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kellanswritingblog · 5 years ago

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Everhunted

A Melanie/Daisy piece where Daisy succumbs to the Hunt again and lashes out at Melanie. She snaps out of it almost immediately, and Melanie understands and forgives her, she has a hard time forgiving herself.

I wrote this a while ago but I am concerned™ for them in the coming episodes so I thought I might as well post it now rather than later.

2074 words, no warnings.

Continue reading below, or head on over to AO3!

“Hey, Daisy, you ready?”

It had become a daily routine for the two of them. Daisy needed to continue her rehabilitation, to gain back her muscle strength after the immobilization she suffered while in the Buried, and Melanie felt better to have an outlet for her aggression, even if the Slaughter wasn’t directly influencing her anymore. So, they would meet up in an impromptu and abandoned room in the Archives to work out and spar. Melanie’s self-defense training up to that point was stabbing and Daisy had been eager to teach her other methods, to keep her own mind focused on something other than the itching desire at the back of her skull.

There were times while they fought each other with weak punches and narrowly missing kicks that an animalistic glint would shine in Daisy’s eye or Melanie would growl and hit harder than she needed to. They both noticed these moments and said nothing. They understood well enough, how their entities threatened to drag them back into servitude if they let their guard down for only the briefest moment.

They were never truly free from the Slaughter or the Hunt. But, together, it seemed a little easier to fight off their influence.

However, that didn’t make them completely impervious.

When Melanie stepped into their workout studio, she found Daisy already going to town on a punching bag they’d sequestered. She was quietly grateful that she’d never been on the receiving end of Daisy’s pure wrath and that she always pulled her punches just enough.

“Daisy?” She called again. When she again received no response, she stepped closer and placed a hand on Daisy’s shoulder.

Perhaps not the smartest idea, she knew, but it seemed strange that Daisy ignored her so intently. Daisy never wore headphones while she worked out, afraid that she might miss something in the real world, so it wasn’t as if she couldn’t hear Melanie.

Melanie didn’t even manage to set her hand entirely on Daisy’s shoulder before Daisy reacted, spinning around, a hand slashing across Melanie’s face. Daisy growled and her eyes shone with a brightness one only saw in a predator going in for the kill.

Taking a few steps back in surprise and shock, Melanie felt the blood trickle into her eye and down her cheek, and wiped it away. “Daisy, Daisy… it’s okay…” She reached out carefully to her friend, sympathy in her voice.

As soon as Daisy faced her completely, the snarl on her lips and the light in her eyes faded into fear. The unnatural length and sharpness of her nails seemed to vanish before their eyes.

“Melanie?”

“Yes, it’s me. You’re alright. It’s all okay.”

“Did I… do that?” Daisy’s eyes hovered on the deep gashes that cut along Melanie’s face, tracing red across the upper part of her cheek, temple, and eyebrow.

“It’s okay. You missed my eye, so it’s all good, it’ll heal,” Melanie tried to joke, smiling as best she could without her wound stinging, but the levity did nothing to help the sorrow building up inside of Daisy.

“I didn’t mean to… I thought… I wasn’t…” Her voice broke and tears formed in her eyes as she rushed to Melanie, brushing the blood away from her cheek and holding her shoulders tightly. “I’m sorry. I…”

“Really, it’s okay. I understand.”

“That doesn’t make it alright. I thought I was past it. But… the Hunt’s still got me. I’m still a threat. To you, to everyone I care about.”

“Daisy, I startled you, it’s not the end of the world.”

Daisy’s lip quivered and she was unable to look Melanie in the eye. She continued to hold tightly to Melanie’s arms, even as she started to shake.

A moment later, in an instant as sudden as her attack, Daisy stepped away from Melanie and ran from the room.

“Daisy!” Melanie called and tried to follow her, but she was already gone.

If Daisy had left the Institute, there was almost no way that Melanie would be able to find her. So, despite the growing feeling of dread and guilt in her stomach, she headed to the bathroom where they kept one of their many first aid kits and started to bandage up the claw marks that sliced across her face.

“What the hell happened to you?”

The moment the door creaked open, Melanie had darted toward it, hoping that it was Daisy. Instead, she practically ran headlong into Basira, who was examining the shoddy bandages that wrapped across the right side of Melanie’s face.

“It was… uh, an accident. Have you seen Daisy?”

“No, not recently. And that’s not a real answer.”

“I’m not sure it’s my place to say.”

Basira paused and nodded ever so slightly. “Come with me. I’m guessing you patched yourself up without help?”

“That obvious?”

“I mean, I’ve seen worse, but not by much.”

Basira grabbed another first aid kit from her desk and started to pry off the bandages that Melanie had haphazardly slapped over her injuries to tend to them properly.

“Are these… claw marks?”

“Yeah.”

“Listen, I understand if you don’t want to talk about it, but if there’s something going on that could hurt someone else, you need to tell me.”

Melanie sighed and winced, half from the antiseptic and half from the truth.

“The Hunt kind of… got Daisy again for a second.”

“What!?”

“I startled her, and she lashed out, and… her fingernails became claws.” She gestured to her own face to explain how she got such a decoration. “There was something in her eyes…”

Basira nodded, her lips pursed together tightly as she focused more thoroughly on Melanie’s wounds, as if that would make their cause go away.

“I know she didn’t mean it. We both… have our moments when… but she ran off. I don’t know where she went, and I’m worried about her.”

“I want to say she’ll be okay, but…”

“She was-” Melanie barely managed to stop herself saying ‘back to normal.’ Who knew what normal was for any of them? “She didn’t seem to still be… Hunt-y when she left. She saw what happened and immediately snapped out of it. I just want her to know that I don’t blame her. I understand.”

“Probably better than anybody else here,” Basira remarked. “Jon, Helen, they’re already gone. Who knows about Martin… or me… But the two of you? You’re the ones that have made it out and fought back against whatever monstrosities are trying to claim us.”

“They still have some grip on us, even if it isn’t as strong as before. I know that, I get that. I just… I want her to know.”

“She’ll come back, don’t worry.”

“Are you sure?”

Basira quietly placed a series of bandages on Melanie’s face in a much more thorough manner than she had managed alone. “Honestly? No.”

“That’s what I was afraid of.”

It was almost three days before Daisy came back to the Archives. She was drenched from the rain outside but still moved quietly and unobtrusively through the office space, eyes on the ground.

But the sound of the door opening and closing was enough to wake Melanie, who was half-asleep at her desk, a pen still in her hand, and she jolted upright at the noise.

“Daisy?”

Barely louder than a whisper, Daisy replied, “Yes.”

“I didn’t know when you were coming back. If you were coming back. I was so worried.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

As they spoke, Melanie stood from her desk and made to stand near Daisy, forcing her to raise her eyes and look at her.

“Can I hug you?” Melanie asked. “I missed you.”

Daisy nodded slowly and let Melanie thump into her chest, embracing her tightly for a few brief moments.

But as they drew apart, Daisy’s eyes fell on the fresh bandages adorning Melanie’s face from the gashes she’d put there, and she sighed heavily, the faintest sound of a whimper in her voice.

“I’m sorry…”

“It’s fine, really. But right now, you should get into some dry clothes and get some sleep. I’m not sure which of us looks worse right now,” Melanie teased gently with a smile.

Daisy started to protest, but then allowed Melanie to lace an arm through hers to direct her toward their living area in the basement of the Archives.

“Sleep sounds good. I haven’t slept since I left.”

“Daisy…” Melanie grumbled sympathetically. “I can’t say I’ve slept much either, but… still.”

For the first time in days, Daisy smiled. “Thank you for waiting for me.”

“You’re welcome. We were all worried about you, but I… I’m just glad you came back.”

“We can talk more in the morning?” Daisy asked wearily, now leaning against Melanie with every step as they found their cots and sprawled-out piles of clothing.

“That’s fine. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Melanie watched Daisy grab some dry clothing and head off to get changed, her eyebrows creased with concern. And when Daisy returned and met Melanie’s worried stare, she opened her mouth to speak until her gaze migrated from Melanie’s eyes and to the bandage just beside them, and decided she better not. If they were going to talk, it would wait until morning, when they were both more cognoscente.

Bottling up her self-hatred, Daisy crawled into bed but didn’t let sleep claim her until she saw Melanie get settled into her own cot. Tomorrow was a new day. A new day of fighting off the Hunt, ripping away from its fingers and tendrils that threatened to suffocate her more than the Buried ever could.

Daisy found Melanie in the bathroom, door open, swearing as she attempted to clean her wound and reapply fresh bandages.

“Do you need help?”

Melanie jumped with shock, as she hadn’t heard anyone approach.

“I didn’t know you were up!” She cried. “I didn’t… I wouldn’t have let you see me do this otherwise. I know it… upsets you.”

Without confirmation, Daisy took the antiseptic and gauze from Melanie’s hand and carefully began work on the claw marks cutting across her temple.

“I don’t know why it doesn’t upset you more,” Daisy admitted in a low grumble. “I don’t know how you can even stand to be around me.”

“I know you didn’t mean it. It wasn’t your fault.”

“Doesn’t that just make it worse? That you can’t even know when I’m going to lose it, when I’m going to snap and turn on you, when I’m going to hurt someone I care about…”

Melanie reached out and gently held Daisy’s wrist as her movements ceased and she shut her eyes tight.

“We’re both fighting them off. The Hunt, the Slaughter, they’re… still with us, no matter how much we try to avoid them. But I think it’s more important that we do keep going. One lapse isn’t going to make me hate you, Daisy. I understand. It could easily have been the other way around. Which doesn’t make it any better,” Melanie added hastily. “But we have to keep fighting. And you give me a reason to fight for my humanity every day.”

Melanie leaned in close and stood up tall to press a brief and gentle kiss to Daisy’s lips. She pulled away the tiniest amount and waited for a response.

“I shouldn’t…”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have-”

“I don’t deserve this.” Daisy sighed and her face scrunched up in pain.

“When has the universe ever given anyone what they deserve?” Melanie snapped. “We have to take what we want, every little thing, every little moment. If you don’t want… with me, then I understand, and I’m sorry, or if you’re not ready, then just say that. But you deserve more goodness than the world has offered you.”

For the first time since she returned to the Institute, Daisy finally looked at Melanie and saw her beyond the injury in her forehead. The bags under her eyes, which were red from tears, the way her lip quivered, the indomitable look on her face that neither god nor monster could ever strip away.

“You’re right. We have to take it ourselves.”

Daisy abandoned the medical supplies and pulled Melanie into her arms, kissing her firmly and passionately, a thousand apologies and reassurances passing between their lips in an instant.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered against Melanie’s cheek. “But we’ll fight them off. We’ll fight it all off.”

“Together.”

#the magnus archives #the magnus archives fic #melanie king #alice daisy tonner #daisy tonner #Basira Hussain #Melanie/Daisy

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soveryanon · 5 years ago

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Reviewing time for MAG143 /o/

- Aaaaaand the winner of the Ny-Ålesund mini-arc is… Elias. Which seems to be the Trend of season 4.

(MAG135) ELIAS: Fine. Consider it a test – things are… coming, things that will need Jon to be far stronger and more willing to use his connection to our patron. His performance during The Unknowing was… disappointing. I needed a way to force him to harness his ability more acutely than he had before. The coffin was a useful tool; Daisy an adequate bait. BASIRA: Then you messed up. Way he tells it, he doesn’t know how he got out of there. ELIAS: But he did. And his powers were no small part of it. Even if he required some assistance, they were what saved him. And he’s still achieved what no one – mortal, monster, or anything in-between – has ever been able to. He climbed out of The Buried. BASIRA: [DRY SIGH] What was the point? You won’t be getting your ritual off from in here so, what do you need him for? What’s so important you need him stronger? ELIAS: I have been observing a recent increase in people and supplies being moved to the small town of Ny-Ålesund, in Svalbard. An increase which I believe may be linked to a rather desperate attempt, by the People’s Church of the Divine Host, to perform a crude ritual of their own. To bring their… “Mr. Pitch”… into the world.

* Here we have a rare case of Elias potentially straight-up lying? Manuela… wasn’t doing anything; what was up with this “increase in people and supplies”? …… or was that because tourist season was right around the corner. I mean. He didn’t EXPLICITLY say that those were related to The Dark, only that it could be related. (And, after all, he encouraged Basira to see the aurora borealis right after…)

* It’s still unclear whether Elias is indeed in control (did he really know that Breekon was on the verge of delivering the coffin the following episode, back when he talked to Basira in MAG127?) or just Really Lucky and shameless enough to pretend that everything falls into place when it serves his interests… but with The Dark, he was absolutely spot-on that capitalizing on Jon’s fears would do wonders. And he’s been keeping a verrry close Eye on the Archives, apparently: MAG135 was the episode Jon tried to Know if Gertrude had managed to neutralise The Dark’s ritual, and failed, and was a bit worried that they could still be up to something; cue Elias, right after, mentioning that there was a cell still active in of Ny-Ålesund. In the same way, he had previously (at least claimed to have) used the fact that Daisy was alive and prisoner of the coffin as a motivation for Jon to go in, experience The Buried and… apparently get a power-up, or at least learn a bit more to use his own powers (although Elias acknowledged implicitly that Martin setting up the tape players helped with that at least a little).

* It’s still not absolutely sure whether Elias was the one who sent Jared after the Institute (the official target was Jon, but it could have been a decoy; the consequences, at least, where in Elias’s favour since… the Archives team absolutely shattered following the attack, with Martin asking for Peter’s protection, Melanie getting more Slaughter-y, and Basira getting colder and more strategical). But since Jon woke up… he’s been completing the set of experimenting the fears / getting live (or extracted) statements from spooks tied with other patrons / getting injuries. Previously to his coma, Jon had collected:

~ The Web: close encounter with A Guest for Mr Spider when he was 8. (No live-statement from Spook, no official scar… but the lighter and spiders around him, and the Mother-of-Puppets sending Oliver in MAG121 to push Jon to make a decision, make it very clear that Jon has never truly escaped The Web since back then.)

~ The Eye: was it when he witnessed the other boy getting taken by Mr Spider, without trying to help him? Was it because he began working at the Institute? When he began working in the Archives? When he read his first statement, took the first live one? When he got his first nightmare?

~ The Corruption: heavily injured and scarred by The Hive/Jane Prentiss in MAG039/MAG040. (No live-statement, but Jane’s written one in MAG032, and Jon felt it Strongly.)

~ The Spiral: slashed/stabbed by Michael in MAG047, got lost in The Spiral’s corridors in MAG078-MAG079, also went through Helen’s door in MAG101 and now MAG143. Michael-The-Distortion gave his live-statement in MAG101.

~ The Desolation: shook hands (and effed it up) with Jude Perry in MAG089, received her live-statement in the same episode.

~ The Vast: got “dropped” by Mike Crew in MAG091, which possibly messed up his lungs a bit; received/prompted his live-statement at the same time.

~ The Hunt: found by Daisy in MAG091, then strangled/knifed? by her, and also Hunted by Julia in MAG107. Forced (unknowingly) Daisy to give her statement in MAG061, received a partial one from her again in MAG132; received Trevor&Julia’s statement in MAG109.

~ The Stranger: got deceived by Not!Sasha all through season 2, got strangled by Nikola in MAG097, got kidnapped by Nikola for a month (MAG099 to MAG101), got moisturised by Nikola, was in the middle of The Unknowing when it happened, and managed to See through Nikola (MAG119, “I see you”). “Extracted” Breekon’s statement in MAG128.

… Elias was pretty glad about Jon’s progress when he was on the run from the Institute (MAG080: “Well, he was always going to need to fly the nest at some point. Go out and see the world for himself.” “He might die.” “It’s always a danger. Almost always.” / MAG092: “You were doing fine before you forced this little scene. I suggest you continue.”), and that’s when he got New Experiences. And now, in season 4:

~ The End: should have died in The Unknowing explosion but was too “inhuman” for this, and got stuck “on an edge” during his coma, apparently chose to not die (is that why his injuries heal so fast? We’re not sure it’s Beholding’s effect – it’s possible that, like The End’s victims, Jon… just can’t die anymore because he didn’t want to die and was touched by Terminus). Received Oliver Banks’s statement in MAG121.

~ The Slaughter: got slashed by Melanie right after he extracted her bullet in MAG125, has a scar from it on his shoulder. No live-statement, unless Melanie’s story from MAG117 counts…?

~ The Flesh: got two ribs taken in MAG131, received Jared Hopworth’s live-statement in the same episode.

~ The Buried: got stuck three days in the coffin in MAG132, got scraped everywhere from the walls closing in and experienced the full extent of Too-Close-I-Cannot-Breathe there. No live-statement from spook so far.

~ The Dark: “Saw” the Dark Sun and killed it in MAG143, right now unclear whether his eyes got impacted (;; he didn’t see that it was Helen before she spoke…). Received Manuela Dominguez’s live-statement in the same episode.

Which leaves…

~ The Lonely: Peter Lukas is still running the Institute, and Jon is missing Martin-who-is-working-for-Peter-and-tempted-by-the-Lonely a LOT. No live-statement from spook yet but, I mean, Peter is still… “right there” (and not there at all).

Elias had hired Melanie, might have known that Breekon was coming with the coffin (as he began to manipulate Basira right before he visited, and then claimed he had made her leave the Institute in order to let Jon descend into the coffin), pushed Basira(&Jon) to go to Norway to stop The Dark, and asked Peter to work as interim head director while he would be in prison (and there is still the matter of Jared’s commissioner). If he needed Jon to complete the set… then yeah, a lot of his actions have gone in that direction?

- Whatever Elias was aiming for, it Smells like he reached it. Was it for Jon to go through a True Dark Experience, which required to find the very few leftovers of the cult? Jon did, getting in contact with the Dark Sun. Was it to take a live-statement from a Dark avatar? Jon did with Manuela. Was it for Jon to push his powers further? Jon did, by staring directly into the Dark Sun. (Was it for Jon to kill his physical eyes? Status unclear at the moment but… it might have happened without characters realising it yet, because the place was dark.) Was it to get Jon to act as an actual avatar, feeding from people’s fears and traumas and terrorising them? Jon did, at least twice, with Floyd in MAG141 and with the unnamed woman in MAG142 who… might have become a Fear battery for him. Other possibilities: he needed Basira&Jon to be away because something was meant to happen at the Institute and/or with Elias’s legal procedure; or the aim was also to make Martin fall deeper into The Lonely/turn his back on Jon, etc. So many possibilities.

And Elias hasn’t moved from prison (… as far as we know) and yet it feels like he’s just. Winning At This Season.

(Though: I’m expecting Elias to be VERY pleased and insufferable about Jon very casually taking live-statements from unwilling people, who specifically Did Not Want to tell him and had… done nothing to deserve the nightmares and the Beholding-torture… but technically, it’s also possible that Elias might be a bit irritated? Because Jon gave the Institute’s name, back in MAG142, and seemed to have acted immoderately for the past three weeks? Elias was all about “moderation” back in MAG092, and he… himself acted with a lot of self-restraint, technically – he has been an utter asshole on all accounts, but he also used his powers sparingly, and never unprompted: Daisy was threatening him in MAG081, Melanie had tried to kill him twice before he traumatised her in MAG106, and he did the same to Martin as a last resort in MAG118, because Martin was doing everything to push Elias to use his powers on him. Comparatively, Jon… has been worse, in MAG141/142, attacking innocents for his own profit, and now aware of the consequences (and honestly, I’m still ill-at-ease at the amount of violation that was at play in MAG142 – even without taking Jon into account… I felt like it was the most intimately violent testimony we have ever heard in the series…). I don’t really believe that Elias is not currently SO VERY PLEASED by Jon’s behaviour, but it could be a twist that he’s, in fact, a bit cross that Jon went wild without any self-control.)

- Once again: MAG135 was a Very Striking case of Elias seemingly reacting to Jon’s concerns – Jon hadn’t been able to tell whether The Dark’s ritual had been neutralised or not, and Elias came up with the Worrying News about The Dark being active right now, in front of Basira, right at the end of the episode. So Elias might be keeping a close eye (ha) on Jon’s doubts, using them to manipulate him and push him in the direction he wants… and you know what Jon hasn’t hidden at all in season 4 and frequently lamented over?

That he’s been worried about Martin.

I have a bit of trouble picturing Elias giving Martin to Peter because he thought it would give Jon his Lonely scar (… because it would have meant, for Elias, to acknowledge that Martin was becoming extremely important to Jon at the end of season 3, and I’m not sure that Elias knew about it or would… acknowledge it at all. He was extremely contemptuous of Martin back then) but… this is definitely something he might be capitalising on now, and hahahaha ;; Martin… Martin, I don’t think you’re likely to die soon-ish (my bet is rather on Daisy orz), but you’re utterly unsafe…

- MMMMMMMMMMMmmMMMmmmm.

There was no mention of Elias’s acquaintances with Rayner in this episode, nothing about his “friendship” with Rayner – Manuela hadn’t named him in her written statement, either, only designing him as “the Head of your Institute”. If it was something about stoner!Elias’s backstory, I think she would have mentioned him here? I mostly have trouble picturing when it could come up, now that it seems that The Dark’s arc has been wrapped up – their ritual failed, Rayner is dead, most avatars are dead, the cult has been mostly eradicated, their Dark Sun was destroyed (there is still the question of what derailed their ritual, but we don’t need to hear much more about the cultists themselves).

I’m still not “feeling” it on a personal level (… or maybe I simply adore the idea that stoner!Elias is his True Backstory, that it’s not a matter of something having taken on his identity) but it does lend even more credit to the theory that Elias is actually Jonah Magnus, since we got confirmation that Jonah and Rayner knew each other in MAG138… and still nothing about Elias&Rayner on their own.

… in any case, WOW did Elias go out of his way to make sure The Dark would be a Done Deal. Manuela pointed out that the Institute (Gertrude? Or more?) had been keeping an eye (ha) on Hither Green (“Hither Green was, I believe, where your Institute was watching, but Natalie’s efforts were a small and meagre part of the greater effort.”), and it was the first place to fall. Elias tipped the police and sent them after the cultists and Rayner in February 2017 (which he confirmed in MAG135), ensuring Rayner’s downfall when it was already akin to kicking a puppy (Manuela: “I can only assume we were too weak to hide from you, and you struck when Maxwell was vulnerable.”). And now, he sent Basira&Jon to take care of one of the last avatars. It sounds very extra and… personal. (But then… it was hinted in MAG053 that proto-Dark and proto-Eye had History, as conflicting sides.)

- tl;dr Basira:

(MAG135) BASIRA: [DRY SIGH] What was the point? You won’t be getting your ritual off from in here so, what do you need him for? What’s so important you need him stronger?

ARE YOU SUPER SURE ELIAS IS NOT ACTUALLY GETTING HIS RITUAL OFF FROM IN THERE.

(YES, I am aware that this is a LOT of Elias Mentions for an episode in which… Elias wasn’t referred to even once aside from the “son of a bitch”. But. But. He pushed in that direction so hard…

And as Melanie had spat in MAG102, “It’s not just being stuck here, Jon. It’s not just me. He’s manipulating you, he’s manipulating all of us. Can you seriously not see that? He’s pulling all the strings, and I don’t think there’s any other way to stop it.”, and once again, what do you know about the Spiders and what is the exact nature of your relationship with them, Elias.)

- Consequences-wise, the Ny-Ålesund trip is potentially dramatic and tragic and filling me with dread (whatever Elias is aiming for, it feels like it might be coming… closer). But in practice, for the arc in itself? It was the most anticlimactic and hilarious thing ever: I was suspecting that Elias might have been highly misleading and that The Dark’s ritual might have been taken care of already, but I was expecting at least actual threats. Jon had mentioned people wearing the symbol of the Church, when he came back to the Institute, and there was still the matter of The Beast, and potentially the Dark Sun, even without Rayner, which could have been enough to Hurt? But no. The Dark Sun wasn’t usable as a power of mass-destruction. The Beast was revealed to have been slain by the cultists themselves. Rayner was confirmed (unless later twist) to have died to Basira and the other Section 31 officers back in season 2, more than a year ago – also confirming that… Natalie might have killed Rayner herself, when she stabbed a possibly possessed Leo Altman as retribution. The ritual had already failed more than three years ago.

Plus, there was the added Hilarity of Manuela spending the episode blaming Gertrude for their plans crashing, and thinking that she was meant to be neutralised by a powerful enemy… only to be told that Gertrude had died three years ago, and probably not even because of her involvement with The Dark, and that everything that happened might have been (partially) unrelated to Gertrude’s actions.

The episode felt like a kind of respite, ironically, after the build-up of MAG141/MAG142: instead of action-packed and threats and danger and dread, we got a few answers, and more questions. Elements tied in, and some things remained mysterious – but also highlighted.

- I’m…………… so mad……………… Jonny…………………………

So, with Manuela’s mention that:

(MAG143) MANUELA: Instead, we began the search for his successor, a new host for his… continuation. He would regain his strength, and we would plan our next move. It was difficult, though. The approaching culmination had meant Maxwell had not prepared another host, and the search for another vessel was… long and involved. Finally, about eighteen months ago, we found one: a child, whose father had, by coincidence, been directly marked by The Dark.

So, “Callum Brodie”, who got kidnapped by the cultists in February 2017; Elias tipped the police to their location, and the police officers interrupted the ceremony which should have allowed Maxwell Rayner to body-hop:

(MAG073) ARCHIVIST: You said it started with a kidnapping case? BASIRA: Yeah. Callum Brodie. Twelve… twelve years old. Disappeared from his home in Dalston three weeks ago. Sitter was asleep when the mother came home, the front door was open, there was no sign of him. There was no forced entry so it started out as a missing persons case, but they got a witness claiming he’d seen three unknown figures entering the Brodies’ home that night, so it was kicked up to Serious Crime.

Twelve years old in early 2017, only his mother mentioned, and a father who had been touched by The Dark.

(MAG052) ARCHIVIST: […] Martin hasn’t had much luck tracking down Mr. Brown himself. According to [Caroline Brodie], his ex-wife, she left him in 2004, after his dismissal from the prison service pushed him further into alcoholism, and he became abusive. She said she got a single letter from him in 2009, asking for reconciliation, but she never replied. Martin says the letter was postmarked from Waterford in Ireland. But he’s been unable to track Mr. Brown any further.

……………… :))))

So Callum’s father was probably Phillip Brown, the statement-giver from MAG052 (the… utterly awful prison guard, who was fascinated by Robert Montauk and described his last months at the prison, including Rayner’s visit), and Caroline left him when she was pregnant or had very recently given birth. I hate.

- A bit curious about what made it so hard to find a new body for Maxwell Rayner…? What were the prerequisites, since Manuela admitted that the fact his father had been touched by The Dark was a “coincidence”…? What are the things making a body Fit for body-hopping into…?

- In the list of things I’m happy (and sad) about: we finally got… a few things about Julia’s mother, and what pushed Robert Montauk to do what he did é_è

(MAG143) MANUELA: I was but newly joined when [Lynette] fled the Church, and Maxwell had her silenced. But I remember her brute of a husband. He fed the beast for us, you know, when first he believed [Lynette] might still be saved. Then, later, we faithful served as his fuel to banish it. But, not for long.

So, Julia’s mother disappeared because she tried to escape (that’s true cultist logic ;;), and Robert initially worked for Rayner, thinking he could save her (hence why he was receiving calls from Rayner for his next missions), before eventually turning against them when he realised there was no hope (hence why his last victim was specifically a cultist). It… even explains why no bodies were found, actually, if he was “feeding” them to the Beast (literally or in a spooky way):

(MAG012, Julia Montauk) “The one question they kept asking me over and over during the investigation into my father was whether I knew where the rest of the bodies were. I told them the truth, that I had no idea. They claimed they wanted to confirm the identities of the victims, which they couldn’t easily do with what was left.”

[…] ARCHIVIST: In addition to the body of one Christopher Lorne, 40 preserved hearts were recovered from Robert Montauk’s shed. […] Of possible significance also is the fact that the rest of the bodies were never found.

I wonder, were the forty hearts all taken from cultists? Or from other victims? Were the pictures he was taking only from innocent victims, or from cultists…?

Also, Jon finally got answers to some of his veerrry old interrogations:

(MAG052) ARCHIVIST: […] So what is this thing that seems to have stalked Robert Montauk through so much of his life? And what’s its connection to Rayner? Were they summoning it, containing it, worshipping it? Whatever the case, it seems as though Montauk earned its anger. I feel it might be worthwhile getting a few more torches for the Archive.

- But mostly, I’m deliriously happy that “Montauk” ascended to a Dark-killing family brand name:

(MAG143) MANUELA: [Vardan Darvish] had an inkling, I thought, but he crossed a Montauk, which has… traditionally gone poorly for us.

Good job Julia, you did AMAZING sweetie (MAG109), and I’m even more glad for her since… The Dark took both of her parents… ;;

- Sssooo…

(MAG143) MANUELA: To begin our seven-day feast, we slew the still and lightless beast, and drank of its stagnant blood, submerging the first of the sacrifices in the brackish water it had blessed with its stillness. Maxwell plunged its claws into his chest, freeing the darkness within him, and we waited; and we sang; and we exalted in divine stillness.

… was the brackish water actually the beast’s blood all along? (Though it seems to be the essence of The Dark overall: Halley had been drowned in it, and “Rayner” in himself is mostly liquid, as he tried to take possession of Callum through it, and was shot and killed when it was out.)

I’m !! that it turns out that… the cultists themselves killed the Beast. I wasn’t expecting that. Though it’s probably meant to come back by itself, as Robert Montauk showed:

(MAG052, Philip Brown) “I was tense, ready to fight off Montauk if he decided to make a move, but instead, a soft voice came from out of the darkness. I didn’t recognise it, but I thought it sounded like it came from the old man, and I don’t think he was talking to me. [STATIC] “You didn’t think you could kill it for long, did you?” That’s what it said. […] I could once again see Montauk and the old man sat there, motionless. It didn’t seem like they’d moved an inch, though as I went to take Montauk back to his cell, I noticed that he was crying. I didn’t mention it. I’ll be honest, I was kind of freaked out by the whole thing.”

(MAG143) MANUELA: He fed the beast for us, you know, when first he believed [Lynette] might still be saved. Then, later, we faithful served as his fuel to banish it. But, not for long. That’s the thing about Darkness, isn’t it? You try your hardest to eradicate, flood your surroundings with light, but it’s always there at the edges – waiting for the glow to weaken, to return and cover you forever. Robert Montauk discovered that the hard way. And someday, so will your Gertrude.

So yep, it will… come back one day, probably.

(- Fun stupid facts! MAG052, describing Robert Montauk’s death… had been interrupted by Basira delivering a tape to Jon. So we had a small meta connection between her and The Dark, AND with The Eye, since the tape she delivered was labelled “Alexandria” and was one of the rare Beholding statements, that Jon listened to in MAG053, about the old Serapeum, which might have been a proto-Archive.)

- Manuela had some Drive too, in her reverence and grandiloquence, but I was mostly Conceal Don’t Feel / “DON’T YOU DARE TELL HER” all through her statement because. She was assuming that Gertrude was still alive and coming for her. And aouch, might have been Harsh to learn that no, these two randos are not here on behalf of Gertrude, but have been scrambling through things for the past two years and a half after she was killed.

- It’s interesting (and also very funny.) how The Dark is simultaneously… very threatening, and not that much. Manuela was incredibly scary in her statement, in MAG135, mostly because of the concept of her “fear battery”? The way they proceeded with Julia’s mom was really… heart-wrenching (you can’t leave and stay alive for long)? They killed so many people for their ritual, just like The Stranger?

(MAG143) MANUELA: We had hundreds of sacrifices prepared and ready, plunged into darkness and terror for days on end. […] I began to drown the sacrifices. Too soon, perhaps. But it worked, to keep it going, and keep it together.

… but at the same time.

(MAG143) MANUELA: Maxwell had always had the visions, the drive. Whatever was inside him pulled him to this end, to this great undertaking, like a magnet, and I was so very honoured to be his right hand…! Natalie and the others followed, but they did not truly understand. […] BASIRA: You said the Dark Sun was still here. MANUELA: [SNORT] Fine. If you’re so keen to take everything, undo the work of centuries… it’s just through that door. [FOOTSTEPS] BASIRA: Jon? ARCHIVIST: [SIGH] [STATIC:] How dangerous is it? MANUELA: Only myself, Maxwell and Natalie could even look upon it. It will annihilate you both in an instant.

We know that Manuela had joined the cult around the time Julia’s mother tried to escape it (“I was but newly joined when [Lynette] fled the Church, and Maxwell had her silenced.”), and we know that Robert Montauk was active for five years before being arrested in 1995, which means that Manuela met Rayner around or shortly before 1990. So, she has been in the cult for more than 25 years at this point. Meanwhile, she was looking down on Natalie, who was still Amongst The Big Ones, and we know from MAG025 that Natalie:

(MAG025, Mark Bilham) “That changed last October, when Natalie’s mum died. I don’t know how it happened, exactly. Heart failure, I think. It was sudden, I know that much, and it hit her hard. I mean, obviously it did, it was her mum, but I think… I think she lost her faith. […] That month was sad, but it’s not what Kathy wanted us to talk to you about. No, it was what happened afterwards. It was after Natalie found her new Church. It was Kathy who told me about it. This must have been about two months after Natalie’s mum died. I must have asked how she was doing, if she was feeling any better. Kathy said that, yeah she was. Apparently, she’d found a new congregation and seemed to be getting some comfort there.”

… had joined the cult in December 2014. Three months before the ritual. HOW do you take them super-seriously when you learn that one of their highest-ranking people had JUST joined the cult and was just very enthusiastic and also dramatically off-the-mark about what was happening.

(- Yes, I’m saying this, fully aware that shit, Jon has been Head Archivist for less than three years (… and even less if you take his coma into account), is already The Archivist, is deep in spooks… while Gertrude had been active for around fifty years, and at least aware of rituals for forty years, as she mentioned in MAG137 about The Slaughter. It’s not about time, it’s about… willingness and compatibility? And Jon went in very deep, very fast.

But if Natalie was able to look at the Dark Sun in merely three months… we’re a bit lucky that she died during the Section 31 operation, before she could have ascended to more?)

(And also: nicknaming your Fear god “Mr. Pitch” is such an hilarious move, come on:

(MAG025, Mark Bilham) “[Natalie] said that it wasn't long until they were collected by Mr. Pitch. She said that Kathy could come too, if she liked. She could be saved.”

(MAG135) ELIAS: I have been observing a recent increase in people and supplies being moved to the small town of Ny-Ålesund, in Svalbard. An increase which I believe may be linked to a rather desperate attempt, by the People’s Church of the Divine Host, to perform a crude ritual of their own. To bring their… “Mr. Pitch”… into the world.

(MAG143) MANUELA: Natalie and the others followed, but they did not truly understand. Not truly, with their talk of “peace” and “unity” and “Mr. Pitch”. A friendly name, to try and hide from a concept they couldn’t grasp.

Natalie, please.)

- Interesting word choice from Manuela here:

(MAG143) MANUELA: And here I have remained. Perhaps I have told myself that I am preparing, gathering my own strength and making my plans to continue the Church in his name. But I think in my heart, I have been waiting for this moment. For the final axe to fall, and finish the last remnant of our holy crusade. And here, at last, you are.

Because literal crusades may have been used in the past as a pretext to attack the old Serapeum in Alexandria, according to MAG053? And on that note:

(MAG143) MANUELA: Our congregation in Alaska disappeared the next day, and Russia as well. One by one, it seemed our scattered Whisperers Of Night were falling, and holding it together, keeping the lightless world anchored to our star, bringing it closer… was becoming an almost unbearable strain on Maxwell.

(MAG053) GERTRUDE: And there’s even one, unnamed contemporary historian, that describes the mob attacking the Serapeum not as Christians, but using a phrase which roughly translates as: “Those who sing the night”.

I think “Whisperers Of Night” might be a different translation for the same original term as “Those who sing the night”, like “Circus of the Other” and “Another Circus”? =D If so, nice touch!

- One of my Biggest Questions regarding the Magnus verse has been around Gertrude’s time of death – pet-theory of mine being that she might have… not actually died when ~blood was found in her office~ and that she went off the radar for a while before Elias caught up to her.

We got a few more details in the chronology, and characters insisted to put her death around the time of the failed ritual, so in March 2015… while we know it can’t have been The True Story because Gertrude recorded a statement in April. Chronology-wise:

* March 11th 2015: Mark Bilham managed to escape the ceremony happening in the Hither Green Dissenters Chapel, reported Natalie Ennis’s disappearance to the police when they arrived. (MAG025)

* March 14th 2015: “Antonio Blake” (Oliver Banks) gave his statement to Gertrude, explaining that she should die soon – he saw this “the night before last” (so the night from 12th to 13th March) and there is around ten days before it should happen, which would predict her death for around March 22nd / March 23rd 2015. (MAG011)

* March 15th 2015: according to Elias, when he went to the Archives, “Gertrude wasn’t there, but her desk was covered in blood. […] The police tested the blood and confirmed the DNA matched to Gertrude, though I don’t know why they had her on file. They judged there to be almost a gallon of blood spilled, far more than the human body can lose and survive so, I assumed she was dead”. (MAG040)

* March 16th 2015: “four days before the eclipse was due”, Maxwell Rayner felt a “disruption” (given by the collapse of the ritual at Hither Green); the different cells of The Dark began to disappear. (MAG143)

* March 20th 2015: a total solar eclipse happened in Ny-Ålesund and, according to Manuela Dominguez, should have marked the culmination of The Dark’s ritual. Basira hadn’t given the date but had already highlighted that it might be linked to Edmond Halley and John Flamsteed and Halley’s comet. (MAG108, MAG143)

* April 4th 2015: Gertrude records a written statement about The Stranger, mentions that she’s not in a good shape (“I had hoped I’d have a chance to recover. I can still barely stand.”), though, in context, it could be due to her theft of the gorilla skin from the Stranger gang… or because she purposely injured herself and lost too much blood recently. At least, still alive and kicking when she doubly shouldn’t be – both according to Oliver’s prediction and to Elias’s declaration. (MAG087)

* May 15th 2015: a scream is heard at the Hither Green Chapel, but the police find nothing. Jon is absolutely clear on the date (“About a month after this statement [April 19th 2015] was given, on May 15th 2015”) and points out that “according to the official file, May 15th 2015 was the day Gertrude Robinson, my predecessor, passed away.” (MAG025)

… And I realised, thanks to this post, that. Actually, March 22nd 2015, which was the day Evan Lukas died “from heart failure” (MAG013: “Congenital, they said. Some problem with his heart. Always been there, but never diagnosed. No warning. One in a million chance.”)… was the day Gertrude was supposed to die.

I have no clue re: what happened to derail The Dark’s ritual – I don’t think that it simply failed because twist, no ritual can ever successfully be carried to completion, since that would lower the stakes too much at this point in the series. But the way Manuela described it:

(MAG143) MANUELA: I… don’t know exactly when it all started to come undone. I think Maxwell first felt the ripples four days before the eclipse was due. [SIGH] It was strange… Like a pause in the hysterical whimpering and fruitless prayers of the sacrifices. And a ripple that was felt through the waters, and the stagnant blood that bound us. A disruption. We would later learn that this was the collapse of the ritual at Hither Green – but it was only the first. Our congregation in Alaska disappeared the next day, and Russia as well. One by one, it seemed our scattered Whisperers Of Night were falling […]. And then… it stopped. It just… stopped. All at once, that loving embrace was stripped from us, and it began to retreat, to recede back into the place that it had come from. We were so close…! … We were so close… […] We left, half of us dead, and the other half destroyed by coming so close to the true essence, [SIGH] and being denied. In my most wretched hours, I wonder… perhaps it was us…! Perhaps… we simply lacked faith. We weren’t worthy…! The world wasn’t worthy. But… no. We were ready. We had earned our Dark rapture. And we were robbed.

It feels, a bit, like a slow degradation, with cells dying one after the other, isolated from each other. I wonder if Evan Lukas (or the Lukases) were involved somehow, for that one…?

Anyway, this is still very much a Mystery so… we might get a clue another time. Maybe thanks to Adelard Dekker, in person or through an old letter?

- I’mmmmmmm thinking that we might get an answer re: Gertrude’s last activities / what happened specifically that made Elias kill her / what was happening between them… because the subject of Gertrude’s last activities and death had reemerged lately, with… some indecision from characters:

(MAG135) ARCHIVIST: [SIGH] I’ll keep digging. If there is another ritual upcoming, I’ll need all the information I can get on it. I can’t believe Gertrude didn’t have a plan for it. I hope I’m just being over-cautious, that it’s already long since dealt with, but… we’ll see.

(MAG139) ARCHIVIST: Statement ends. [INHALE] … Nice to see Gertrude [EXHALE] also used to get a lot of threats. So far it doesn’t seem that any went… desperately well. Except for Elias, of course. But he didn’t threaten, did he? He just… did it.

(MAG143) MANUELA: [HUFF] Coward. So, how did she do it? It’s been three years, waiting, guarding this place without hope. At least, do me the courtesy of telling me how she collapsed our moment of triumph. ARCHIVIST: You really don’t know, do you? MANUELA: Know what? ARCHIVIST: … Gertrude’s dead. She died right around the time of your ritual. MANUELA: Ha! So: stopping us took everything she had. BASIRA: You wish. She was murdered. Unrelated, as far as we can tell.

(Still hoping that Elias&Gertrude’s last interaction was recorded? We already heard gunshots in a few episodes, this one included, and we even got Leitner’s Extended Sounds Of Brutal Pipe Murder live. Wouldn’t be “too shocking”.)

- I’ll be laughing for months and months about the fact that:

(MAG143) BASIRA: [SIGH] So, what, this was another waste of time? What, no Church, no Dark Sun? … I’m gonna kill that son of a bitch…!

… Basira canonically called Elias a “son of a bitch”. Which. I mean. SUPER FAIR. But.

(A bit rude for Elias’s mother, Basira; I’m sure that, even if she was utterly awful, she wasn’t absolutely responsible for Elias’s… everything.)

- And a big “IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHHHH” for cop!Basira handling Manuela, leading the interrogation (telling Jon when to step in with his powers), and using Daisy’s weapons.

- Jon demonstrated multiple powers in this episode… but nothing was a True Novelty nor out of line compared to season 3 – except for the way he pressured Manuela into giving her statement.

* Actually, there were a few parallels with MAG096, and the way Daisy&him had caught and interrogated “Sarah”: Jon using compulsion, a few jokes thrown around, Daisy-or-Basira handling the physical aspect of it.

* Jon did casually admit to compelling random people… but he had already Done That in MAG107, when needing information:

(MAG107) ARCHIVIST: [SNIFF] [EXHALE] The… the hospital was… The hospital was interesting. It’s all very well being able to get people to answer your questions, but if they genuinely don’t remember something, it’s not always as useful as it seems.

(MAG143) ARCHIVIST: [SIGH] I don’t know. Everyone back at the research base seemed… pretty sure this place was empty. BASIRA: And you believe them? ARCHIVIST: They weren’t lying. BASIRA: Wait, you… did your sp–… ARCHIVIST: Oh, yeah, no, I, I don’t think they noticed. BASIRA: So they were serious. It’s been empty for… what, a year?

… Still not Super Great but at least… not new and, presumably, consequences-less apart from (lack of) ethics considerations. (MAG103 was worse in that regard and, hopefully, without much consequence for the person Jon had compelled.)

* Jon was also… not frantic during the interrogation? Basira was the one leading it, and Jon compelled when she prompted him too, like it had happened with Breekon:

(MAG143) BASIRA: Who are you? MANUELA: [GRUNTING] BASIRA: Jon? ARCHIVIST: [STATIC:] Who are you? [STATIC INCREASES, PRESSURING.] MANUELA: [PANTS] … Manuela. Manuela Dominguez. BASIRA: Where is everybody? MANUELA: [PANTS] Go to hell…! ARCHIVIST: [STATIC:] Answer her. MANUELA: They’re dead. Because of you. […] Fine. If you’re so keen to take everything, undo the work of centuries… it’s just through that door. [FOOTSTEPS] BASIRA: Jon? ARCHIVIST: [SIGH] [STATIC:] How dangerous is it? MANUELA: Only myself, Maxwell and Natalie could even look upon it. It will annihilate you both in an instant. ARCHIVIST: [EXHALE] BASIRA: Ask her how we can destroy it.

(Which. Is indeed a useful ability to use against monsters/dangerous spooks but… still, Basira won’t be the one to hold Jon off on it. It works as long as they’re dealing with killers and dangerous people, if it’s about finding ways to prevent them from causing harm… but I’m a bit afraid that Basira indeed makes use of Jon’s abilities, and seems to be… so encouraging when it can serve her.)

* It’s honestly the pressure he now uses to “get” statements that makes my stomach twist (in a bad way)? It’s been three episodes in a row that the person clearly didn’t want to tell their story, and were forced to, and we got ample descriptions in MAG142 of how… deeply violating and shattering it was for the victim:

(MAG141) ARCHIVIST: Tell me what happened. [STATIC INCREASES] FLOYD: W–what…? What is this? ARCHIVIST: Whenever you’re ready. FLOYD: A–a–alright. [STATIC DECREASES] … Sure… [SILENCE] He… he–he w–was a good boss, you know? […] My last voyage with him was the one that killed him. [Four] years ago; I still have nightmares sometimes. Tried to escape it, but some things follow you no matter where you go. […] And I have tried, ever since then, to leave those memories behind me. […] BASIRA: And what? You thought the best way to find it was by… slurping it out of his brain? ARCHIVIST: He didn’t exactly seem inclined to volunteer the information.

(MAG142) WOMAN: […] and he says he wants my story. He says he needs to hear what happened to me. And I… I wanted to tell him to–to–to to go away, I–I wanted to–to to kick him, and run. But… I… [SHAKY DUMBFOUNDED EXHALE] I sit down. … And I start to tell him… everything. About the job, about the collapse, ab–about the hand… And more than I told you, even, and–and… as I do, it’s… it’s like I’m there again. Like I can feel it grab my ankle, a–a–a cold, dead hand, and I just…! I just can’t stop talking, like I cannot shut up…! MARTIN: A… [RESTRAINED EXHALE] Are you alright? WOMAN: No?! No, I’m not! Of course I’m not! It felt like… like I was throwing up all those feelings again, and I wanted to, to scream, but instead I just… sat, and calmly told him my life story, and he just watched me. His eyes, like… his eyes, like, we–were… drinking in every fragment of my misery. I can’t… It…

(MAG143) ARCHIVIST: I… [SIGH] [STATIC:] What happened? MANUELA: Don’t… don’t make me, please! ARCHIVIST: Tell me. [STATIC INCREASES, PRESSURING.] MANUELA: [PANTS] Fine! … Fine.

(That’s a double-standard: it feels Fictionally Satisfying when he does this to a serial killer, because uh, had it coming, you can bear some unpleasantness in your life, too. But… same as last week: I’m still too upset about MAG142, even if Jon feels bad about it in the future, or is called out on it… I’m still a bit reluctant at the idea of being sad for him over anything, now that I know he harmed MAG142’s woman so badly, and that it will be likely a permanent state of trauma for her…? Still not sure Jon can still work as a protagonist at all after that? Though this episode offered a nice balance for me: I didn’t feel like I was meant to Feel many things, but mostly think and observe; there was something a bit more mechanical, even when Jon mentioned that he thought he was going to die… probably because he was talking with Helen, who was also detached. But I’m curious to see how these things will be handled once Jon is back at the Archives, and now that both Martin&Basira know about it…)

- SURPRISE HELEN IS A SURPRISE AND !!! I’M LOVE HER…

(MAG143) HELEN: Go find your Basira. Then, let’s get you both home. ARCHIVIST: [SIGH] [CLICK.]

That “your Basira” was so… nice… dang……………

- Same thing as Jon forcing Dangerous Spooks to spill it all out: it feels kind of satisfying to have Helen… swallowing them in her corridors – they had it coming, and it means they won’t be hurting people anymore, and as long as it’s Spooks eating Spooks, they can do whatever between themselves, I’m not As Emotionally Invested And Sad/Upset as when innocent people get hurt :w

(MAG143) ARCHIVIST: … Did you catch her? HELEN: Yes. ARCHIVIST: [YELP] [SIGH] [BREATHING HARDER] HELEN: She needed a door. ARCHIVIST: H… h–how did you… HELEN: Oh, finding this place was easy without the Darkness. ARCHIVIST: Will… she be coming back? HELEN: … No. Uuuh… this one, I think I’ll keep.

(Is it because Helen is wlw and not into males at all, hence why she wasn’t keen on keeping Jared.)

Though: Helen was waaaay more instable in this episode than previously? She sounded carnivorous and playful, a bit like a cruel child, here, while she was… colder and a bit more detached back in MAG131 and MAG115. Is it also because she’s not in the tunnels? Or because she’s settling in as The Distortion and getting more… all over the place…? But still coherent so far – since Helen repeated that “I told you – I’ve decided to help” and is sticking to it? (How long will that last…?)

- Will Manuela and Jon still have the dreams, or will it be “cut” because Manuela is inside of/being digested by the Distortion now? According to MAG120, the door was closed and Jon wasn’t opening it in his dreams, so… (And if there are dreams: will they be pitch-black and absolutely useless.)

- So many doors in this episode…

(MAG143) MANUELA: [SNORT] Fine. If you’re so keen to take everything, undo the work of centuries… it’s just through that door. […] BASIRA: Look, it’s alright, Jon. No one else knows it’s here. And if we just leave it, no one will know. ARCHIVIST: No, I… I’m doing this. [INHALE] Get out. [FOOTSTEPS] ARCHIVIST: [BREATHING LOUDER AND MORE SHAKINGLY.] [UNSEALING A METALLIC DOOR; HEAVY DOOR SLOWLY SLIDING OPEN.] [CREAKING, SPARKLER-LIKE STATIC SATURATING THE RECORDING.] ARCHIVIST: It’s… beautiful… MANUELA: [DISTANT, PANTING] … No… NO!!! [STATIC SUDDENLY DISAPPEARS.] BASIRA: Jon! [BODY CRUMPLING ON THE GROUND?] ARCHIVIST: [PANTING] No, I–I’m, I’m okay… […] [DISTORTION SOUNDS, BRINGING CONSTANT STATIC] [A DOOR CREAKS OPEN] ARCHIVIST: … Did you catch her? HELEN: Yes. ARCHIVIST: [YELP] [SIGH] [BREATHING HARDER] HELEN: She needed a door. ARCHIVIST: H… h–how did you… […] I… Why are you here? HELEN: I told you – I’ve decided to help. I thought you might like a way home? ARCHIVIST: Another door? HELEN: If you want it. [PAUSE] … How was it? ARCHIVIST: Mm? HELEN: Looking upon The Dark. ARCHIVIST: I thought I was going to die. HELEN: You seem to think that a lot. I remember when you thought you were going to die at my threshold. ARCHIVIST: … Yeah.

And still: Jon’s overall Complicated Relationship with doors, I’ll have to update my liiiiist…

- I’m… honestly (pleasantly!) surprised that turns out that Basira… wasn’t keen, at all, on sacrificing Jon or allowing him to sacrifice himself:

(MAG143) ARCHIVIST: [SIGH] [STATIC:] How dangerous is it? MANUELA: Only myself, Maxwell and Natalie could even look upon it. It will annihilate you both in an instant. ARCHIVIST: [EXHALE] BASIRA: Ask her how we can destroy it. ARCHIVIST: I know how. … I just need to see it. BASIRA: “See” as in…? ARCHIVIST: As in… actually see it. MANUELA: Go ahead. Just try. BASIRA: Look, it’s alright, Jon. No one else knows it’s here. And if we just leave it, no one will know. ARCHIVIST: No, I… I’m doing this. [INHALE] Get out.

Her spontaneous reaction was to try and discourage him from doing Something Dangerous And Potentially Deadly. So: she cares, she doesn’t… want him to die, even though she witnessed him grabbing Floyd and forcing him to tell his statement and condemning him to the nightmares that she herself used to be plagued with. Which means that… yeah, a lot of her dryness, of her cautiousness and calculation, has been… less sincere than she was pretending? That she tried to behave a certain way, while feeling another – that she still has sympathy for Jon and doesn’t think he would be better off dead, even though she knows that The Eye still has its chance ritual-wise, even though she saw that Jon’s powers have been all over the place since he woke up. She’s forcing herself to not trust him, or still doesn’t want to trust him for real… but she cares about him. And after MAG142, I’m not sure it’s… a good thing ;;

- And a bit ;wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww; for Dasira mood.

(MAG143) BASIRA: They just left it here? ARCHIVIST: I… maybe. [PAUSE] [SCOFFING] Kinda wish Daisy was here…! [FOOTSTEPS STOP.] … Basira? BASIRA: Yeah? [FOOSTEPS RESUME.] ARCHIVIST: … Sorry. [INHALE] I know this isn’t– BEHIND YOU!

Aouch, Jon. Accidentally very rude.

And I’m… surprised and stupidly hopeful that he did realise right away that he had crossed a line / wronged Basira / hurt her feelings? What the HELL happened with the live-statements from MAG141/MAG142, for Jon to… Listen, I can’t call Floyd and that woman “statement-givers” when the stories were forcefully grabbed and torn out from them, and Jon didn’t even seem to realise that he was hurting them so deeply – although he DID acknowledge that Floyd would get nightmares (but his “And I am sorry about that.” didn’t sound like he was sorry AT ALL).

There is still the mystery of what happened shortly before the trip because, really, season 4 had not been going in the direction of Jon getting desensitised to random people’s sufferings (and, for example, only caring about his assistants)? Like, at all? He was very detached about Gertrude’s methods and horrified about what had happened to Jan Kilbride (MAG130: “Even so, and… leaving aside the matter of Gertrude’s actions for a moment…” / MAG133: “So use me. Because if you go it alone, you are going to die. Even Gertrude worked with people. We make bad decisions when we don’t communicate…”), he was uncomfortable about the fact that he was aware that other people were still trapped in the coffin, although he hadn’t been the one to put them there (MAG135: “… Is locking it up the right thing to do? There are other people in there. And Daisy and I got out, but– … No, I, uh… I can’t think about that. Even if I could somehow be sure of recreating our escape, I–I can’t save everyone that’s been taken. I–It’s not my job to try, I– And I can’t spend another three days in there, I just… I need to let it go.”), he had mentioned to Daisy that he was ready to suffer as long as it meant not losing anyone (MAG136), doubting so much (MAG139)… and then he just. Switched? What happened, for him to suddenly sound much more mechanical…? As mentioned with previous episodes, was it due to his attempt at peeking through The Lonely…? Was it because the Institute/Archives have a sort of stabilising effect on him, and he was outside in all three cases…? Was it because Jon chose, very deliberately, to power up through live-statements in order to be ready for The Dark, and is… drunk with power right now?

- At the very least: Jon has sounded significantly… more detached? In MAG141/142. Still able to have various inflections, but there is something more… matter-of-fact than in previous episodes? A bit closer to how he sounded in season 1 – though more fast-paced? And sounding tired, but not in the same way as previously in season 4. Not exactly snappy but…

(MAG143) BASIRA: [SIGH] Eyes peeled. [SILENCE] ARCHIVIST: … Was that a joke? BASIRA: Yeah. [SILENCE] Any clue where everyone is? […] Don’t move. [GRUNTS, PANTS. A SPIT.] ARCHIVIST: Oh! … Charming.

… dryer, instead of the previous softness? He was complaining about having so many doubts, in MAG139, and in the last few episodes, he’s been… going along with the flow without much hesitation. Not pleased but not startled nor hesitating. So what happened…

(- Still casually self-destructive/going for the potentially Lethal options, though, and Daisy had been spot-on when highlighting to Martin that he was “self-destructive” – something Jon had himself acknowledged without using the word, at the end of MAG136.

There might have been multiple feelings at play when he marched on to watch the Dark Sun: their goal was to neutralise The Dark/make sure they couldn’t succeed with their ritual, and taking it out seemed like the wisest option; curiosity/desire to see it; and… grabbing an occasion to die, if it were to happen. He did acknowledge that last one:

(MAG143) HELEN: … How was it? ARCHIVIST: Mm? HELEN: Looking upon The Dark. ARCHIVIST: I thought I was going to die. HELEN: You seem to think that a lot. I remember when you thought you were going to die at my threshold. ARCHIVIST: … Yeah.

And he accepted, right after, to go through Helen’s door again, which really doesn’t scream like the action of someone with Self-Preservation. And he was still afraid, if his breathing is any indication, although… quieter and less melancholic/shaking than when he had gone into the coffin.)

- Jon’s way of just. Going straight for the statement, in MAG141/MAG142, makes me think of a certain Beholding creature and:

(MAG053) GERTRUDE: My biggest concern right now is whatever creature Mr. Heller encountered down there. It was… 56 years ago. But if it’s still alive, I should be careful. What was it? A guardian of some sort or perhaps… perhaps it too was… once an Archivist.

(MAG092) ARCHIVIST: So it’s… it’s back to breadcrumbs, and statements, and risking my life talking to things that barely remember how to be human anymore? […] Am I… Elias, am I still human? ELIAS: Jon, what does human even mean? I mean, really? You still bleed, you can still die. And your will is still your own, mostly. That’s more than can be said for a lot of the “real” humans out there. … You’re worried about ending up like that thing, lurking in the dirt under the streets of Alexandria? Don’t be. Just do what you need to, and you’ll be fine. Understood?

I mean, YEAH, some things have changed a bit since then (… can Jon still die nowadays?), but. Still. He’s coming a bit closer to Creature Kept In Tunnels And Thirsty For People With Spooky Stories…

- Cough.

(MAG143) MANUELA: We had been worshipping in the deepest dark, and yet, when it crossed the sun, I felt it roll over us, like a cooling balm on a summer’s day, plunging us into a deep, black void, far more complete than I can ever convey with mere words. It was more than beautiful: it was divine…! And as we unveiled our new and absent sun, the sacrifices who remained screamed, and fell in holy agonies, and the world of endless night we had been promised began to pour in, shining out and all around us. […] ARCHIVIST: [BREATHING LOUDER AND MORE SHAKINGLY.] [UNSEALING A METALLIC DOOR; HEAVY DOOR SLOWLY SLIDING OPEN.] [CREAKING, SPARKLER-LIKE STATIC SATURATING THE RECORDING.] ARCHIVIST: It’s… beautiful… MANUELA: [DISTANT, PANTING] … No… NO!!! [STATIC SUDDENLY DISAPPEARS.]

So, for Jon, it was just “beautiful” – and not “divine”.

And he literally killed it with his eyes.

And there were a few mentions of the fact that the word “see” now has different meanings for Jon, in this episode:

(MAG143) ARCHIVIST: I never said we were. Just said I couldn’t see anybody. BASIRA: Oh, I thought you meant like… “See”–see. ARCHIVIST: Uh… no. BASIRA: We need to figure out proper terms for this st– [SLIDING NOISE] … What are you doing? […] Ask her how we can destroy it. ARCHIVIST: I know how. … I just need to see it. BASIRA: “See” as in…? ARCHIVIST: As in… actually see it.

So.

Squint.

Jon wasn’t able to tell that Helen had arrived, at first, which meant… he hadn’t seen her. And the shattering sounds when Manuela fled may have meant that they couldn’t see anything anymore (torches? Basira said there were no lightbulbs). And Jon was, or sounded hurt. And it didn’t feel like they knew where the others were.

(MAG143) ARCHIVIST: [PANTING] No, I–I’m, I’m okay… [SOUND OF GLASS SHATTERING.] ARCHIVIST: [SCREAM] BASIRA: Get down! [FOOTSTEPS RUNNING AWAY.] [TWO GUNSHOTS.] ARCHIVIST: [PANTING] Basira…?! BASIRA: I’m alright, just… just one second…! ARCHIVIST: Hum… BASIRA: Stay here. ARCHIVIST: Look, I’m okay, I can help…! [FOOTSTEPS LEAVING] [SILENCE ONLY COVERED BY THE MACHINERY SOUNDS, AND HIS PAINED GRUNTS AND LABOURED BREATHING.]

So. Did Jon just get a Dark scar and… killed his eyes while killing the sun…?

(I missed that but, apparently, Jonny recently mentioned he was working on disability representation, and it had been highlighted by a few persons that Jon-going-blind could easily feel like cheating because he has other powers to… compensate/replace his actual sight (the classic trop of the disabled superhero that isn’t actually disabled), but. The end of the episode was a bit confusing and leaving room for Jon or Basira (she came back really soon…) to… have actually messed up their eyes, and not having realised it yet because the whole place was still in the dark.

And what would happen, re: written statements, if Jon were to lose his eyesight? Would he still “feel” the statement anyway or… would he be unable to read them anymore, and thus forced to seek live-statements to feed the Eye and/or to rely on the assistants reading them – when he was on the run back in season 3, he barely read anything during two months, but Martin&Melanie did and Elias had pushed in that direction, so it might have been having an effect on him too…?)

- … What is next? What will happen, now that Jon&Basira are apparently meant to come back to the Archives right away?

* The fact that Elias had been Basira’s secret intel might come out of the bag pretty soon:

(MAG143) BASIRA: [SIGH] So, what, this was another waste of time? What, no Church, no Dark Sun? … I’m gonna kill that son of a bitch…! ARCHIVIST: No, I… [INHALE] I think it’s here. I, I can feel it, like a… a hole in my mind. […] MANUELA: That’s… I– … Then why are you here? Maxwell is dead. The ritual failed. What’s left? ARCHIVIST: [INHALE] A good question! [EXHALE] Basira? BASIRA: You said the Dark Sun was still here.

Either Basira is going to be Beautifully Enraged at Elias, either… yeah, it’s coming. And Basira got totally manipulated and used the whole way…………… (Another question being: has Jon been suspecting that Basira’s intel was Elias for a while, and had been hiding his suspicions to try to see what Elias was aiming at…?)

* Will Jon be allowed to visit Elias, now…? I mean. We had no mention at all that Jon had even asked to visit Elias – but Elias had made sure that Jon couldn’t visit him, because ~ he’s at a very delicate stage right now~ (MAG127), though since then… a few things have changed. (It’s still unlikely given her legal status, but I’m very curious about the possibility of Daisy having a one-on-one with him at some point…)

* There will be the matter of… Jon’s actions re: live-statements. Were the woman and Floyd the only cases, or are they other victims? How many? When did it begin? Why – was it pure instinct, or partially deliberate from Jon? And are the assistants supposed to manage him, and how…? If not Basira, who, in the Archives, will be able to tell Jon off, if he’s now casually hurting people? Martin was prompt to find excuses for him (even after he listened to this woman’s story! He had trouble putting the blame on Jon, and was still considering Jon’s feelings more than his victim’s!) and sounded ready to fly to Norway when he learned that Jon was on a dangerous mission. Daisy has a clear head about responsibility and regrets/remorse and hating the harm she did, but she also… heavily presented Jon as a victim in MAG142. Basira saw Jon forcing Floyd to tell his story, knowing the consequences, and still had the reflex to protect him a few days after. I’m a bit worried that none of them would be ready to truly… shackle Jon or confront him about MAG141/MAG142…? Although there is still Melanie who… will probably take none of his shit, if she hears about this.

(I’m legitimately curious about how she would react, were she to listen to MAG142’s tape. She doesn’t have the bullet anymore, so probably not going into a Slaughter rage, but… of all of the assistants, I think Melanie is likely to have the most Intense reaction if she learns about Jon’s current actions.)

* More live-statements means more dreams, and there is still the matter of MAG120’s tape: Elias was addressing Jon directly in that one, it was supposed to be a message, at least towards the end. Did Jon listen to it already? Will he find it soon? … Will we get another statement from Elias about Jon’s dreams, now that there are… more…? (Did Jon’s overall behaviour change in them? Is he still horrified or… not anymore/just plainly curious faced with people’s suffering…?)

* Re:Melanie, there is still the matter of her spending a lot of time away and being “quiet” since she began therapy. It could mean something awful (Web/Annabelle being the prime suspect)… but it also could be. Actual good therapy, working wonders for her.

* Rituals-wise: the status of Corruption is unclear, and we still don’t have anything about Vast (unless MAG141 was touching to it)… and as long as Martin hasn’t pooled his resources with the others, Jon can’t know that The End and The Web are presumably not in the run for a ritual, nor that The Lonely has already failed. So there are still researches to be done, for him, in those directions. (… Though maybe Martin could have told Daisy right after the end of MAG142’s recording…)

* I wonder if Daisy will tell Jon that she spoke with Martin, that Martin was worried about him…? That it’s still possible to talk to Martin…?

Title for MAG144 is out and is…………………… interesting……. If we hadn’t had the Coffin mini-arc so recently, I’d have said Buried, but it’s unlikely, so… The End, maybe? Something related to MAG065 and/or about technology and/or about tape recorders? Something about The Web’s intentions? Vast thing, and they’re digging Mike Crew out of his grave?? Lonely one and it’s actually about the graveyard/their failed ritual? I’m mostly considering Beholding stuff – Gertrude’s notes, Elias’s plans, the tunnels under the Institute and/or the thing in Alexandria and/or Schwarzwald, the specific book that Albrecht had first sent to Jonah, or a Jon first-person statement (à la MAG040 and MAG080) about the last three weeks? I don’t know but… it’s an interesting title.

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