General Discussion

Anyone else keeping up to date? Just finished season 4 a few weeks ago and am currently re-listening to all of the episodes again. Boy there are a lot of little things I missed. Lots of foreshadowing I can finally look back at and be "AHA!". Its great.

Also I've decided that season 2-4 is summed up as:

"The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself Gertrude Robinson."

(I'm UTD on everything so feel free to post spoilers, but please make sure to tag them for anyone else who hasn't!)

@evilfriends

Definitely! Roughly 2/3 of season one is like "set up" for the rest of the seasons. The stories all seem random, but I assure you, they're not. ;) And the further you get in, the less "All Jon All The Time" it becomes and more a story about the entire archival staff as a whole. There's plenty of horror but also some comedy and sweet moments and some actual romance down the road. :)

(Which I why I am relistening, so many things make more sense now.)

I'm glad it's starting to get popular! I'm super excited for the last season, and you're right, there's definitely a lot of re-listenability.

What are your favourite statements/characters? I like statements like Dig and Upon the Stair, and my favorite characters are Georgie and Daisy :D

@TheAlchemist

Yesssss I'm glad to have people to talk to about it.

I think in terms of story, my favorite is still the Archive takeover at the end of Season 1. Everything with Jane Prentiss is extremely creepy, but her presence really begins to build the story of "oh no, the monsters are real!" Maybe I took a little bit too much glee in Jon being spooked, too.

And also anything with the NotThem. I think that's probably the entity that creeps me out the most. Knowing something is wrong, but having no one believe you? That really hits me.

I think Season 1 is still fresh in my mind because I'm re-listening to it again but Lost John's Cave is definitely the creepiest I think.

And in terms of characters, Martin definitely. Mostly because he's the heart of the archive staff. And Basira is the logical side of it. Seriously without those two I bet the staff would have just become unraveled.

@Lunartwist
It was definitely a lot of fun transitioning from Some statements could maybe be real? to Oh No They're All True And We Could All Die
Another plot bit I really liked was the whole thing with Jon going into the coffin.

The not them doesn't usually get to me, but the one with the woman who saw zombies everywhere was definitely a lot.

I think I like the more poetic ones, or the ones told from the POV of people who've been really influenced by the powers and therefore the narrative starts to break down a bit. Sort of an unreliable narrator, but because of the nature of statements you know they're true.

The archives definitely needed them to stay together. It was really interesting watching their character development, because I like of feel like by the end they'd both sort of fallen away from their respective roles. Martin because of the lonely, Basira it's a bit harder for me to say specifically why I think she differed from at the beginning. I'm definitely curious to see what happens next - do they get further from their roles, or go back to them anew, or even swap? I'm looking forward to everyone's characterisation tbh. I hope we hear Georgie and Melanie again, too.

Have you listened to the podcast I Am in Eskew? It recently finished, and a lot of episodes definitely give me Magnus archives vibes, if you're looking for something else.

@TheAlchemist

I have not heard of it, but I'll definitely give it a listen after my re-listen of TMA. I work from my computer and put on music or podcasts while I work so I tend to consume them pretty quickly. Always needing a new recommendation! I listened to the Black Tapes in between TMA episodes but the slapdash ending made it a bit of a bummer.

Have you finished season 4 yet? Oh boy oh boy. You're in for a treat. Especially the last two episodes. The Panopticon and The Eye Opens really leave you desperate for season 5 to just come out already. Is it April yet?!?!?

God Martin's character development was spot on. In the latest Q&A Alex mentioned he didn't really like Martin due to his self-sacrificing nature (even when the moment didn't require it), which I agreed with. I mean, I liked his cute, skittish character but the "I'm going to burn myself to keep others warm" always frustrated me. But late into season 4, he really turns around and gets a spine. His turning the tide of Peter's plans was such good moment. Made me cackle and cheer.

I am worried for Melanie and Georgie but I have this weird feeling that Georgie is fully capable of being a bada** like Gertrude was. I can see her cutting through monsters like its nothing.

i was just thinking about TMA & then i saw this topic. spooky.

i really enjoy the writing. the ones that stay with me are usually the ones where i get unsettled. "binary" was rough. but i like "web development" and "takeout" i think it's called. Salesa is one of my favourite characters, i just enjoy characters with jaded/weary attitudes about the paranormal.

i also think georgie's gonna do cool stuff this season, & i'm wondering about some of the notable statement givers too. i don't know if any will be relevant, but karolina górka from "underground" was interesting. anyway i'm just so curious to see what things will be like!

also yes I Am In Eskew is really good. i enjoy TMA's writing but i'm in love with IAIE's.

@emesis

The Eye Knows.

(Crackpot theory, The Eye is responsible for targeted ads and search engines recording your browsing history.)

Oh man Binary was amazing. To this day people on r/TheMagnusArchives still can't 100% pin down what exactly is doing on or what Fear is responsible for it and that is just a testament to the amazing writing of the show.

Since Season 1 is still fresh in my mind, "Thrown Away" is one of those episodes that is still a mystery to me. Its it the amalgamation of multiple fears throwing those bags of random stuff away, or something else??? Why teeth?!?!

I just started listening and love it so far, but I've only listened through to episode 35. So far I think Anatomy Class and The Hive are my favorite eps, but Lost Johns Cave hits on some specific fears of mine (I'm a bit claustrophobic, something I discovered years ago during a high school caving trip. the idea of getting lost forever down there or being trapped and crushed under all that earth was all I could think about when I was underground, esp when they made us crawl through some narrow tunnels, so that episode hit) and I love the eerie dream imagery in Dreamer, maybe I'll draw it at some point bc I could visualize it v clearly