Disclaimer: Following post is a product of an unwell mind. We do not advise that you read such an incomprehensible and rambly statement. You have been warned

Tf when you search for watcher's crown fanart, but it's all Jon...

That wasn't the watcher's crown I WANT TO SEE MILLBANK SINKING INTO THE EARTH NOT JON SIMS LOOKING SAD AS HE PERFORMS THE RITUAL

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I want to see fanart of the original (most likely) 1868 Watcher's crown. And you might be thinking: "Jonah, how the hell are you so sure about the year? We don't really know the year?" Well...

*pulls out my notes which I do not have because all the information is in my head*

In MAG138 Robert Smirke is basically pleading for Jonah to not do it. It must be close then, why else would he be so desperate? In MAG160 Jonah says that he's been wondering for "almost 150 years" about why the rituals do not seem to ever work. Considering that he continues to talk about the realization afterwards, which happened around The Extinguished Sun, I am assuming it's about 150 years back from that point in time. Also, it'd make sense why he'd wonder about this AFTER his own ritual had failed. Also performing the ritual on the 50th anniversary of the institute being founded would be on brand. Which begs the question, why am I saying all of this? Why make these arguments if it seems so easy? Well, from the information we get in MAG41, the Millbank prison was decommissioned in 1890, the year it closed in our world (although the demolition began later iirc).

This fact seems to throw a wrench into all of this. How was the institute relocated to London if Millbank was still standing? If the panopticon sank how were there still prisoners? And if it did why would the crown wait decades before finally demolishing the remains?

Or alternatively why would Robert Smirke be so mortified if Watcher's crown was so far away? How the hell would Jonah live that long and do not say "oh the Beholding" it just doesn't make sense?!

The very likely out of universe explanation is simple enough. Jonny wanted to include facts about the real prison. It was the first episode of season 2. And like, it'd be very sus if he suddenly went "oh yeah Millbank and it's panopticon basically sank into to ground bellow in 1868", because it'd diverge from our history so much. And I could see some annoying people complain about it "not being accurate" as well. Also not everything is perfect and fits I know, people make mistakes and plans change and the timeline has its mistakes here and there...

Anyway the prison, right?

Remember when this was supposed to be a jokey, a bit dramatic post about Watcher's crown and fanart?! Ending with a fun little description of the ritual at the end. A manic one perhaps, but a fun one (I'll let you see it do not worry)...

In my research I have realised that tma's Millbank prison COULDN'T HAVE looked like this

Yes the irl prison had weird corridors, it was a maze, it was disorientating, it was filled with disease, it was horrible, but the tma one couldn't have looked like this

Let me explain

In tma the PANOPTICON is very important for obvious reasons. However! The panopticon plan was actually abandoned irl and the result was this flower design instead

Each of the pentagon petals has a courtyard in there with no roof whatsoever. And you might be thinking "okay, Jonah, but look at that hexagon in the middle, you could make a good panopticon out of that" and to that I say NO YOU FOOLS! That was for the governor. The offices, laundry, a fuckin surgeon!!! And it makes sense to have that in the middle. There's a chapel there. IT SHOULD BE CIRCULAR! The panopticon needs a fuckin roof and the one place that looks like it could have a roof added didn't house prisoners!

"But what if the panopticon is in one of the petals" DO YOU HEAR YOURSELF?! They're irregular, there wouldn't be enough light from the outside, because of the other buildings. Not everywhere, but in certain cells (if they were cells) depending on the time of day. And sunlight is crucial in a panopticon design! It's about the shadows too, they add to the fear, cuz like their silhouettes are more visible that way hell he even wanted to add mirrors/lights or whateverthefuck to make it work AT NIGHT! Also it'd would be an uglyass coronet!

Let's say only one of the petals is different, has bigger windows etc. Let's say only one of the petals was used as the panopticon, despite the clear disadvantages (why would Jonah use something other than perfect for his ritual?!) It still needs a fuckin roof! Where's the roof, Jonny?!

How else would it fuckin sink into the ground and yet stayed fine on the inside?! Without it the panopticon would not be preserved it'd be buried completely. And we know that's not the case,, they're in it. And don't give me the "well the Eye could hold the dirt above it" why the fuck would it do that?! It might have been the reason it didn't crumble completely, but this is an overkill. Not to mention that the sound design begs to differ

I am reading a fuckin book from 1862 to know more and he's describing the fuckin scenery as he gets on the boat to see the prison, I need facts dude, not the atmosphere! Shut up Henry shut up

Haha "a fine view (of the mud) of the river"

WHERE'S THE FUCKIN PANOPTICON JONNY?!

WHERE THE FUCK IS IT

WHERE. WAS. THE. PANOPTICON. IF. THE. PRISON. IS. DESCRIBED. THE. SAME. AS. THE. REAL. ONE. IN. MAG41?!

I am choosing to not see it

WAIT WHAT ABOUT THE FUCKIN EQUILIBRIUM THEN?! IF WE MAKE THE PRISON INTO A PANOPTICON WE LOSE THE PETALS AND THE OTHER WEIRDNESS, WE LOSE THE (attempt at) EQUILIBRIUM

It could be that the prison in tma was at first just a circular panopticon or smth (partially built), but the capacity was too fuckin low and the Crown was like "bitch u gotta build more" and Smirke then started adding the fuckin petals and finishing the panopticon as well, although that'd be highly impractical for maintenance and would cripple the panopticon itself because it'd shield some sunlight... dear Beholding do u see this shit

(although that could have been on purpose to make the panopticon less powerful, and if so, it would be natural to assume that the changes jonah made to the plans were changes against this plan)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

Omfg this sentence will be the end of me...

What is that last sentence?! Any sources or was Jon's research canonically just meh (I mean yeah he was paranoid but c'mon dude).

ANY SOURCES?! (please I'd appreciate them, if anyone has some that can actually prove the statement above please send them to me)

All I can find is that Bentham was so fuckin pissed his circular panopticon was dropped that he started writing stuff out of sheer spite. I don't think he was a fan of the flower 💀

HAHAAAA

Unless you have direct proof of the former statement, and believe me I'd love to know the truth, I am forced to assume that it is, to quite frankly put it, bullshit.

Tl;dr: The information from MAG41 doesn't make sense and if you are making a timeline for yourself, you should probably disregard some of it. Watcher's crown happened in 1868 and the prison didn't look like the irl one.

Also fun fact! So the entrance to the watchtower wasn't supposed to be seen, so the prisoners wouldn't know if someone was there or not, so they couldn't see them leaving, right? So there's probably a small tunnel or smth (and apparently the hole was smol). Anyway my point, in mag158 it sounds like there's ALSO an extendable walkway directly to it. Probably only for a dramatic entrance, but like, duuuude that's so fuckin dramatic

Also also, if the panopticon had truly been built (even without his input), I'm pretty sure Jeremy Bentham would try to see it by any means necessary. Anyway I have more brainrot

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I want to see a picture portraying the cacophony of agony, the prisoners screaming as the feeling of being seen through and through is consuming them, stripping down their consciousness until only fear remains. Their hearts and minds seized by terror. The building rattles and almost gives under the strain, but it does not in the end. It sinks into the muddy ground bellow, the left over power from the ritual holding it in one piece still. The people of London turning their heads and watching it all, transfixed, unable to look away. Something is staring back. And in the end only one man survives the sinking of Millbank prison...