#mag 029 cheating death

[themagnustournament]

Round Two Part Four - Match 26

If Cheating Death loses, does Arthur Nolan become the Grim Reaper? Cheating Death had 156 votes, while Infectious Doubts had 189 votes last round.

MAG 029 - Cheating Death | Spotify - Acast - YT | Wiki | Transcript

Statement of Nathaniel Thorp, regarding his own mortality.

MAG 145 - Infectious Doubts | Spotify - Acast - YT | Wiki | Transcript

Statement of Arthur Nolan regarding the life and death of Agnes Montague.

[6-and-7]

TMA Tarot

King of Cups - MAG 029: Cheating Death

[facelessoldgargoyle]

MAG 029: Cheating Death

Wow, I REALLY like this one! The idea of being tricked into becoming immortal by Death is a neat one. The image of his flesh falling away like rotten fruit is pretty gory and delicious. Yikes. I also vibe with the idea of folks roaming around the whole world as ex-embodiments of Death.

Nothing super freaky to me, though.

[thezolblade]

Magnus Archive timeline(s)

In episode 147, one of the lines that stood out most to me was near the beginning:

INT. OXFORD, 105 HILL TOP ROAD MELANIE: When did you say they finished rebuilding? ARCHIVIST: 2008? Doesn’t look like anyone ever moved in, though. BASIRA: So this is- ten years of cobwebs?

Because I’d just relistened to some other Hilltop Road statements for the fic I was writing (oh and I haven’‘t cross-posted to tumblr yet), and in episode 8:

ARCHIVIST: Statement of Ivo Lensik, regarding his experiences during construction of a house on Hill Top Road, Oxford. Original statement given March 13th 2007. [...] Two families have lived in the house since this statement was originally made but no further manifestations have been reported on Hill Top Road.

There are already lots of timeline inconsistencies noted by the fandom, but it’s always interesting to see times when Jon discusses conflicting versions of events without seeming to notice. Like when he discussed Elias in episodes 29 and 49:

MAG 029 - Cheating Death

ARCHIVIST: Statement of Nathaniel Thorp, regarding his own mortality. Original statement given June 4th 1972. [...] Fiona Law, the research assistant who took the statement, passed away in 2003 from complications following a liver transplant, and with two exceptions no-one else working for the Institute at the time is still employed here. Gertrude Robinson was there, of course, but we can’t exactly ask her, and Elias was working as a filing clerk at the time. I followed up with him, and he does remember there being something of a commotion around that time about someone self-harming while giving a statement – rumours said they’d cut off their finger or something – but he wasn’t directly involved and didn’t know much more about it.

He says Elias was working there in the ‘70s, versus:

MAG 049 - The Butcher's Window

ARCHIVIST: Elias Bouchard is a difficult man to pin down, certainly since he became head of the Institute in 1996, taking over from James Wright, who ran the place from '73 until he passed away. It was a remarkably fast climb to the top, as from what I can find, it looks like he only joined the Institute five years before in 1991 working in the Artifact Storage. Perhaps he was simply that impressive. Certainly the Elias I know now is almost unmatched in terms of paranormal knowledge. Well, theoretical knowledge at least. And yet everything I've found out about his life before the Institute seems an ill fit with the austere man I know.

He also says Elias started working there in the 90′s, in a completely different role.

When there are timeline contradictions within statements, it tends to look like time doing weird things in the entities’ realms, or people giving false information for one reason or another. Like the discrepancies between Gertrude’s dates of death in March or May 2015.

And then there’s the way Anya Villette, in MAG 114, travelled from a world without the Magnus Institute to the world the canon’s set in when she cleaned 105 Hilltop Road. She says she cleaned the house on April 23rd, but when she left it was April 8th again.

If it’s already established that there are different realities with timelines that don’t quite line up, and they can be accessed through 105 Hilltop Road, where the spiders are planning something, while interfering with the Institute...

Could some of Jon’s contradictory statements on-tape be explained by the tapes coming from two different timelines, in both of which he’s the Archivist?

If the series is spanning similar events in two timelines, would that theory fit other little oddities that admittedly have other explanations, like Melanie saying there was no safe in Elias’ office, and Jon saying there is one but he doesn’t know the code? Or Tim and Martin emerging from Michael’s corridors saying it had been days, and Martin later saying it was weeks? Maybe whenever there’s a discrepancy, both are true. If there are two versions of the cast, will they ever meet? o.o

[themagnustournament]

Round One Part Four - Match 29

Barring any of the post-apocalypse statements, I think this is our very first actual main character statement giver episode! I will say that Cheating Death is a very interesting take on the "gambling with death" trope.

MAG 076 - The Smell of Blood | Spotify - Acast - YT | Wiki | Transcript

Statement of Melanie King, regarding her further research into war ghosts. Statement recorded direct from subject.

MAG 029 - Cheating Death | Spotify - Acast - YT | Wiki | Transcript

Statement of Nathaniel Thorp, regarding his own mortality.

[themagnustournament]

The Magnus Tournament: Round One Part Four Masterpost

So as to not create horrifically long masterposts, there will be a Round One Masterpost (pinned) which links to the subgroup Masterposts.

Round One Part Four is open for voting March 27-April 2

Find the full Round One Masterpost here!

[Image ID: Matches 28-36 of Round 1 and the following matches (105-112) of Round 2. The content of the bracket is described below. End ID]

The Matches:

MAG 057 Personal Space vs. MAG 152 A Gravedigger's Envy

MAG 076 The Smell of Blood vs. MAG 029 Cheating Death

MAG 145 Infectious Doubts vs. MAG 194 Parting

MAG 164 The Sick Village vs. MAG 045 Blood Bag

MAG 107 Third Degree vs. MAG 024 Strange Music

MAG 199 Seeing It Through vs. MAG 067 Burning Desire

MAG 021 Freefall vs. MAG 184 Like Ants

MAG 163 In the Trenches vs. MAG 017 The Boneturner's Tale

MAG 125 Civilian Casualties vs. MAG 064 Burial Rights

Polls will be linked once they are posted and when I have time to edit this post (within 24 hours maximum, I have a day job). Each poll will have links to the episodes, wiki pages, and transcripts.

[6-and-7]

King of Cups // MAG 029: Cheating Death

The King of Cups is an emotionally balanced figure, open to his impulses without being overwhelmed. He is calm, collected, and in control, much like the figure of Death that Nathanial Thorpe bargained with for his life. He wins every game effortlessly -- at least so long as his opponent doesn't cheat -- and waits patiently for the prize that will eventually fall at his feet.

[6-and-7]

Redrawnuary 23

King of Cups // MAG 029: Cheating Death

The King of Cups is an emotionally balanced figure, open to his impulses without being overwhelmed. He is calm, collected, and in control, much like the figure of Death that Nathanial Thorpe bargained with for his life. He wins every game effortlessly – at least so long as his opponent doesn’t cheat – and waits patiently for the prize that will eventually fall at his feet.

Color palette from dieanywhereelseart

Original below the cut. Tbh I slightly prefer it over this one, but I made a committment to use color palettes for these cards and I'm going to stick to it.