Magnus Archives Part 5:

Let’s get the rating out of the way so we can get into spoilers, overall I still absolutely love this podcast I highly recommend it to anyone who’s a fan of horror, it’s available on Spotify and YouTube. Plz check it out, so I’ll give The Magnus Archives a solid 10/10

Warning spoilers ahead y’all been warned.

So heads up for the finale season, this season was released unfortunately during the pandemic lockdown, coincidentally enough this season deals with loneliness, a pandemic/apocalypse of sorts, and a feeling of isolation. So if some stuff in this season will trigger you then you shouldn’t read this.

So another piece of info, Gertrude Robberson was always 1 step ahead of Elias….she and Jurgen Leitner were working together to get a foot ahead of Elias….to stop him. Gertrude recorded a note to a future archivist before she died. Jonathan Sims receives the tape with Jonah’s fake statement and shows it to Martin…Gertrude drops a couple of plot bombs.

She reveals that there are 14 entities that exist, different people worship each entity and each entity has avatars, some used to be people and some haven’t. These avatars connect the entities to the real world and create fearful scenarios to feed their respective entity…The Magnus Institute is built to serve the Ceaseless Watcher

There’s a ritual that if performed will let these entities to exist in our world, they will do unspeakable things to the world, and earth would basically become a hell hole…so kinda like what Bill Cipher did in Gravity Falls season 2 the 4 Part Finale….wonder if they took inspiration from Gravity Falls? Or did Gravity Falls take inspiration from this?

She also reveals that the head archivist is one of the pieces to the ritual…also she mentions that she doesn’t trust Elias….On the subject matter of Elias, here’s a major bomb dropped…so apparently Gertrude knew Elias before when his original name was Jonah Magnus, the original founder of the Magnus Archives…..what a twist, Dunn dun dun….yeah, I wasn’t expecting that heck I did a spit take when I heard that because I was drinking water….

Also, he did have another name before he was Elias, his name then was James Wright, the previous head of this institute…Jonah then James then Elias

He has certain abilities of clairvoyance, he can see more than the Eye….she then tells whoever is the next Archivist to play ignorant as much as you can so he never finds out what you’re up to…while you do your own research…

She reveals she’s been keeping the archives in chaos for decades because she believes if the archives are all organized it will benefit Jonah and The Watcher…..womp womp, that didn’t work.

She also says to stay careful, you’re entering a world you’re not ready for…..and to pay attention because the world you know is now on your shoulders…..she then says “I’m gonna make sure this tape never sees the light of day, but if you hear it then good luck…”

This would have been useful info for John to have from the beginning, but Elias hid it from him.

So now Jonathan and Martin head out to the Archives to see if they can find any answer on how to save the world from what I can only describe as Armageddon.

Anyways they have to make their way through these pocket worlds of nightmares…yeah that’s a statement I never thought I’d say that….they also wanna make their way to Elias/Jonah who’s located in the Panopticon, which they can see from anywhere in the world.

Anyway they get a visit from Helen, she somehow found them through her door. Martin asks if they can just use her doors to use as a shortcut to Elias…turns out nope not possible, Jon’s powers have become way too powerful for her doors to withstand. She still claims to want to be their friend…

I’m going to organize this by the domain they enter, so there’s gonna be little title sections for what fear they’re encountering

THE STRANGER’S CARNIVAL:

Jonathan Sims’ powers are becoming stronger, for instance, during one of The Stranger’s nightmare worlds they pop into a merry-go-round they bump into Not Sasha. She taunts them by saying she’ll take their flesh off and wear it…but turns out she can’t hurt Jon, she’s defenseless like they are…because in this new nightmare world Elias has summoned out of the ritual, she’s now essentially a nobody…

Anyways she taunts Jonathan by saying she consumed his friend, so Sims gets mad and uses his anger and powers to obliterate her…..yikes, and take a guess what Martin’s reaction to seeing his boyfriend obliterate someone is? Is the merry-go-round safe now to try out?…. lol yep that’s definitely a Martin thing to say.

On a side note, Jonathan feels ashamed because he started the apocalypse, that he’s allowed to be given powers, and that he felt happy about killing Not Sasha…..that he still feels he needs to kill others who are in the wrong.

THE DESOLATION’S HOUSE FIRE:

John and Martin enter The Desolation’s hell pocket where an apartment building is endlessly burning. John tells Martin that avatars of Jude Perry and Arthur Nolan are inside and he needs to get to them to take revenge on Jude Perry for scarring his hand.

Martin is unsure about walking through the flames, John assures him that they will hurt but won’t kill them…sure that’s reassuring.

When they find Jude, she makes John admit that he likes feeling the fear of everyone trapped in the burning apartment…yikes. He reveals he’s there to smite her and makes her feel the pain and fear of her victims, and while she begs for her life John smites her. Her last words to John are that they’re basically the same. After she dies, the fires still burn…nothing has changed.

Ohhhh here’s another episode I specifically wanna mention because it’s the return of Jared Hopworth.

THE FLESH’S MORTAL GARDEN

One important thing I took away from this episode is they made Jared Hopworth easier to understand. The second time he appeared everyone had trouble understanding him, so it seems they took that criticism and dialed that back.

So he’s now a lot more understanding to hear.

Jonathan and Martin have reached a domain of The Flesh ruled by Jared Hopworth. It’s a “garden,” but the “plants” are all people growing into horrifying shapes. Jared figures John is there to kill him and just asks that he can give a statement on his garden before he gets smitted. He describes his “flowers,” and who they once were.

Let’s give an example, let’s talk about the Gristlebloom.

The Gristlebloom has striking petals in shades of red and pink and brown around a pale bony stalk. While tricky to get right, this plant can grow massively under the right conditions.

The soil should be prepared as a rich and earthy cocktail of insecurity and self-hatred and the temperature should be kept the steady, humid warmth of air conditioners struggling to cope with the perspiration of a dozen bodies pushing themselves too hard, while the lights must be kept at a harsh, fluorescent glare.

Growth is most effective when the orchid is suffering from aggressive dehydration, and it is vitally important that the air roots be rarely praised, and only for the flowers’ appearance and growth.

The fear of not being enough must be laced through the Gristlebloom’s food. It must never be allowed to believe itself good enough as it contorts itself to grow into a towering, distended mass.

Even if there were mirrors in this place, Reece (the Gristlebloom) could not possibly recognize himself as the only image in his mind would be him he is so afraid to be. Now let’s talk about The Bone Rose.

The Bone Rose is perhaps the most delicate plant in the mortal garden as it is thin and brittle, constantly on the verge of collapsing under its own weight.

The soil for the Bone Rose must be a rotten mulch of corrupted, toxic romanticism and should be watered with the instinct that fuels every cell within the rose: To be wanted you must be less. The temperature should be kept cold for optimal development and the light should be unrelenting, allowing every flaw to be stared at and warped and ogled.

With this preparation, the Bone Rose will conceive its own body as a horror and it will tear and starve itself until there is naught but bones desperate to be touched and held.

Patricia is sharp and narrow, she is beautiful and stands for all to admire. But it takes every drop of her strength to keep herself up as the wind threatens to collapse her fragile form into a heap of splintered bone.

There is no moment of her new existence that is not a shuddering, terrified effort as she cannot allow herself to shatter into fleshy ugliness again. Now let’s talk about The Cutaway Tulip

The Cutaway Tulip is easy to grow to a small size with some casually applied insecurities, but creating a true masterpiece requires a lengthy and involved cultivation.

Ensuring a properly grotesque blossom is more in the pruning than in the preparation and the soil can be anything mulched in hostility to self-worth while the light and temperature must be kept at a level to allow the appropriate growth of an obsession with the changing and hacking of itself.

The Cutaway Tulip cuts and breaks itself into ever-new configurations and shapes, eagerly digging into and pulling itself apart. It must be nourished with the dread of falling short of what it could be, the fear of never reaching the ever-retreating perfection that it strives for.

Alongside this, it must also be nourished with a dread of mortality that turns its efforts into a fearful attempt to escape the encroaching decay.

Leopold is aware of what he has become and though he fears the next form that the gardener’s shears will cut him into, he fears his own stagnation and decline even more.

Let’s talk a bit about The Lily of the Damned.

The growing of a Lily of the Damned requires remarkably little input from the gardener, although it must be regularly pulled up into fresh air.

Any soil works for a Lily of the Damned as long as it is never allowed to forget its own physical existence. Temperatures can be hot or cold as long as it is uncomfortable, and light levels need only be high if the preoccupation with its body’s presence has a visual component.

Most importantly, the absence of any transcendence or death should always be emphasized when watering or pruning with the clear conclusion that the meat from which the lily blooms is the only form of being it will ever enjoy.

The flowers of the Lily of the Damned are unpredictable, haphazard black growths of calcified fluid and sinuous, dangling nerves. They can grow very fast but will always attempt to retreat beneath the soil, hiding their existence from all.

Periodically, if you wish to display and grow your lily to its best advantage, you must seize whatever part of it remains above ground and pull, bringing it up into the open air.

This is Maeve’s nightmare. She is trapped, unmoving, within the body that has betrayed her so often, feeling every sensation as it grows and warps. She cannot hide or escape, she is simply a prisoner in the same soft prison of skin she has always despised.

While it will never be a focus piece for a mortal garden, the Lily of the Damned is a popular choice among experimental gardeners, as its almost indestructible nature allows them the opportunity to exercise a great deal of creativity in its cultivation.

Jared is pleased and asks John if he thinks his garden is beautiful. John tells him to shut up and smites him after making him feel all the terror he has inflicted.

And that’s the end of Jared Hopworth, I will miss him. Oh wait not!

Martin asks if they are doing good and making things better…the building is still burning, the garden is still growing…John says he doesn’t know.

Also if some y’all haven’t caught on, every small terror dimension they go through Jonathan Sims always takes a statement that’s related to each area.

He kinda has to and can’t control it, think of it kinda like having to go use the restroom….if he doesn’t do it he will get constipated, that’s the best way it makes sense.

THE HUNT’S FOREST

Anyways eventually they locate Basira, she was in a forest hunting down Trevor Herbert…Basira is on the hunt for Daisy.

She’s on the run, she’s been murdering people that she believed deserved it like she did as a cop. Now luckily they have John who’s basically a walking compass, he can locate Daisy. Oh btw Basira doesn’t fully like being near John, she doesn’t trust him.

After seeing the multiple dead bodies they crumble upon while locating Daisy….Basira comes to the realization that she will need to kill Daisy because she’s become a monster.

But she’s not happy about that because Daisy has always been there for Basira. They eventually locate Daisy who’s become some sorta monster……she’s found killing another victim, Basira tries to snipe Daisy…..though she’s no sniper, she can’t do this…

Both Basira and John start arguing with each other…..so they get distracted, unfortunately, this means Daisy catches them and grabs John.

Basira tries to have a heart-to-heart moment with her by calling her name out. Daisy starts to recognize Basira….she keeps saying Basira come, Basira come….she tells Daisy to let John  go, which she does but John has an injured leg.

Basira takes her gun and shoots Daisy….damn I’m gonna miss Daisy.

Anyway John and Martin try to tell Basira they are sorry but she says shut up….John says I wish Daisy recognized me so I could have said my goodbyes.

Anyway, Basira tells them to leave while she stays behind and burns the body…they tell her they can wait for her, and she tells them to go….that she has to do this. Martin is trying to argue because he doesn’t want to leave a friend behind.

But John tells Martin they are gonna leave and she wants to stay apparently. Martin tells Basira to watch out for herself….and she says she will meet them at the tower.

Me personally I’m not a fan of Basira, she’s a massive hypocrite. And gets on my nerves, so I’m glad she won’t be going with them. So I don’t have to hear her complain.

BTW here’s a joke for you that made me laugh. So both John and Martin are walking through tombs and Martin says “I’m gonna play I spy with my little eye….I’ll start, I spy with my little eye something with a T”.

John says tombs…..Martin says “You cheated!” Which John says I didn’t. Then Martin says alright your turn and John says “Alright I spy with my little eye, literally everything.” Hahahahahahah.

THE SPIRAL’S HOSPITAL

They reach a hospital where Dr. Jane Doe explains that the hospital’s goal is to break their victims psychologically and physically…John goes to an empty room to do statements.

I love Martin’s reactions to Dr. Jane Doe’s glee at the misery of people…..

Dr. Jane Doe: Follow me and keep your screams inside if you want to be polite.

Martin: Uhhhh this is a beautiful building.

Dr. Jane Doe: Do not insult me.

Martin: I uh ok. What’s it called?

Jane Doe: It called?

Martin: The hospital.

Jane Doe: Ahh! Saint Bleeding’s Center For Wellbeing.

Martin: …Right.

John: Martin keep your eyes forward on the doctor.

Martin: Seriously? She’s all kinds of horrible.

Dr. Jane Doe: You must look in here to see one of our 400 operating theatres where we ensure any well-being is swiftly and awfully dispatched.

Martin: Right…right.

Jane Doe: Sometimes it’s anatomical wellness, sometimes the well-being they possess is mental. In both cases, we have grinding machines and anti-trained doctors on nails to deal with it. Nobody who comes into the hospital leaves right…or at all.

Martin: Oh…good…sorry is there an empty room he can use?

Dr. Jane Doe: What is he doing?

Martin: He needs to talk about all the horrible things this place does.

Dr. Jane Doe: Oh wonderful! This way.

Hahaha hahaha

Okay, final stretch! Get yourself a snack and sit down for my review of the last episodes.

Also, Should give y’all a heads up when y’all get to episode 185 (which I won’t be discussing here but I just wanted to give a heads up in case some y’all get triggered).

This episode deals with authoritarianism, imprisonment, and police as a tool of political repression by the state….yeah yikes that could be heavy, especially traumatic for some people out there so I thought I’d warn y’all for when u get to this episode. Anyway, let’s continue with the review.

So in a 2-part episode Martin and John get separated because Martin enters his domain where he goes in alone….and ends up talking to a clone of himself, they talk about what will happen if they can’t stop Armageddon. And what if they can stop it but it comes at a price of John sacrificing himself? Uh oh.

While that’s happening John goes into Helen’s domain and he realizes the monster she is…..so he realizes he needs to kill her, so he tricks her by getting her to open the door for him then he uses his power to kill her….finally the end of Helen has arrived, she had it coming.

Eventually, they locate Georgie and Melanie living in the tunnels under the archives….turns out they’ve gained a bit of a cult status, as in they rescued some people in hell dimensions. Now they are cult leaders to them.

This is because Georgie doesn’t feel fear and Melanie blinded herself, so they aren’t affected by the Fears. Just like at the institute, Elias can’t see them in the tunnels. Ok then.

Anyways Martin and Melanie catch up with each other……she explains why this group calls her a prophet, basically, she gave them false hope. Martin tells her of the stuff they’ve been through…Melanie congratulates both Martin and Jonathan for coming out as gay, she tries to warn Martin about Helen…Martin tells Melanie that Jonathan killed her…he has powers now!

Yeah they’ve not caught up in that long of a while….heck they’ve barely met, especially since back then Martin cut himself off from the group when Peter Lukas was in charge.

On a side note, Jonathan Sims doesn’t sleep normally anymore, he sleeps with his eyes open….he doesn’t sleep-sleep in the sorta way you and I do, and he doesn’t dream anymore. He can’t disconnect himself from the eye….btw him sleeping with his eyes open scares Martin a bit.

Anyway while Melanie and Georgie head out and about to find others to rescue, Martin and John are left with the idiotic cult members who seem to be frustrated at the 2 of them for not believing Melanie and Georgie are saviors of humanity….

Yeah sorry, that’s not how that works, anyways Melanie and Georgie have a talk…..Melanie admits she’s always hated John….she never liked him, even though people told her to give him a chance. But they both end up deciding to help them and possibly save humanity….so they never have to live in a Hellish landscape ever again.

Anyways they make their way up to the tower, where they find an old archives worker Rosie who’s now a front desk person for Jonah Magnus…..she says unless u have an appointment u will have to leave….so John does his statement to the recorder, then Rosie says your appointment is ready…he will see you in there….

So the both of them enter to see Jonah Magnus floating in the air chanting weird things…he can’t hear them, so Martin asks what’s wrong with him. Which Sims says “Nothing is wrong with him, he’s the eyes Pupil”….which Martin says what does that mean? Which Sims says “he’s won”…..dun dun dunn!.

So what does any of that mean? Well, Jonah has ascended, he’s become a Conduit of the eye…..he’s beyond human reality.

Jonathan comes to the realization that since nothing is left of Elias on a human level if they do defeat Elias….the Eye will force John to take his place…Dunn Dunn dun!

Anyway, they both head back through the tunnels and get into an argument about John taking Elias’ place…so John goes and makes a statement, unfortunately, though while that happens he finds out something happened.

After his statement story to the Eye, he wants to go apologies to Martin but he finds out from one of the cult followers that he left with a strange woman….

This woman who took Martin in was named Annabelle Cane, the Avatar of The Web. She took Martin away….and now Jonathan unfortunately can’t see where he is as if his third eye is blocked…

Anyways Melanie helps him come to the conclusion of where possibly Annabelle is taking Martin…he’s taking her to Hill Top Road.

So he goes and locates Basira to ask her for help….so they both team up to go save Martin.

Meanwhile, Martin and Annabelle are walking up to 105 Hill Top Road, and Annabelle explains what the heck is going on.

Annabelle explains that 105 Hill Top Road is built on a crack in reality which has been there for even longer than the Fears have existed. Over time there were many residents on the crack that felt some small effects, but generally not anything too crazy.

Over time, The Web lured in people connected to other powers and left them to kill each other, which would slowly widen the crack. When Agnes Montague–the number one Avatar of The Desolation–lit the house on Hill Top Road on fire, the crack widened into a hole to other worlds.

As Jon approaches, Annabelle sets the scene by tying Martin up in a web…he looks closer and sees the web is made from old tapes…the tape recorders were sent by Annabelle the whole time to spy on the archives! She shapeshifts into a big spider creature to add to the scene. Finally, she explains her plan.

Basically, the Fears aren’t intelligent beings. They don’t have an understanding of the future, so they’ll feed endlessly until there’s nobody left to feed on. The only 2 fears that understand this are The End (who is satisfied with all people on earth eventually dying) and The Web, who doesn’t want to starve to death in a world without people to be scared.

Annabelle explains that their dimension is one of many and that an entity can be dragged into the rift straight into another reality–and that because all of the Fears are connected, the rest would be dragged with it.

The position of Archivist was created when Jon was young by the Web, not Jonah, to connect all of the fears. Yeah, the Web was planning things for a long time. If things go right, the world will return to normal and the Fears will go to another world that isn’t in Armageddon yet.

All that has to happen is the Panopticon and the pupil of the Eye be destroyed, and all the fears will be drawn to the Rift on Hill Top Road. All they gotta do is light up the gas main below the institute at the same time and kill the pupil, who for now is Elias.

So they make it back to Melanie and Georgie, where Jonathan says do y’all have a drink I’m gonna need it, we need to talk. He lays it all out…the options, which Georgie says ok we need to discuss our options….do we either: spread the fears to other dimensions, let John take Elias’ place when he kills him, or the third option which Is do nothing and adjust to this new hellish world…..wow what a great plan that is.

I can’t see any of this going wrong, no sir not at all.

Jonathan Sims approaches Jonah Magnus in the Panopticon. He says that The Eye knows why he is here and Jonah falls to the ground, groggy. He cheerfully tells John he has been having the most marvellous dream, but John tells him it is over.

Jonah wonders where Martin is, as he figured Martin would be the one to try and kill him. John tells Jonah that he has failed and that there is no immortality. Jonah thinks he knows that, deep down, but the time spent as the pupil has been so fulfilling, that he does not really care.

John tells him to shut up, he is ending the world, killing The Entities once and for all. He tells Jonah he is looking forward to leaving the Entities Jonah served starving in a hell of their own creation.

Jonah tells him that they both serve the Entities, but John says not anymore. Jonah begins to panic, admitting to John he is afraid to die. John attacks him, saying it is for Sasha James, and Timothy Stoker, and Gertrude Robinson, and everyone else. He stabs Jonah, killing him, and absorbs the Pupil’s power.

Then comes a statement on the nature of the Fears itself, basically there used to be just fear of being hunted and dying. But when humans came along and evolved, they feared more, and new fears came about, like The Slaughter when people invented war.

And as the fears grew, some humans did not recoil from them. They reached out, hungering for the fears as much as the fears hungered for them. The Entities gave them powers, and they fed their patrons.

And eventually, the Entities could just barely touch reality. The Entities began to experiment with their new abilities, creating monsters that fed them even more.

The Entities became greedy, wanting more. Wanting to exist. The Avatars tried, but none of them managed to bring their gods into this world. The Fears simply could not conceive of being.

One, The Web, saw the truth. The Web could think and plan. It saw what would happen if they were brought into the world but it could not tell the other fears, for even if they could understand, the Web is not truthful. It lies, as is its nature. So it schemed and manipulated.

It chose The Eye, the most stupid of the Entities, and manipulated it. It brought about the new world, so it could finally escape.

But John will not let it.

LAST SCENES:

Martin rushes in, intending to stop John from killing Jonah, but he is too late. John tries to tell him he did the right thing, but Martin screams that he broke his promise.

John says Martin should tell the others, that they need to call off the plan, but Martin says he knew John would try something, so the others are going to the gas main early.

Martin thought he could stall John, and keep him from killing Jonah. John says it will be okay, they can still be together, but Martin says it is not. John reminds Martin that he had promised not to stop John from sacrificing himself, but Martin will not listen.

John says it will all be okay, he can call off The Eye’s servants. Besides, Melanie, Basira, and Georgie cannot light the gas main without the Web Lighter…then remember he gave it to Georgie.

The gas main blows, causing John severe pain. He tells Martin to leave, but Martin will not leave without him. John then tells Martin to kill him, finish the job, and save the world. Martin does not want to, but John says that live or die, whatever happens, they will be together. They kiss. Martin takes the knife and stabs John, and the recording turns off.

In a restored world, Basira, Melanie, and Georgie shift through the rubble of the Panopticon. Basira is surprised to find a tape recorder that still works. John and Martin have not been found, dead or otherwise. Melanie says they should accept they are gone and admits that is probably for the best.

Apparently, Simon Fairchild, having lost his abilities as an avatar, was not welcomed back into the normal world; imagine the world’s reaction to ‘The Archivist’.The three contemplate destroying the tape, but Basira says that they can just turn it off. Melanie and Georgie walk away and Basira addresses whoever is listening:

“Good luck.”

Anyways hope y’all enjoyed this finale review on The Magnus Archives, I had a fun time listening to the whole thing and reviewing them, hope y’all enjoyed reading them. Also here’s the link to the full podcast.