2025-01-04 1:19:43 ¶ ●

Something I find really interesting about Gertrude Robinson is how her personality is intertwined with most of the fears:

The Eye - This one’s obvious. As a Head Archivist she was connected to The Eye in the same way anyone who worked at The Institute was.

The Lonely - Gertrude was a very solitary person who never really let anyone get close. The closest thing she had to a positive relationship was with Gerry, but even he admits that he didn’t trust her. It’s also notable that the one person we learn about that seemed to truly trust her and care about her was Michael…and she got rid of him herself.

The Buried - This one is more metaphorical, but Gertrude was often crushed by her work. We John breaks into her flat we learn that she really didn’t have anything of note. Just some tea and some books with the eyes cut out. She didn’t seem to really exist as a person outside The Institute, she was too busy being in the center of everything while it all pushed down around her.

The Hunt - Gertrude was searching for Leitner’s and endlessly pursued a way to stop the rituals.

The End - Gertrude was surrounded by death. She lost so many people and a good chunk of those deaths were caused by her own hands. It’s also her own death that haunts the narrative throughout the series.

The Slaughter - This ties into what I said above. Gertrude killed a lot of people. It might have mostly been to save the world, but she still caused a lot of bloodshed regardless of the reason behind it.

The Desolation - Gertrude often used fire as a way to put an end to things, and she didn’t mind burning everything to the ground as long as she thought it was for best. She also has a strong connection with The Desolation through her connection with Agnus and her (maybe? probably? false) backstory she gives to Elias.

The Web - Gertrude was plenty manipulative. To the point it’s hard for even the audience to tell what she was thinking at certain points in the story. But we do know she was trying to manipulate things behind the scene (like, with the filing system) and manipulate people into completing her end goals. (Michael.)

The Stranger - Gertrude was many things to many people. She was an ally to Gerry. A traitor to Michael. A fearsome being to Elias. And a competent stranger to John. It doesn’t seem like she ever let anyone see her true face, and all the characters who met her seem to walk away with a slightly different impression.

The Corruption - Something something paralleling John by having good intentions that get ultimately get corrupted something something.

The Dark - Gerard describes the dark as “something everyone is a little bit afraid” and that describes Gertrude well. Everyone seems to have a been a little bit intimidated by her, even Avatar’s and people who worshipped things that weren’t meant to be revered.

Admittedly, I don’t really know how The Vast, The Spiral, and The Flesh fit into her personality, but it’s still notable that most of the fears can describe Gertrude in some way. She was really connected to most of them by in end, and there is commentary to made here about “being so determined to stop a monster that you nearly/do become one.”