Maura X Eyk. ‘Tis All.

We do not stan Daniel in this house 1899-centric blog

[macbeth-s]

Fuck dating apps, I want to meet someone the old fashioned way (we’re both stuck in a looped simulation faced with our own traumas where none of us can speak the same language but we still spend every replay falling in love)

[kakinou]

1899 🜃 – Episode 106 – The Pyramid

[hansdown]

oh my favorite trope? two people who go through something so unique and agonizing and entirely beyond words that they have no choice but to create a bond that transcends all other types of love, thus acting as the sole point of understanding for the other person in a world that cannot fathom what they’ve been through

[quietattic]

= eyk x maura

[the-girl-in-the-high-castle]

It's been a while since I babbled about my boat show, so here I am.

I know we've already talked about this, but I want to know the WHY? behind it.

Like, we might not have figured out shit about the show, but I know that this one IS figured out, cause I'm 100% sure this is true.

This photo of Maura, which Daniel took with him from the Prometheus, belonged in that empty frame sitting on Eyk's desk in Prometheus' captain's cabin.

This photo is made for a frame, and it doesn't just perfectly fit the said frame, it also looks like it. It looks like Prometheus. Old, washed out, like it had seen better days. Just like this frame and everything around it.

Now, every other photo we see in Daniel's memory is different. It doesn't come close to this one. They are all modern photos. They don't even look a decade old, let alone a century.

Another thing that supports this is the shot from the character promo that I can't find anywhere now, but I have screenshots from it. The same photo in a drawer. On the desk, there is a tobacco box, just like there is one, same or quite similar on Eyk's desk, which Maura uses to trap Alfred, as well as books written in German.

The cherry on top all this is Maura's reaction to Eyk's "family photo". Except, it's probably not a reaction to just the photo, but also the frame. Because she's had a more emotional reaction to that photo frame than she's had about 80% of other things happening around her. Every time she looked at it, it was as if it called to her, as if she was trying to remember what it meant. Because it was her photo that should be there, not some random woman and children (the original script, where she takes the frame and puts it back face down, had only the wife and daughters in the photo, Eyk wasn't there). Anyone who's seen Dark remembers the weird and off-putting staring Stranger Jonas gave us with that spot on the floor, and we later found out what it really meant (and it was huge).

So what does this mean? It means that in the previous sim, the roles were different (I've already talked about this in another of my posts. Different sims, different roles, and every sim taking the character deeper and deeper and more out of touch with reality). Maura's photo on Eyk's desk meant that in the previous sim, or maybe more than one, she was HIS wife.

Finally, what I want to know is why did Daniel take it?

Maybe it's because he knew they were gonna search the ship, and if they found it, it would cause some disturbance. But if he wanted Maura to wake up so badly, wouldn't that help? Wouldn't it help if she remembered there were previous simulations and that that meant none of it was real?

I don't believe a word of what he said to Maura about their backstory is true because everything we know about his and Elliot's memory is just a part of a simulation. But I do believe it was probably one of the previous sims. Perhaps one of the initial sims that would make her remember easier and bring her back to the beginning from the depth of endless cycles.

I don't believe Daniel is some sort of evil mastermind, and I don't believe he does any of it for the sake of some evil plan, but this thing about the photo is bugging me so much, because it also connects to him repeatedly telling Maura that it doesn't matter why she forgot, while he kept telling her she needs to remember and wake up.

I mean, he certainly looks like he wants to burn Eyk to crisps with a stare, but I don't believe in just jealousy being the reason behind it.

[hansdown]

did yall watch 1899? ill never forgive netflix for taking it from me

[the-girl-in-the-high-castle]

Welcome to the psych ward. We hope you enjoy your stay. We've been here for a very long time.

[the-girl-in-the-high-castle]

I've been thinking about my boat show (shocking, I know), and some facts about Maura that I like to linger on occasionally that make me want to scream cry and throw up when put in the context of her and Eyk together.

Maura is a character that is so obviously terrified of losing her mind. She is more afraid of losing her sanity than losing her life, which is understandable. We can see that the moment we meet her. She's standing in front of a mirror, trying to convince herself she isn't crazy.

The best representation of this is when she's standing in front of a literal firing squad and she doesn't care. Some of these people had just thrown a boy of the railing into the ocean, she knows very well they're going to shoot. But she needs answers. Something strange is happening, and she needs answers. When time stops, she's questioning that, she's questioning Elliot, but she's completely unfazed by the fact that a dozen people had just shot at her.

And then comes Eyk. From the moment the two of them meet, he's never once doubted her judgment. He's turning a blind eye on her rule breaking. He lets her come with the crew to inspect the Prometheus because she asks. He seeks her out and wants her opinion on Ada's death. And when he starts losing it, he doubts his own mind, but never hers. He wants her thoughts, her expertise, her opinion. He wants her to tell him that he isn't going crazy. Even when he thinks she's hiding something after he finds the passenger list, in spite of being angry, he never completely loses that trust in her.

All throughout the insane things happening on the ship, they stick together. They seek each other out, and they always turn to one another.

The hallway scene in episode 6 isn't just important because of the loaded moment they share that makes us lose our minds every time. That scene is my roman empire exactly because of the things I'm talking about here. Before this, Maura had told Eyk everything. She told him about her father, her brother, her potential insanity, everything. She literally told him she used to be locked up in a mental institution. And what happened? He's still here.

Only a dozen people of the whole ship survived, none of it makes any sense, but he's still there with her. She thanks him for not thinking she's crazy. Because for her, her mind is something she can't lose, and she had just spent every single moment on this ship doubting it, but this man in front of her has never once doubted it. Not for a second. We see that again, in the same episode, when they're in the asylum. She begins losing all hope, actually starting to believe she's gone mad. What does he do? He stops her, he reassures her that it isn't over, that they should keep searching for answers.

When Daniel tells her the story, she becomes even more confused because he never really gives her any true answers.

In the end, when everything starts falling apart, when everyone leaves because they think she's talking nonesense, Eyk is the only one who stays. He stays with her until the very end. And when he loses hope, she's the one trying to stop him from despair this time.

Then we also have Eyk's questionable at best, insane decisions at least, and her defending him every step of the way. Like nothing he would ever do would make her not choose his side. When she hears the words from Franz "He's not the man you think he is.", she doesn't hesitate for a single second to talk back to him in defense of Eyk.

He never let her lose what she was most afraid of losing. She never hesitated in defending him to everyone's face and justifying his questionable behavior. Whatever this means for them in the real world, that is poetic fucking cinema.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go scream into the pillow because it's just one of the reasons why I will never be able to free myself from the chokehold that is mauraeyk.

[the-girl-in-the-high-castle]

Eyk Larsen not knowing how body physiology works and staring RESPECTFULLY at Maura Franklin's EYES will always be famous

And then there's her being even worse and I just can't with them anymore!

[soft-october-night]

[mauraandeyk]

I’m so fucking devastated at the news that Netflix has cancelled 1899. It’s been years since I’ve felt this passionate about a show - any show - on TV. I’m fucking sick of Netflix treating its fans like this. Treating its artists like this. What’s the point, as a writer or showrunner, of going to Netflix when they’re only ever going to fund 1/2 or 1/3 of your project? I’m so tired that entertainment has become a numbers game rather than something that encourages and enables diversity in thought and creativity and people pouring their hearts and minds into an idea. Every time I see Netflix mentioned on the internet nowadays it’s literally in the same breath as a show that was loved and left behind. As an aspiring writer, I can only imagine what the creators and actors and crew must be feeling right now. As a fan, my heart is broken because I might never learn the ending to this story, of what it all means. This show was truly a lifeboat for me during an extremely difficult time and I was hoping for it to remain a lifeboat for a little while longer. I’m really, truly, honestly sick to my stomach. And I have gone ahead and rage-cancelled my subscription because there’s absolutely zero point in paying for a platform that values neither its fans nor its creators.

edit: just going to leave this here as well:

Sign the Petition

Renew 1899 on Netflix

[mauraandeyk]

don’t get me wrong, Emily Beecham is a very, very beautiful human being, but I was so glad to see that they didn’t “beautify” Maura unnecessarily

it always irks me to no end when shows put female characters (especially the leads) in environments of hardship or survival and they still look perfectly sculpted and flawlessly beautiful and unattainable in every single way

but Maura had messy hair and loose strands falling everywhere and in some scenes looked positively ill and, honestly, I do appreciate that because that poor woman went through a lot and she should be looking a bit rough around the edges

[spectraling]

Thoughts are being thunked

[mauraandeyk]

I absolutely LOVE the sheer confusion on Eyk’s face here. Like, all that very obvious tension and he was totally mentally preparing himself because they might kiss and then Maura’s like “yup, gotta go!” lmao

[mauraandeyk]

okay, but that scene in ep. 1 where Maura waltzes into Eyk’s cabin cracks me up every time because:

Eyk was totally glancing at Maura’s lips for like a split second when he opened that door

Can we acknowledge that Maura decided to just stroll into a random man’s cabin in broad daylight (scandalous) and gave no fucks about anyone seeing her, truly an icon

The way she has to squeeze past Eyk is so funny

Eyk’s “WTF is she doing” face

Then Eyk decides to close the door people it’s 1899 this is like unheard of (doubly scandalous!!! I love it) and shuts them both in

Eyk entrusting Maura with this secret information about the Prometheus that he literally hasn’t shared with any other passengers because reasons I guess

Maura doing a terrible job at lying to Eyk about “not caring” about the Prometheus and Eyk just knows she’s lying to him and is so disappointed that he straight up kicks her out lmao

(Interesting body language here from Maura where she crosses her arms - very defensive, not that I don’t get it)

Maura marches outside without even saying goodbye or thanks lmao, this queen truly came, asked what she wanted to know and then left, I have nothing but respect

[mauraandeyk]

I just can’t get over how familiar Maura and Eyk seem to each other, and how distant Maura and Daniel feel in comparison.

They don’t ACT like acquaintances at ALL. Like:

The way they stare at each other but from like literally the first time they meet on deck lmao

Maura being veryyyy touchy and handsy

Maura sharing about her miscarriage and that she can no longer have children, not something usually shared with an almost-stranger and most DEFINITELY not in 1899

Eyk reciprocating by telling Maura, REPEATEDLY, that his family has tragically died, again, not something normally shared with a mere acquaintance like who does that?

Maura telling Eyk about her being a Singleton DESPITE knowing Eyk is already suspicious of her?! Running a real risk of losing her only ally there and she does it ANYWAY because trustttt

Eyk confessing he hears his dead daughter’s voice and that he might be going insane and seeking comfort but also being VERY vulnerable here (again, it’s 1899, and he’s literally telling this to someone who’s studied medicine!!)

Maura grieving and panicking when Eyk is “deactivated” and desperately begging for him to be brought back to “life”

“Thank you for believing I’m not crazy” (paraphrasing)

All the arm touching lmao

Eyk asking, concerned, if Maura is not eating that one time (cute!) - but also does that mean he saw everyone eating and then saw that Maura WASN’T and then went to look for her to see if she’s okay??

Maura being all protective over Eyk wanting to take a swing at Sebastian lmao

Maura handing over the key despite really not wanting to because she feels Eyk is in danger (“I wouldn’t do that if I were you”) and she barely even hesitates

Maura looking like she might throw up when confessing she’s actually married and Eyk stumbling over “your husband” because it’s too painful to acknowledge

[cefonteyn]

The Kind of Man Eyk Is

Much has been made (rightly) about Maura defending Eyk to Daniel, but look how she talks about him to Franz.

This massive dude, with blood still on his face, has just fomented a successful mutiny - a crime so serious that he'll be executed for it when they reach land. His people physically drag Maura to him, where he dismisses her. She insists she needs to speak to Eyk, and he tells her, "Eyk is not the man you think he is."

Without considering his words for even a second, she mocks him: "No. You're not the man you think you are." She emasculates this strong, grown man: "You're just a little boy toying with power." She's not interested in tact or trying to appease this guy, even though she knows he controls the entire ship and is not beyond physically harming her. She's interested only in protecting Eyk's honor and reputation, even when she knows her words will make no difference to Franz or any of the other mutineers. She's saying it out of principle, because she really believes it.

And Franz's words don't give her any pause at all. Eyk's behavior up to this point has been strange: he's been drinking when she first meets him; he insists on returning to Europe, against the wishes of everyone on the ship; he runs around the ship listening to music only he can hear and claims to have seen his dead daughter; he goes back to the Prometheus and finds something there that makes him act suddenly cold and distant to Maura. Based on everything she knows about Eyk, she should agree with Franz that something is not right with him.

But she doesn't think that, not even for a moment. She rejects Franz's idea out of hand. She doesn't even bother defending or explaining Eyk, like she does to Daniel. She just says to Franz, essentially, "You'll never be the man that Eyk is." That suggests to me that, at some subconscious level, Maura knows Eyk extremely well and trusts him deeply -- deeply enough that she dismisses his strange behavior.

Maura also shows Eyk grace repeatedly. First, when he slams Elliot against the wall, then when he's angry with her for apparently no reason, again when he allows (orders?) that Elliot be locked in a cabinet, and finally when he slams her against the wall and demands to know how she disappeared. She's furious with him over Elliot both times -- they physically grapple -- but she forgives him without him having to ask. This grace would be superhuman if she showed it to just an acquaintance, even if they had strong chemistry.

I don't know if Maura built this attachment to Eyk over the dozens of simulations they've traversed together, or if its basis is a relationship they have in the real world. I don't even know if it's reciprocated by him (although I suspect it is). But either way, Maura feels a very real, deep connection to Eyk.

[mauraandeyk]

excellent analysis!

[mauraandeyk]

it’s interesting that Eyk is the one to wear a wedding ring when he’s technically no longer “married” while Maura doesn’t wear one and technically she IS married (according to Daniel, anyway). I don’t know if there’s any significance to this but it sure is an interesting parallel

[antarees-8]

Maura and Eyk : *talk about important things*

My last brain cell: Kiss. Now. ԅ(≖‿≖ԅ)

[debbymo]

I want to live in this simulation forever 🐞