Episode 17 TMP Quick Thoughts
Housekeeping and Prologue
Hello, this is Douglysium and you might not know me as that guy who wrote over 100 pages of analysis on the Eye (which can be read on Tumblr here (https://douglysium.tumblr.com/post/735599414228484097/the-relationships-between-the-dread-powers-the) or Google Docs here (The Relationships Between the Dread Powers: The Eye- Knowledge is Fear and Ignorance is Bliss)) or as that guy who wrote an article on the Extinction (which can be read on Tumblr here(https://douglysium.tumblr.com/post/717929126195003392/what-would-avatars-of-the-extinction-be-like-a) and Google Docs here(What would Avatars of the Extinction be like?: A TMA Speculation)). Suffice to say I might be a bit of a TMA fan. Also, spoilers for TMP up until episode 10. You can read my ramblings on the last episode here (Episode 15 TMP Quick Thoughts).
However, Protocol offers a very unique opportunity and experience for me because I didn’t actually get into TMA until after it was over and I binged all of it. So this is my first time experiencing something even remotely similar to what the original TMA fans probably experienced when waiting for each episode week by week and slowly having to put everything together with the limited information they had. So I decided to throw my hat into the ring since this might be my only chance to do something similar. However, I’m working on some longer form TMA content so I can’t spend as much time on these articles giving a bunch of super detailed thoughts. I will try to keep these short and that inevitably might mean some could have questions about why I think or predict certain things and in those cases I would probably recommend you read at least some of the two articles I mentioned above to get a better idea of where I’m coming from. This also means I won’t be giving you a play-by-play of every single thing that happens in the episode so I encourage you to listen to or read them yourselves and feel free to comment if you feel something is important.
These reviews are probably going to end up focusing mostly on the Entities and their manifestations as they are what I have thought about the most and spent the most time interpreting and there’s been a lot of… interesting theories floating around about how the Entities are manifesting that I want to go over.
Finally, I’m just going to say it right now, spoiler warning for all of The Magnus Archives. I know that Jon and co said one could start with Protocol and be fine, and while that’s probably true, media like this tends to be made in conversation with or take into consideration what came before it in the irl chronology in order to connect them. While I’m sure you could skip The Magnus Archives, I don’t really see the point of skipping over it when we are already getting characters from TMA showing up in TMP in Protocol. So to me it’s pretty clear that if we want to understand the full picture of TMP and all the things it is trying to say then we can’t just try to pretend TMA doesn’t exist or scrub it away. Just because you could understand what’s happening without the context in broad strokes doesn’t mean you’re getting all the nuances.
These articles are meant to be quick and short so sorry if there’s typos and if I don’t address every possible question or possibility. I don’t want to repeat myself too much in this series outside of the prologue so be sure to skim some of my other articles.
Episode 17 “Saved Copy”
We start off this episode from Celia’s phone as she wakes up on a train track. The transcripts state “An overland train is powering down the tracks towards CELIA. The horn wails.” Luckily Celia wakes up and scrambles out of the way in time. As she hurries off she says “For gods sake! Not again. Not today!”
The first time something like this happened in Episode 11 (Marked) I had assumed Celia was trying to perform some sort of experiment involving multiversal travel. However, this scene makes it seem like less of an active choice on Celia’s part and that it could be a more passive effect. Celia says “For gods sake! Not again. Not today!” If this was some sort of experiment not working I don’t see why Celia would have to perform the experiment on this particular day and why she would choose to do so if it’s a bad day. This leads me to suspect that Celia’s movement is more passive or unwilling in these cases. This could be something akin to sleepwalking but if that’s what it was I don’t see why she wouldn’t just tell Sam that’s what happening later. Which of course, leads me to suspect that what Celia is experiencing is somehow supernatural or unbelievable under normal circumstances.
It could be some Entity at play (we have seen them do weirder stuff) but there’s a lot of hints pointing to the idea that Celia is actually from the TMA universe. So there’s a good chance that Celia waking up in these random spots has something to do with that. The only problem is we don’t have a lot of references to pull from when it comes to multiversal travel and potential effects. At this point the only reference we have is from TMA with Anya Villette. In MAG 114 (Cracked Foundation) when Anya Villette is seemingly pulled through the gap. Anya notes “Thinking now I know that there wasn’t any light down there, but… that horrid gap was clear as day, darker than just the simple lack of light that surrounded it. And then I was at the edge looking down, and those eight spindly arms reaching up to pull me in. I couldn’t have screamed even if I wanted to.” and when she wakes up she notes that the date is off. The date was originally April 23rd but somehow it had become April 8th after what is presumably The Web pulled her though. But we don’t get much of Anya. This is the only statement she gives and we don’t follow up with her after. So if there was some sort of side effect from traveling through the multiverse we have yet to see it.
It’s also plausible that there are various factors at play for Celia’s jump that weren’t there for Anya’s or vice versa. We still don’t know much about how the multiverse works in TMA so the answer might be as simple as “multiversal travel can go wrong.” Sometimes you run into a storm while you’re sailing and sometimes you become unstable from multiversal travel. Celia’s movements could be coming from something attempting to drag her towards the gap and reality or maybe she just sort of hops around. It’s hard to say. It’s possible something is somehow tethering her to the world but there’s not really a precedent for that being a thing at the moment.
We cut to the breakroom as Celia apologizes profusely to Sam for missing their movie date. Sam says it’s fine but he wishes Celia called and Celia claims that she ended up missing it because she was trying to come back from Oxford. Celia offers to pay for their next date as an apology and Sam goes on to talk about how he actually liked Pillowman despite not being a horror fan. As Sam leaves the room Celia says “(to herself) You’re okay. It’s ok.” Reassuring herself of something. She might just be trying to calm herself down after waking up in front of a train or potentially upsetting Sam but maybe she’s worried about Sam finding something out.
Case
This case is given to us by Chester (Jonathon’s voice).
Statement and Research assessment for candidate PD553
Magnus Institute – Oxford Outreach Centre.
Private and confidential.
Viability as subject – low
Viability as agent – low
Viability as catalyst – low
Recommend continued incarceration as part of Welling Mutare Materia research program.
Let’s get some stuff out of the way. The viability system has returned. Last time this system was used was in Episode 9 (Rolling With It). However, in that episode the system was almost definitely being used in reference to the strange dice artifacts, which is extremely likely considering that the person who handed in the dice dies at the end of the episode. But there are no such artifacts that I think this system could be referring to in this case. Additionally, there’s a new bit of information. Unlike Episode 9 this case says “Statement and Research assessment for candidate PD553.”
So in this case the system is specifically being used to measure a candidate, a person. This means that the subject, agent, and catalyst system can not only be used for objects but seemingly any person or object with supernatural properties. This does make some sense since we know that the Institute had a gifted kids program. To me it feels like the Institute was definitely looking for something, but I don’t know what that thing would be.
In Episode 9 I had my theories about what the viability scales were referring to but people such as u/UffishWerf and u/Miss_Kohane pointed out the connection between the terms subject, agent, and catalyst and alchemy (which is probably relevant when you consider the alchemical symbols in TMAGP’s logo). In alchemy and chemistry a catalyst is “a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change.” Miss_Kohane then goes on to argue “The dice are a catalyst as they don’t change or react, they’re not active themselves, they don’t mix or merge with anything else. Just sitting on the table won’t do anything but rolling them causes a reaction and a change, while the dice remains the same. Categorizing the dice as “Medium” makes sense as its presence isn’t enough to prompt a reaction (you need to roll them) and the reaction is impossible to predict. A good catalyst would prompt the same reaction every time, at the same dose and without assistance.”
Okay, before we go on any further lets try to see how much weight this point has by throwing in some of what we know about Darien as a candidate. We know why the dice might have gotten a medium but what about Darien’s catalyst score? Well, he got a low which does still potentially fit pretty well with the previous point. Despite the weirdness of Darien’s case it doesn’t seem like Darien himself has powers that can be comparable to the dice. So his catalyst score could end up being a low one because he doesn’t generate any kind of supernatural reaction despite being a person that can move stuff around. The dice get a medium because they have an effect when you roll them but Darien gets a low because he either doesn’t have a very big effect on other things or the Institute just couldn’t figure out how to get Darien’s abilities to activate.
Okay so what about the other evaluations? The term “agent” also seems to have a definition used in chemistry. One that means “a substance that brings about a chemical or physical effect or causes a chemical reaction.” The dice got a low score in viability as an agent and so did Darien. Looking at this other definition it’s possible that what agent is referring to is transformative properties. We know that the entities or certain artifacts can physically change people or monsters into other things or forms. So if reading a book caused you to turn into a werewolf that might have a higher viability as an “agent.” This could also explain why both the dice and Darien got low scores here. I mean sure the dice cause stuff to happen but it doesn’t seem to chemically change anything. If you roll the dice you are still a normal human even if you get hit with a car or stub your toe. Nothing else seems to chemically change or transmogrify around you either. Cars are still cars, people are still other people, etc. The dice causes bad luck, but all the stuff that happens because of it isn’t completely implausible or physically or impossible. A light blowing out sucks sure but that’s something that can physically happen.
Then there’s subject. It’s kind of hard for me to find a good definition of subject that might relate to chemistry or alchemy because Google keeps thinking I’m referring to chemistry classes or schools. As embarrassing as it is to admit, this really limits how confident I can be on my reading here because I don’t have all day to scour google. In my original speculation I said “Subject has a lot of definitions and can mean “a person or thing that is being discussed, described, or dealt with”, “likely or prone to be affected by (a particular condition or occurrence, typically an unwelcome or unpleasant one)”, “dependent or conditional upon”, “conditionally upon,” and “cause or force to undergo (a particular experience of form of treatment)”” The dice got a subject score of “none” while Darien gets a “low.” This might imply that subject is referring to some sort of agency or ability to act on its own. The dice get a “none” because they are inanimate objects that cannot move without an outside force acting on them and Darien gets a low because while he can move he’s just a normal person I guess and can’t like shapeshift or anything.
One of the definitions of subject according to merriam-webster.com is “the mind, ego, or agent of whatever sort that sustains or assumes the form of thought or consciousness.” Subject in this case might also refer to something like the mind. The more a target knows or the higher the level their mind operates on the higher the subject score might be. The dice themselves aren’t alive so they get a “none” and Darien only knows as much as a normal person so he gets a “low.”
There’s one last thing though. Where the dice and Darien go. When the dice are being analyzed we get “Recommend referral to Catalytics for Enrichment applicability assessment” and for Darien we get “Recommend continued incarceration as part of Welling Mutare Materia research program.”
Catalytics is defined as “relating to or involving the action of a catalyst.” while enrichment basically refers to enhancing a usually desirable trait. So the Catalytics of Enrichment might be referring to the idea of somehow trying to enhance or control the dice in some way. But it could also just be some artifact storage.
Where Darien gets sent is interesting because he’s just straight up incarcerated by the Institute. This is pretty big because it means that the Magnus Institute probably had way more power as an organization in this universe than it did in the TMA one. In TMA the Institute and its archives were kind of just some weird organization that researched the supernatural and collected stories. But in Protocol it seems like they somehow have the authority or means to straight up imprison / confine people. Makes me wonder about ERROR. I don’t think Darien is ERROR but I wonder if ERROR was being confined for similar reasons or in the same kind of facility?
According to Google translate “mutare” means “to change” in Latin and “materia” means “material.” So “Welling Mutare Materia research program” could mean “Welling material change research program” or something similar. Does this mean they were trying to change Darien into something? I have no idea.
But let’s get back to the case. Darien says “I know how this looks but it wasn’t me. Well, it was me but it wasn’t me you understand?” and then asks that the Institute not hold anything against him for what happened.
The story starts off with his anger management and he explains that he has been going to therapy for it for sixteen months after being arrested at some point. Luckily, the therapy was going well for Darien. Darien also comments “…and I was making real progress. It sounds like rubbish at first but all that counting to ten, gratefulness and compassion work, they do work. From the look of you, you’d probably benefit from it.” This comment makes me wonder who is transcribing the information that CHESTER will read out. At first I didn’t really think anything of who was writing down the statements for the Institute but Darien’s comment about the interviewer’s appearance or emotional state has me wondering if they’ll be a recurring character.
Darien gets to his last session and he just needs to see Dr. Dumfries to get the “rubber stamp” saying that his therapy worked. Darien notes that it was a terrace townhouse and he always found it uncomfortable “…like the walls were so thin you could almost hear what people were saying on the other side. I never did though. At some point I’d chalked it up to just being antsy waiting for therapy.”
“Anyway, there was a new receptionist behind the old front desk, some big, soft looking guy who stumbled over every word. A year ago, it would have probably wound me right up but what can I say? Therapy works. There was another patient too, some bookish-looking guy with serious city miles. I used to play the game “what are you in for” where I would pass the time guessing… well, you know. In my head he was definitely some kind of weird pervert, really into stroking orchids or something. Thinking back, I almost wonder if the same thing happened to them… Do you know? Would you even tell me if you did?” The description of these two is interesting since one could argue that this might be how someone could describe someone like Martin and Jon. Martin is implied on a couple of occasions to be on the bigger side, plus he can stammer or get nervous easily, and Jon is noted as appearing older than he actually is, looking very tired, and potentially scrawny. In the Protocol universe the Institute burned down in 1999 so depending on the timeline here I suppose it’s not impossible for this to be the original Jon and Martin but I really doubt it. All we know about their potential whereabouts is that the OIAR computers have their voices and in Episode 7 (Give and Take) Sam asks Colin “Uh anyway yeah, I was wondering if you knew who “John” was?” and explains “I got a weird email from “John” with a random name and an address and it looks like it’s from an internal email so… ”.
We still don’t know where Jon and Martin are for sure, or if they’re even alive, but it’s possible Darien isn’t actually from the TMA universe or these two people just happen to have vaguely matching descriptions or are parallel versions of them.
Darien gets his turn with Dr. Dumfries: “Dr Dumfries said hello in that cheery way that always used to set me on edge and we get down to it. Now his office was pretty much the most boring room in the world. No pictures, no clock, not even a window. Just the front door, the office door, the desk and some chairs. It must have been deliberate. It drove me up the wall.”
However, things get weird when Darien attempts to try some meditation in order to calm his nerves: “I’d been trying meditation in the last few sessions and it had always been a struggle but this time, when I closed my eyes and went into myself… It was different. I remember sitting there that last time and realizing that this was what she had been on about. Just sort of… having a sit… going away for a while… just being… I don’t really know what happened then. I felt like maybe I was dreaming, but I don’t really remember. I wasn’t asleep, though. You can’t feel pain like that in a dream. It was the migraine that brought me back. All at once this deep throbbing pain, and my eyes were so dry I couldn’t open them. My neck was stiff and I was dizzy, cold and trembling. Finally, I tried to stand up and fell forward onto my knees. I could barely move, couldn’t focus over the pain, I just knew I needed to get out of that room, into the fresh air. It was dark now, with no sign of Dr. Dumfries, and I had to make my way up a flight of stairs and through an office space I didn’t recognise before I saw daylight. I collapsed again, but I remember two things before I lost consciousness: I was in some kind of shopping centre. And a sign reading “Magnus Institute Outreach Centre”. I assume that’s how I first came to your attention.”
Darien regains consciousness for a bit within an ambulance and notes both the worry of the first responders and his physical state: “They seemed really worried, kept asking me what had happened. I tried to tell them I’d felt fine earlier… then I saw my arms. They were withered with paper thin skin hanging from my emaciated wrists. My aching eyes traced their way up to my sunken chest then down past my protruding ribs to the swollen belly below. I passed out again. The next few days are a blur. I know they kept me in for “malnutrition with complications” but when I told them I didn’t know how it happened they didn’t believe me. I reckon they had me pegged as bulimic or something but they seemed satisfied once they got me on solids and I scoffed everything I could get my hands on.” While Darien did have time to think about what happened he couldn’t piece anything together. Fearing that another “incident” could occur he decided to take some time away from the quarry to clear his mind. He tried to “phone in sick but the call wouldn’t go through” and the hospital asks for an emergency contact but it doesn’t go anywhere. Eventually the hospital just looks up Darien’s address on his NHS records and sends him on his way with a drop-off bus.
“At first, I thought the driver had managed to get himself lost. I certainly didn’t recognize the route and eventually instead of heading to Balfor Road he tried to drop me at some ridiculous place off Banbury.” Darien believes the hospital gave the driver the wrong address and says some harsh things before the bus driver drives off into the dark swearing at Darien. So “with no money, no bags and just the shirt on my back” he rings the bell of Harcourt House hoping for some kind of help. The door isn’t opened for a while and just as Darien is about to give up and leave “they pulled open the door, spilling golden light out into the cavernous porch and that was when I first met myself. The other myself. I don’t recommend it. We both yelled, then we both laughed, then we just stared. He took it better than I did. He even invited me inside once he realized how bad a state I was in. He sat me down and made me a tea, four sugars, just how I like it. I was so grateful, anything to stop that feeling that I was somehow falling through the cracks. He was my height obviously and had my eyes but I actually noticed the differences more than the similarities. He wore glasses, no grey in his hair and had white, almost glowing teeth and no beer gut. I realized that whatever this was, I was definitely the worse version and that is not a good feeling. Thankfully, he didn’t say anything. In fact, he looked thrilled, kept telling me how “amazing” this was, in his fancy house and designer clothes.” After talking a bit with this doppelganger, both come to the conclusion that they have been half-brothers. In theory, it would explain the similarities they share and “we definitely had the same piece-of shit dad. I’d grown up with a mum, though, so I guess I got the lucky side of that particular coin-flip.”
Darien always hated his dad but the idea that he had a second richer life without him and mom makes him hate him even more. This doppelganger is even also named Darrien (note I’m like halfway through editing this and sometimes the transcripts have Darien with two Rs and sometimes it’s Darrien with one R. I originally assumed this was to distinguish the two Darriens so I was using the one R for our Darrien but now I think the one R is just an error). Although, I have to admit that the idea of some deadbeat parent naming both their kids from secret love affairs the same name so that they never forget their names or so it looks like they are talking to the same kid as some sort of weird strategy is funny. Thoughts of Darien’s dad gets to him: “That hit hard. But the other Darrien was good about it, changed the subject, asked me what brought me here. I started explaining my side of things. The hospital, the ambulance, the weirdness in the waiting room. He was a good listener and I ended up telling him way more than I meant to. Even about therapy and the arrest, all of it… The only time he interrupted was to check the little details: dates, times, that sort of thing. That was when things got really weird because if the other Darien was right, that meant at some point Dad had been at his own funeral at the same time that he was in surgery for the tumor that killed him.”
Darien and his supposed half-brother (who I will start referring to as Darrien 2 to avoid confusion) talk for hours but fail to reach any concrete conclusion or answer for the discrepancies in their history despite being brothers. Darien is still in rough shape and begins nearing his limits. Darrien 2 notices and insists Darien stay “after all “we’re sort of family.” I was too exhausted to argue.” So Darien stayed in a spare bedroom “It was bigger than my whole flat.”
“The next day I was properly sick. I’d definitely overdone it and I felt horrendous. Darrien was really great about it though, insisted I stay longer; he had the space and the housekeeper was used to cooking for guests. Besides, we still had so much to talk about. I didn’t argue. It was a comfy bed. Darrien came by later with some spicy leek soup and we talked again. He was just so eager, he kept telling me how amazing it was, how he might finally have someone to talk to who would “get it” how happy he was to have me around. I’ll admit it did feel good to talk and he was right, he did get it. When I talked about the anger and what it had caused, he immediately understood with no judgement. He just smiled and said he knew just how to help. I stayed another couple of days getting my strength back. We spent the time talking, eating and just generally hanging out. He was really good company, and incredibly generous, letting me have the full run of the place.”
But the way the housekeeper, Sharon, acts around the two gives Darien pause: “The only thing that made me pause was how the housekeeper, Sharon, was around us. It wasn’t that she was judgmental or anything, she was afraid, maybe even terrified… I assumed she was just weirded out and tried to get to know her, talk to her when Darrien wasn’t around but the whole time it was like she was ready to run, like she was waiting for me to suddenly turn on her. Eventually, I had to just give up and let her hurry off. I didn’t want to upset her or anything but it worried me. The last time I’d seen people look at me like that was after the fight and I hated it. I had sworn I would never give someone reason to look at me like that again.” That evening Darien and his long lost brother sat smoking in the latter’s massive study. Darrien 2 told him about his time at university but Darien had never been to university: “it seems like he had done the whole Eton and Oxford thing and even done some competitive boxing while he was there.” This is an interesting past when you remember that our Darien got in trouble for some fight but this Darrien seems to have made some sort of career out of fighting. There’s a bit of duality here.
Finally, Darien gets to the elephant in the room. It’s clear Darien has some anger issues and that has made his life harder. So he asks his brother how he managed to stay so chill: “Venting the anger, that kind of thing? He gave me a look then. A very direct, very calm look over the tops of his expensive horn-rimmed glasses. “I was waiting for you to ask” he said in a tone I hadn’t heard from him before. Then he smiled, stubbed out his cigar and walked off without another word.” and Darien follows him as he walks through the house without a word. Darrien 2 winds his way down to the basement and continues past all the stuff Darien had seen before (such as the gym and home cinema) until he reaches a locked door at the end of the room. Darien originally assumed it was just a cupboard or utility room but as he looked closer “I could see the hinges were heavy, reinforced, the edges of the door had a thick rubber seal and the lock was excessive for such a generic-looking door. Darrien placed a key in the lock and turned to me with a smile. “It’s so nice to finally share this with someone” he murmured before turning the key, opening the door and gesturing for me to enter. I looked inside, seeing a spotless sharp-edged steel staircase leading downwards into a harshly lit, stainless steel space. Most of the room was out of view from the doorway but I could hear something, right on the edge of my hearing, in the quiet, past Darrien’s measured breath and the distant hum of the boiler. There was another breath, a slow and ragged rattle creeping up from below. And a smell: the tang of disinfectant over a faint, coppery undertone. That was when I noticed a single spot of color on the otherwise pristine stairs. A single, crimson spot.”
This is a horror podcast, so I think we can all assume that this is blood and not just ketchup or something. “I didn’t need to take a single step down to know exactly what this place was.” Darrien 2 tries to reassure Darien by whispering to him ““Trust me, you’ll enjoy it” as another rattle clawed its way up the stairs towards me, asking weakly for mercy. For death.. I tensed, I couldn’t help it. Darrien’s secret, his solution to the anger that had been burning my own life to the ground for as long as I could remember was down there. And if he really was the same as me, if he really had all that rage trapped inside him then whatever he had done to the man who was down there… I didn’t want to see it. I couldn’t. Darrien frowned at me then. I could see the disappointment bleed across his face like a stain, souring that boyish eagerness and replacing it with an anger I recognized immediately. We were so similar and yet… I couldn’t join him down there with our father in that horrible halogen light.”
Darien hesitates before instinctually shoving his brother: “He grabbed for me as he overbalanced, his face contorted in rage but he was snatching at air. He never broke eye contact as he fell. Even as his arm broke on the first impact, even as his knee wrenched as he tumbled, even as his temple cracked into the bottom step and he slumped onto the stainless steel floor. He just stared at me with pure venom in his eyes whilst I looked back sadly. He wasn’t dead. Not at that point. Maybe it would have been merciful to finish him off. Maybe if I had done, I could have saved whatever tortured soul he’d kept down there. But the idea of walking down those steps was too much. I just couldn’t do it. The door was solid, soundproof and had a firm lock on the outside. I haven’t opened it since.”
Darien then says “I’ve lived Darien’s life for four years now. It wasn’t as hard as you’d think, turns out your world and mine are pretty similar.” (which is a pretty big reveal but we’ll get back to it). He sends Sharon on an expensive package holiday and lies to her about his “half-brother” leaving in a hurry. “She knew what I had done, I’m certain of that. She never called the police or anything, but she never came back after that holiday either. I think she just wanted done with the whole mess. I don’t blame her. Oh. I bet she’s the one who tipped you off, isn’t she? Yeah, I thought so. So where does that leave us? I suppose you could call the police but I don’t see that that would do anyone any good. And I’ve had enough practice living this life now that I could make it pretty unpleasant for you. Besides, all I’m really guilty of is killing a killer and not helping someone who was likely dead either way. Is that really so bad, in the scheme of things? We could just call it quits? I’m really not a bad person. I give to charity, I pay my- his taxes. In a lot of ways I’m a better Darrien than he ever was. So let’s call this a happy ending.”
This ending speech is pretty ironic since we know Darien ends up imprisoned by the Magnus Institute, so not really the happy ending he was hoping for.
This episode actually seems like a pretty important one. The Entities are very capable of creating copies of people, we see a copy of Martin in Martin’s Eye and Lonely domain that seems quite similar, if a bit more outspoken, and we know the Catalogue of the Trapped Dead creates copies because in MAG 154 (Bloody Mary) Eric states “I know that I’m not really Eric; I’m just a memory someone wrote down. It hurts, most of the time. I don’t like it.” Not to mention that Entities like The Stranger can mess with the memories of people on a mass scale in order to replace people with monsters such as the NotThem. As I originally listened to the episode I chalked up what was happening to one or more Entities attempting to replace Darien by making a copy but as the episode went on things became weirder and weirder. While an Entity might be able to emulate this somehow there’s still a lot of questions and this is pretty strange behavior even for them.
Is this some new set of Entities? Have the Entities changed into something unrecognizable? Well, I actually still don’t think so. I think what we are mostly dealing with here is actually multiversal travel. Let’s look through some of the evidence based on what we know about traveling through the multiverse in TMA. There’s the possibility that Celia is from the TMA universe but we still don’t know a lot about that so let’s look at more concrete examples by going to TMA itself. As I’ve mentioned previously the gap in reality The Web used to exit the TMA universe might still exist since there’s nothing to suggest it would automatically close upon all the Entities being dragged through. If anything it might stay the same size or get bigger as the Entities are thrust through it.
There’s a couple notable multiversal trips and parallels we can use as a reference point to support Darien’s comment about being in another world. First, there’s Anya Villette in MAG 114 (Cracked Foundation). When Anya travels through the gap there’s a time discrepancy. According to Anya the date was originally April 23rd but somehow it had become April 8th after what is presumably The Web pulled her though the gap. While Anya traveled back in time the odd time discrepancy could explain why Darien ended up malnourished since it’s possible he ended up coming out of some sort of gap days later (there could also be other factors but we’ll get to it). Anya doesn’t mention any malnourishment but we don’t know all the factors at play yet.
Anya says “It seemed to split the floor right down the middle; it was jagged, vicious, like something had torn out the ground with a hook. It was maybe a foot across at its widest, and so dark inside it made my teeth ache. I’m not sure how I saw it. Thinking now I know that there wasn’t any light down there, but… that horrid gap was clear as day, darker than just the simple lack of light that surrounded it. And then I was at the edge looking down, and those eight spindly arms reaching up to pull me in. I couldn’t have screamed even if I wanted to. I woke up in one of the chairs, the dust cover clinging to me like a cocoon. I threw it off, and ran out of that house, and I haven’t been back. But now… everything’s wrong. I went to clean that house on April the 23rd, 2009 which, according to all of you, is tomorrow. But it can’t be. That was two weeks ago. I’ve tried to talk to my friends about it. Those of my friends I can find, but they seem distant, like they don’t really know me. Everything is just… wrong. I can’t find my favourite coffee shop. And I don’t know who you people are.” Which honestly isn’t a whole lot to go off of. Darien doesn’t mention any gaps but I suppose if the Institute is at a different location then the gap could be too. Not to mention Darien also seems as lost as Anya, he can’t phone anyone he would know and has trouble finding his way around.
However, the rest of Darien’s experiences would also point to another universe being at play. The reason the hospital drops him off at a weird house is because that’s the house under his name in this universe. It also explains the similarities and differences between the Dariens. We have some reference for parallel versions of characters since we can use the Gerards and Gertrudes of both the TMA and TMAGP universes as a sort of reference point. First off, they have the same dad but Darien grew up with his mom while the other Darrien presumably grew up with his dad (which if their dad is as bad as to be believed then it probably made their anger issues worse). However, some dates don’t match up. Darien says “That was when things got really weird because if the other Darien was right, that meant at some point Dad had been at his own funeral at the same time that he was in surgery for the tumor that killed him.” This actually parallels Gerard and Gertrude. In the TMA universe Gerard died from an untreated brain tumor before some skin was harvested to bind him to the Catalogue of the Trapped Dead and Gertrude was of course eventually killed by Jonah Magnus. However, as we see in Episode 8 (Running on Empty) Gerard and Gertrude are both alive and seemingly healthy in this universe despite having died within the TMA universe around 2014 and 2015 respectively. But Protocol seems to take place around modern day (so 2023ish) and definitely after those dates. So we know that when it comes to parallel universes characters can be dead in one universe while being alive in another. These factors would also explain why Darien and Darrien have noticeable differences in their appearance and upbringing.
But something got me thinking about where Darien wakes up. Darien says “I collapsed
again, but I remember two things before I lost consciousness: I was in some kind of shopping centre. And a sign reading “Magnus Institute Outreach Centre”.” I also don’t think it’s a coincidence that the computers decided to give Celia this case now since she later thanks it and the computers have a hell of a good timing for when they decide to drop information sometimes (such as when the computers gave Sam new clues about the Institute just as he gave up his search). So I wonder if what’s happening is that the Magnus Institute of this universe was trying to create their own gap in reality or reach into other multiverses. If they used a method different than The Web that might explain why Darien was so malnourished and didn’t wake up on Hilltop, since it’s possible that whatever technique they were trying to use wasn’t perfected yet. This could also explain why Celia entertains Sam’s interest in the Institute, since it would overlap in her study of multiversal trouble.
Anya does say that she’d never heard of the Magnus Institute until falling into the gap. While some would say this proves Anya is not from the Protocol universe, it’s important to remember that Anya was presumably in London. The Magnus Institute in the Protocol universe was not only located in Manchester, instead of London, but it also burned down in 1999. So these factors could explain why Anya never heard of the organization. It’s also possible there’s some government involvement when it comes to keeping some stuff under wraps in the Protocol universe but that’s still up in the air.
This is normally the part where I view things through the lens of Smirke’s 14 + The Extinction but there isn’t a lot to analyze here. Most of what happens can be explained by Darien falling into another universe and, unlike Anya’s statement, I can’t really spot a clear Entity that dragged Darien to this new universe. It’s possible that it’s just The Web again or maybe some other Entity managed to pull it off but there’s also a chance that the Institute is somehow involved. Not to mention that we know people can fall through the gap in a more passive manner. In MAG 196 (This Old House) we get “The first to build a home upon that spot was named Eowa. He was a Saxon, and a coward, who had fled the field against the Mercian king, and sought to find his peace there. His squalid little hut was far removed from those of his once-kinsmen. Nonetheless, there he lived and worked, and tried hopelessly to forget the stench of blood and rot, and the feel of a seax knife in the wound he carried to the end of his life. Did his terror call to him with the drumbeat voice of carnage? Did it sing to him with the squirming melody of decay? Could any have told you the difference? It is strange. That a name, a face, a taste of fear should linger through the centuries, and yet I cannot be sure which of them it was that ate so well. Some fears are eternal, but within them lie a hundred titles, whispered in the secret places of every era of every corner of our world. Who can say if any of them are true? Whichever it might have been, they knew Eowa’s terrors well. Until he was no longer there. Until he awoke in a place that was a place but… somewhere else. Somewhere the Mercians had pushed further, had taken more. For all his dread of a violent death, his end was quick and clean. And none of his kinsmen ever knew his fate. His hut, left unattended, quickly fell to disrepair, then to collapse. No-one used the wood; the grain was warped.”
Additionally, it’s plausible other cracks in reality exist as that same MAG states“It’s not a point in space. The Earth spins and hurtles through the darkness, but it still carries it along.”and “None of us remember what had caused the crack, not even those things beyond time who might measure a generation in the echoes of their screams. It has been there as long as they have, if not longer. It’s not a large crack, and to walk by it, even through it, you’d never pause to notice. Perhaps the air around it is slightly thinner, lights slightly dimmer… In the summer there may be the slightest chill. In the winter a warmth that is almost unsettling. The fungus that grows in the damp there is somehow more vibrant in its whiteness, while flowers remain duller than those that neighbour them. But these changes are slight, and none have dwelt on them long enough to call the place cursed. Indeed, few have ever thought much of it at all. Perhaps there are many such places across the Earth. Perhaps it is unique. Certainly, no-one has known either way.”
This might be presumptuous on my part but I’m going to assume that just like how each statement in TMA involved at least one Entity somewhere in them that the cases follow similar logic. There is the person Darrien 2 tortures in the basement and this person is implied to be Darrien’s father or potentially someone meant to resemble him “We were so similar and yet… I couldn’t join him down there with our father in that horrible halogen light.” It’s a bit hard to tell if this person is being kept alive / revived by some Entity or if Darrien 2 became an Avatar or tied to some Power. If there was an Entity present it would probably be The Slaughter in relation to the fear of violence (succumbing to it in this case) and violently using someone as an outlet for anger and violence. Not to mention Darien fears getting into another terrible fight. Darien says “He grabbed for me as he overbalanced, his face contorted in rage but he was snatching at air. He never broke eye contact as he fell. Even as his arm broke on the first impact, even as his knee wrenched as he tumbled, even as his temple cracked into the bottom step and he slumped onto the stainless steel floor. He just stared at me with pure venom in his eyes whilst I looked back sadly.”
Some other Entities that could be at play are The Buried, with the man being trapped in the basement, and maybe something like The Flesh or Desolation depending on the specific nature of the torture. There’s even an argument for themes of The Web in relation to the fear of not having control over yourself in Darien’s anger issues and maybe even The Eye with Darrien fearing seeing a terrible truth about himself being shown in the basement by his doppelganger.
CHESTER
I’ve already talked quite a lot so I’m not going to go through all my thoughts about the computer voices. If you want to see most of them you can read about them here (Episode 12 TMP Quick Thoughts) in the conclusion section. TL;DR I’m trying to see if there’s any noticeable patterns in when the computer voices show up. Someone by the name of Maddie’s Maxis in a Youtube video titled “This Channel’s First Video - The Magnus Protocol Analysis and Theories” (which you can view here This Channel’s First Video - The Magnus Protocol Analysis and Theories) argues that CHESTER (Jonathon’s voice) shows up for cases having to do with the Magnus Institute while I argue that the voice seems to more broadly correspond to cases that have heavy themes of curiosity or people looking for things.
This episode definitely strongly support’s Maddie’s theory since Darien is being interviewed and detained by the Institute. Not to mention that he remembers waking up in the “Magnus Institute Outreach Centre.” When it comes to my take it definitely feels like a bit more of a stretch. I suppose you could argue Darien was trying to find his way back home but you can also argue he was looking for a way to control his anger.
Rest of the Episode
Celia actually talks to the computer after the case finishes by saying “(to computer) Thanks, I guess. Not exactly the same is it?” This is yet more evidence that the cases the computers spit out aren’t completely random. When Sam asked where Celia was earlier she says Oxford and the case Darien is in has “Magnus Institute – Oxford Outreach Centre.” So Oxford seems like it could potentially be a location of interest. I don’t know whether or not the computers can actually hear what people are saying in any traditional sense. It’s possible Celia is just anthropomorphizing them and people muttering to inanimate objects isn’t completely unheard of but who’s to say.
Alice assumes Celia is talking to her instead of the computer and asks “(removing earbuds) What’s up? Got a good one?” but Celia has no luck. Alice asks if the cases are ever useful to which Celia replies “True.” before sighing. Maybe she agrees that they are rarely useful but considering that she just thanked the computer she might be hiding something.
We cut to a later time as Gwen attempts to fix Alice’s computer in the place of Colin, although it’s clear Gwen isn’t as experienced as Colin with these computers. Gwen and Alice argue like usual and it’s clear Gwen’s patience is running thin. Gwen says “It would help if your keyboard didn’t have an entire pack of digestive crumbs wedged between the keys.” and when Alice clarifies that it’s shortbread Gwen continues “It’s disgusting is what it is. It’s no wonder you’re having PC issues.” However, Alice retorts with “Are you seriously suggesting that a “jmj error” is actually an issue with the… cookies?” I suppose while Gwen’s point isn’t impossible if a crumb got in some extra weird place within the computer, Alice raises a good point. I mean sure, the keys would probably break but why would that cause such an error? But from the perspective of Gwen, a computer freaking out with an error because the keys were acting funny probably wouldn’t be the weirdest thing.
The episode then ends with this interaction-
ALICE
“Oh and you do? Look forget it. Celia said she’s seen Colin about. Maybe I can grab him so he can kick it into submission again.”
GWEN
“Then Celia’s wrong. He hasn’t been in for weeks so unless you’ve secretly been learning ethernet protocols”
ALICE
“Now you’re just making stuff up.”
GWEN
“I’m the best you’ve got right now.”
ALICE
“Jesus that’s depressing.”
GWEN
“Trust me, I hate it just as much as you do.”
GWEN continues to work on the PC as it keeps throwing up errors.
Now that they mention it, it has been a while since we’ve seen Colin hasn’t it? I wonder if the “ethernet protocols” Gwen jokes about are some cheeky foreshadowing to something Colin could be working on in the future. The comment about Celia and Colin is interesting because we know based on Episode 10 (Saturday Night) that he’s snuck into the OIAR office at least once to try to find out more about the computers. When he snuck into the office in Episode 10 (despite being on mental health leave for seemingly attacking Sam and breaking his phone) Celia was there. So the reason Celia’s seen Colin about this issue but Gwen believes he hasn’t been in the office for weeks could be because Colin has been sneaking into the office or Celia has been feeding him info.
Conclusion
Celia responding to the computer with “(to computer) Thanks, I guess. Not exactly the same is it?” makes me wonder about her past. If she really is from the TMA universe or some other universe I wonder if she had an encounter with another version of herself or if that version died or went missing at some point.
Anyway, if you want to read my other thoughts you can do so here (TMP Quick Thoughts Archive) and here is the categories for the case in the transcripts-
CAT2RC1147-30111997-04042024
Doppleganger (interdimensional) -/- murder
Incident Elements:
- Murder
- Existential Horror
- Temporal Distortion
- Identity Crisis
- Graphic Injury
- Captivity/Torture
- Mentions of: Therapy (Anger Management), arrest, malnutrition