#MAG4

[ndsvkwac]

MAG 4: Page Turner

[thatpodcastkid]

Magnus Archives Relisten, MAG 4 Page Turner

Analysis of MAG 4, Page Turner. Spooky book time! Spoilers ahead.

Jurgen Leitner? Stupid idiot motherfucking Jurgen-

Sorry about that got possessed for a second. Anyway, first Leitner statement! Let's get into it while I try to control my rage.

Facts: Statement of Dominic Swain, regarding a book briefly in his possession in the winter of 2012.

Statement Notes: So much in this episode! First Gerry and Mary citing, first Leitner and Mike Crew mention. Crazy how relevant this episode was and we all had no way of knowing.

Starting simple, I would just like to say that as a theatre tech, Swain is so accurate and so real. "Doing a little bit of everything?" Real. Trying to see friends work but you also work at the same time? Real. Work place romance? Real. Not being able to relax when you see a play because you know all the tech stuff that can go wrong? Really real.

What I really loved about Dominic's statement though is the highlight of the ozone smell. He walks all around London with that book, shows it to Mary and Gerard, shows it to friends, and no one else mentions the smell. Yet, when he shows it to his ex Katherine Mendes, she said it "triggered her vertigo." This happens with a lot of the cursed items in the show: they don't have one general effect, but target the specific sources of fear and anxiety in the owner. Katherine apparently gets vertigo often, so The Vast would naturally trigger than height-based stressor. But Swain has a specific fear of lightning and the ozone smell because of what happened to Mike, so torturing him with that smell is the most effective way to cause fear in him.

There's also some really classic cursed object horror going on here that I love. Swain tries to sell the book the whole episode, but calls it "his book" fleeing Mary. Additionally, he says that he thought about giving it away, but felt that "wouldn't count." Very similar to Do Not Open here and a lot of cursed object horror in that there needs to be some kind of debt or reciprocity established rid one of the object.

I also just love the line "walking felt as natural as falling." It really conjures the idea that he can't control himself, that he's stumbling to Mary's shop uncontrollable just as he would fall through the sky: completely unable to stop.

Entity Alignment: Dominic translates "Ex Altiora" as "From Higher" or "Out of the Heights." That's just such insane Vast energy, the idea that whatever the book does to you will spawn from the open empty sky and you won't be able to stop it, just as you'd never be able to stop falling.

Obviously this episode is generally Vast aligned, but that painting of the Eye really freaked me out. "Grant us the sight that we may not know. Grant us the scent that we may not catch. Grant us the sound that we may not call.” This engraving very much encapsulates the point of the Eye and the Archive, and weirdly foreshadows what Jon goes through later. It is essentially saying, "Let me witness the fear and pain of others so that I don't have to experience it myself." Why would Gerry paint this? Especially given that a giant eye gives Elias direct view into his home. What is the goal?

Character Notes: Jurgen Leitner? Stupid idiot motherfucking Jurgen Leitner god damn fool book collecting dust eating-

Sorry what happened I blacked out.

Seriously though, my biggest takeaway about Leitner in this ep is that he doesn't spell his name with an umlaut like others. Why did Jonny include that detail. What does that do for me.

I do love that the only information Swain could find on him was that he lost a bidding war over a book to "GRbookworm1818" who is so obviously Gertrude it's hilarious.

I think it's so weird that Swain couldn't find anything online about him, though. Leitners are clearly around, so wouldn't there be some kind of chat room or reddit post about one? Builds my theory that the Entities or at least the Web has some influence over internet content in this universe that it doesn't have in The Magnus Protocol universe. In TMAGP, the OIAR sorts through things found in databases and the internet, but in TMA the Archive seems to be the only source of real supernatural info, proving that Elias or someone else was controlling the stream of information in a way that the entities aren't able to (yet) in TMAGP.

Let's turn away from the most hated character on the internet to talk about the most loved: Gerard Keay.

Our first intro to Gerry is death metal music blasting from his bedroom at two am which is just, so on brand.

(Also want to point out that Dominic Swain didn't realize it was 2 am until he heard the music. Missing time is another motif that keeps coming up in this show.)

I also forgot that Gerry painted in this universe, so it's nice to see they kept that connection in Protocol.

The thing that's truly key (no pun intended) about this episode though is the ritual Mary performs, blaming Gerry for her fake murder. I believe this is the episode she binds herself to the Skin Book, but I can't figure out when/how she would attach Gerry. Also, the case against him was thrown out because a "key piece of evidence was deemed inadmissible." Was this Gertrude pulling strings, Mary using magic influence, or some other powerful eldritch bureaucrat pulling for our boy? Who's to say.

Mike Crew is really only mentioned in this episode, but it did get me thinking about the relevance of scars in the show. His Lichtenberg scar influences who he is and what he becomes as an Avatar. Very similar to Daisy naming herself after her scar and pursuing law--which would lead to her becoming an Avatar--because of the event and injury. Also, Jon's "markings" are what allow him to start the Eyepocalypse. Physical manifestations and reminders of trauma shaping who we become really is a theme in this show.

And of course, Jon. He is such a terrible liar yet him believing in the supernatural was still somehow a plot twist. Proves how good a writer Jonny is, honestly. He doesn't believe in the supernatural, but is absolutely terrified of Leitners and is working on an "institute project" to eradicate them? I would love to know how this project worked. Was it just research? Was there a team dedicated to finding and collecting Leitners? He also mentions "the incident in 1994," is that when the library was destroyed? Or is just another terrible Leitner incident.

Crazy ep, one of my favorites. Let me know what you think!

[nikkodikko]

"I had expected Gerard to leave immediately, but instead he walked over to my metal waste paper basket and placed the book inside. He reached into his jacket pocket, and pulled out a bottle of lighter fluid-

[ID: A Magnus Archives comic. Gerry's tattooed hands can be seen opening a bottle labeled as "Leitner Fluid". Then Gerry is shown in full as he pours the bottle into a trash can containing Ex Altiora. He tosses a match in, then smiles as the book is set alight. End ID]

Oh sorry Leitner fluid and a box of matches."

[aesrot]

someone stop me from relistening to tma, pls

[alice-apparently]

some people are like ‘omg artist gerry/oh he’s a painter now’ as if that wasn’t literally one of the first things we learned about gerry in MAG4, he’s always been one TT

heck we even had Mary say something positive about him there

[campbellsoupgansey]

the people who make statements in tma have the most boring jobs

[itsclydebitches]

I'm re-listening to TMA and I CANNOT get over the 180 Jon does in "Page Turner." We're four episodes in and the last three have been spent building up Jon as the cliched skeptic who takes a Rational™ approach to his supernatural job, thank you very much. Oh, you encountered a meat puppet trying to lure you into an alleyway? Sure you did, Mr. Drunk As a Skunk. My hometown is housing moaning coffins that dislike being used as coffee tables? Uh huh, says the self-identified drug addict. Oh, the woman who saw the Not!Them didn't have injuries severe enough to induce hallucinations? Alright, fine, but I'm sure there's some explanation for all this. I am Jonathan Stuffy Sims and I will NOT be cowed by a bunch of unverifiable superstitions.

So by now the listener is pretty used to this format. Creepy statement, skeptical Jon, just enough ambiguity to set up the eventual reveal that all this is true. We know how these stories go. Jon will get blindsided by the revelation in like... a season? Maybe two? Poor guy is gonna be so shocked, being a skeptic and all smh 😔

BUT THEN MAG4 slams in with the post-statement to end all post-statements. Jon comes out swinging and just fucking decks the listener with "If I never hear the name Jurgen Leitner again it will be too soon." Oh, you thought the ominous book collector would be news to him, something else to dismiss? SIKE. He already hates Leitner, all his homies hate Leitner, Leitner is an established Supernatural Threat and god dammit, I thought we'd already dealt with this back in 1994. What was Gertrude thinking? We need to stop the spread of evil ozone books immediately. I'm taking this up with Elias, I'm taking it to the TOP, because if we don't keep the clearly undead woman and her heat-averse son from spreading more fucked-up novels around we are all DOOMED. What's that? There was Sanskrit written on her flayed corpse? Oh, of course there was because organizing this archive wasn't ENOUGH of a challenge!!

And then in future statements Jon goes right back to, "The supernatural? I do not see it 😌"

All of which is WAY more fucked up and compelling than the traditional skeptic. Jon is a mess. Truly the most character of all time.

[scripted-downfall]

Convinced a friend to listen to The Magnus Archives and happened to be present when she got to MAG4 Page Turner. She just finished saying that if Ex Altiora keeps giving you vertigo, sir, then maybe you should PUT IT DOWN as it's clearly cursed or something when the words broke off into a yawn. "Sorry," she said. "Listening to these episodes always makes me so very sleepy. Anyway, on to the next-"

The irony apparently went unnoticed.

[artbymoth]

Still having TMA brainworms. So here is my rendition of Mary Keay. When listening to MAG4 I immediately had this picture of how she looks in my mind.

If anyone who reads/speaks sanskrit sees this, I’m sorry, I tried to make sure it’s not complete gibberish.

[nonbinarylocalcryptid]

MAG4 - Pageturner

*insert evil laugh* great, let's begin with cursed books

thb I feel like Dominic Swain would be the very first character that dies in an horror movie, like, dude should be grateful it was only a book that makes u feel like upsie it's high

and then he goes, uh, i should sell this book, not because it's cursed, no no no, because it will sell well and i want money.

Blame Capitalism I guess.

*read with Jon's voice* Aaaah yes, good old capitalism and greediness, the horror genre's true enemy

Quote Time:

"If I never hear the name Jurgen Leitner again it will be too soon." - Jon "everything is false except Leitners" Sims, March 30th 2016

Has the same vibe as that amazing epic meme that is "Jurgen Leitner stupid idiot motherfucker Jurgen Leitner god damn fool book collecting dust eating rat old bastard shithead idiot avatar of the whore" u Know the one.

Small review:

So, there's this fella who spends four pounds to be cursed by a book and then tries to sell and meet an old weird woman who lives in a spooky library filled with spooky books. And then he runs away without sellling the book cuz he is too spooked. And later he sells the book to the son of that woman, who is a goth art guy who is too cool to sit with us. And then The Coolest Person To Ever Exist burns the mf book.

Did I miss anything?

Is it too obvious that I need a spinoff about Gerard Keay's life? It would awesome.

And suddenly, Mr This Is More False Than Monopoly Money transforms into Mr OH NO A LEITNER and he is, for a solid two minutes, the most worried person alive about the supernatural

General overview:

Vibe: it starts meh and then it escalates to WHY SO CREEPY and then goes to really misterious

Horror: spooky, just plain old good spooky

Audio: pretty ASMR in general

Humour: Jon suddenly change of mind it's quite funny to me tbh

Score: 10/10

[zephyruswrites536]

I’m rewatching Magnus :) two-three to four episodes a day :)) I GOT SCARED SHTLESS BY “across the street” HAAH

I’m gonna say- I didnt think there were fears- but there were groups!!!

Anyways

Mag1 is the stranger and maybe the dark- probably not

Mag2 is the buried and the stranger

Mag3 is the stranger and maybe the flesh

Mag4 is the vast- I think I’m listening to it now :))

[icouldntthinkofabetternamesook]

sorry i know the post is ancient but. "the monster is mary keay" as a descriptor for mag4 is SO perfect i am going to put it on a t-shirt

like yes, YES!!!! you get it. the monster isn't the freaky book, actually, it's not the looming shadow of jurgen leitner, it's mary keay

i just. needed to give you some quick appreciation for that line because it's PERFECT and will live in my head rent free forever now.

the monster is mary keay, and she has on some level always been a monster, though distinct in many ways from most of the monsters in the show.

also your immediate read on gerry too is Perfect. he is in fact wonderfully good and always doing his best to help, i was slightly saddened to realize you never got around to analyzing mag12 in the same style but, i get it, it's a lot of work lol

just wanted to throw this quick appreciation your way :3 have a great day/night! 💖

thank you so much!

sorry it took me a while to answer, I've never got one of these before. I did those reviews in the the time between graduating college and getting my current job so I had a lot more free time on my hands. I would love to get back to writing reviews, maybe for Xena: Warrior Princess, but they are a lot of work.

I am super glad you liked my work, it feels really good to know my thoughts and readings where interesting. I was doing it as 1 review than on to the next episode and it made actually going through the archives really slow. the magnus archives was an amazing experience and I don't know how so many people survived a release schedule without being able to binge it, lord knows I'm going through it with the protocol now.

thank you for the kind words have a lovely day

[maidfrin]

good lird so many important characters get namedropped in mag4

[just-a-sunshine]

I have a HC that his mother also loved metal (cf mag4) and when they put some music one it was the only moments where they could get along with each other

I have this funny thought that Gerry isn't actually Goth, he's more of a metal head (although there is overlap) cause the only two times that we hear about anything about his music tastes, it's "heavy metal music" and that time he was seen wearing a mastodon shirt

[samwise1548]

Day 4/200 Page Turner

((might do more later today, but for now this is it))

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[inklingofadream]

TMA Episode Art! Episodes 1-8 Next

[id: 8 pen and ink drawings, each enclosed with a white border with “The Magnus Archives” written at the top and the episode number and title at the bottom. 1: A cigarette, sitting on asphalt with a trail of smoke going up from the barely-singed end; 2: A dome-shaped chunk of ice with a key inside, melting onto the floor in front of something made of wood and wrapped in chains; 3: An interior, showing a bookcase full of identical volumes and a window, with its blinds askew and three sharp claws gripping the sill, casting long shadows; 4: A bin containing a book, burning; 5: A curb in front of a well-kept suburban yard, with a metal trash can and a loose bag sitting next to it, with a large ribbon tied in a bow about the opening; 6: A sidewalk with a woman in a dress lying facedown, with matted hair and holes visible in the skin of her arms and bare feet, something climbing out of the holes; 7: A hand loosely holding a fountain pen, dripping a pool of ink onto muddy ground as a booted foot walks on uncaring in the background; 8: A shriveled apple, a split in the skin releasing a stream of spiders, some of which are scattered singly across the background. /end id]