THE MAGNUS ARCHIVES
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 พ.ย. 2018
- MAG114 - Case #0092204 - Anya Villette
Statement regarding a cleaning job on Hill Top Road.
The Magnus Archives tells the story of a cleaner whose diligence caused them to lose track of time.
Content Notes: Body horror, language, mental instability, spiders
Starring: The Archivist - Jonanthan Sims; Tim Stoker - Mike LeBeau; Basira Hussain - Frank Voss; Alice ‘Daisy’ Tonner - Fay Roberts
Writer: Jonathan Sims
Director: Alexander J Newall
Editors: Alexander J Newall, Elizabeth Moffatt, Brock Winstead
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Jon: gifts explosive
Daisy: +5 friendship
John: Hilltop road has been bothering me.
Also John: Going there seems like a bad idea.
John is learning, only took him 4 near death experiences.
John: goes there anyway a few years later
Jon squeaking in defiance that he was kidnapped and that’s why he couldn’t be a spy has the same energy as “I COULD BE ON DRUGS!”
what episode was that?
@@sarahmccausland7035 #83, drawing a blank
daisy: tired, deadpan, vocally emotionally drained
daisy, after being shown explosives: :o !!!!!! :D !!!!
"Buy one spooky manager, get one free!"
I love Tim so much
Edit: "That's not fair! Sometimes I get kidnapped!"
"Let's just aLl tRuSt ELiaS."
Tim is very quotable
Tim is the best
I like hearing jon catch himself before he asks a direct question
getting people to trust you is hard when you have creepy compulsion powers
I didn't- I actually didn't notice, thanks
it makes me sad
13:10
Jon and Tim finally talking it out was so cathargic
Cathartic 😉
nothing more cathargic than that
remember when tim was like "statment of **joe spooky** regarding **suspicious happenings** and now he's just... bitter?
Trauma will do that to you
*sinister happenings
I wish we got/get to see more of that kind of Tim. DONT SPOIL ANYTHING
@@lonewaffle231 you literally just spoiled it
@@minuspi8372 its clear he might die but he might come back or something amd i dont want to lnow is something like that happens, also its nkt spoiling its quessing
I miss when he was happy :(
Sooo....Jon listened to all the tapes? All of them? Even the one where Basira and Melanie are talking about Martin's crush on Jon??????????????????
that is EXACTLY what I was thinking of
He will probably never want to bring it up, because both he and Martin are idiots who will dance in a slow burn forever if anyone lets them, but I am certain he knows
I wanna hear his reaction to that information
That...Would explain a LOT actually
HMMMMM... jon what do you have to say for yourself
i really am convinced at this point that, despite everyone freaking out over elias being able to hear the tapes, he actually has no control over them and its jon who has control over them. elias never seems to turn them on during moments where im sure hed rather not jon hear things, like leitners murder or daisys statement or melanies dad. and when elias does acknowledge them, its always something like 'Jon will want to hear what we say' or 'jon when you listen to this back' or 'we can record this for jon later.' I just feel like jon has control of the tapes, not elias.
Oh my I think you're right!
If he does he certainly isn't aware of it.
I actually saw a theory that the tapes and recorder are an extension of Jon specifically. No other Archivist seems to have used them like he does, and, like OP said, they act for no one but Jon, especially in situations where Jon wants more (or any) agency or awareness. (Which makes the lack of recordings from Jon between his kidnapping by the circus and his escape... very upsetting). What's more, the way other people view the tapes often parallels how they view Jon (Martin sees them as endearing, Tim sees them as an endless, terrifying frustration, Elias sees them as a necessary annoyance over which he has no control, Basira sees them as useful and slightly endearing, etc etc). I like the theory, so that's how I choose to view it.
The one thing that keeps me from believing this theory myself is how Elias managed to put off the effects of Jon's persuasion when asked to confess his murder, despite even Gertrude not using it on him. Compared with the traffic guard who was instantly spilling his "dark secret" or the others swayed by Jon. He seems powerful in a way, perhaps not as connected to the Eye as Jon but in another way?
Russell Lahna i really love that! thats such a sweet theory! god i hope its true
Now I'm just imagining Jon wearing one of those hyperspecific targeted ad shirts but it's wildly off. 'Don't mess with a hard-ass grandma who loves fly fishing with a secret passion for tiny teacups and was born in November!'
SORLSLF'SK
PLSSS THIS IS SO FUNNY THANKS FOR THE MENTAL IMAGE
The entities meant for Gertrude to get it in America, but fate handed it to John.
@@fruitygarlic3601 lmaoooo imagine gertrude sipping from a tiny teacup as she shoots a fucked up mannequin
Jon's got some grandma energy
Kind of funny how Tim refers to Basira by name but calls Daisy "that weird murder cop"
no need to be scared of whoever is listening in to the tapes, tim. it's just a bunch of nerds who want you alive and well
Hahahahahahahah
Pretty much
Straight up the most consistent 'please fucking live. Dont die dont die dont die' comes from us listeners.
truu
Yeah
I love the little moments where Jon catches himself about to ask a question and then rearranges it to give Tim free will to tell him how he feels.
How much is the tapes being turned on supernaturally vs Jon just having ADHD?
Why not both? :)
Supernatural ADHD 😎
@@evilcatv sounds fun and terrifying but go off i guess
@@evilcatv Considering the theory that ADHD helps ppl escape/avoid all the supernatural evil stuffs, perhaps it could be said that ADHD is inherently supernatural lol
Yes :)
I'm surprised Gertrude had any skin to take. Figured she was mostly decomposed
Burying slows down decomposition, partially because flies and other carcass reliant critters from above ground can't get to the body. Add a coffin or a body of water and it slows down even more, in that case the skin acts a container for the rotting organs because it's the last thing before the bones to decompose.
@@alchemicpunk1509 not to mention, if she was buried, They most likely went through the process of preserving her body
@@alchemicpunk1509 Yeah but like, did't she sat nearly a whole year in a tunnel before she got burried?
@@i.cs.zamodits If the tunnel has the right temperature it can conserve for a bit but a whole year? I don't think she would have much skin too
Honestly if it was cool and dry or warm and dry in the tunnels she very well could have been partially mummified.
Fun fact! Due to audio issues, Jon is actually voiced by Alex for a few seconds in this statement. At 3:45, if you listen closely, you can hear the change. It goes back to Jonny at around 3:50.
You are right i thought it was a glitch or something for jon's voice to get so thin suddenly
How did I not notice-
Thank you for this delicious fun fact :D
That’s actually really smooth editing, I didn’t even notice
Super proud of Jon for doing his damndest to not Compel his friends/coworkers. Talking like that must be super hard, but he's doing it because he knows and that's so good of him.
THEY'RE FINALLY COMMUNICATING OH THANK YOU
I am SO happy that there is the beggining of communication between Tim and John again.
Also, Daisy's definitely fallen to the Hunt. Basira's suspicion last episode and now the fact that she was weirded out by the shirt? Did she felt the blood in a way? Deker talked about apparently Hunt's followers/avatars/whatever have a strong link with blood...
The shirt thing is explained later. ;)
But yeah it’s been established at this point that Daisy is definitely of The Hunt.
i know this is an older comment but it made me think of trevor in his most recent statement talking about how "he couldnt hear what his attacker (darkness nightshift worker) was saying because of the sound of blood in his ears". most definately a connection with blood and hunt
Literally NO ONE talking about the protag who got stuck here from another dimension
Yes! I really loved the statement, a new weird mystery. And it's kinda a new thing, because it doesn't seems to be connected to the entities. It got me really excited about it.
But I think it got lost in Daisy and Tim stuff...
seems like PERHAPS this info might come in handy somewhere near the finale
@@ravenchalif5616Bro I'm relistening for the 3rd time and I only now realized that this episode confirms that people can survive the trip to other universes!.
Now that The Magnus Protocol is currently releasing… I wonder if she came from their dimension. Especially since (SPOILER FOR NEW LISTENERS)
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in the finale of TMA we find out the web can connect dimensions. I wonder if this statement giver will be mentioned in TMP as having vanished without a trace.
transported to an alternate universe where she doesn't exist. fun.
Yeah that’s what I thought too
oh wow i hadn't even considered that possibility
Wait that's what happened?
@@epsyblue7714 Sure is
This was def the web. Because the web is like, the connections between people? And the web just severed this gal’s connections with others
whenever the title is even vaguely related to buildings i go "oh man!!! is tim coming !!!!! am i gonna hear tim!!!" i love tim keep thotting it up king
Jon's "I'm still me, Tim" hit me SO HARD the voice acting is always top notch for everyone but that line hit different!! my heart..
"I knew sasha for years we-" pain nothing but pain
Were they exes? 😗
I heard "Daisy" as "baby" and almost had an heart attack
unless...?
I heard it as "basi" for basira
Daisy being all excited about blowing things up, i love that woman
I was so sad Jon's trying so hard to not Ask questions so that he doesn't accidentally compel Tim into saying anything. Restating everything so that hhis friends can CHOOSE to tell him things instead of being forced to. It's about trying to keep the relationship balanced by giving them agency
So if Jon listened to all of the tapes, did he hear Daisy and Basira gossiping about Martin's crush on him?
yeeeesss??? Although considering how dense he is on the matter he probably brushed it off.
I don't remember that episode!! What episode is that
@@curechiancamelia8704 im not sure, i just remember that it happened
@@curechiancamelia8704 towards the end of 106: A Matter of Perspective
@@suzerainty4192 thank youuuu
I don't think we've ever heard Daisy sound genuinely happy before the revealing of explosives.
"it's not like they were building over ancient burial grounds" oh, honey. what makes me curious the most is that the tree in this story was still standing - did the owners put it back up? did it regenerate? whats with the tree
and the obligatory TIM!!:") im happy they had that talk AAAAA
I think the tree didn't regenerate since it was never destroyed, never destroyed in HER universe. Anya seems to be from a universe where the Magnus Institute doesn't exist since she doesn't remember the building ever being in London, it also explains her friends seeming off and her non-existence from any records here. She got grabbed into that crack in the basement and got thrown in "this" dimension. Fascinating!
sooooo moral of the story: the Web can do some extra dimensional stuff? that's hum new!
@@folykl makes sense. makes me wonder, maybe the crack is due the web ritual already being completed? since its the most subtle of powers it shouldnt change the world that much i think, and every house has its spiders...
its most likely not the case ofc but its an interesting thought
I had to watch nearly the end of the series to figure out why.... But yeah, they do answer your question in a round-about way.
As a janitor who has seen and experienced some shit while on the job, I was basically screaming to run as soon as she mentioned the closet.
Excuse me!? "I listen to all of the tapes"
That means Jon has heard the conversation about Martin having a crush on him!!
Probably still in a heavy state of denial at this point.. lol.
God, my brain just goes wild when I listen to these by this point in the story.
Podcast: Hilltop Road
Me: The Desolation!
Podcast: I don't know who you people are.
Me: The lonely! No, the stranger?
Podcast: Used to cleaning disgusting things
Me: The corruption, right? Are we getting the corruption in here?
Podcast: Had to brush cobwebs out of my face on the way down.
Me: THE WEB.
When the crack was described as darker even than the lack of light I thought the dark
Very good catches, all of them... And without spoiling anything, I can say with confidence it's actually a plot point.
So I think that the desolation and the web are both at odds on hilltop road and as we see that every person has their own fear controlling them, this women was probably taken by the spiral because she was more affiliated to the madness part of it.
Maybe its all of them
Maybe that area is just a really good spot for spooky fear monsters
SPOILERS
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NO WONDER HER FRIEND DIDN'T KNOW HER SHE WENT THROUGH A FREAKING PORTAL???? WHAT???
"What do you think is listing to the tapes!?"
Us: 👁👁
i love that when John was asking how Tim was doing, he caught himself and deliberately phrased it so it wouldn't be a direct question. respecting his coworkers' privacy
tim and jon finally talking healed something inside me :')
Tim has just been S2 Jon this whole time ;~;
I have listened to 114 episodes in a little over two weeks time and to say I'm obsessed is to put it lightly. Lol This channel is amazing and the whole team is an absolute wonder. The story is compelling and the actors are excellent. Well done all. That being said I have two questions. The first being are any of you Warhammer or 40k fans? I get Chaos Gods vibes from the 14. The second being have you ever considered making your series into a graphic novel? I really think it would be a great medium for your work and I for one would throw my money at it. Thanks for the amazing content and keep it up!
I think they're making a book of all the scripts for the episodes...? Not sure though and in any case it won't be out for a while.
Yeah, The Fears reminds me of the Chaos Gods
@@sandymcneish7820 that would look great in a proper format
I was telling my brother about them, and he said they remind him of the Dark Powers in Curse of Strahd.
lmao same about the obsession but in just a week. it's so good gdjjsjgs
How can you feel fear while listening to Spongebob's closing theme?
I have zero context going into this episode and let me just say, this is more mysterious than the entities
Stop dragging us into the story
Like I’m good it’s scary enough without insinuating we’re part of it too
Like IM GOOD I’m very invested don’t worry
exactly but , what if-
Oh my poor Random boi.. You saw it when so many did not...
@@Nizati ahah I am only now getting this this episode- I am so scared to find out what you’re implying here
JON-"Sometimes I was Kidnapped."
Me: I mean yer not wrong but that doesnt build confidence Boss.
I feel like the Eye is us and the tape are our lense into the goings on of the Magnus Archives.
I really like this theory
The tapes arn't the Eye, but it Is our lense.. And this implication is actually veeeery important in the end.
This lady and the girl from Lost Johns Cave need to start a support group for people who fell into a different dimension
I've never heard Daisy be so happy as she was after seeing explosives.
The "other side of the tapes" thing was a bit overdone this episode, which is precisely why I think it's *not* us. There's something else out there...
You were right! And maybe slightly wrong too.
sometimes therapy is bringing plastic explosives to a fear summoning ritual involving the skin of your old boss.
I find it interesting to see Jon go from being fed on by the eye to kind of feeding from it. This was really shone in the America episode where we find out that he has gone from being drained by statements to needing them.
In this episode, I loved seeing some actual communication between Jon and Tim also.
I like how Tim and Daisy do a good job distracting you from the biggest piece of foreshadowing in the series
has anyone noticed how jons mentioning martin a lot more now and how he said he listened to all of the tapes meaning he probably heard about melanie and basira talking about martins crush on jon. love the fact im more fixated on the relationship lore atm lollll
> strange tree
> travel to another dimension/universe
> tree bending/snapping
MONUMENT MYTHOS?7?7?7?7?
ok so thats the third time that martin has been associated with spiders in some way (he found the statement) and. hm.
soft spider boy
The web👀👀
Web!Martin rights! 😁
The most off-putting part was the fact that there was actual communication going on this episode
*reading the title*
me: ohh i bet its gonna be about hill top road
jon: "regarding a cleaning job on hill top road"
me: ooooh yeah its big brain time.
i really really liked the narrator. "do they expect me to clean this?" god, yeah, i feel that. tim... at least youre talking. do NOT need the canon implication that im trying to go after the circus too i dont have the skill for that bud. daisy... oof
It’s been three days since I started and I’m already here
Ok now that’s skill lol I’ve been at it for weeks
same, how do you do that? I can't imagine losing that much sleep
goddamn thats boss level its been about 4-6 weeks for me
1,5 weeks for me. Unfortunatly I have a report for uni to write and the podcast constantly distracts me :D
I don't know who needs to hear this, but drink some water
19:35 you can just imagine Jon looking over and grinning while he says this, like a kid showing you what new thing they learned.
I love how a lot of statements, like this one, just click into place after listening through the full series.
I really love how the tape recorders have developed a habit of just turning themselves on at opportune moments. It's a very fun way to explain why certain conversations are recorded.
Jon listening to all the tapes (including the one where Melanie and Basira gossip about Martin's crush) and then at the end where he asked Daisy if Martin specifically was okay with the plan...little sus Jon👀
i'm guessing this is spiral or stranger, even though web would make more sense for the building.
it might just be a convergent spot, lots of diferent entities bleeding into each other.
The whole crack thing and her not knowing where she was seemed like she hoped from one dimension to this one, made a statement and then hoped out.
Hilltop Road has been a big site of Web and Desolation in the past, but there's too much Spiral influence here for me to completely ignore it. I say Spiral/Web
We know there have been confirmed appearances of Desolation, Web, and Spiral on Hilltop Road. This one definitely seems more Spiral than anything, but there may be... threads of Web laced throughout?
@@TheNitpickChick hoohoo pun
I think it was definitely Web, since she said "just a little look" twice in relation to feeling compelled to open the door and go into the cellar (like she was being controlled 👀) and Spiral then warping her sense of reality after she woke up. Idk about Stranger though, unless it got the NotThem or something else involved to mess up her friends' and employers' perception of her??
"Whatever is on the other side of those tapes is just as invested in stopping the Circus as you are in avenging your brother."
Yes we are! There is nothing we can do to help you but we are indeed invested. Thank you for keeping the recorder running.
Technically that was correct....
This episode is retroactively one of the most crucial lore building moments by the time you reach the end of the series. But on the first listen through, it just seems like shenanigans from the Web and the Stranger. But ultimately it was just the Web, secretly spinning its web in ways you don't recognize until you see the full picture.
Technically it is all of them. I believe they said the site has been scarred by all the fears
They were all involved over the years, but the Web orchestrated the whole thing. In the episode where we learn how Agnes ended up on Hilltop Road , the narrator mentions that they brought her there specifically because the Web had up to that point always suffered losses in confrontations with the Desolation. Considering how the Web is otherwise portrayed as the invincible mastermind, this heavily implies it got into clashes with the Desolation and lost them on purpose to lure them into Hilltop Road.
Daisy....... EXCITED?!?!
ok i know this is like a serious moment but jon listened to that tape where basira and melanie talk about martin's crush and im just talk to each other already please
Man Hearing Tim and Jon talk to each other again is a relief to me.
I still miss my good girl Sasha 😢
"And easy job… Hilltop road"
HAH SIKE YOU THOUGHT
Nothing good ever happens on Hilltop Road
ahhh time please I wanna hug you, I'm glad he's finally talking about his problems with jon though. He's going through so much
SPOILERS
Listening back after having listened to the whole thing... this statement about hilltop road is so clever, being where everything spatial interweaves its entirely likely the cleaner in this statement came through the tear from another universe - perhaps even the same one the magnus protocol is set in.
George Icarus, the unmentioned name of the folk in the previous episodes, the one who came first before Gertrude. Another archivist? But yeah, maybe not, decomposition stuff...
My theory from this episode and what we know so far:
John heard the tapes! I repeat, John heard the tapes! So he definitely heard when Basira and Melanie were discussing about him and Martin!
The fact that the real Sasha has been forgotten by almost everyone that knew her and all their memories are replaced with the Not!Sasha really breaks my heart each time.
As for the statement itself, it's quite obvious that this place is related with the Web through out the years. Now, was this place somewhere where the Web tried to do their ritual but it was stopped? And that's why it's still "tied" with the Web still? But there are also mentions of warmth which makes us think about the Desolation, so is this place also linked with that fear because of the ritual Agnes had done with the tree? Was the ritual that she hurried to do with the others of the Flameless Fire(?) cult but they didn't finish because she died (did others die too? I can't remember, it was the episode where someone had fallen in love with Agnes) actually the ritual to bring the Desolation in the real world? Is this why the Web and the Desolation are always against each other, because they both need the same location or something from the same location for their own rituals?
The witness stating again and again that it was her choice or it was her own thought to do something shows that she was under the Web's powers of thought control and manipulation, but her losing her mind mostly implies the Spiral instead, so what is going on here? I mean, here not existing in this world and most of the info she gave being false point to either mass memories and history changing (which we have saw from multiple fears so far) or just her own memories being changed or her not actually being from that world; like parallel universes sort of thing. But the latter sounds unlikely for this series, so it's most likely one of the two things that are mentioned first. Still, this location in the Hill Top Road seems vital in the story for (at least) some of the fears, so this episode was alot confusing for us, listeners, who still don't know fully what's going on with everything.
Finally, when John asked Tim who he thinks is using the tape recorders to listen in, I think it shows that John already suspects what's going on with them. Or, at least, that he suspects that they are not fully related with Elias and the Eye and they are related with someone else who, in my opinion by now, is either Gertrude, John or us.
Just want to note, the door handle of that door in the statement being warm is similar to the coffin from breekon and hope. I think warm handles and other inanimate objects seemingly unrelated to the desolation may have appeared elsewhere too
20:08 There's a weird distortion around this point.
so much representation in this show, including divorcees! 🎉
I'm happy Tim and Jon are talking again. :D
Daisy sounded excited about the explosives.
This comment summons this whole comment section 😅
(Although I wish we'd be taking more about the statement itself. I mean, THAT LADY JUST GOT PUSH THROUGH AN ALTERNATIVE REALITY)
I'm listening to this show again (so spoilers I guess) and I'm fairly certain Anya came from another dimension through the crack in hilltop road, I've been skimming through the comments and I'm surprised noones thought of this. Although I suppose, unless the fears exist in other dimensions too, this wouldn't explain the spooky stuff happening in her version of hilltop road
They're enacting a secret plan that Martin devised? Color me intrigued.
This is my second listen through.
*BIG SPOILER*
I didn't catch this before, but that poor woman was pulled through realities by the Web, maybe in a way to test it's theory about escape. That's why she didn't know the institute, why she couldn't find her friends.
(spoilers!!!!)
i genuinely love this statement so much. its so... uninteresting, in a way. it seems like just your average normal statement on spooky happenings, the most lore-relevant it seems is confirming hill top rad was very weird, and its overshadowed by the conversation right after. you have to scroll more than usual to find a comment referencing the statement, and the first one (at least for me) isnt even about anything that actually happened. yet, it somehow contains possibly the MOST IMPORTANT PIECE OF LORE, a whole lot of very important set up for the ending. on my first watch (after i was done being excited that *finally*, there was a dimension jump, something i was hoping for from the begginng), i completely forgot about this, then on my second i was like the tv pointing guy meme, remembering what annabelle said. now, just... i was so excited to hear it again.
Spoilery speculation:
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...
...
...
I can't help but feel that Hill Top Road and the warping of reality there is going to be important in fixing... uh... things. In season 5. Particularly given the web connection and how involved Annabelle has been with our dynamic duo's journey.
MORE SPOILERY DISCUSSION:
I feel like there's no way to put the world back from where it currently is tbh. The best they can hope for is a reality shift like the one in this statement. Also it bugs me that the spiderweb lighter STILL hasn't come into play beyond Martin burning statements... Anabelle keeps trying to contact Martin... she has access to Salesa's camera that reasserts reality... idk how it all fits together yet but this espisode is certaintly interesting to re-listen to knowing what we know now!
You Were RIIIIIIIGHT!
Genius
When you're relistening, and realize why everything is just... Wrong for Anya. What the Web used that crack to do.
This one is *really* satisfying on a second run through on the series.
if jon listened to all the tapes does that mean he heard melanie and basira talking about martin’s crush on him
My app glitched for a sec, so it sounded like Jon said "audi recordi" and I-
I never thought about it but this statement takes a different turn when considering the finale of the series. And the possibilities of the Magnus Scrotocol
IT JUST HIT ME THAT -
(Spoilers)
(Spoilers)
(Spoilers)
She was pulled through the other world. The one with no Magnus Institute because *it has no Fears*.
I did not catch that! Amazing! That seems to indeed be the case
[CLICK]
ARCHIVIST
Statement of Anya Villette, regarding a cleaning job on Hill Top Road. Original statement given April 22nd, 2009. Audio recording by Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, London.
Statement begins.
ARCHIVIST (STATEMENT)
I don’t know this place. They said I should come and talk to you. A few people did. People I thought I knew, but they were different. I should know this place, I think. I used to go to the Tate a lot when I lived in London, and I, I passed the building, but… I don’t know you people. Nothing makes sense anymore.
It was meant to be just a quick job. Since the divorce I’ve been back working as a cleaner, and for the last month or so John Hector Lettings in Oxford have been bringing me in to get student houses ready for next year’s occupants. It’s not always pleasant work. After all, students are not exactly careful tenants; I’ve had to spend more than one afternoon scraping and repainting bedroom walls for some soon-to-be-dropout that turned the room into a hotbox. But it pays the bills. Barely.
I guess this is why I was so keen when I got the call about Hill Top Road. A nice, simple job. No pulling out instant noodles from behind the oven. No post-grad party gunk to find behind the sofa. Just a newly built house that needed a good clean once the builders were finished. Hoover up some plaster dust, wipe down the counters, a bit of polish on the metal fittings… easy. If there were already beds in there, maybe I’d grab a quick nap, make up for all the unpaid overtime I’d had to put in steam cleaning the last house where some of them had made active use of the bedroom. All told I thought it was the break I’d earned, and not a moment too soon.
It was raining when I pulled into the house. Not heavy, but the sky was that soggy grey that lets you know the weather isn’t changing anytime soon. As a rule I don’t mind the rain too much, but there was nothing relaxing about this weather. No regular thump of droplets tapping on bin lids or windscreens; you just ended up damp and grumpy. I’ve been thinking back, trying to remember if I got any kind of… sense about that house. Whether the windows were darker than they should have been, or if the frame of the place was… heavier. I don’t know. Hard to tell, I was too busy trying to manoeuvre the keys without having to put my bag down on the waterlogged path. It wasn’t until I actually got through the door that anything seemed to be at all wrong.
Even then it was only small things. Easy to ignore. I’m not superstitious, never used to be at least, so how dim the lights were made me think the owners were cheap; maybe they’d decided to go all-in on those weak energy-saving bulbs. The cold? I just thought it was an empty house that hadn’t turned the heating on yet. The small movements of the dust covers… that was the first thing that actually caught my attention.
The owners of the house had already filled it with furniture. Not good furniture, of course: just the cheapest IKEA had that wouldn’t collapse under the weight of a textbook. It was all assembled, though, and… covered with thick sheets of white plastic, to try and keep the dust off. Not a strange sight in my line of work, so I just ignored it, and headed down to the kitchen to start wiping down the surfaces.
I don’t know why I always like to start in the kitchen; it sort of feels like the heart of a home, at least to me, and I like to begin there and work outwards. Or maybe I just like food, and by the time I start on a job, I’m usually already hungry for lunch. That said, the sort of houses I usually clean, I’m more likely to lose that appetite when I stumble on something in the kitchen. This one was already almost pristine, though. A bit of dust on the surfaces, some careless flecks of paint was the worst I had to contend with. Even the oven was spotless and new.
But as I was wiping down the sink, I sort of zoned out. The window in the kitchen looked out over the garden, and… I froze as I noticed that in the centre, there was a tree. It was still bare from the winter, and from the top of it, there were these eight thick branches, just stretching out at all angles, some… reaching up to the sky, and some… it felt like they were reaching towards me. It was almost black against the dark grey sky, and the rain made it shine. My mouth was dry, and I suddenly had this… vision in my head, of walking out the back door, and standing at the base of that tree, as those branches bent, and snapped, and came down to grab me. But I was in the kitchen, and I was still dry. I finished up quickly, and headed off to do the rest of the house.
I tried to ignore it, just told myself I was having a weird bit of paranoia. Getting myself worked up over nothing. I don’t believe in ghosts, you know, and even if I did, it was a new house. It’s not like anyone’s building over ancient burial grounds in East Oxford. But even then I was finding it hard to ignore the movements. Slight rustles in the dust sheets that covered the furniture. Shadows they made that didn’t… quite work with the shape they should be. Or this lump or angle, sometimes, so I’d wonder if they were just covering chairs. Whenever I turned around I swear I heard them shift, and when I looked back, I can’t be sure, but I think they would be different, covering something different. I never got the nerve up to take any of them off, though. I just pressed on, tried to get the place clean and finished as quick as I could. Living room, bathroom, upstairs bedrooms… it was almost getting dark by the time I was finished.
It was such a relief as I started to pack up my bag, and I was just about to zip it closed when I remembered the cupboard under the stairs. It hadn’t been included in the job list, but in most houses I cleaned I liked to give the storage spaces a bit of a tidy and a vacuum as well. It always brought up by my employers as ‘evidence of my thoroughness’, and I took a lot of pride in it. But in my hurry to be finished and out of Hill Top Road, I hadn’t even checked it. I looked at the small door, then back to my half-zipped bag, and… I decided to just take a quick look. Just a quick look. It was a new house. How dirty could it be?
Obviously it was my decision. I remember the little handle was warm. I don’t know if that’s jut my memory playing tricks on me, but I do remember that. It opened to reveal stairs going down into a basement. Nobody had mentioned a basement. Not when they gave me the job, not on the floor plan they’d given me; I’d had absolutely no idea it was there. I found my legs were shaking as my brain pushed forward one question over and over: do they expect me to clean down there?
I decided, again, just to have a look. Just a quick look. See if there was anything down there that did need my attention. Maybe it was already spotless, or maybe it hadn’t been tanked, and was still just bare brick and stone, too raw for me to do anything with anyway. I just had to check.
It was warmer down there, warmer every step, and I found myself brushing cobwebs from my face as I got further down, until at last there I was - stood in the cellar of Hill Top Road. There was just a very quick second of relief, of letting my breath out. I saw how damp it was, full of unfinished brickwork, definitely not something any estate agent would expect me to clean. And then I noticed the crack.
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.
ARCHIVIST
Statement ends.
Interesting. I’m not really sure what to do with this one. Martin brought it up, said he’d found one that related back to Hill Top Road, a thread that’s been nagging at me for a while, but… I mean, it seems straightforward enough, except… that it never happened. As far as I can tell, Anya Villette doesn’t exist. John Hector Lettings does seem to be a real estate agents in Oxford, but according to our enquiries they’ve never employed anyone by that name to work as a cleaner, nor are they currently responsible for the infamous house.
Basira found a couple of possibilities online that might have been her, but the two that almost matched, both professed complete ignorance to any of this. As far as we can tell, the house has no estate agent looking after it, and no current owner. Certainly no plans to lease it students. I’ve half a mind to just go down and have a look at it myself, but… I don’t know. Ever since it first came up I’ve felt like it would be… just a very bad idea.
We’ve been trying to get a closer look at the documents, figure out who technically owns the place, but… it’s been over year, and we’re still waiting. Haven’t really had the time to foll -
[FAINT METALLIC NOISES]
Ah…
[THE ARCHIVIST TAKES A DEEP BREATH]
[SOUND OF WOODEN BOARD BEING MOVED ASIDE]
ARCHIVIST
Hello, Tim.
TIM
Oh god…
ARCHIVIST
Come in, please.
TIM
[Sigh, then faux polite] Good to see you, Boss.
How’ve you been?
ARCHIVIST
I’m not going to lie to you, Tim. It’s been a difficult few months.
TIM
[Deadpan] Good.
ARCHIVIST
And h - I would like to hear how you’ve been doing.
TIM
Me? Oh, I’ve been just fine. I’ll see you later.
ARCHIVIST
You’re sure? You’ve not - There is nothing you want to say to me.
TIM
Nothing with that thing here, no.
ARCHIVIST
[Softly] Interesting.
What do you think is listening?
TIM
What?
ARCHIVIST
[Strongly] What do you think is listening to the tapes?
TIM
Don’t do that.
ARCHIVIST
Sorry.
TIM
Don’t!
ARCHIVIST
Sorry, I didn’t-
TIM
And you know what I think. It’s that… the thing that runs the Institute. “The Watcher” or “The Eye” or whatever.
ARCHIVIST
I dis… I disagree. This whole place is a temple to The Eye, Tim. I don’t think the tape recorders make any difference.
TIM
[Viciously] Elias, then.
ARCHIVIST
In that case we’ll stick to talking about things he already knows.
TIM
Why are you so set on having it running?
ARCHIVIST
I…
Look, if you want my honest opinion -
TIM
I don’t.
ARCHIVIST
Whatever is on the other side of those tapes is just as invested in stopping the Circus as you are in avenging your brother.
TIM
…
You listened to it, then? My statement.
ARCHIVIST
I listened to all the tapes. I, I had no idea how much of a… a mess I left this place in, I-I-I’m sorry.
TIM
Bit of an invasion of privacy.
ARCHIVIST
I assume that’s a joke?
TIM
[Bitter laugh] Isn’t it just?
…
How did you know I was going to be here?
ARCHIVIST
Th-The others haven’t seen you in weeks, and you’ve still been using the computers here, accessing files and books… I know there are some exits to the tunnels outside the Institute, so I guessed you were using them to get in and out, avoiding any… tape recorders.
TIM
Okay, whatever. But how did you know I was going to be here, now?
ARCHIVIST
…
I just… did.
TIM
“You just did”? Great. Buy one spooky telepath manager, get one free, is it? Fan-tastic.
ARCHIVIST
That’s not what this is.
TIM
[Angry] Oh, and how about you read my mind now?
ARCHIVIST
Tim, that isn’t… I can’t.
TIM
‘Cause I can give you a clue. It ends in “off”.
ARCHIVIST
I… I assume you’ve been doing your own research into the Circus and the Unknowing. I would like to pool our knowledge.
TIM
So why don’t you ‘Archivist’ me, then? Just pull it straight out.
ARCHIVIST
Because I don’t want to. I am not your enemy, Tim.
TIM
[Dismissively] Like that matters. These things aren’t human. It’s… instinct. You can’t not.
ARCHIVIST
[Softly] I’m still me, Tim.
[TIM HUFFS]
I’m still me.
[TIM EXHALES DEEPLY]
TIM
…
You know what? You’re actually right.
ARCHIVIST
What?
TIM
You’re the only one.
ARCHIVIST
I- S-Sorry, I do-don’t follow.
…
Tim?
TIM
Do you know why I avoid the others?
ARCHIVIST
Uh, y-you said, the tapes…
TIM
No. How can I be sure who they are?
ARCHIVIST (BACKGROUND)
Oh…
TIM
You know how long that thing pretended to be Sasha?
ARCHIVIST (BACKGROUND)
Oh god.
TIM
And I had no idea? I knew Sasha for years, we…
I don’t know Martin as well as I knew her. I barely know what Melanie and Basira look like. Or that weird murder-cop. How the hell am I supposed to be sure of any of them?
ARCHIVIST
[Softly] Tim, I… I didn’t realise. I-I didn’t think.
I’m sorry.
TIM
I mean, there’s worms and hallways and clowns, and… In some ways it doesn’t even register. Like, just another spook. But I can’t trust them. I’m going to destroy the Circus that took my brother, and I can’t trust them to help.
ARCHIVIST
And me?
TIM
[Snorts] Well, if you’re trying to spy on us, you’re doing a pretty shitty job. You haven’t been here for months.
ARCHIVIST
That’s not fair! Sometimes I was kidnapped.
TIM
Which is not a good look for a spy, is it?
ARCHIVIST
Fine.
TIM
Anyway, you’re a spook too now, aren’t you? This place loves you too much to let you get swapped.
ARCHIVIST
What about Elias? Surely he’s the same?
TIM
Oh, yeah. Great idea. [Sarcastically] Let’s just all trust Elias.
ARCHIVIST
Point taken.
TIM
[Sigh] Screw it.
…
I know where they’re doing it. Th-The ritual. And I think they’re almost ready.
ARCHIVIST
R-right. Where?
TIM
In the House of Wax, in Great Yarmouth.
ARCHIVIST
Ohhh… I thought it might be there, but th-the others, we, we couldn’t find any evidence of, of movement or, well, life.
TIM
I had to wait almost two weeks. But it’s there.
ARCHIVIST
Why do you think they’re doing it so soon?
TIM
Skin. That’s what they need right? They tried to take yours.
ARCHIVIST
Yes.
TIM
Well, last week they went on a couple of field trips to a pair of cemeteries.
ARCHIVIST
Who did they take?
TIM
New graves. No flowers. The first had a name on, no dates, no inscription. “George Icarus”.
ARCHIVIST
I, I don’t know the name. Who was the other?
…
Tim?
TIM
Gertrude.
ARCHIVIST
[Softly] What?
TIM
Yeah.
ARCHIVIST
I-I-I… I thought she was cremated?!
TIM
I guess not.
[THE ARCHIVIST EXHALES DEEPLY]
ARCHIVIST
So they did get an Archivist’s skin after all.
TIM
[Snidely] So, what’s the plan, Boss?
ARCHIVIST
Heh. I, er… I think you’re going to like it, actually.
TIM
[Unconvinced] Oh yeah?
ARCHIVIST
Should be quite… cathartic. I just need to… confirm a few details.
TIM
Fine. But you don’t cut me out!
ARCHIVIST
I won’t.
TIM
I -
ARCHIVIST
I promise!
Now, um, if you’ll excuse me.
TIM
Oh, er… er, right.
ARCHIVIST
Yes, well, you’re not the only one that knows his way around the tunnels, so…
[CLICK]
[CLICK]
[DOWN IN THE TUNNELS]
ARCHIVIST
[Sotto voce] Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen. Sixteen.
[WHISTLES]
[FOOTSTEPS]
BASIRA
All clear?
ARCHIVIST
[Surprised] Uh, yes. Yes! Uh, all clear.
[MORE FOOTSTEPS]
BASIRA
Sorry, got a bit lost. Don’t know how you find your way around down here.
ARCHIVIST
Practice.
You alright, Daisy?
DAISY
[NONCOMMITAL SOUNDS]
BASIRA
Don’t think either of us like it down here.
ARCHIVIST
Uh, well, no, me neither. Feels…
DAISY
Empty.
ARCHIVIST
Yeah.
BASIRA
That it?
ARCHIVIST
[Smilingly] Yes!
DAISY
How long have you had that shirt?
BASIRA
Um…
ARCHIVIST
What?
DAISY
That shirt. You get it in China?
ARCHIVIST
Uh, A-America. I had to borrow it, there was… there was blood.
DAISY
Sure.
BASIRA
Why?
DAISY
Hmm.
[CONFUSED SOUNDS FROM THE ARCHIVIST]
BASIRA
Shall I…
I’ll leave you two alone. I… need to… have that chat with Elias.
[DEPARTING FOOTSTEPS]
ARCHIVIST
Right. Right.
Yes.
…
So… how’ve you been?
DAISY
[Emotionless] Fine. Killing mannequins for Elias. And a clown. It’s been alright.
ARCHIVIST
Has he… said anything about the plan?
DAISY
No. Is there one?
ARCHIVIST
Umm… Sort of.
[SOUND OF CASE BEING UNLOCKED]
DAISY
[Incredulous] Ohhh. That real?
ARCHIVIST
You tell me.
DAISY
[Excitedly] Where’d you get this?
ARCHIVIST
G-Gertrude left it. Er, apparently for, er, this exact situation.
DAISY
Where did she get it?
ARCHIVIST
I-I find myself asking that question a lot.
DAISY
So… this ritual, you’re just going to blow it up?
ARCHIVIST
I mean, as long as you know how to… I mean, you can use this stuff?
DAISY
[Contentedly] Yeah. I reckon I can.
ARCHIVIST
Good.
DAISY
So, do you have a plan?
ARCHIVIST
Um… We’re working on it.
…
You think she’s found him by now?
DAISY
Maybe. Maybe he’s not watching anyway.
ARCHIVIST
I-I just… I feel safer if I think he’s distracted. Is the… the rest of it…?
DAISY
Yeah.
ARCHIVIST
And Martin… he’s okay with it?
DAISY
It was his idea.
ARCHIVIST
Yeah. You think it’ll work?
DAISY
No idea. If you can get me or Basira the - [tails off frustratedly]
ARCHIVIST
What?
DAISY
Tape!
ARCHIVIST
Oh, yeah.
[CLICK]
You're a saint, thank you. I completely zoned out and this was an excellent recap for me :)
You're welcome! :)
Hill Top Road must be a place where the Entities thrives.
and Tim probably had feelings for Sasha 👀
When I see Tim in the cast list, my heart sings :)
Wait so we're Tim and Sasha a fling?
**Spoilers**
Re-watching after finishing the entire series....
God damn it.... this episode is FULL of foreshadowing and I practically forgot about it...
Like the Statement... A man goes to Hilltop Road, finds a crack in the foundation the spider pulls him through.. And then he wakes up in some place similar but not. And where he came from, the Magnus Institute doesn't exist.... It's so easy to think maybe his mind and memory was manipulated..... But it wasn't, was it?... He was a friggen test dummy.
Oh, and don't think I missed that whole 'I don't think the Eye is using the tape recorders, but whatever is behind it wants to stop the unknowning' bit. He says it and forgets it right after.
Damn it Jon! (the writer) You Manage To Add Aaaaalll The Plot Points As Foreshadowing Somewhere Didn't you??!! AAAARGH *flips table*
Oh, i was waiting for this to drop for ALL of season 5. You dont place this much of a plot point without ever using it.
Also, not a man. Anya's a woman.
@@mimkyodar derp.. you're right.. X.x
Just finished episode 200. The foreshadowing was crazy! I would never had seen that coming
Oh. Oh! Oooooohhh....
Second full listen-through of this series, and I get this statement. Interesting.
love how every character's relationships are improving just from explosives lol
LMAOOOOO DID ANYONE HEAR THE FAINT SCREAM AT 20:08
I don't know about anyone else but my favorite recurring episodes have been the ones about Hilltop Road
Hiltoproad and times going wrong was mentioned by Tim on season one so definitely time travel / reality jumping
I don't remember this. What Tim said?
@@Matheus-ql7mn I cant remember but I think it was in first or second season when they mentioned somr continuity issues pointed out by fans and the characters complained about gertrudes labeling system
I audibly gasped at the dumbest moments, I'm getting too into these
Wait hold up, how is the tree back 👀??
You don't figure that out until near the end of the series when you forget this episode entirely.... But let's just say you picked up a plot point.
who doesn't love this horrible house
Magnus Archives me fazendo teorizar Se existe um multiverso...
Lindo