I think the real reason other avatars keep asking Jon: “Can I call you Jon?” is because they’re asking if he’s still human enough to care if he has a name or not

"Addiction is one of the strongest vectors of control there is." Jon smokes Jon has a lighter with a spider web pattern on it He had the strong urge to smoke when talking to Leinter, who was killed on the time he was off Sneak bastard

...isnt it, jon? can I call you jon? I'm going to call you jon. *nikola flashbacks*

The real monsters were the friends we made along the way

"Addiction is one of the strongest vectors of control there is." ...how long has it been since Jon started smoking again?

Welp, here's to those days when it was all fun and games and I thought the serious no-bullshit archivist might have a guilty pleasure on voice acting. Cheers.

I’m pretty sure this is the first time Jon is made acutely aware that he’s at the point where he literally can’t stop reading a statement once he’s started. Most of the time he has no reason to try to stop reading, but I’m 100% sure he tried here and realized he couldn’t. That’s why he was so shaken afterwards. “I didn’t like that. I-I couldn’t...” He couldn’t stop. 😞

"I guess they . . . *bugged* out." Daisy, goddamn, I love this character development of hers

"Gee, I sure love how he puts on the voices when he reads the statements"

I misheard one particular part of this statement and now I will never be free of the mental image of Annabelle asking Jon, in a deadly serious tone of voice, if he has ever read One Piece.

Sounds like someone's addicted to archives

I thought annabelle asked "have ever you read one piece, jon?" and I thought I was going to be forced to like her before I realized I misheard

didn't expect a dive into cognitive neuroscience from a spider devotee. good soup Jon coming to terms with the fact that he *wants* to serve The Eye and doesn't care if it hurts people... chills, literal chills

lmao the transcripts Melanie: (drier than the Sahara) Sorry we couldn't stop for a snack. XDD

Ending of last episode: stop using your eye powers Jon its creepy Beginning of this episode: hey Jon you see anything helpful with those spooky powers of yours Please make up your mind guys and be nicer to Jon😖

I've noticed that The Web seems an awful lot like it's linked to storytelling, and if The Eye is symbolic of the audience then perhaps The Web represents the plot of the story? I mean, Jon's realization is that he's important to The Web, and who's more important to the plot of a good story than the main character?

What she said about spiders getting so big that "they're not entirely made of spider anymore," may actually have some truth to it. I read recently in a book called "Putting the Science Back In Fiction" that bugs could never get monstrously huge because their bodies just couldn't handle the mass. I suppose the implication here is that it has a little... help. In true Magnus Archives fashion, it's probably become some kind of hideous amalgamation.

I love dry humor Daisy. "Bugged out" lol.

theory: maybe the web doesn't want a ritual because the world right now was formed after its ritual succeeded, the way we use language and culture and norms to limit and bind people (ourselves and others), how we often feel trapped in a larger system but can't really do anything because we are given a false choice where there isn't really an alternative.

Ok but what if some day he goes “end recording” but the recording doesn’t end

"perhaps i have never even seen a beach" gives me more chills than it should

So the web is influencing Jon’s “free will.” 👀👀👀 Well, that’s unsettling!!

This is one of the few episodes that really shook me. Not so much for the horror factor but as to the direction each character is going and how that is going to tie in to the end of the series. There is a long way ahead of people being manipulated but also choosing different paths and I can already tell that it's going to hurt a lot. Gotta give it to Jonny, he writes damn good tragedies.

The Web is so interesting. It is probaly behind a lot of what happened/s in the whole story. And some statements give him energy, some take from him. Seems to depend to which fear it belongs to.

"i didn't like that" yeah same here jonny!

I love that in the begging of the episode everyone is talking about they need a fire using avatar and I just think *DND THE MAGNUS ARCHIVES*

“But assuming you’ve been paying attention” I WAS TEXTING MY FRIEND AND WAS ZONING OUT AND THEN THAT LINE COMES OUT OF NOWHERE UM FUCK

I just realized Jon always finished the statements, even when he got interrupted, he finished it. He really can't stop, poor dude.

as someone whose favourite tropes of all time are "good people slowly becoming villains/losing it/struggling with being Good" and "people having to deal with the Consequences of their actions", these past few episodes are seriously rivaling season 3 for my favourite episodes lmaooo im repeating all my comments from the last few episodes but i LOVE this

18:23 Spider lady leaves a message about how addiction is a powerful thing

"can you see anything" they're all more than happy to use Jon's monster powers but hate that he has to feed

honestly having a talk with Annabelle seems delightful, I would love to ask her opinion on some stuff

Melanie basira and daisy: asks Jon to use his powers for THEIR help Also them a second later: how dare u charge up your powers your a sick bastard

CAN WE TALK ABOUT DAISIE’S PUN PLS I LOVE HER

Oh gosh so John can not stop reading a statement after he began ? I remember that he was sometimes interrupt back in season 1 but it didn't happen for a wild! I have a bad feeling about this.

The Corruption is the power that I'm most afraid of on a primal level, but the Web hits me hard in a more cerebral way. It's absolutely fascinating, but also scary in it's ability to make you Spiral into guessing and second guessing yourself. Fantastic writing.

Tapes are definitely like pointer dogs, if something bad is about, they turn on! Also, Jon realises he wants to do bad things and decides the best course of action is to sleep on it. Still human!

I got sad when we heard episode 1 again...

Jon Sims is turning into a REAL monster here 😥

My heart stopped when she mentioned where she grew up because I'm from that area too. Yarmouth being the location of the Unknowing was one thing but this took me by complete surprise.

I didn't think about it until this, but the Web and Eye are probably REAL close allies. After all, one needs to know a great deal to be able to manipulate on the scale that the Web does. Also, OOOOoooofffff... poor Jon... He wanted to believe that he wasn't in control during those few hunts for Statements, but no such luck... well... Kinda. He was, in that he wasn't being actively controlled, but at least it seems like it's been more a matter of having instincts that he hasn't gotten used to yet? At least, such is my hope...

Annabelle Cane’s ultimate trick of this episode was almost tricking me into thinking that War and Piece wasn’t as bad as the hellscape of agony it truly was

tbh loving annabelle and the Web very much... which is interesting since it is probably among the deepest of my fears. also once again i support jon's right to become an eldritch being and destroy people's lives y'all had it coming. maybe you'll learn not to group bully and abandon someone to feel better about your own traumaaaaa

see it's funny because jon couldn't stop reading this statement in the same way as i couldn't stop listening to it; i just stopped my work, sat and listened with eyes wide open

Caught up on youtube but I know there's more wish me luck as I binge through this

Jon, I think you'eve had enough statements. Jon: I'LL SAY WHEN I'VE HAD ENOUGH! BUT IS THAT EVEN MY OWN THOUGHTS!?

I used to live in Hunstanton. I think I know the sand beach they are talking about. Hell I worked there. The fish shop sounds a bit like the old warden HQ

Welp. You know how every person says they have that one statement that gets to them? This is mine. Not necessarily scary, but definitely the one that has hit me the hardest so far.

"cocoon themselves in red string and theory" is one of the most beautiful sentences I've ever read

Easily a top 10 episode, I love Annabelle Crane and the web and the nature of Free Will. So cool

Mom's a spider. That hit too close to home

Me telling my cousin how to succeed in life: as long as no one correctly estimates you then you always have the upper hand. Baby Annabelle: the exact same thing

John being surprised by Daisy’s jokes again :D

oh heck yeah- an episode about the mind, ‘war and peace’, *and* the web. the vague feelings of existentialism in actually having a choice in anything you do?? not to mention the bit about the summaries. sign me right up. another added to my favourite episodes list.

I think one of the greatest mysteries of this series is the true nature of The Web, and I think I have the answer. When Anabel asks whether the Mother of Puppets is a grand spinner of schemes and plots, masterminding everything from the shadows, or an ignorant fool who simply tricks people into thinking that everything they've done is part of her grand design, I think the question is a red herring. The Web isn't either answer, it's the question itself. To explain, let's look at The End, a power which is basically the opposite of The Web's true nature: The End is not just the fear of death, but the existential dread of the reality of death. It's the horrible realisation that death is real and inevitable, it's a concrete certainty that cannot be questioned or misinterpreted because the reality is that all things die eventually. The Web is the opposite of The End's certainty: it isn't the fear of knowing you're being controlled, its the fear that you might be controlled without being able to prove whether you are or you aren't. The Web is that paranoia that Jon himself falls prey to here. Questioning your every action and driving yourself mad trying to figure out if your actions are your own or if they were influenced in someway: that is The Web's true nature. It's why The Web is so often associated with substance abuse: drugs and alcohol all lower your inhibitions, leaving you in a state where you can't be certain if you're doing something of your own volition or if its just the drugs/alcohol causing you to do it. Its a mind bending concept to wrap your head around and its why The Web is one of my favourite fears in the series.

this episode is great and all but also I don't think any dog owner actually believes dogs have no free will. when you live together with a dog for even a week youll notice they have their own characteristics, moods, and everything else. Sorry to be so uptight about that but I know a lot of people who dont own dogs who think dogs only follow commands and cant decide stuff for themselves and that's simply untrue

hey jonny. jonny. what did we do to deserve this. are you the avatar of tragedy or something ;~;

Lol, no views but 2 likes? This is the work of the Web, that's for sure. By the way I can't believe I'm this early, the world is ending after all-

I like how when Jon reads statements he kind of ‘imitates’ the voice of the statement giver. At first I assumed it was just something the voice actors did, but I think it’s Jon. Maybe it’s the eye, he just knows how it’s ment to sound. Idk but it’s cool

:( episode begins with them pushing him into using his spook powers AND shaming him for the cost of those spook powers

Makes me think of how people will sometimes say "But I have this funny little addiction to three meals a day."

do you think perhaps part of the reason this one hurt jon was because The Eye allowed him to see whatever the statement-giver saw in that room? gonna put the spoiler-y bits way down below so you can't see them unless you choose to "but by that point you're away, the rollercoaster's dropping and you just have to hope I don't crash you" annabelle just straight up telling jon "hey people can use your compulsion to read statements against you" like its not the most extreme foreshadowing

I love how Jon always, or most times, asks if they made a joke

Love how the avatars have "traditions" for talking to Jon now, it's like they've made it a game of "who gets to give the Archivist their statement next?". I think they're having fun making him more and more scared

7:18 This made me happy as a psychology student ^^ It hasn't been long (maybe 3 weeks or so) since we learned about exactly this - the libet experiment.

The worst long-lasting punishment we've come up with is isolation. Solitary confinement. Personally, I think this is because humans are pack animals, and we have been for a very long time. Humans very much like to ignore the fact that we do still have some animalistic instincts in us (tho I suppose among the kind of people listening to this kinda podcast, there's a higher concentration of people who would be inclined to agree with me than in the average populace) And now Jon, feeling more and more isolated, isn't dealing well, which you'd THINK is a surprise to nobody, _and yet-_

I love how Jon has 0 patience for puns lol

I think this is the first statement that has drained Jon instead of energizing him.

Listening back 3rd time round, realizing all those times someone says "I don't know why I ____ (grabbed the picture of Gertrude from the busted bottle so I could leave it with you)" or the ex machina of whatever small incident caused their rescue so they could live to make a statement (the wardrobe falling over in submerged to reveal an "anchor" to escape The Lonely for instance) and ya wonder... was there a silk thread there, unbeknownst to the ones involved? A subtle nudge to pay off things later. Get chills just being so caught up in all of this. Truly amazing writing. 🖤🖤🖤

John 😥

Hi Alex!

So if Lack of Knowledge is what makes up free will then what does that mean for Jon? It means the more he knows the less he has control over his life

I had to do a retake because my mine said "who would you read one piece for school?"

Friendly reminder that the Thursday uploads (like this very upload here) corresponds to the upload of a brand new TMA episode on acast and other podcast platforms. So... Free will is an illusion. I'm not surprised. I've known this for years. Every idea anyone ever has is either a direct recycling of an old thought or a mash up of sever old ideas in a vain attempt at "originality". The Web doesn't "control" things. It simply nudges things into places. Sets up the dominos so someone else drops them. Sometimes the whole set of dominos doesn't fall, sometimes a piece was too far off too close to one piece to knock off another. But what if that was intentional in the Web's design? Therein lies the paradox of the Web. Everything is both predetermined by it, and yet still completely random. Maintaining the charade of "free will". Talk about God-complex amirite?

Mr. Spider is attempting a Ritual.

Jonathan _'was that a joke'_ Sims

Uh oh uh oh the ceiling?!?? 👀 LOTS OF SPIDERS YEPP!!!!!

The part about addiction...ouch

do they just have him locked in the back of a cop car while he's recording

"I don't like the idea of being important to the Web" .../laughs in MAG196/

Hearing a mention of the Famous Five series just brought me back to 2nd grade when our teacher would read to us from that series among others.

I wrote a summary of the entire story of the house on hill top road if you are interested after this episode: ukposts.info/have/v-deo/kIKhi4Oao2iImGQ.html

They're really out here just using and abusing Jon. Bad Jon don't eat people, also use your abilities real quick.

If the mother of puppets was real I imagine would definitely be either be a buffet of fear fuel for her or the person most dedicated to to being her avatar

Jon_Gets_Read_Like_A_Picture_Book.mp3

Something just hit me and I don't know if you guys knew this already but I just figured this out. In season one, episode 38, Jon kills a spider on the wall and that leads to them discovering the hive infestation. I wonder if she put that spider there for that reason

I just had a thought. What if Jon gets weaker or tired when he reads statements directed to him or about him. Idk dosnt make sense but ehhh.

I kind of find it ironic that the spider hates fire. But the lighter that Jon carrys around has a spider design on it lel

Can somebody remind me who was Annabelle again, like the fact that John is so certain that they are being watch is not new, from the worm attack back in season 1, it was pretty obvious the spider was trying to help the archives for her own ends but like, I don't remember this woman at all..... was she a part of the arachnids studies , the one that got away? What else am I not remembering?

Last Episode Jon: it felt... Me: don't you dare say it felt good This Episode: Jon: it felt good. Jon how many evil avatar phenomenon do you have to witness to realize that it serves no good? Its literally never once been good?

Why did Jon on the first tape that played somewhere sound a little like Elias? Am i crazy?

(I dont care that im a year late to the enitre comment section im going on a rant here) I hate that Jon thinks that what hes doint is entirely his choice because its still an influence of the eye it pushes him to feed. You will eat when youre hungry. And Jon is willing to try starving himself because the people who are supposed to be his friends are acting like hes doing it out of pure enjoyment. "Sorry we couldnt stop for a snack" as if the reason hes tired isnt him trying to stop yet another apocalypse (which was Basiras idea as well im really starting to dislike her...), as if he doesnt literally need it to survive. This season is making me angry and there is not nearly enough Martin content to compensate.

I don't know when exactly it started but now whenever the statement ends I just feel a slight drop in my stomach, or let out a breath, or something else but it's always such a switch hh

My first time seeing a video with 10k+ views and 0 dislikes

Okay so some stories have been relatable, but this one was just reading out my life

"Have you ever read War and Peace, John? It’s not actually as boring as people say" Escuse me? I have no problem with spiders, but you have just unleashed my anger (and my inner (or...not very much so) literature nerd). They made us read that in high-school. This was probably the only thing from the program I never managed to finish, and the only time I didn't get perfect grades for Literature. I say fucking burn it. It might not be that god-awful, but I have ptsd or something now, so I ain't touching that. From what I've heard though, its highlights include a three-page description of an oak, a shit ton of French lingo just thrown into it literally for the fancy (bc that's how rich people in Russia talked back then) and everybody dying a miserable death (a true Russian classic, I gotta say). Also, it's 4 volumes long. I don't know how much people from normal countries know about this book, - it's definitely more well-known than anything else like it, at least, - but in Russia and neiboughring countries (ahem, Belarus, ahem) it's every student's personal nightmare basically. If you're looking for a Russian classic that will not make you want to hang yourself (and that's a very rare gem if I do say so myself), I strongly recommend The Master and Margarita. Now that's a thing worth reading. Come @ me, War and Peace lovers. Our Epic Nerd Battle of Literature is gonna be legendary! "I know the summaries have started to confuse you; where did they come from, when you read a statement fresh? How do you just - know what it’s about, before you even start to read it?" Oh holy shit, that's been bothering me for so long, ohmygod! I love it so much when you don't question something simply because you assume it's a literary convension, and then they just. Point it out. Simple as that. Amazing.

I know this episode probably has MASSIVE Lore relevance, and also plenty of Checkov's guns to go around, but all I can think about is how ironic it is that the statementgiver's name is only a few letters off being Anabeth Chase and I think that's hilarious

I do love the bit at 9:40. Unsettling and awesome

Existential crisis: the episode

Is War and Peace also a goddamn Leitner???