#the metatron theory

[ariaste]

Added an addendum to the “The Magic Trick You Didn’t See" google document; just to save you time from having to go open up the whole document again, I’ll put the addition under the cut here as well:

Addendum:

Goddammit I knew I should have looked up the Shostakovich symphony. Thank you to the person who emailed me to tell me to look it up.

From Wikipedia:

“The Symphony quotes Shostakovich's song Vozrozhdenije (Op. 46 No. 1, composed in 1936–37), most notably in the last movement; the song is a setting of a poem by Alexander Pushkin (find text and a translation here) that deals with the matter of rebirth. This song is by some considered to be a vital clue to the interpretation and understanding of the whole symphony.”

The poem by Pushkin:

An artist-barbarian with his lazy brush Blackens the painting of a genius And senselessly he covers it with His own illegitimate drawing.

But with the passing years, the alien colours Fall off like threadbare scales; The creation of the genius emerges before us in its former beauty

Thus vanish the illusions From my tormented soul And in it appear visions Of original and innocent times.

(Translation from Russian by Tom Kennedy)

WELP........ don’t know what to do with that. ok.

[xserpx]

Just finished reading @ariaste 's Metatron Theory and it definitely is convincing! I'd also add the way Gabriel reorganises the books as evidence of order & records being messed with, and possibly might be one of the ways in which they foil Metatron's plans: e.g. if Gabriel rearranged Aziraphale's journals or other canon text. I think this also converges nicely with Season 1 and all the Agnes Nutter stuff.

Now I'm also wonder if there's any ties between Metatron and Jane Austen. On one hand, you could argue that Jane is about balls & love at first sight, but on the other hand so much of her stories are about misunderstandings and communication. Only someone who's never read her will think so shallowly of her insights. Perhaps S3 will have a Real Jane Austen solution to a Hack Romance Writer problem?

[rijl]

I wrote a lil response to the Good Omens "Magic Trick Theory." If you're interested in that theory and the answers to some of the questions it poses, or you just enjoy learning more about the religious references in Good Omens like I do, check it out.

[right-across-the-moonlit-hall]

Rewatching 2nd season of Good Omens in light of a certain Theory.

Still can't get over the fact that one of the zombies gets a ring from the magic shop that's similar to the one Furfur gave him, puts it on his other hand, and the ring proceeds to be of no significance whatsoever.

I was fully expecting to see a mixup/fake-out involving the two rings, and i get an enormous dopamine crash from the fact it hasn't happened like that in the story.

But what... But what if it actually did 🤔 if a certain someone was indeed manipulating Zira's recollections 🤔 now, i don't have the brain power to figure out the alternative/true version of events. Or why the fake-out would be at all necessary to the story.

Just my wishful thinking 😔 so unsatisfying to me, the setup-no-payoff thing

[downthepub]

What was the apology dance that Aziraphale did in 1941 about? If the Metatron Rewrite Theory holds water, was something *changed* so he never ended up apologizing? (Something about the magic trick going awry?) Or are we just supposed to take it as read that, at some point in that year, he did a little apology dance and this was memorable enough to discuss later but never to show?

[ivorygrace]

aha i read ariaste's good omens theory and it just makes a lot of sense when you think about it. what is the strongest thing that crowley and aziraphale have, that's been emphasized time and time again throughout both seasons? it's their history, and thereby their memories and attachments (with each other and with earth).

so naturally this would be where the metatron would strike, first in distancing aziraphale from earthly attachments (the whole drinking thing Really stuck out when i was watching) and then from crowley.

it's just a really good, circular payoff overall. set up two characters who have a lot of history and then have the antagonist use that against them.

[azfellandco]

The real reason I like that Magic Trick Theory so much is because in the four years since s1 I read Homestuck for the first time.

[ineffable-aurelia]

I am convinced this is further proof of the Magic Trick Theory. (Summary: None of these flashbacks are real, or are twisted versions from the Metatron already messing with the Book of Life.) 

Things wrong with this:

- Why is there a well-lit theater in the middle of a bombing night? Blackouts were city wide, it didn’t matter where in the city you were. All outside lights, all windows, EVERYTHING was blacked out so planes wouldn’t know where to drop the bombs in the dark

- This is a show-girl theater for GI’s. Why the hell are there nuns backstage? Why the hell are there, specifically, Tadfield Satanic Nuns backstage? Why are they playing table tennis backstage at a show-girl theater? 

It literally DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE. And we know Neil is an insanely good and detailed storyteller. So, the only explanation is that it doesn’t make sense ON PURPOSE.  

I've just noticed a nun playing table tennis in the background, as Aziraphale and Crowley enter the theatre. It must be a Tuesday then !

[orpiknight]

2023 is the year for asking the burning questions like "What if David Tennant came back to play a queer, nonbinary, nearly-immortal, otherworldly being that loves Earth and whose greatest adversary list somehow includes a cup of coffee?"

[inafever]

Oh my god I've been so stupid

GIVE ME COFFEE OR GIVE ME DEATH

It was an outright goddamn death threat

You either take the coffee, or take the death

Metatron you nasty little piece of shit

[idreamofsleeping]

GOOD OMENS SPOILERS.

So I've been thinking a lot about Muriel. About how they're sweet and naive and sort of dumb, and they're a 37th class angel.

In fact, Muriel’s level of naivety is nearly the same as Jim-level naivety/dumbness. And Jim was supposed to be a 38th class angel, after being demoted from Supreme Archangel and having his memories removed.

And when this was revealed Muriel says 'I didn't know there was a class below me', what if Muriel is just a demoted angel? What if Heaven just keeps demoting any angel who goes against God’s (the Metatron’s) Plan and making a new, lower class for them? Instead of making them fall, they just keep taking memories and demoting angels so that there wont be a perceived ‘institutional problem’. Which there isn’t. Right?

[armageddidnt]

Good Omens dropping hints that Crowley has apparently Forgotten at least some of his former high-and-mighty angelic status in heaven.

[alivedean]

good omens crack → 8/?

[melbatron5000]

It's a 2-man Con

Listen, I think I know a thing.

When Aziraphale comes back from talking to the Metatron and is telling Crowley about being an angel, we've all heard the theory that he's speaking code, trying to ask for help. The more I look at that scene, the more that theory tracks.

Maybe less well-known is the theory that Crowley didn't miss a damn thing, he's answering in his own code. And again, the more I look at that scene, the more this also tracks.

(When my husband, annoyingly observant beloved partner that he is, saw the second season for the first time, he said, "That whole thing was a show for the Metatron. They have a plan. Crowley slipped something to Aziraphale when he kissed him." And I said, "Nah." But now I think he's right, and damn if he isn't smug.)

I'm gonna try to break down what I think they're saying here, because it takes just a hot minute to piece it together. I've been thinking this over for a couple of months now. I think I have most of it. I just don't know when Crowley puts whatever he's handing to Aziraphale in his own mouth. I need more eagle-y eyes, it seems.

First, Aziraphale comes back from his talk. He's pensive as he crosses the road, and anxious when he starts talking, and mouths "I need help!" as he's talking. He's acting like he does when he lies to the other angels, and once it's seen "I need help!" is pretty clear.

He does the whole thing about telling Crowley he could appoint him as an angel, like old times, but even nicer. It's all very uptight and not positive at all. My interpretation? "The Metatron is here, I think he knows we're up to something, we have to go to Heaven right now and put things right before he really does something awful to one or both of us. The time to spring the plan is NOW."

Crowley stares at him. At first it seems like he's staring in disbelief, but if you really look at his face, he's listening, hard, and interpreting as fast as he can:

He asks Aziraphale if he told the Metatron where he could stick it, then. My interpretation? "The plan has changed. I can't go with you to Heaven. You'll have to go alone."

Then Crowley starts his confession -- "We've spent our existence pretending we aren't."

Aziraphale looks at him -- not with shock, or surprise, or love, or hope, but with a "Why are you doing this now?" face. Not "Why did you wait til now to tell me, you love me, oh, I love you too!" But "Why are you telling me SOMETHING I ALREADY KNOW while our ENEMY IS LISTENING??" :

He's confused, but also listening and interpreting. What I'm hearing/seeing: I don't think this is a love confession from our demon. I think they are both well aware they love one another. They can't say it in so many words, and it's a secret from Heaven and Hell, but it's not a secret between them. I'm hearing Crowley set the scene. "The Metatron either wants us together in Heaven under control, or separated. I have things I have to do here or the plan won't work, so we'll have to separate. We need to make it look good. I do love you."

I don't think Aziraphale likes this change of plan. And Crowley can't detail why the plan has changed, not with the Metatron listening. So Aziraphale insists, come with me. The plan we had will work. Do it my way. Crowley says, "You can't leave this book shop." It's easy to interpret that as "You can't leave me," but I don't think it's that. He's saying something about the book shop being safe, or even that he can't leave without whatever they've hidden in the book shop. (I THINK THEY HID SOMETHING IN THE BOOK SHOP!) Aziraphale says, "Nothing lasts forever." I hear him saying the book shop is no longer safe, and they have to move/take whatever they've hidden and they can't speak freely there anymore.

Crowley replies, "No I suppose it doesn't. Good luck." He's gotten that much, but he is still set on his "We need to fake a break up because I can't go with you."

Aziraphale still doesn't like that. "Come back! I need you!" He's scared. Whatever he has to do in Heaven is big, and scary, and he needs and wants Crowley with him. He does not want to go into the mouth of danger alone.

This is when we get, "No nightingales." What I'm hearing? ESPECIALLY since if you listen, you can hear a LARK sing as Crowley goes out the door? It's the line from Romeo and Juliet, by Shakespeare, whose plays they both enjoy, though Crowley prefers the funny ones. "It's too late, that's a lark singing the dawn, not a nightingale singing to the night, we have to part. Our happy ending isn't yet."

Then the kiss. I do not believe this is their first kiss. I don't believe they've allowed themselves many, maybe not even more than one, but I do think they've kissed before. I'm not sure when, but I suspect 1941. (Season 3, come ON!!)

And when they part, Aziraphale stops himself from saying "I love you," and instead says, "I forgive you." I'm hearing so many things in that "I forgive you." I forgive you for leaving me on my own, I forgive you for hurting my feelings like this, I forgive you for changing the plan without telling me, I forgive you because you are forgivable whatever anyone else says, I forgive you because that's what I said when we split up at the bandstand and everything was okay in the end and I hope hope hope that everything will be okay in the end this time too.

Crowley says, "Don't bother." I'm hearing, "yeah, I hope it's all okay, too. Wish me fuckin luck. My part will be hard, too."

And as Crowley leaves, Aziraphale mouths, "No." And we hear a lark sing. A lark, singing to the dawn, and so fair Romeo must away.

Just because the break up is a ruse, doesn't mean it doesn't hurt and isn't hard. It has to look real, and so it's going to feel real, too. Ouch. :'(

And then Aziraphale touches his lips. Not once, but twice. My bad, he only touches his lips once. The first long second is pure emotion. "Why now, I hate this, I want that so badly and I can't have it."

After that, though --

After he pulls himself together a bit, he has a bulge in his cheek. He shifts his jaw to move whatever he has in his mouth to his lips, and then his first two fingers go stiff for a moment as he palms something right before he takes his hand away.

And then, this.

Edit to add: someone on Facebook asked me why a kiss to pass whatever Crowley gave to Aziraphale, why not palm it or drop it in his pocket?

My answers: 1. The kiss is a message. "We're still good, I still love you, I still want this." 2. The item is too important to be dropped in a pocket and hopefully found later. 3. The Metatron is paying WAY too close attention, and will definitely see them touch hands. Seeing a kiss and the angel rejecting the demon, though? Well, the demon forced that kiss on him, the angel didn't want it. Clearly the demon thinks this relationship is different than it is. It's a bigger gesture that sells the ruse. 4. Houdini's wife used to pass him the keys to his cuffs with a kiss before the show. This is a message that magic-loving Aziraphale WILL understand: here are the keys to your cuffs, sneaked to you by your beloved in plain sight.

That's it. That's what I got so far. I still have questions.

What did Crowley pass to Aziraphale? What's the plan? Why did it change? What does Crowley need to do that he can't go to Heaven again?

[fearandhatred]

listen that good omens lockdown phone call is literally WHAT I HAVE BEEN SAYING everything they tell each other goes in one ear and straight out the other it's kind of incredible

aziraphale hints so many times that crowley could come over if he wanted and does crowley get the hint? no! and then afterwards crowley says outright that he could visit him, and does aziraphale accept? NO! I AM GOING TO THROTTLE THE LIFE OUT OF THEM WITH MY BARE HANDS

[azfell-ajcrowley]

Something we didn't notice (part 2)

part 1

Overall, the meta is based on close observation of Aziraphale (for the most part) and Crowley. Without speculation or trying to guess what we haven't been shown (well, almost).

The Metatron makes it clear that he is watching Aziraphale delivering the "good news". Aziraphale looks back at him.

The first thing I'd like to explain. The Metatron is talking to Muriel, and then he stares at the window of the bookshop duplicating that gaze toward Crowley. The frame changes and we see Aziraphale looking out the same window, just for a second, but he will do it repeatedly.

As Crowley starts his monologue, Aziraphale tries to stop him by gesturing for him not to say too much, while looking out the window himself. Aziraphale continues to turn to the window with every meaningful attempt to speak.

Let's also note that Aziraphale doesn't usually behave in a similar way in conversations with Crowley. Yes, Aziraphale is characterised by active gesticulation, but the constant pauses, averting his eyes from the interlocutor, nervous and jerky movements - these are messengers that angel is holding something back, hiding or simply doesn't want to tell. Most often we see this Aziraphale in conversations with the leadership - God and Archangels.

https://commonmexicanname.tumblr.com/post/734305363759890432/good-omens-thoughts

Here's a prime example, comparing his interaction with Archangels when he's caught off guard and frantically trying to figure out how to get out of the situation.

I don't think Aziraphale is just lying to Crowley here, no. He just has an audience beyond Crowley. He tries to tell everything, knowing he has more than one viewer.

When Aziraphale mentions the Metatron, he is not just hinting, he points his index fingers - one at the window, another at Heaven, and then in a distinctly active quick motion once more at the WINDOW.

And again - turns his face to the window at the words about Gabriel failing, and then tilts his head towards the transparent panes of the bookshop.

The conversation with the Metatron is important, among other things, to assess Aziraphale's behaviour when Crowley is mentioned by his superiors. At the words about their partnership Aziraphale looks frightened: his facial muscles are tense, his forehead and eyebrows are furrowed, and there is a terror in his eyes.

When the God's spokesman concludes his really suspicious speech, Aziraphale swallows nervously and averts his eyes. He certainly doesn't look like someone who's been offered the fulfilment of his cherished dream. And not like someone who believes it.

Aziraphale looks like someone who has just found out what an enormous amount of incriminating information is in his opponent's possession.

"Tell me you said no. Tell me you said NO." Crowley is definitely shocked and horrified, he thinks the best of his angel. He can't believe what's going on (and he isn't supposed to).

Aziraphale turns his head towards the window again as an answer.

He actually said:

And

We see him right before he walks into the bookshop, he never says yes to the Metatron.

Aziraphale utters his most delusional words while looking out the window. Of course, they're not meant for Crowley. Aziraphale hasn't believed it for a long time, Crowley even more so.

And then Crowley says "Oh, God", without correcting himself afterwards, because this demon can only hope in God here.

For a second Aziraphale has a look of hope on his face that Crowley has realised what he's getting at. Then Aziraphale realises that Crowley is trying to confess. He's waited for so long not to realise. He was about to confess too.

Aziraphale already knows everything Crowley is about to tell him, but more importantly, literally everyone already knows it. It's impossible to stay and start pretending again that there's nothing between them.

Aziraphale has a completely blank stare past Crowley, and then he looks out the window. Again.

And then the most interesting thing happens. Crowley starts his line "And I would like to spend…" But he turns his head and finally looks out the window, where Aziraphale has been pointing so hard since the beginning of their conversation.

Maybe that's the reason Crowley doesn't complete the sentence. And he begins to pick up different words. Maybe not, maybe the sun from the outside is preventing him from seeing the Metatron.

In the final part of their conversation, when they move closer to the bookshop's door, Aziraphale looks towards the window again.

After "no nightingales" line he turns away to hide his feelings and pain.

The cherry on the cake is the kiss, Aziraphale is falling into the abyss. He averts his eyes trying to figure out if the Metatron could have seen what just happened.

When Crowley leaves, Aziraphale thinks he's lost him. But then, even when the Metatron walks in and says devaluing words about Crowley, Aziraphale can't tear himself away from the window, because now he can see Crowley there. Maybe not everything is lost.

Aziraphale retreats back to the clock - to the very spot where Crowley was standing a few minutes ago. He looks out the window at Crowley, as if to say, "I stand where you stood, you stand where the Metatron stood."