When you first listen to TMA it seems like the Institute’s “No dream” policy is simply to cut back on the amount of false supernatural reports they receive. However, upon a relisten of TMA, the Institute’s “No dream” policy is actually super messed up.
We know that giving a statement causes the giver to have awful nightmares that force them to relive their trauma for The Eye, and we also know that some people (obviously) want to lodge a complaint about that from the episode where the women complains about Jon scaring her in the cafe and causing her to have nightmares.
However, The Institute having a “No dream” policy means that anyone coming to try and talk about their nightmares is going to be shown the door. The Institute literally has a policy that stops people from being to officially document any trauma the Archivist’s causes them.
It makes me wonder who made the policy in the first place, and if was something Jonah Magnus came up with, Gertrude came up with, or an Archivist before her came up with. I think the answer that makes the most sense is Jonah since being bureaucratically evil is his entire thing, but the answer that would be the most ironic is Gertrude since the policy would have stopped her from receiving this statement if Oliver was unwilling to lie.
It’s interesting to think about for sure, and stuff like this really makes me love rereading the series. You never get to read something for the first time again, but you can find fucked up details that make you go “Wait.”
