It’s really odd to me that in s5 the canon doesn’t really utilize the fact that Martin is also an avatar. He got tossed into the Lonely, got marked by it, got his own domain in the eyepocalypse, but that was it! The rest of the time he’s just hiking through the Fearscape. Feels like wasted potential to me.
Especially since this fact could be used for further jmart bonding. Sharing their experiences of feeding the Fears etc. But the narrative made Martin completely unaffected by his avatarhood, just so he could be that oh so necessary anchor for Jon’s humanity. They should’ve both gotten a bit more monstrous. It would’ve made them worse but also infinitely more delicious.
ive seen your jmart hate and analysis (and i think its starting to sway me), so i ask you… how do you feel about jon/gerry ?? ik they only have one episode together but even then (to me) their chemistry was so good, plus how gerry seems to be FAR. more accepting of jon’s avatarhood than martin in s5. for example when gerry asks “do you like it?” in reference to Compelling people and his role as archivist and jon replies “i suppose i do,” gerry doesnt seem phased at all. he rolls with it. and dont even get me started on jon promising to burn his page.
also if you dislike jon/gerry i wont attack <3 im just a big fan of them hoping to discuss . if you dont like them, who do you ship jon with (if anyone)?
Ooooohhhh. JonGerry. JonGerry my beloved. Imo best Jon ship cause they fit together so perfectly.
Gerry is almost a polar opposite to Martin (especially concerning their respective relationships with Jon). He was practically raised among the Fears. They’re his reality. His entire life was dedicated to them - from tracking down Leitners and disrupting the rituals with Gertrude, to being Eye-aligned himself. He is painfully aware of the Fears’ impact on the world, and, more importantly, the people around him.
He and Jon would work really well together, both as friends and as partners, because when it comes to it they’re quite similar.
Both Jon and Gerry were used by others for nearly the entirety of their lives. Jon was a puppet of the Web since he was a little kid, being subtly nudged and poked so that eventually he would become the Archivist and doom the world; he was also manipulated by Elias during his time in the Institute. Gerry was a tool for his mother; being isolated from his peers because of his upbringing, he had no choice but to become involved in her work. He hunted down Leitners, at first for her, and, when he realized the degree of Mary’s selfishness, he begun to seek them out in order to destroy them. Later, when he met Gertrude and started working at the Institute, once again he became the assistant; and while Gertrude was significantly kinder to him than Mary, he still ended up getting used and discarded.
Gerry hated his mother for her obsession with the Leitners, but couldn’t run away from her because she raised him in the knowledge of the Fears. Because of that no other person could understand him or his point of view, so he had no choice but to stay. Jon grows to hate Elias because he’s the one who (indirectly) caused him to become a monster, and yet Jon still would turn to him for help and advice because only Elias ever truly understood him.
Gerry would be much more accepting of Jon’s avatarhood because he himself had a very similar experience, and thus he’d be capable of understanding him, sympathizing with him, and not just call him a cruel monster like most of the cast. He would be able to understand Jon at his worst, and thus be capable of appreciating him at his best. Other people see Jon’s human side as the only part that’s truly “him” (“How much of you is even left now?” - The Jon that Martin is in love with and Avatar Jon are regarded as two different people), but Gerry would actually have knowledge of how the Fears work. He would be aware of how much the “human” Jon and “avatar” Jon are intertwined. He would see Jon as a whole. He wouldn’t divide the man into “pre-avatar” and “post-avatar” categories, because he knows it doesn’t work like that. He knows that it wasn’t Jon’s fault he became an avatar, and wouldn’t blame him for it.
To summarize I think they’re perfect for eachother. They get eachother so well ughhh. Can’t really say much about their interaction because I don’t remember it that well, but I recall it being significantly smoother than whatever Jon had going on with Martin.
The whole “ceaseless watcher’s special little boy” thing that people love so much misses the whole point the podcast made. It seems cute but the fans make it seem as the only reason Jon became an avatar - because the Eye liked him. And that takes away the tragism of his character. The fact that he did absolutely choose this path, even if it was unknowingly. The fact he would’ve always ended up as the Archivist because of the way he is.
Imagine if Tim hadn’t actually died and instead became an avatar of the Desolation. Imagine Jon in season 5 looking for Jude in her domain and finding Tim instead. Imagine that
People saying Elias was the sole cause of Jon’s suffering don’t get it. The whole tragedy of it all is that Jon would’ve gotten harmed by the powers whether he was the Archivist or not. The only difference is he wouldn’t have survived it.
Idea: Jon and Martin have eachother but they’re still lonely -> Martin’s Lonely aspect is showing -> Martin WANTS to be alone and he also wants Jon to stay with him -> Martin purposely isolates Jon from everyone else so that Jon has to stay with him, can only stay with him.
Martin’s Lonely aspect should’ve been highlited more in season 5 instead of just being a vessel/medium for his angst. He should’ve been shown as more monstrous pleeeease. His relationship with Jon should’ve been portrayed as more supernaturally unhealthy. Hurting people is not always physical, and you’re not always aware that you’re being hurt. The Lonely would’ve been so cool if it were also shown as a weapon, as something that can hurt you just as much as the Eye’s compulsion. Not just as a tool for Martin’s character development. The harmful isolation motif should’ve been maintained in season 5 as well instead of being discarded for the sake of the human-monster dynamic.
Every day I mourn monstrous Martin. They could’ve been so much better auuugh…. AND it could’ve made Martin drop the weird superiority thing he has over Jon in s5. That or he would become the ultimate hypocrite (tasty)