DAISY: You brought a knife. So we go through the voicebox. [MAG 91]
TREVOR: (to the Archivist) And don’t you say a word, or I’ll cut him open! I know what that voice of yours can do, so shut it! [MAG 176]
I've been thinking about these lines alot.
How there is a returning motiff of the Archivist’s powers. What's interesting to me is that when looking back they're not usually associated with eyes, with what he sees.
Everytime we go back to the essentials of what the Archivist does its always associated with what he says,with his voice.
Disregarding the meta of it being a podcast, it feels as though the Archivist’s main source of power is tied to his voice, the things he speaks out loud, the information the Beholding receives from him audibly.
Granted, there are a few times eyes are mentioned as where his power emanates. Attacking Breekon ('stop looking at me'), the live statement dreams ('he's all eyes'), the Dark Sun ('I just need to see it').
But those feel more like marginal powers, side effects of the main ones. He speaks the statements out loud, something Gertrude was also known to do, even if it wasn't into a tape recorder. He talks, compels others to speak their story and relies on hearing their story, their voices, thus experiencing it for the Beholding. His voice gave Tim back his faculties in the Unknowing, his voice killed Peter, brought Martin back from the Lonely. His own recorded voice was his anchor to leave the Buried. He has to use his voice to command the Ceaseless Watcher to turn its attention where he wants. His voice is the one that brought the Fears into the world and was collected by the Web to help them leave it. His voice is the most important part of his powers.
I think that the Archivist is different from others who serve the Eye because while to leave the Eye's service, they need to blind themselves, the Archivist will only be rendered powerless if he mutes himself.
(I also have a whole tangent of the ear as an extremely important but forgotten aspect of the Beholding and how owls have ears that can hear depth like predators can see depth but that's for another post)
Long story short, my possible post tma finale hc is that an outcome of the Web stealing his voice is that now Jon is mute rather than blind and cutting the tether is essentially like Daisy said 'going through the voice box'.