#Tmagp theory

[scorpio-and-a-half]

FINALLY!!

Last two episodes for Magnus Protocol!! Season 1 done! What a ride!! New video out now, watch it here :)

Art credits in description :)

[petrichor430]

tmagp theory (spoilers):

Throughout season one we’ve been meeting all kinds of monsters and externals and weird fear shit and, at least to me, none of them really feel that connected to each other? Like in tma (although this could just be hindsight being 20/20) there was a lot of different fear stuff going on, but there was a little bit of a pattern with some of them which ended up being because of Smirke’s 15; they were a part of somewhat intersecting yet vaguely distinct categories.

Now, maybe this is just because we’ve only had one season of 30 episodes, but I am really not seeing many patterns of any similar nature. There have been maybe some passing similarities, some stuff about needles with Needles and Inksoul, as well as some stuff with body image/being perceived, but there’s so much that I just don’t see as connected at all.

Which brings me to my theory: this universe does not have anything like the tma universe fears, there is no sense of categorization for this universe. This is why Lena talks about how important her job and the work she is doing is to Gwen, because the purpose of the OIAR is to try and categorize the fear, perhaps to sorta metaphysically rein them in and make them less powerful. Kinda like a “once you see the horror movie monster it’s no longer scary” kind of way.

I think I got everything I was thinking about this out, idk if this theory is novel or not but these are thoughts and ideas I’ve connected in my brain I wanted to share. This could totally be wrong and there could be categories like the tma 15 I’m not just seeing, or maybe we just haven’t been through enough statements yet to know or not. Lmk what y’all think (or don’t, I’m not your mom/dad/parent)

[redstringredeye]

I am unwell

[macabresymphonies]

If by this point you don't believe Celia is the same TMA universe Celia her meeting with Lady Mowbray cemented she is, because that was the most "seasoned Magnus Achives character meets an avatar" interaction we've had in a while:

ask her if you can do something for her just to make sure she scrams

don't give your name when trying to be tricked into saying it

ignore her creepy sniffing and vauge remarks

don't interact needlessly

don't play into her narrative

don't get caught on the stupid pun at the end

Godspeed Celia, you beautiful creature, if anybody is equipped to live till the end it's you.

[clare-89]

Interesting parallels Chester. Very interesting.

[the-butterbun]

"There's something familiar in the figures i paint. I don't know what it is. They are so impossible in their shape and yet i feel like they all had names at some point. Like this one, Micheal, I think."

[sherlocks-freebitch]

As much as I love the headcanons of TMAGP jmart locking eyes across the street, and having an infinitely brief moment before being cruelly swept away from each other, I'm even more in love with the idea of them crossing paths and never clocking each other at all. Maybe they bumped into each other outside a Tesco, both mumbling apologies and avoiding eye contact. Maybe one of them worked in a call centre and the other called up to complain about his phone contract. Maybe one had to squeeze past the other to get off a packed tube. How many people do we cross paths with in the course of our lives who could mean everything to us, if the circumstances were different? How many connections do we miss?

[bobliophage413]

i know it probably won’t be this BUT i’ve been entertaining myself thinking about what if alice and sam find the tape with episode 200 (maybe minus the part with basira n friends) in the ruins of the magnus institute and they just stare at each other like:

while listening to

guy from computer doing a murder

guy from computer lore dumping

SECOND guy from computer yelling at guy from computer for doing a murder

GUYS FROM COMPUTER ARE GAY FOR EACH OTHER? love wins.

what’s this about traveling other dimensions?

second guy from computer doing a murder. love loses.

[trans-jon-rights]

Okay so some of you may be familiar with the fact that alchemy heavily relates to The Magnus Protocol, especially with the latest episode.

It's already admitted that Sam Khalid's name is at least inspired by Prince Khalid Ibn Yazid, a famous alchemist from the 7th century. Well I'd like to go a bit deeper, and point out more connections :

Alice Dyer -> Edward Dyer

Teddy Vaughn -> Thomas Vaughan

Colin Becher -> Johann Joachim Becher

Lena Kelley -> Edward Kelley

Celia Ripley -> George Ripley

Chester -> Robert de Chester

I've yet to find anything about Norris or Augustus but this is what I've got. But there's more ! There are connections !

Edward Dyer and Thomas Vaughan were both Rosicruscians (and friends, too), a subcategory of alchemists

Robert De Chester was the one who translated Khalid Ibn Yazid's works from Arabic to Latin

Johann Joachim Becher was German, then travelled to England and resided in Scotland

Edward Kelley worked with Robert Boyle (mentionned in MAGP 19)

I'm not sure exactly what to do with it, but that's what I've got. I'm going insane over that so expect some more over the next few days.

[lostwords-found]

Oh shit. I just looked up the beer, Doom Bar, that Luke orders for him and Alice at the end of ep 15. Fun fact, turns out it's named for a treacherous sandbar that has wrecked hundreds of ships...

Ships that were sailing into Padstow. Where episode 11 was set.

With the repeated emphasis on food and drink in Protocol, there's no way that one's a coincidence. Luke Dyer--whether or not you know it yet, you are in it, lad. You are in it much, much too deep.

[tea-cuz-why-not]

I’m calling it now, Sam’s gonna become an avatar, willingly.

[viscerally-tired]

No but seriously have we considered whimsigoth Gerry?... I don't wanna get involved in discourse, but I do wanna throw that out there cause I haven't seen anyone else say it

like

It's free, comfy, has pops of colour, and can be taken in sososososo many directions

[drownedbycoffee]

THEY AREN'T THE FEARS ANYMORE!! THEY'RE DESIRES

(SPOILERS for TMA, and all of TMAGP episodes so far)

Okay, here me out

Tmagp1: Darla wants to hear Arthur's voice again. She even says: "I just couldn’t face the thought of the rest of my life never hearing him again, I had to try" and later on she even says: "But I had to know, so I went to the cemetery."

Tmagp1: RedCanary wants to know about the Magnus Institute. They want to know why it's listed under 'cleared' when there's no evidence of it. Hence why they go and explore it.

Tmagp2: Daria wants that absolute perfection. She wants to change who she is and get out of that dark place. When she talks about the thing that she felt was missing, she says, "... and that’s when I decide I need a tattoo. I had a couple already – just little things on my shin and my wrist – but I decided I needed something big. Something that really changed my look." She also mentions when talking about Ink5oul that "they just kept pressing me about my life, about why I wanted the ink" instead of asking what design she wanted. And when she got the tattoo she describes herself as now being, "Someone I wanted to know more about." Afterwards she even says how "For the first time ever [she] wanted to attempt a self-portrait. Something real and physical, [she] wanted to feel the brushes in my hands and the oil on [her] fingertips." I think a lot of her statement is about her desire and impulsive need for that perfection and that wholeness that she has been aspiring to for her whole life.

Tmagp3: Samuel wants to stay hidden. He wants and he "need[s] to get up, get out of here for treatment." He wants to get better and most of his delirious thoughts are the things that he wants, or feels like he needs. E.g. "I so much want to see it [the sun] again. This night seems endless. I want to be warm again. I am terribly afraid. Thank god for Maddie. I need to treat her better."; "I just need to rest."; "I need to be careful or we’ll drift apart." And then obviously as the narrative continues, Samuel wants to grow and 'put down roots'.

Tmagp4: The narrator wants to be revered and accepted into the Royal Court Orchestra of the Palatinate. He wants to show off and impress. The violin "was a creature with needs and purpose of its own. The needs were simple enough. Blood. Flesh." It has these needs and desires.

So far, I'm interpreting it to be that everything so far can be interpreted as a desire of sorts, varying in the strength and intensity of it. Obviously, fear is still a big part of it all, because if you want something so badly, aren't you afraid of it being stolen from you? Of it being out of your grasp? Of it being unachievable or impossible in some capacity? Of it being a lie?

Even Sam wants to find out more. He wants to know the why and the reason for things. Gwen wants Lena's job. Collin wants to fix all these bugs and keep Freddie running. Alice wants to just get on with it because she found out that wanting to know the 'why' of things is dangerous.

I think that somehow when the Web took all the Fears into a different universe, they morphed into something else. Or they changed to fit what was the most prevalent thing in that universe, because after all, everyone wants something, even if it's something small and inconsequential. Life and aspects of it has always been characterised by that desire for something. Like people wanting food, shelter, safety, love, warmth, happiness, etc. And I think since the Web was so intwined with Jon and Martin, it absorbed some of their emotions when it found its way into this new world, because after all Jon and Martin wanted to stop Jonah/Elias, to stop the apocalypse, to destroy the Panopticon, to be safe, and they wanted each other. I think the wanting and fear of things are really entwined in it all, though this could be absolute bullshit haha

[cindytoast404]

‘when is it okay to lie’ being the last question sam was asked… the fact that the static sound appears after someone lies… there are strings here but i can NOT connect them

[macabresymphonies]

I was like "huh, loads of alchemy in Magnus Protocol, better pick up some books on alchemy to see if they help me understand some hidden themes" so I picked up "Secrets of Alchemy" by Lawrence M. Principe and guys, I'm just sitting there, reading it like:

THERE IS SO MUCH STUFF THAT'S CURRENTLY RELEVANT. DYES (INKS??) BEING ONE OF MAIN SUBJECTS, AN ALTAR WHERE YOU SACRIFICE MEN OF THREE METALS AND ASK THEM QUESTIONS (FREDDY?), GERMAN CODE BEING RELEVANT (???), ONE OF THE MAIN ARABIC SCHOLARS OF ALCHEMY WAS PRINCE FUCKING KHALID (like, ya know, SAMAMA KHALID??).

I'm only TWO CHAPTERS INTO THIS BOOK and already had like five points where I'm gleefully reading it and suddenly going "...wait". I will go insane before S1 even ends.

[lights-at-night]

ITS THE SAME TREE

hey so remember that guy in tmagp 3? not sure if this is obvious but i think the tree in that episode is the same tree that isaac newton made in tmagp 19.

the creature first "[takes] root", as is the same with samuel webber. both mention lethargy.

samuel webber states his desire for the sun and the tree dog is said to grow towards the sun with "insatiable desire".

in conclusion, the tree is a reoccuring character and it survived until at least 2009 (the time of samuel webbers tree-becoming). i suspect we'll see it again (maybe ink5oul's floral tattoos have something to do with it?). i have some indistinct thoughts about what it's turning stuff into, but that's for another post.