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.”

The Magnus Archives is so “What Could Have Been” by Sting coded. Specifically John coded.

Michael Shelly and Gerard Keay

Are Two Characters

Who I Deeply Wish Met In Canon

My Ranking On: How Good The Magnus Archive Character’s Are At Cooking

Gerard - Gerry has no idea what to do in front of a stove. No one has ever taught him to cook, and he doesn’t care enough to learn. He lives off microwavable mac and cheese cups and cheap fast food, which is just fine by him regardless of how concerned Gertrude is about his organs.

Daisy - Daisy could make…something with a stove. She just chooses not to because she doesn’t like cooking when microwavable meals are right there. Because of how little she cooks her skills are…rusty to say the least. She can make a half-decent grilled cheese though.

Gertrude - Gertrude can and the very rare occasion does make small meals like scrambled eggs. However, much like Gerard and Daisy, she prefers fast food and easy to make meals. In theory she could make a decent large meal if she had a recipe and some spare time to make mistakes, but in practice she never cooks.

John - John can and does make small meals. He’s never really liked cooking, but he does sometimes make a small plate of stir-fry or something. All things considered, his food’s pretty decent. It’s just not great because he rushes through the cooking process to get back to whatever he was doing. But, I mean, it’s edible.

Melanie - Melanie is a big “make a sandwich or throw some pasta on the stove and call it night” type of girl. She could make a good meal if she had a recipe, but cooking’s never really been her thing enough for her to put a ton of effort into the craft. However, if Georgie asked her to make her something you can bet that she could make a five star meal.

Basira - Basira cooks most nights and her food is consistently good. Daisy is over at her house a lot in the evenings hoping to get a meal and eat together.

Martin - Martin cooks almost every night. It’s one of his hobbies and he knows well what type of foods pair best with what after his research into what foods pair best with tea spiraled a bit. He can make a REALLY good comfort dish.

Elias - Elias cooks most night, and with all his years of being alive, that means he’s a pretty skilled in the art of making food. He either makes a full five star meal with an appetizer, a main course, and a dessert, or microwaves ramen noodles. There’s no middle ground.

Peter - Cooking is one of those hobbies that is significantly more enjoyable in solitude, so of course he loves it. He cooks multiple times nearly every day as it’s something for him to do that doesn’t involve other people. No one will ever taste his food, but man is it good.

Sasha - Sasha is a fantastic cook. She’s the CEO of finding a recipe online and then making it his own. She’s literally never made a bad dish in her entire life and she does brag to John about her ability not to burn things.

Tim - Tim is great at cooking on an instinctual level. He doesn’t even need to have a recipe to make a five star meal that will change the trajectory of his friends taste buds forever. It’s a gift…and a curse given how much the people around him hope he’ll bring food to every gathering.