Ranting about Georgie Barker, arguably the most underrated tma character
(spoilers for tma and tmagp btw)
I was thinking about tma again (shocking, I know) and about all the lore and its implications that is less talked about, because I bet if I think about it enough there'll be plenty of it an I'm kind of inclined to make a list at this point.
But one thing in the series I keep thinking about is Georgie and particularly her statement and how it ended with her becoming immune to fear. Which is crazy btw and I really don't think we as a fandom talk enough about how crazy that is. Because what do you mean an avatar of a fear entity (you know, the creatures that are supposed to make you scared) somehow managed to cauterize someone's fear entirely?
That's like the complete opposite effect of what the fears are supposed to have. And I kinda wonder if it was even intentional or if it was something that wasn't supposed to happen and if the avatar knew this was even a possibility. Because, honestly, to me the phrase "the moment that you die will feel exactly the same as this one" seems like a line meant to evoke fear, not neutralize it.
So how the hell did that happen? And not only did Georgie have her sense of fear switched off, but this effect also made her completely immune to the entities' powers and exempted her from having a domain during the eyepocalypse. That's kind of an op advantage to have in this world if you ask me. And it's kinda crazy that no one points out how weird it is that, again, this was the result of encountering and interacting with an avatar of a dread power and especially The End, probably humanity's most ancient and primordial fear.
And now I'm thinking, can all fear entities have this probably unintended effect on people or is it just The End? And if it is just The End then why only it? What's so special about it that can give you perminent immunity to horror? Can this happen to any human or was Georgie special somehow? Would another person have been consumed by fear in her place or was that the only possible outcome there?
My best guess is that it was an unintended outcome and that it happened both due to The End's nihilistic nature and partially Georgie's personality and circumstance. Like maybe a phrase that would strike fear in most, to some poeple it can bring a sense of apathy. Since what The End represents is the fear of everything inevitably ending and everything being meaningless because of this.
It's as if Georgie, instead of being crushed under the weight of the realization of her and the whole universe's insignificance, she accepted it as fact and let it take over the void that the fear of it would have filled in its place. I also kinda wonder if this was a decision that she herself made in that moment. If she chose, though perhaps unconsciously, to exchange her fear with nihilism.
The only other person we know of who's become immune to the effects of the apocalypse and its domains is Melanie, who we know gouged her eyes to unbind gerself from the Eye's shackles, which we know is a thing that can happen and it makes more sense, as she gained immunity by going out of her way to defy a dread power. And we know that this is something anyone can do. Though I'm not sure if it would work the same if someone was blinded without being held hostage by the Beholding in the first place. Otherwise blind people would basically all get special treatment during the apocalypse. And maybe they did and we just never heard about it, who knows....
But Georgie's case feels vastly different and much weirder to me. And not only is it interesting for its lore implications, but it also makes her a very uniquely fascinating character. Because how does a person who doesn't feel fear live, think and feel? How does that work exactly? Like imagine you one day woke up and just didn't care about you or anyone else dying or getting hurt or literally anything ever. It just didn't phase you. How do you even go on? How does one keep on living when they no longer fear death? If those survival instincts don't exist anymore, why do you keep going? Especially if you happen to live in the hellscape that is the tma universe during or after the apocalypse.
And what's even more intriguing is that Georgie isn't just surviving or quietly living her life. We know that she's a world leader now and that she's in charge of whatever has been salvaged from London during the eyepocalypse. She's actively trying to make the world better and protect people. Which poses the question, how can a person be so fiercely protective wen they don't even fear losing people? And how does caring about and even loving someone work for a person without the fear of hurting or losing them? How do her and Melanie work as a couple? Do they ever face any struggles because of this? Does Georgie ever struggle with feelings of uncaringness or coldness towards people? SO. MANY. QUESTIONS.
And I hope we see a lot more of her in Protocol because I'll lose my mind if her character and situation aren't explored further. It'd really be a shame and I can only hope that Jonny and Alex are as aware of her potential as I am.
