The Magnus Archives
Season Two Notes and Speculation
(See my Season One notes here)
Quick aside! I finally have developed a way of citing things. My format goes “Episode Name, (MAG #)”. I feel that this will help in the future if I want to refer back to specific moments.
Now without further ado,
SPOILERS FOR SEASON TWO BELOW THE BREAK
Main Cast
Martin Blackwood- Style of poetry is obviously influenced by Keats apparently- he also believes Jonathan is lying as seen by the supplement in Grifter’s Bone (MAG 42). He comes to check in on Jon and offers tea in Blood Bag (MAG 45). He calls Jon out on being weird and keeping files on coworkers.
Since then Martin has filed a proper complaint that he was being stalked by Jon to the institute/Elias but it seems less out of being really bothered by the behavior but more so out of concern for Jon’s wellbeing. I think this is supported by the fact that he’s started surveilling Jon post Jon’s knife incident and directly mentions that he’s worried about Jon’s mental health. He also asks Jon out to lunch to try and inconspicuously do that in Crusader (MAG 53).
He lied on his CV, he doesn’t have degrees. He’s actually only 29, and he dropped out of school when his mom died. Children of the Night, (MAG 56).
He’s trying to keep Jon’s intrusive behaviors at bay and is trying to keep the party together. Trail Rations, (MAG 58).
I have been informed he apparently said he loved spiders. Yikes. He also mentioned in Season 1 about being stuck in the “web” of the archive. I fear we’re so screwed gang.
So about all that. Martin let us know that the spiders involved with Annabelle Cane are NOT biologically accurate. Buckle up folks. Thought for the Day, (MAG 69).
“Streets by Martin K Blackwood. The streets are hard in London. Paved in olds secrets. The hot smell after the rains. The threads of people walking. Living. Loving.” There seemed to be more but Tim taped over it. “We can’t just leave him.” He wants everyone to be fine and happy, and he is pissed that Tim has been a hypocrite. They have been trapped in Micheal. Hide and Seek, (MAG 79).
They escaped. It doesn’t matter. He found Leitner’s body with Tim. They assume Jon killed him. So much for trying to make Jon stable in his eyes. The Librarian, (MAG 80).
Elias Buchard- He’s concerned about Jon’s mental health as he received complaints from Jon’s team that he was stalking them. Lost in The Crowd, (MAG 48).
Became head in 1996 and took over for James Right. Started work 5 years prior as someone who worked with the artifacts. Loved weed! Cute. Gertrude was the only one who would’ve known him. The Butcher’s Window, (MAG 49).
Institute is on tight budget. “Oh good LORD don’t be so dramatic Jon. You KNOW how hard it would be to replace you.” Elias knows something, obviously. Burning Desire, (MAG 67).
He murdered Leitner while Jon was taking a quick smoke. He did it with the very pipe Jon had found. Elias seems to be the eldritch force known as The Beholder. He also talks about letting Jon “fly the nest” and how he was gonna have to “see the world for himself” at some point. The Librarian, (MAG 80).
“Sasha James” aka Not Sasha- Heard again during The New Door. She sounds wrong and her personality seems watered down and subservient. The New Door, (MAG 47).
She was the one who interviewed Andrea Nunis, the woman who had encountered the crowd. I have a bad feeling about this, especially with Andrea traveling alone again. Lost in The Crowd, (MAG 48).
Her computer keeps breaking. Odd. The Butcher’s Window, (MAG 49).
Worked in artifact storage. Has been staring at the table. Says it looks more like a web than a fractal, and says Graham was caught by the web. She’s been visiting Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum on Baker Street. High Pressure, (MAG 51).
Jon point blank asked her and she claimed she was going there to have lunch with her boyfriend. Exceptional Risk (MAG 52).
Of course they sent her to investigate the taxidermy. Smh. Still Life (MAG 54).
She seems to be able to know when she’s being recorded and asks Jon not to. She also is starting to appear like stock photos with her boyfriend “Tom”. Personal Space, (MAG 57).
“Let’s have no more of this paranoia.” Not creepy at all. Observer Effect, (MAG 60).
“I don’t like it down here, hard to focus.” This was her talking in the Institute tunnels. The Tale of a Field Hospital, (MAG 68).
Her computer had been getting authentication errors when trying to connect with external devices or networks. This could play back into the fact that she knows when Jon is recording her. Technology might mess with these entities. Book of the Dead, (MAG 70).
She takes the Victoria line home from the institute. The Victoria and Northern lines take people during the night sometimes. Underground, (MAG 71).
She frequents the institute underground. How she got a key is unknown. She may not even have one. Fatigue, (MAG 74).
Those outside the office who only briefly met her seem to be able to tell she’s not Sasha. See Melanie. The Smell of Blood, (MAG 76).
Unbound after the table broke. She’s went into the tunnels.
“I’m going to wear you Jon. I’m going to have everything you are, like you never existed. No one will ever know, and it WILL hurt. Oh yes it WILL hurt. It hurt Sasha~” “One day it was sent to the house of its enemy, which had the biggest eyes you ever did see.” The institute. I don’t like this. Also, she discloses that the Not Them is one monster, that it steals faces, and that it was bound to the one table. The table went from place to place, and then ended up at the institute. Didn’t Breekon and Hope probably deliver it? Also it showed up at the institute in Taken Ill, (MAG 36) and Tim had almost been its next victim, calling it very pretty. “Even I would make a better archivist than you. … Maybe I will!” Hide and Seek, (MAG 79).
Actual Sasha is gone in all respects. They don’t come back according to Leitner. Not Sasha has been sealed into the walls of the Archive’s tunnels. The Librarian, (MAG 80).
Jonathan Sims- Right off the bat he is less skeptical, very willing to believe there is something down in the tunnels under the archives, sure that the walls are moving towards him as he tries to leave. He is showing his old defiance though by insisting it wasn’t the supernatural that killed Gertrude down there- that it was one of his colleagues as said in Too Deep (MAG 41).
His distrust has grown as now he’s weary of Martin, thinking he may be playing the fool because Martin cares for him as seen in the supplementary of Grifter’s Bone(MAG 42).
Our boy is starting to get tired. All of the stress of paranormal activity and a murderer on the loose has made him fatigued as found out in the supplemental of Section 31 (MAG 43). This is more speculation than anything but I like to think Jonathan has horrible handwriting because of how easily he read the allegedly bad writing in Blood Bag (MAG 45). On a non speculation note from the same MAG, Jonathan doesn’t like mosquitos one bit and is weary on the fact that Tim works for the institute for seemingly nothing. He’s begun keeping tabs on everyone quite literally, compiling a file, including things like a picture of Tim’s house.
Spider webs have spread and someone else is exploring the tunnels. The spiders down there also have begun eating Jane’s parasites. Literary Heights, (MAG 46).
Jon believes Helen Richardson’s story about Micheal Shelly. Yay, improvement. He also has a distaste for Micheal after their encounter. Distaste is an understatement, he watched Micheal steal Helen. The New Door, (MAG 47).
Jon listened back to his encounter and has realized that Micheal warned him about Sasha. Jon can’t fathom why, claiming that she’s the least effected, but at least seems like he’ll look into it. His meeting with Elias Buchard went sour. Tim and Martin reported his stalking. He now suspects Elias. Oh Jon, you fool. Lost in The Crowd, (MAG 48).
He’s gained fear that he and Gertrude are in a chain of Archivists who die in terrible ways. He also expressed his reluctance to trust the Magnus Institute, saying Gertrude also seemed to lack trust with them. Martin in the same supplemental discloses that Jon had cut himself with a bread knife requiring him to get 5 stitches. Whether or not it was an accident remains to be seen. Jon claims it was, but 5 stitches is quite a lot. IM DUMB, this was totally a result of Micheal stabbing him and he just didn’t tell Martin and lied. Crusader (MAG 53).
Dude. He broke into Gertrude’s flat. Still Life, (MAG 54).
Jon liked Halloween this year because everything was easily disproven as false. “I even got a good night’s sleep. I miss those days.” Yikes, our boy is def traumatized. Pest Control, (MAG 55).
HOLY SHIT HE WENT OFF THE DEEP END- he has been rooting through the trash and everything. He had a total meltdown on Martin and then had like,,, euphoria on finding out Martin was chill. Can’t say I blame the guy but holy shit. Awesome scene, LOVED the sound design of it. The thrum getting louder, Jonathan’s voice clipping/distorting the tape recorder, mwah. Children of the Night, (MAG 56).
Bro was rooting through Sasha’s stuff. At least he’s finally looking into her. He said he’ll have to back off for a bit- bummer. Personal Space, (MAG 57).
He’s in the vents and he’s sussed about Tim. Trail Rations, (MAG 58).
He mentions everyone is avoiding him. I can’t imagine why lmao. He is fretful of their planning- this is valid, Sasha is freaky. Recluse, (MAG 59).
“There are monsters out there and I don’t know who or where they are or if ANY of you- if you want me to trust you, then I’m sorry, I need evidence.” He was given the security tapes to the building. He now blindly trusts the crew- allegedly. We shall see. Observer Effect, (MAG 60).
He was hurt by Basira’s suspection of him. He also fears Daisy which is,,, valid. “I need to go home. Try to get some sleep. I just wish it wasn’t raining.” The spooky stories are getting to him- and I can’t blame him! They’re real after all. Hard Shoulder, (MAG 61).
“Elias . . . there is a lot he’s not telling me.” Yayy, get your paranoia Jon. The Magnus Institute is def wrong. GERTRUDE LAPTOP AND KEY IN THE FLOOR WOOO First Edition, (MAG 62).
He hasn’t been able to guess the password. He also told Melanie King he shares her hardship of not being respected by her peers. Oh Jon. The End of the Tunnel, (MAG 63).
He put out ads for the institute on tech savvy sites asking for statements and he got Tessa Winters. My queen unlocked Gertrude’s laptop for him. “There’s no need for attitude”, said to Tim, JON I KNOW YOURE PROBLEMATIC BUT HOLY SHIT YOURE SO RELATABLE. He can’t fire Tim. “It’s this place.” “I cannot, and will not trust you. This place isn’t right, you see that now. I don’t know how or why but there is something VERY wrong with the archives.” Damn. He’s also already in the web. “I don’t know who here is a victim of it, and who is an agent.” War, as Micheal put it. Binary, (MAG 65).
“I need to know. . . . It’s getting harder and harder to work down there without being sure of what’s underneath me. So either give me the key, or find a new Archivist!” Jon is also shocked by Elias saying it would be hard to replace him as Archivist. He is given a copy of the key and told to get sleep. Burning Desire, (MAG 67).
“When I saw Sasha down there it was almost like I didn’t recognize her. She seemed.. too tall somehow.” Oh Jon.. when will you learn. The Tale of a Field Hospital, (MAG 68).
He admitted on tape to being scared. “I should ask the others for help.. but… I can’t.” He assumed that they would either talk him out of it or- he can’t even bear to think of the worst. “I should just leave it. They’re right. ….. I can’t not know.” Oh Jon. Curiosity is so bad for you. Thought for the Day, (MAG 69).
He has suspended his adventures of exploring the underground of the institute until he can talk to Basira because he’s found evidence of someone living under there. Underground, (MAG 71).
He hopes Basira will be okay during the arrest of Maxwell Rainer and hopes Daisy isn’t there. The latter intrigues me. Takeaway, (MAG 72).
Reaffirms he can’t quit, even after Basira’s encouragement. He also mentions that someone had to have tipped off police as to where Rainer was… I have my suspicions. Micheal Shelly. Police Lights, (MAG 73).
“Yes I know what a meme is!!” The Smell of Blood, (MAG 76).
“I don’t know what this- … I know exactly what this means.” He felt he couldn’t tell the others for fear of losing the Gertrude tapes. He resolved to kill the imposter. The Kind Mother, (MAG 77).
“I uh.. we.. we didn’t.. have..” “Was there anything I could’ve done? … Could I’ve- …” Jon in reference to Sasha. “You (Tim and Martin) deserved the truth. I’m not losing anyone else.” He does care about them despite all the annoyances he had this season. HE BOUGHT AN AX. He broke the table to pieces. Oh no. Distant Cousin, (MAG 78).
He took Micheal’s door and DIDNT get digested. It just put him in the tunnels of the archive. “I’m sorry Martin and Tim.. and Sasha. I’m so sorry, I should’ve- I didn’t- God, I’m so sorry-“ “Please forgive me, if you’re still alive. If any of you hear this, keep as far away from the Magnus Institute-“ Jon. More on you later. Hide and Seek, (MAG 79).
He went out and took a smoke after learning about Spiral, Beholding, and Unknowing from Leitner. I wonder if he uses the web lighter from Taken Ill (MAG 36), back when he said he didn’t smoke. He returned to find Leitner dead and the despair in his voice is evident. Elias’ pipe murder is especially rough for Jon cause he literally brought the pipe from the tunnels. The Librarian, (MAG 80).
Tim Stoker- Seems to be mainly unaffected by the Prentiss run in as stated by Jon in Blood Bag (MAG 45)’s supplemental. He graduated from Trinity college, spent 5 years doing climbing at a publishing firm, and then pivoted to the institute.
He doesn’t trust Basira. He also mentions Jon has been going to physical therapy. Foundations, (MAG 50). SORRY HAVE TO INCLUDE THE QUOTE WHAT “Good work boss.” Twas in reference to him thinking Jon bagged Basira.
He thinks Jon hates him. Trail Rations, (MAG 58).
“Oh, sorry, didn’t mean to disturb you while you were being suspicious. /venom” Oh Tim I get that Jon stalked you but damn. “I’ll catch you when you’re not *scheming* /disgust” Tim is proper pissed at Jon. UH OH. “Shut up.” And “Nobody wants to kill you you pompous idiot.” “I got eaten by worms because of you.” So much for being unaffected. He also had a moment of saying Sasha’s name, as if inferring he knows something is off. “Elias should have fired you weeks ago.” Holy shit. “I can’t.” In reference to quitting. Oh boy, the Archives web has been cast. He doesn’t want to do his job anymore, and yet he goes on. Binary, (MAG 65).
He said him and Martin were leaving, I don’t buy it. I think he also may be able to see that Sasha isn’t Sasha based off his earlier statement. Distant Cousin, (MAG 78).
(Martin said they couldn’t leave Jon) “Yeah we can-!!” I love Tim. Despite this sentiment, he did follow Martin into the tunnels. He is now trapped in Micheal with Martin. Hide and Seek, (MAG 79).
Feels validated by the bloodied body of Jergen Leitner. Told Martin that he called it that Jon would snap. The Librarian, (MAG 80).
Supporting Cast
John Amherst- Owned Jane’s old apartment building and also owned Ivy Meadows Nursing Home. Isn’t the nursing home where the exorcism episode happened? No, I went back, he was a greasy man that wore a suit similar to the ant freak from this episode. The statement Taken Ill (MAG 36) also describes the supernatural occurrences of flies and infesting as The Disease. Pest Control, (MAG 55).
Possible relative detailed in the book. He also has a tie to The Hive. More than a tie, I think he may be the source of The Disease, basically the Micheal equivalent for Disease. Also, Jeffery Amherst historically gave Natives blankets with small pox. More disease. Tale of a Field Hospital, (MAG 68).
Asag- Sumerian Fire demon who keeps being invoked as seen in Section 31 (MAG 43). I will no longer take notes on it specifically now that we have the cult of the lightless flame.
Annabelle Cane- Girl who had the study done to her to see if she could sense the fear of the arachnophobes from the other side of a mirror. Dresses like a vintage clothing store had exploded on her, and had short bleach blonde hair and dark skin. Her insides are cobwebs and she moves like spider. Ew. Thought for the Day, (MAG 69).
Michael Crew- Allegedly a student in university. Reappears in December in a high collared coat and thick scarf, considerably short (5’ and malnourished). Upon removing the scarf he has scar patterns across his neck. He searches the bookstore for a copy of DaPonce’s Dixié Infernal (and presumably also a tome). He has a smell like a storm chasing him and the light bulbs burn brighter when he’s around. “Acrid tang”, and it’s not specifically from him. He gained a furious desperation to acquire the dizzy spell Excel Tiora (From the Heights). His scar disappears when the storm comes in. A tall thin figure resembling his arching scar chases him in its place. He chants something like “Altiora, Vertigo, The Vast” in the bell tower. He then yelled “I am yours” at the scar figure, and then jumped out the tower. His scar seems to be the Lichtenberg Figure, and this figure can be found in the book he took in one of the wood carvings. Herbert didn’t mention it. Literary Heights (MAG 46).
Possibly posing as one Stanley Kubrick. Children of the Night, (MAG 56).
His scar’s are on his chest too and wrap around to his neck. He looked bored when using Excel Tiora on the one statement giver. He seems to have taken her brother and forced him to climb down a ladder infinitely. He presumably is no longer the original Micheal we saw in Literary Heights without the scar at the top of the tower, I would say he is now like Micheal Shelly for this tome. A Long Way Down, (MAG 75).
Adelard Dekker- Knows about the Not Them. Has coffin. Distant Cousin, (MAG 78).
Arrow Horror- There is some entity down in the dark of the tunnels under the archive that mimics Jon’s arrows with curly ones. It tells Jon to “Leave” after he notices the walls shifting. Too Deep (MAG 41).
We now know it could’ve been Not Sasha redoing them, but it’s hard to tell. The Tunnels are weird. Leitner had made the top floors more contained for Jon’s convenience and confirms that it wasn’t him changing the arrows. The Librarian, (MAG 80).
Basira Hussain- Police Constable who is giving Jonathan tapes from Gertrude’s room as she is sectioned and has no one to talk to. Section 31 (MAG 43). She hasn’t been able to listen to the tapes herself as the police’s tape recorder exploded. She also lets us know that Tim and Jon share the same Prentiss scars and calls Tim the “hot one”. She gives Jon a new tape on Alexandria, Exceptional Risk (MAG 52).
She likes Jon and will continue supplying tapes, even now knowing that he’s not the killer of Gertrude. Hard Shoulder, (MAG 61).
She feels like she’s being watched which is why she hasn’t given Jon more tapes. She even said they sucked at being spies. Burial Rites, (MAG 64).
She’s trying to arrest Maxwell Rainer with a ton of other cops. We shall see how it goes, they allegedly have a lot of flashlights. Takeaway, (MAG 72).
She successfully did so- in the way that both Rainer and Natalie were shot dead. She told Jon that she’s quitting the police force and encouraged him to leave the institute. Police Lights, (MAG 73).
I can’t tell if she quit properly. She found out they were covering up the one officers death and got upset. She gave Jon the rest of the tapes, saying that he’d actually solve her murder unlike the police force. She doesn’t want further involvement. A Long Way Down, (MAG 75).
Daisy- Addis Tonner, a police woman who was sectioned. Found spider like husks of people or people sized spider husks when she got sectioned. She’s also seen vampires possibly. Section 31 (MAG 43).
Brutal scary woman. Got sectioned while checking a traffic stop of a delivery van on the M6 near Preston back in late July, 2002. It had the coffin, the coffin had stairs, and it took her partner Zach. She also handles vampire criminals, cuffs them, and burns them in the forest. They’re considered vampires in the police force. She’s killed 5 in the past 9 years. Hard Shoulder, (MAG 61).
She supports Jon’s desire to solve Gertrude’s death according to Basira. A Long Way Down, (MAG 75).
Simon Fairchild- Tiny pink skeleton of a man. Encouraged the dive to take place to find his great grandfather’s wreckage. Steam Yacht from 1890, the Maria Fairchild. Shouted something at the diver and then she was in “silent blue”. The diver encountered a hole in the boat that lead to the twilight zone of the boat, which after sticking her head through she saw a giant hand bigger than comprehension coming towards her. Con artist used his name. High Pressure, (MAG 51).
Raymond Fielding- Had medium length brown hair and preferred to be called Ray. He housed the many children on Hilltop Road. Was described as a well liked recluse who kept to his basement save for Sundays because of church. OH MY GOD HE’S SPIDERS. It also wasn’t confirmed if the kids who had eggs in them were still alive or not. Fucking gross. Recluse, (MAG 59).
Alfred Grifter- Lead singer of the band Grifter’s Bone that kills people with song. He wears a brown suit as seen in Grifter’s Bone (MAG 42).
Could be tied to John Amherst because of the suit, but I have my doubts.
Tom “Thomas” Haan- Nephew of the cannibal grill guy. He was also the one from the meat factory episode of season 1. I’ll need to go back. Takeaway, (MAG 72).
In season 1, he said “You cannot stop slaughter by closing the door” to the statement giver. He also slowly bolt gunned himself many times over, and then had the statement giver bolt him through the skull. He disappeared since that day. Killing Floor, (MAG 30).
Trevor Herbert- Vampire Hunter that was apparently addicted to Heroin as well as hunting! He got an infection from injecting between his toes, zoinks. He also murdered a real man named Allard DaPonte…. (Maybe DaPonce, I dunno).
Interesting. He’s also not actually confirmed dead despite Martin having believed him to die of his severe lung cancer IN the institute. Children of the Night, (MAG 56).
Jared Hopworth- He reappears and takes Hector’s bones out one by one. He twists the bones and puts some into his body, but most down a chute. He then takes Gregory Pryor’s arm. He’s gone when they investigate the shop. The Butcher’s Window, (MAG 49).
Gerard (Gerry) Keay- Was on holiday in Genoa, Italy. He warned Andrea that she was marked and told her to think of her most loved to survive the encounter she eventually would have. Jon confirms it’s probably him post the punishment of murdering his mom. Lost in the Crowd, (MAG 48).
He beat down on Leitner once. Gerry probably also has ties to Beholder, seeing as he has all the eye tattoos. The Librarian, (MAG 80).
Mary Keay- Her mom worked for the institute. She also mentions Elias disagreeing that they’re on the same side but tells Gertrude they are. She lived in Whitechapel on Turner st. Describes someone as “touched by powers that watch over our family.” Her father killed himself and she valued the razor he did so with as her most prized possession. She killed the corrupt doctor with it. She couldn’t serve the book because she doesn’t find death interesting and can’t keep to one devotion. Just ask “Eric,” or what’s left of him. Says Elias isn’t big on action, that he just loves statements. She gave Gertrude a page of The Boneturner’s Tale. Odd. First Edition, (MAG 62).
Melanie King- Her ghost group has broken up. She also went on solo expeditions and saw some shit. She got arrested in a train graveyard. Jon helped her access the institute’s library. Oh no, Jon asked Sasha to show her out. The End of the Tunnel, (MAG 63).
She got knifed by a scalpel ghost. The cut itself is healing but the scar is,,, alarming. Her breakdown became a meme. She’s leaving to go and explore India. Uh oh. She mentioned wanting to see Sasha, implying the one who brought her down doesn’t look like Sasha to her. Not implied. She says it’s not her. The Smell of Blood, (MAG 76).
Herbert Knox- Owner of Lion’s Street Books. Had heard of Leitner before. He got a Leitner book in February via the death of his friend Kirsten. (She fell down a flight of stairs) Excel Tiora (from the heights) that had a poem in Virgil style. He feels compelled to chase Micheal when the storm starts. Literary Heights, (MAG 46).
Jurgen Leitner- Bought old books for high prices despite them being almost for sure fake. (I don’t have a source for this one sadly. I must’ve forgot.)
He didn’t make the actual Leitner tomes. How curious. He simply stamped them and collected them according to Mary Keay. He also was unimpressive, short, slow, gentle, methodical, and perfectly pleasant to talk to. He bored Mary Keay. First Edition, (MAG 62).
He needs Jon’s help. He trapped Not Them using “The Seven Lamps of Architecture”. It gives an acute sense of the walls pressing in around you, and will entomb the reader if read too much. ALMOST GOT BEATEN TO DEATH BY GERARD KEAY, or as he puts it, “An angry goth.” He’s old money. Money that makes money. Desmond Morale told him about the tomes, said they were spell books from Merlin. He found “The Stalwart Hunter’s Almanac”. He being Desmond, and he died. Leitner collect 978 tomes and stored them in a house he specifically had built in the Smirke style to keep the books from fighting eachother.
These are the ways people died during the attack. Stabbed through the throat by something with too many teeth and limbs like knives, Mary Johnson was pulled into a cavernous maw that opened beneath her, Gregory Todd ran into a door that shouldn’t have been there, Great Hand reached down through the roof and plucked away Leandra Teluse, and there was one other assistant whose name he doesn’t recall but the last he saw of him he was being pulled into a pile of pulsating meat. Some rooms had fallen into darkness, others burned with an invisible flame.
He worked with Gertrude. She was lonely and he knew about the books. Her own assistants died off one by one. Three of them. Key of Solomon had multiple powers tied to it which is why he burned it.
Entities. Beings of vast power. They’re next to the world, not in it. In their pure states they couldn’t exist in the physical world. Ant analogy, the books are their essences in a purer form. Micheal’s brain is more akin to a muscle.
He and Gertrude were going to destroy the archives. Elias murdered him with a pipe when Jon went to take a smoke break. The Librarian, (MAG 80).
Conrad Lukas- He funded the Daedalus space experiment of isolation. “Ethical restrictions do nothing but bind the hands of the true scientist, and lead them at the mercy of their subjects limitations.” What a way to put it, he didn’t directly say it. Personal Space, (MAG 57).
Nathaniel Lukas- Made a significant contribution to the isolation experiment. Also seems to be the head of the family. Personal Space, (MAG 57).
Peter Lukas- Captain of the fucked boat I think. Made an appearance to Selesa in Held in Customs, (MAG 66).
Diego Marlina- Was trying to summon fire of some sort with a book bound in red leather in Section 31 (MAG 43). Was the burn victim from First Aid.
Has a noteworthy obsession with arson and Agnes. Also dead, allegedly. Burning Desire, (MAG 67).
Agnes Montague/Fielding- She’s back at it again with Hilltop Road and Ray Fielding. SHE WAS 10-11??? I thought she was an adult!! Sharp face, long brown hair in pigtails that she twirled when talking to her. She gave the delinquent boy a kiss on the cheek. Also cause she had been tied to the melting apple prior I’ll put this here. After doing so he got pulled back to the house and found the spider egged people. Inside the table covered with web, the central box contained an apple that the boy felt compelled to eat through his welling tears- except he didn’t cry. AH- her kiss on his face seems to “activate” in this moment, freeing him from the webs of control, allowing him to act voluntarily again. Recluse, (MAG 59).
She dated Jack Barnabas in the fall of 2006 very fleetingly. Works for something, the muscular Asian woman with the man in hell back tattoo said she’d be “released” from something if she didn’t do her job. Her coffee remains scalding even after sitting long. Her chair has scorch marks. Her powers kill spiders it seems. The web in Jack’s house was burnt when she visited. “Do you have a destiny?” He said pretty much no, and she said “That must be nice.” And looked sad. Might be more trees. On her last date with Jack she grabbed her chest in pain and called someone, mentioning a tree falling. She tried to save Jack from the weird candles and spider people by telling him goodbye and thank you when getting dropped off. He asked if he could kiss her. She grabbed both sides of his head, her hands burning hot, and kissed him. His face melted and she cried, her boiling tear hitting his hand. She died that same day. She also considered herself adopted. She didn’t seem to age at all the entire time she was visiting the cafe. Burning Desire, (MAG 67).
Robert Montork- Guy from Father’s Love, MAG 9 who is reappearing in Exceptional Risk MAG 52. He allegedly killed 40 people, but if I recall his daughter was doubtful. He died six months after an old man with cloudy eyes visited him. They HATED each other, and when the guard tried to intervene all the lights went out. “You didn’t think you could kill it for long, did you?” Water kept going foul during the summer. Power failures got worse. His particular cell door was opened, and light couldn’t penetrate the darkness. Wet tearing sounds and moans of pain trickled out. There was a growl that sounded throaty, raw, and musical. Was this Micheal’s true form? Definitely not cause MAXWELL RAINER? HUH??? In retrospect this tracks because of the lights failing and darkness motifs. Exceptional Risk (MAG 52).
Thomas Neill- Man who delivered Blood Bag (MAG 45)’s original statement and who later died with a TON of antibiotics in his apartment
Arthur Nolan- The guy who was at Jane’s old flat. He had a scar that resembled stylized flame and face on his chest, and he lit himself on fire to bring the whole building down. Pest Control, (MAG 55).
He may also have been part of the group Agnes met up with after her tree fell. Burning Desire, (MAG 67).
Gregor Orsinov- Ran a troupe in 1967 where he would use the people visiting in his circus. We see Evan Odkin survive in much to Gertrude’s surprise as she calls him special in Tightrope (MAG 44).
Jane Prentiss- Woah, didn’t expect her to come back. Her nest in her apartment seemed to be alive during extermination, and other bug infection horror seems to smell the same when burnt. Her nest specifically screamed when pesticide dust was sprayed inside it- it came alive and moved and tried to get the exterminator and then started screaming. It was presumably burnt and destroyed in the ensuing fire. Pest Control, (MAG 55).
Maxwell Rainer- Related to the darkness beast that ate Robert Montork and presumably killed the 40 people he was charged with killing. He seems to be able to make the power go on the fritz. He visited Robert in jail and told him “You didn’t think you could kill it for long, did you?”Exceptional Risk (MAG 52).
Tall old man with black flowing robes, his eyes are milky white. He kidnapped Brody Callum, and the police went to where he was staying to try and arrest him. The area around him had flakes of darkness moving through the air like snow, and the darkness itself seemed to behave like light in the way it “shone” from under doors. He tied Callum to a dark moldy table with metal wire. Callum’s face was stuck in a perpetual silent scream, his eyes blank. Ink like fog rolled out of Rainer’s mouth and dripped down his forearms. It rolled across the floor towards Callum, crawling up his chest and toward his face. It only made it that far, with Rainer’s mouth being the source of the roaring sound. “Could swear that for a second that the room that lit up was not a basement, but a cathedral.” What Basira says she saw after the gun fired.
Rainer got hit by the bullets, and the dark substance fell away from Callum. A woman (Natalie Ehness) accomplice murdered Leo who had gotten Rainer mouth fluid on his face. Leo had been screaming in pain from it. Rainer and Natalie both allegedly died from bullet wounds. Leo’s eyes were milky white. Police Lights, (MAG 73).
Helen Richardson- Came and gave a report on October 2, 2016. Talks about how there’s no turns, that it keeps going. “There wasn’t a door, and then there was.” Very House of Leaves. Ran into someone who was tall, 6 and half feet, had long straw colored hair that ran down in loose ringlets, and had a round face. Stood very still. Laughed at her attempt of a handshake, and his laugh sounded inhuman. He asked no questions and then boom- he asked what was behind the new door. The dark yellow door. Lead to a long, windowless corridor even though it should’ve lead to the open air above the garden. Mirror’s and paintings filled it, paintings of the corridor. The mirror where the door closed behind her showed her but multiple hours of sobbing later. Her phone showed another picture of the corridor. The colors shifted. 3 days passed and she couldn’t tell while inside. Distorted bulbous thin hand man comes to her laughing. She escaped by throwing herself through an empty mirror. IT WAS IN FACT MICHEAL SHELLY. She got trapped in his realm again at the end of the ep. The New Door, (MAG 47).
She’s still in his realm, alive, as mentioned by Martin and Tim. The Librarian, (MAG 80).
Gertrude Robinson- Created a series of tapes herself and was murdered. She took much better care in organizing her tapes than she did organizing the archive according to Jon in Tightrope (MAG 44).
“Perhaps it too was once an Archivist.” This was her discussing the creature from Crusader, (MAG 53).
Her flat was devoid of kept books despite her being an archivist- once she read one she seemed to get rid of it. That being said, the books that were in the apartment were in pristine condition save for the covers with faces having their eyes removed. Weird stuff. Still Life, (MAG 54).
She kept the Archives purposefully disorganized it seems. She had went online shopping for Leitner’s. Grbookworm1818. She bought The 7 Lamps of Architecture by John Ruskin, “that rather dubious copy of” The Key of Solomon, and 1910 Pamphlet called A Disappearance. Key of Solomon is apparently an almanac on Demonology. Held in Customs, (MAG 66).
We now know they were all Leitners. She seemed to have used A Disappearance herself to stay hidden from Elias’ watchful Eye. The Librarian, (MAG 80).
George Gilbert Scott- Made the Fish Mongers Hall, and the real life Albert Memorial. He may be tied to Smirke as a learned art, we shall see. Foundations, (MAG 50).
Mikaela Selesa- A samoan salesman who handles the horrors. He buys the needle and possibly curses the speakers crew in Blood Bag (MAG 45).
He knows Peter Lukas, the ship captain. He had the box that trapped a man for four days despite only a single night having passed in the real world. Held in Customs, (MAG 66).
Micheal Shelly- The distorted reflection. He torments Helen Richardson and then appears in the archives after her statement. He took her again through a door that wasn’t there in the archive. “I am not a who, Archivist, I am a what. A who requires a degree of identity I can’t ever retain.” “There is no such thing as a real name. / I’m talking about myself. It’s not something I’m used to doing.” He stabs Jon and then wanted to talk to him. “The loss of this place would’ve unbalanced the struggle too early. I’m keen to see how it progresses.” He mentions tarnishing Jon’s ignorance about a war and leaves. A high pitch squeal accompanies Micheal. It’s like a mosquito tone. The New Door, (MAG 47).
Hello Micheal. His powers have been expanded upon. He seems to be able to make people not sleep and also seems to be able to make people hallucinate- either that or he truly manipulates selective individuals realities and makes the others not see these changes. His hair is sometimes disheveled. Fatigue, (MAG 74).
“Even with all the protections you have on, I doubt you can survive them now.” Said this post Jon breaking the table. I wonder what “protections” he’s referring to. He also tries to eat Jon, encouraging him to use his door, presumably because he thinks Jon is going to die anyway. Distant Cousin, (MAG 78).
He wasn’t trying to eat him, not yet anyways. Tim and Martin on the other hand… Hide and Seek, (MAG 79).
He still hasn’t fully digested Helen. How interesting. The Librarian, (MAG 80).
Robert Smirke- Took on an apprentice, George Gilbert Scott. The apprentice made things smaller and strange. Foundations, (MAG 50).
His tunnels were what had the shadows that ate a man. The End of the Tunnel, (MAG 63).
He did in fact make the Archives tunnels, and certain tomes interact with his architecture in more stable ways. His architecture can also keep the horrors at bay. The Librarian, (MAG 80).
Ethan Taylor- Australian traveler, tall, tan, slightly dirty curly blonde hair, and a carefree attitude. Loves travel a lot. Became lost to the crowd, becoming a faceless thing presumably. Lost in The Crowd, (MAG 48).
Tom- Sasha’s alleged boyfriend. Also the name of the guy who orders around the delivery people in Do Not Open presumably. Something is so wrong. The coffin had stairs. Hard Shoulder, (MAG 61).
Neill Thomas- Victim of Blood Bag (MAG 45)
Tessa Winters- Neurodivergent computer woman who hasn’t talked to anyone in awhile. She’s awesome to me. Calls Jon a grandpa for saying deep web. “They wouldn’t know a vpn from their own ass.” I love her please. “The angles cut me when I try to sleep.” That’s what the virus says. “It feels like thinking through cheese wire. / It’s cold without blood. It’s cold and it hurts.” “The maze is sharp on my mind. The angles cut me when I try to think.” More of Serge. Neato. SHE CRACKED GERTRUDE’S LAPTOP. Binary, (MAG 65).
Shiny Man- Possibly Neill. (Future me here, definitely more likely John Amherst)This is the dude with the thousands of ants. He is massive and his skin is sickly and wet with sweat. He wears a brown suit. He is incredibly warm to the touch. He’s easily lightable. He keeps something scuffed in his fridge. He drives a small red compact and even though it was bought a year ago it seemed deteriorated. Pest Control, (MAG 55).
Places, Concepts, and Organizations
Breekon and Hope Deliveries/The Worship Hope Company of Fish Mongers- Might be related? Both have hope. The Fish Mongers hall was also built by Robert Smirke. Foundations, (MAG 50).
Presumably the delivery company was the one delivering The Trophy Shop it’s weird alive taxidermy in Still Life (MAG 54).
Gregor Orsinov’s Troupe/Circus of the Other- A circus that does horrible things to the people that visit it as seen in Tightrope (MAG 44).
Grifter’s Bone- A band that causes people to experience injury upon hearing them as seen in Grifter’s Bone (MAG 42).
Leitner Tomes- One appears in February Literary Heights (MAG 46). It’s name is Excel Tiora (From the Heights). Custom bound in the late 1800’s. Pages are older, from 17th century. Written in Latin in Virgil style.
Another appears in The Tale of a Field Hospital (MAG 68). Its name is the same. It seemed to have the ability to cut people and give them poisoning. Gertrude allegedly burned it.
The book from Book of the Dead that details one’s death does NOT have a tie back to Leitner, establishing the books as their own thing. Book of the Dead, (MAG 70).
Their powers when passed to a person seem to control the person and alter them, rather than the person control the power and utilize it. Also Excel Tiora seems to be what caused the sky to eat Robert Kelly and make him fall indefinitely. A Long Way Down, (MAG 75).
The Seven Lamps of Architecture: It gives an acute sense of the walls pressing in around you, and will entomb the reader if read too much. It interacts with Smirke’s architecture. The Institute Tunnels react in a more predictable way when passages are read.
A Disappearance: 12 page tome that when read cover to cover makes you disappear from the world. 1-2 words of it hide you from the Institute’s watchful eye.
The Stalwart Hunter’s Almanac: Killed Desmond in the ways described in book.
He had collected 978 tomes in the end, all contained in special ways in his house. The Librarian, (MAG 80).
The Magnus Institute- Has tunnels under it connecting to an old prison structure that no longer exists according to Too Deep (MAG 41).
Had a mass leak of its statements in 1999. Its tunnels also seem to dull the effects of supernatural forces, save for possibly the spiders. The Tale of a Field Hospital, (MAG 68).
Had books burned in its tunnels. Specifically Gertrude’s Key of Solomon got burned down there. Book of the Dead, (MAG 70).
Someone is eating and living in the tunnels. Underground, (MAG 71).
There is a man living down there. He’s stealing documents from the archives. He also is able to move the floor around the trapdoor despite its very firm and in place state of being. Fatigue, (MAG 74).
Something is very wrong with this place. “Sasha” called it enemy, and said “which had the biggest eyes you ever did see.” Hide and Seek, (MAG 79).
Those Who Sing the Night- The group that originally took down the Serapeum of Alexandria, the daughter library to the main one. Possibly connected to The People’s Church of the Divine Host which was lead by Maxwell Rainer and also would match up with the darkness motif of him. It may even connect back to the church that teleported to the weird darkness realm. Crusader (MAG 53).
The People’s Church of the Divine Host- They kidnap people and try to goop them with the shit inside Maxwell Rainer. Police Lights, (MAG 73).
Serapeum of Alexandria- It may be connected to the Archive as we know it, as Gertrude describes it as “an ancient iteration of The Archive” when talking about it in Crusader (MAG 53). Also was located in Northern Africa, close to Egypt.
The Hive- All the creature based things. Jane Prentiss from season 1 with her worms, the dude from Pest Control (MAG 55) with his ants, and now spider lady. Children of the Night, (MAG 56).
Might be the product of concentration camp mistreatment, see The Tale of a Field Hospital, (MAG 68).
Fairchild’s / Pinnacle Aerospace- We know Fairchild’s are fucked, and apparently they’re rich too. They own this company that helped fund the isolation experiment. Personal Space, (MAG 57).
Optic Solutions Limited- Manufactures cameras for research and industrial applications. Based in Nee Allisand in Norway. Definitely connected to Beholder imo.
Hilltop Road/Spider- Bro I swear everything is actually all just spider, there is no separate horror entity, it’s all just one big massive web of disgusting fucked up spider horror. Maybe I’ll move this back to my hive notes, but the repeat mention of spiders has begun to make me wonder if it’s something else. The nightmares one had from Hilltop Road disappeared when Ray’s house burnt down with the spiders, but now that someone else is building there they’ve returned. Recluse, (MAG 59).
So. Spiders. Annabelle Cane has been hollowed out like the woman at the shelter, through the sheer fear of people in a room opposite a mirror of her. The people in said room joined their hands in a web like pattern and seemed to revere Ms Cane. Either way, the spider situation keeps getting worse. Thought for the Day, (MAG 69).
Cult of the Lightless Flame- Jon gives us this name to describe the Asag folks and Agnes. Arthur Nolan, Agnes Montague, Diego Marlina, and the Asian woman. Also probably connected to the ritual circle found in Scotland by Jason North, the same one with Gertrude at the center. Burning Desire, (MAG 67).
Ghosts- Ghosts attacked Sarah Baldwin, the angler fish victim. Another ghost like thing attacked Melanie in the old old train cart. The Smell of Blood, (MAG 76).
Not Them- 9910607, Dekkerd Statement. Original voices still heard in recordings, appearances overwritten. Gertrude assumes it’s an extension of “The Stranger”, which I’m assuming is one of the tomes. 1 or 2 people can always see through it. Polaroids and magnetic tape. The Kind Mother, (MAG 77).
The statement wasn’t Dekkerd’s but he was in it. The Not Them kill things to copy them. They are beings of spider and silk born from the sacred geometry of the tables. They seem to also be beaten by using a coffin, and Breekon and Hope seems to dispose of them. Distant Cousin, (MAG 78).
I’m just putting sacred geometry table stuff here. When broken with an Ax, the table becomes “just cobwebs and dust.” The table also “bounds” the Not Them. The Not Them are not “born” of the table like I had initially thought. Distant Cousin, (MAG 78).
The table was one table. It got passed from place to place, eventually winding up at the institute. Hide and Seek, (MAG 79).
It’s trapped again in the tunnels for the very long future. The Librarian, (MAG 80).
Official Classifications (Curtesy of Librarian, MAG 80)
The Spiral- Deals in fooling the senses, makes you see and hear things that aren’t there. Draws victims into mazes, and makes you doubt your sanity. Enjoys fractals, is them lowkey.
The Eye/Beholding- Elias. The institute. Jon belongs to it too. It watches everything.
The Unknowing- The strangers. Presumably the Not Them. Leitner wanted to burn Gertrude’s files on it.
*The Disease- Prentiss, John Amherst, and all the bugs.
*This name isn’t confirmed yet but I have a hunch it is the proper name for it, especially because of how it’s talked about in Taken Ill, (MAG 36).
Speculation Points
Hoooo boy. What a season. And now I get to put on my theorist cap and make crazy speculations about what’s to come- you guys must’ve all thought it amusing I called Not Sasha “Not Sasha” by accident in my last speculation.
Speaking of Not Sasha, lemme talk about her boyfriend Tom. Tom appears false in images too, looking like a stock photo. He also shares a name with one of the Breekon and Hope Delivery guys. I have a hunch that he is tied into a similar Not Them vibe of the Unknowing entity variety, particularly the kind that doesn’t have faces assuming that that is Unknowing.
Another thing I want to quickly address is the key Jon found that was with Gertrude’s laptop in the floor. We didn’t find out what the key went to but I have my suspicions. I think the key will come back as a way to enter something in the institute that Elias keeps locked away, seeing as he killed her.
I was wrong about the Lukas’ becoming a main villain this season, but my hunch that the institute was bad seems spot on. We still don’t have an answer on why Gertrude was used in the lightless flame ritual as well.
Okay, characters time. I loved Jon this season, obviously, and I think he’s come a long way from season 1. He’s not a skeptic in the slightest for the horrors anymore but his doubtful nature has now manifested as a distrust for his colleagues. I can’t even blame him, Not Sasha is so terrifying and definitely has not helped his trust issues. I like that we got to see that in the end he still cares about Tim despite their bickering, as evident from the tape he was making while being chased by Not Sasha. Also, I’m fairly certain he is in fact using the web lighter when he smokes as he pulled his smokes out of a drawer in the Archives, the same place the lighter was put.
My love for Martin has only continued to grow. The fact he lied about his credentials but didn’t get caught because he is just insanely smart is so so good to me. Like yeah, formal education isn’t everything. I also love that his whole thing is writing poetry to keep his mind in place and that all he wants is for everyone to be happy again. I don’t know if he truly believes Jon killed Leitner, despite his line ending with “What have you done” or whatever. He knew Jon was struggling but surely now having seen Not Sasha himself and having a visit with Micheal he’ll put two and two together.
Tim! Tim cracks me up so well, he just says things and they’re so amusing. He’s like the jock of their group and I’m so here for it. He also has the whole “have my back” thing going on, and I’m excited to see Martin and him grow as friends because I believe Martin will be able to have his back in the way he wants.
Sasha James. She wasn’t actually here this season and has been dead for awhile. This really bummed me out as she was like,, one of my fav characters from season 1. I don’t have much more to say about her other than I miss her.
Elias, oh Elias. I think he’s definitely not good. When I said he was gonna be more plot relevant I didn’t mean it in this way. I thought he’d just become part of the investigation team, I didn’t think he’d instead become a main antagonist and also be the master of Beholder. I know more about Elias than I should so I won’t pretend and try to predict more about him but I can at least say I am TERRIFIED of what this man will do in the upcoming season. Oo, I can say though that I love the characterization that he was just a stoner enjoying the artifacts of the archives. What a lad.
Okay, now what do I think the plot will be going forward? The ending of this season gave me a way better idea than last season. The plot moving forward will be about Jon exploring the world and trying to figure out more of the classifications so he can better combat the horrors that lie beyond our world. We will also have stuff back at the institute with Martin and Tim slowly figuring out what Elias has done, and or being gaslit about Jon’s state of being. I have hope that the narrative will use them to provide more light into what being an Archivist means, and why the Archivist seems to always have 3 assistants.
Micheal will also def continue to be bad news. Being the literal personification of Spiral comes with downsides I’m afraid. I also have fully internalized that he has no one’s interests at heart, cause he took down Rainer and Prentiss, but also made sure the Prentiss take down used extinguishers, the opposite of flame, to make sure the highly flammable hive didn’t burn down the archives. I wonder if Spiral and Beholder are friends. Who am I kidding, all the horrors are one entity, with the classifications just being different parts poking in, like the ant analogy.
Oo also silly moment real quick. Tessa Winters pleaaaase be reoccurring because I love your character. Also insane and silly moment, Agnes Montague is so iconic and I fear I too would’ve had my face melted off by her. I trust her an unreasonable amount and I’m sure that’ll end well for me. :^)
I hope you enjoyed my season 2 thoughts! I will add a link to my season 3 ones here when I finish it! Feel free to reblog so you don’t lose track of me.
