I like to think that outside of the archives Elias was known only as the silly, overenthusiastic, eccentric boss who enjoys paperwork way too much. Realistically he was equally feared by everyone but it makes the idea of Tim trying to expose the whole plot a lot funnier.
“Elias is evil and hes masterminding a terrible plan and if we don’t stop him we’ll all end up dead!”
“Elias….? Like, Elias Bouchard? The guy who religiously does his paperwork on the same day every week… The guy who once sat me down to ask if that weird plant in the hall was freaking me out?”
I’VE BEEN SO CONFUSED FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR SINCE I STARTED LISTENING TO TMA ABOUT THE QUOTE THAT MENTIONS JON’S ASEXUALITY AND ‘WHAT ELIAS SAID TO MELANIE’ AND IT TURNS OUT I JUST NEVER LISTENED TO THE SECOND HALF OF MAG 106???? WHAT THE FUCK… YOU GUYS HAD ALL THIS, THIS WHOLE TIME??? HOW DID I MISS THIS IN LIKE, 5 COMPLETE RELISTENS???
That lovely feeling when the guy who nearly ruined your evil plans but disappeared so you couldn’t kill him finally comes out of hiding in an attempt to ruin your evil plans again but this time there’s a metal pipe right there and you bash his head in and further your evil plan instead!
In MAG 160 Jonah says through Jon that he hopes Jon will “keep an eye on” Martin after the change, aside from being a wonderful pun, it makes me wonder if he didn’t expect Martin to be powerful enough to travel through domains of his own accord.
He comments that he knows Jon would be reading it alone, so it’s fair to assume if he though Jon and Martin would be together at the time he knew Martin would at least be somewhere else for the execution of the ritual.
And Martin’s clearly susceptible to the domains-MAG 170 proves that. If Martin hadn’t got back from his walk in time would he have been sent into one?
Yes Jon would’ve found him, freed him, but he would’ve had to watch Martin suffering until he could manage it. He struggled enough having to watch Martin’s nightmares, what would seeing Martin truly tortured have done to him?
But equally, would that have been the fairest thing to do? The ability to wander the domains is often more a curse than a blessing. To have to survey that level of suffering, ignore the agony that so many innocents face in every domain. Is it better to suffer yourself, or to be free of pain but forced to ignore the pain of others? Martin has a great deal of care and empathy, if given the choice would Jon force him to endure all that they did?
Martin is Jon’s reason. His reason to carry on, to fight for himself, but if Martin wasn’t in a position to choose, would Jon afford himself that kindness at the possible expense of Martin? Yes if he did nothing he’d be in pain for a while, but he wouldn’t die, he’d be safe eventually.
The question is, could he put his reason on the line for the sake of his venture? And if he didn’t have Martin would he even have been able to get up off the cabin floor in the first place?
Completely irrelevant, incredibly specific headcanons I have for certain TMA characters
Rosie: Uses margarine instead of butter.
Daisy: Doesn’t turn the volume up in multiples of 5.
Martin: Hates that seam inside the toes of socks that kinda digs in sometimes.
Melanie: Always has a bottle or can of fizzy drink around.
Jon: Has a thing about the quality of paper.
Elias: Rhythmically taps the tip of his toe on the ground whilst waiting.
Basira: Likes notebooks.
Georgie: Has pink headphones.
Sasha: Always wears boots that click on the floor.
Tim: Ties his shoelaces weirdly.
