this one. Not just because of how creepy the idea of a haunted children's book is (though Mr Spider > The Babadook, clearly), but because of its position in the larger story. With Mr Sims on the run and on the lookout for - possibly supernatural - allies, the opener functioned as a useful reminder that The Spider/The Web isn't remotely benevolent. It might end up with vaguely similar goals to our protagonist, but it's still a hyperdimensional horror beyond mortal ken. Sims is most likely soon going to be not just playing with fire, but using it to fight other fires. Possibly literal ones, given what we've seen already.
One other quick observation - this statement also helps make more sense of the penultimate episode of season two. Upon listening to that story originally, I'd struggled to understand how the archivist could jump from "the table is involved" to "the table must be destroyed!". The revelation that he's been haunted by the memory of this creature since childhood helps explain why destroying the table was his immediate reaction.
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Post by Oneiros on Dec 19, 2017 12:10:04 GMT
One other quick observation - this statement also helps make more sense of the penultimate episode of season two. Upon listening to that story originally, I'd struggled to understand how the archivist could jump from "the table is involved" to "the table must be destroyed!". The revelation that he's been haunted by the memory of this creature since childhood helps explain why destroying the table was his immediate reaction. I'm not sure it does - aside from the table being at Hill Top Road, I'm not sure if The Archivist necessarily links the Table to Mr Spider. He may just have leapt to the conclusion that it was the source of power for the Not!Them. Personally, I think it's more telling that he was primed earlier in the season - there's a point where Not!Sasha says that the table makes her uncomfortable and they should get rid of it, but The Archivist retorts that they're not in the habit of destroying artefacts. Will quote relevant bit here when I've found it again.
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urchin
Right Honourable Poster
Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.
Posts: 52
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Post by urchin on Dec 19, 2017 15:55:52 GMT
Personally, I think it's more telling that he was primed earlier in the season - there's a point where Not!Sasha says that the table makes her uncomfortable and they should get rid of it, but The Archivist retorts that they're not in the habit of destroying artefacts. Will quote relevant bit here when I've found it again. Are you thinking of when Martin suggests that it be destroyed? From Episode 37 - Burnt Offering: MARTIN: Sorry... Look, John, I do think we should destroy the table, though. I mean, if it’s the one from Amy Patel’s statement. Just in case.
ARCHIVIST: Elias told me the same thing. Luckily he phrased it as advice rather than an instruction, so for now I’m more inclined to keep studying it. We’re not in the business of destroying knowledge. Not Sasha may have suggested destroying it somewhere else, but I don't recall for sure. I think you're right, though, that the Archivist had the thought of destroying the table suggested to him long before he did it. Sounds like Elias helped with that as well.
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Post by hyoscyamus on Dec 19, 2017 19:41:34 GMT
Which is another clue for my theory that Elias tries to pit enemies against John (or vice versa) to train and harden him up. (Spoiler for File #82) Same with detective Tonner and the advice to deal with John quickly. And since I don't quite know where to put another tiny theory of mine I leave it here: We, the audience, are in the role of the Beholding. Everything the Beholding hears, we get to hear, the statements; the recordings of what happens around the files - but nothing outside what's to hear in recordings. If that's the case then keeping John under the influence of the Beholding (us) would be great, because should he somehow get rid of the mark, we wouldn't hear anything from him again until another marked person talks to him. And I would really miss hearing Mr. Sims reading a lot. (Having the Archivist slowly turn into something like Gerard Keay or Elias is also a possibility I personally really like, but I'm a bad person sooo... )
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urchin
Right Honourable Poster
Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.
Posts: 52
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Post by urchin on Dec 20, 2017 16:19:28 GMT
Which is another clue for my theory that Elias tries to pit enemies against John (or vice versa) to train and harden him up. Hmm. I'm not sure about that. I think it's very possible that Elias is sending the tapes to Jonathan (Elias or Martin are my guesses), but I don't think it's to harden him. I think Elias considers himself Jonathan to be his adversary, given his penchant for murdering people who dig to deeply and learn too much. If the tapes are coming from Elias, it might be a smokescreen to keep Jonathan occupied and out of the way. As to what Elias is really after... the more episodes come out, the less certain I am of that. I doubt that he's working for beholding, though. At least given what we know right now. I think Beholding's current chosen is Jonathan, and that it has its hooks in Martin as well. Just my thoughts, could be totally wrong. I think the audience-as-beholding idea is an interesting one, though I don't know how much I want to identify with an entity of cosmic horror
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Post by hyoscyamus on Dec 20, 2017 20:31:40 GMT
I think Elias considers himself Jonathan to be his adversary, given his penchant for murdering people who dig to deeply and learn too much. If the tapes are coming from Elias, it might be a smokescreen to keep Jonathan occupied and out of the way. As to what Elias is really after... the more episodes come out, the less certain I am of that. I doubt that he's working for beholding, though. At least given what we know right now. I think Beholding's current chosen is Jonathan, and that it has its hooks in Martin as well. Hmmm, I mean, as long as we don't get to hear it for certain everything is possible. Here's the thing, though: I don't think Elias murders people who dig too deep and/or learn too much. He kills enemies of the Beholding. Leitner and Gertrude were in the end actively acting against all of the aspects - including Beholding. The mess Gertrude left the archives in was most likely very deliberate to prevent Beholding and it's marked to string everything neatly together. She was able to read and understand everything that went on, misfiled and "misplaced" the statements, then conferred with Leitner. Until Elias noticed and - BAM - bullets to the chest for going against Beholding. Same result for Leitner once he was outside of his protective reading-bubble. (And while writing I realized the following is another spoiler for Eyewitnesses, well placed again, me. *facepalms*)Assuming Elias told the truth when he said he knows exactly where John is, I'd definitely say he sends the folders to John. But wouldn't it be much more successful to not give him anything, if he was an adversary? The less John learns, the less prepared he'd be. And the less he records things, the less he feels the need to (as was the case when he was on sick leave after the worm attack), which means less influence from Beholding.
Also, Elias is denying that there's a change in positions for the Archivist yet and outright tells detective Tonner that he wants John to hear the statement about her past and her crimes. And then there's this interesting little part of their conversation beforehand: Daisy: "You don't think he did it?" Elias: "Killed a man in cold blood? Certainly not. He doesn't have the stomach for it." Daisy: "People can surprise you." Elias: "In John's case, I rather hope so."[/spoiler] Hehe, thank you! *bows* I'd be very fine with it actually! But whatever it is in the end, all Beholders have the same favorite as it seems. (Please, pardon the pun there.)
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