#metatron theory

[beckelliesden]

I've been thinking about the Metatron's motivations.

At first, I thought he was using Aziraphale in a simple internal power struggle ploy. He can't be in charge because he's just a spokesman and since he knows Micheal has no intention to share authority with anyone else, he needs a puppet if he wants to run the show. Aziraphale, who is naive and, let's admit it, easily coaxed, makes a perfect candidate. He isn't a very elevated angel, so he assumes he'll be easy to handle - and quite as easy to dismiss if he refuses to play along as intended. And recruiting him has the added bonus of getting rid of a torn in heaven's side by breaking up Aziraphale and Crowley, who are blamed for thwarting Armageddon 1.0. After that 25-lazarii miracle they inadvertently produced together, it's easy to see how the Metatron would be very keen to prevent them from standing in the way of Armageddon 2.0.

Then, I thought about it some more. I thought about some of the dark, ominous looks he's cast from the corner of his eyes, the color-coding of his clothes and the way he oh so easily swayed Aziraphale. Heavens is a lot of things in the show, but it's never flattering and persuasive. Not like that. Flattery and bribery are Hell's tools, and so is playing on people's insecurities and setting them up against one another.

And then I thought, what if the Metatron isn't the Metatron? What if Satan took personal interest in the launching of Armageddon 2.0 and impersonated the Metatron?

God couldn't care less, that's a given, but Satan? He was obviously VERY pissed off and personally involved at the end of S01. It's a bit foolish to think that because Adam thwarted him on Earth he's out of the picture permanently. Or that he won't be trying to extract his revenge on those who thwarted him- it's apparently his whole thing.

And then, we come back to Aziraphale - and, more to the point, Crowley. Who is Aziraphale? A mid-level angel - a nobody who means well and can be easily swayed with the right arguments. But Crowley? From Satan's point of view, Crowley is NOT a nobody. If we read the clues correctly, Crowley was NEVER a nobody, in fact. He was a pretty high-ranking angel before the Fall, possibly even an archangel. More to the point, Satan thinks Crowley is his top agent. He's the demon who instigated the original sin, invented the Spanish Inquisition and started WW2. The demonic genius behind the M25.

The demon who was SUPPOSED to deliver the antichrist on Earth.

Crowley did not just turn traitor on Hell, but on SATAN personally.

So it would make sense for Satan to take a personal interest in return.

Everything that follows just makes so much sense if Satan is impersonating the Metatron. He wants the launching of Armageddon 2.0 AND revenge on Crowley. So he arranges to use Aziraphale to do both. He takes him away from Crowley - and makes Aziraphale break his heart in the process.

I've seen people go about the coffee scene, arguing the coffee was spiked. I think that if any 'miracle' was performed at that fateful moment, it was to push Nina and Maggie to have that conversation with Crowley. So that Crowley would finally open himself up and confess to Aziraphale - only to be rejected in the most heartbreaking way possible by Aziraphale, who's been dazzled by the idea of running Heavens along with his best friend as angels.

I've also seen people comment on how manipulative and cunning the Metatron was to 'orchestrate' the break up - and he was, no doubt about it. But how would the Metatron, as an angel, know how insulting and impossible a proposition that would be for Crowley? He'd have to be a fucking mastermind on top of being a master manipulator - two things he certainly didn't seem to be in s01. No, I'm sorry, but an angel would just assume a demon would WANT to come back into the fold. Only a demon would know better. And only a demon would go about breaking them up so cunningly.

And here's the good bit: the Metatron only turns up AFTER the Hell delegation has gone to report Beelzebub's treason to their master. Not before or during, but AFTER.

And what is one of the first thing he does when he walks into the bookshop? He asks Crowley if he recognizes him, of course. He doesn't ask because Crowley used to be a high-ranking angel - he asks because Crowley is a demon, and if he can fool Crowley, then he can fool anyone, can he?

And that leads us to the elevator scene. Notice how fast Metatron pushes the 'Heavens' button as soon as Aziraphale sets foot in? Notice the calculative looks he gives him from the corner of his eyes? They make perfect sense if Aziraphale just fell into a particularly devious and intricate trap - setting himself up as both an hostage and a tool for Satan to further extract revenge on Crowley and start Armageddon 2.0.

Oh, while ALSO providing Satan with his 'ride' to infiltrate Heavens, of course. Demons can't use the elevator without an escort, remember?

It all makes so much damned sense - and it scares the shit out of me for s03.

[billiebubb]

Angelic Bar Keeper. Why is the bar keep in The Resurrectionist is wearing the tartan pattern reserved for Angels?

[mxstixdraws]

So I read @ariaste 's fantastic Magic Trick Theory about Good Omens 2 and now I'm fully down the theory rabbit hole. I've been doing a rewatch and I wanted to share a few things I noticed that seem to relate to the theory.

Re: Maggie being a character inserted by the Metatron

In Episode 2, one of the texts Nina gets from Lindsay says: "I AM A REAL PERSON. I MATTER. WHY DON'T YOU CARE?" The "real person" is emphasized with a double underline and it is one of the texts we see next to Maggie. It also strikes me as a very weird thing for Lindsay to say.

Re: The Job Flashback looking fake

In the opening bit where Crowley is about to zap the goats, it seems like the clouds in the scene remain static for the whole scene, like a matte painting backdrop. Here are a couple full screenshots, one from the beginning of the scene were Crowley is alone with the goats and another where Aziraphale and Crowley are both there and Crowley is throwing the fireballs at the goats.

Zooming in:

The camera position and/or field of view has changed a bit, so the second image has a bit more of squashed look and the lighting is different (presumably due to the giant fireball), but the cloud shapes don't appear to have changed.

We don't return to this sky backdrop, so I can't say for sure that it's not just an extremely still scene or that Aziraphale and Crowley's conversation is too short for the clouds to move.

On an unrelated note, you can see some of the goats-turned-crows flying away behind Crowley after they get fireball-blasted. Nice touch.

[javaberrychip1998]

Something really interesting about good omens 2 is the fact that the flashbacks include human characters who’s stories don’t really go anywhe

Like, in season 1, the featured humans we see in flashbacks are specifically the ancestors of anathema and newt. The flashbacks featuring Aziraphale and Crowley have very few named human characters involved, save for young Shadwell and the Nazis that die. (Oh, and Jesus. But I think for the sake of this post I’m going to ignore bible characters as they already have their own narratives outside of good omens, and therefore their significance doesn’t really need to be explained. Same goes for Shakespeare, in a way.)

Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that all the human characters featured in flashbacks have a significance outside of that flashback.

In good omens 2, not so much. We meet Elspeth and Morag and mr dalrymple. We find out “hey those Nazis are zombies now! Highjinxs ensue!”

And then they’re just… gone?

Crowley tells Elspeth to buy a farm. We find out that mr dalrymple was disgraced and killed himself. But look! This bar is named after him!

He’s referred to as a “resurrectionist” despite the fact that he didn’t resurrect anyone? Nor was that his goal?

The Nazi zombies goof around in a magic shop and in a very half-hazard way help obtain a photograph that never actually amounts to anything? (Not to mention, since when does hell need the help of humans to spy on aziraphale and Crowley?)

I guess what I’m saying is that the characters introduced in flashbacks in season 1 all had purpose, while in season 2 these characters and their stories seem to serve as little more than set pieces in some snapshots of aziraphale and Crowleys historic relationship. Even the modern plot line of Nina and Maggie doesn’t quite come to any satisfying conclusion. They help fight the demons but not with any particular skills. They sort of imply they get together but not really. (Which is fine in many shows, but in this one just feels, “off”. This is the show where anathema and newt slept together while a storm raged around them because fate said so.)

In another show, the unanswered storylines and loose ends wouldn’t be a big deal. But not with this show. Season 1 was so tidy. Everyone had significance. Even the delivery man.

I’ve seen the essay going around about one of many “metaton” theories, and I think I’m mostly echoing some of the points made in that but in a less academic way.

All this to say that something funky is going on here.

Or rather, it better be.

If these characters come back in season three and all/most of the weird unanswered questions are resolved in season 3 in a very clever way, I will be very impressed, and Neil Gaiman will be once again proven to be a brilliant writer.

If these side character’s storylines really are at their end, and season 3 just continues with Aziraphale and Crowley’s storyline amidst a new group of humans… idk about that. If that’s the case, then it may have been better off to just stick to season 1…

But either way, wow I’m gonna have to wait a long time to find out.

[rijl]

I wrote a lil response to the Good Omens "Magic Trick Theory." If you're interested in that theory and the answers to some of the questions it poses, or you just enjoy learning more about the religious references in Good Omens like I do, check it out.

[billiebubb]

This is where it started. Good Omens 2 left me fairly confused. Reading this was an introduction to the idea that Metatron is much more of a major player in events. That he could be manipulating not just others in person but actually rewriting parts memories and history to get the outcome he wants.

The Magic Trick You Didn’t See: Being An Analysis of Good Omens Season 2

(or: Neil Gaiman, Your Brain is Gorgeous But I Have Cracked Your Sneaky Little Code And Have You Dead To Rights*) (*Maybe)

***

Soooooo I just spent the last 48 hours having a BREATHTAKING GALAXY BRAIN EPIPHANY about Good Omens Season 2 and feverishly writing a fuckin16,000 word essay about the incredible magic trick that @neil-gaiman pulled off. 

Yes, it’s long, but I PROMISE your brains will explode. Do you want to know how magic works? Do you want to know what Metatron’s deal is (I’m like 99% sure of this and it’s EXTREMELY FUCKING GOOD)? Do you want to know about the Mystery of the Vanishing Eccles Cakes and the big fat beautiful clue I found in the opening credits? Do you go through the whole inventory of Chekov’s Firearm & Heavy Artillery Discount Warehouse? 

Here is the essay, go read it: https://docs.google.com/document/d/193IXS11XN46lziHRb6eUpM17yK0BQkRqke1Wh64A_e0/ When ur done u can tell me I’m an insane crackpot, and u know what, i won’t even be offended

In case you don’t know whether you want to bother reading the whole enormous thing on google docs, I’ve put the first couple sections of it under the cut. JUST TRUST ME OKAY, HEAR ME OUT, THIS IS VERY EXTREMELY COOL, NEIL IS GOOD AT HIS JOB–

Keep reading

[inafever]

Oh my god I've been so stupid

GIVE ME COFFEE OR GIVE ME DEATH

It was an outright goddamn death threat

You either take the coffee, or take the death

Metatron you nasty little piece of shit

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

MORE SPOILER PHOTOS + A THEORY

(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BE WARNED THE SPOILER IS HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

So, if you've seen the yesterday's photos, Michael's hair looked a bit dark? But it was inside and from the distance so there were doubts. :)

But now there are closer pics...

obligatory gif :D:

THEORY:

This theory was cooked up by czech good omens fans :D. Might be completely wrong :).

So,

we have:

Aziraphale with darker hair, working in a bookshop but not a Soho one, his clothes are a bit Aziraphalish but not exactly.

Crowley with ginger hair, his clothes while darkish is not quite traditional Crowley, he has jeans, grey shirt - buttoned up, a waitstcoat. He doesn't seem to have Crowley's eyes (tho they might have been added while filming) and a tattoo on his face is on the other side.

Their hair though... they look a bit weird, right? Like wigs? Do you remember a fan whose auntie saw a blonde Michael? And another fan showed us a photo with David with S2 red hair. Yep, it looks like these are just wigs.

So why would there be a storyline with such Aziraphale and Crowley? ... Do you remember Rob Wilkins Christmas sweather, where there was a slightly taller ginger haired angel and a smaller dark haired demon?

What is there is some kind of plot line with Fallen Aziraphale and Not-Fallen Crowley? David's tattoo is on the wrong side and it doesn't even have to be a snek, it can be one of those angel decorations we saw.

But why and how? Is this some kind of Metatron's doing? A sacrifice of them to prevent second coming? Someone getting to the Book of Life? Hmmmmm. But yeah, those might be just wigs they will remove to shoot other things as our Azi and Crowley.

Another thing is that apparently Crowley speedily left the bookshop holding something - a book? Did Aziraphale sell a book?!

So whatever happened there also might be involved an amnesia. And Angel Crowley remembers since he was a high level angel, dons dark clothes, tries to go to Aziraphale but he doesn't... *enter dramatic music*

But what is Metatron doing there? Has he Fallen? Does he have amnesia and works in the bookshop? Or is he there as a part of his plan?

Perhaps we got some of it right, perhaps all wrong. :)

But I trust that there will be a happy ending in a cottage for our cuties :) ❤.

[fishtimeyall]

GOOD OMENS SPOILERS.

So I've been thinking a lot about Muriel. About how they're sweet and naive and sort of dumb, and they're a 37th class angel.

In fact, Muriel’s level of naivety is nearly the same as Jim-level naivety/dumbness. And Jim was supposed to be a 38th class angel, after being demoted from Supreme Archangel and having his memories removed.

And when this was revealed Muriel says 'I didn't know there was a class below me', what if Muriel is just a demoted angel? What if Heaven just keeps demoting any angel who goes against God’s (the Metatron’s) Plan and making a new, lower class for them? Instead of making them fall, they just keep taking memories and demoting angels so that there wont be a perceived ‘institutional problem’. Which there isn’t. Right?

[armageddidnt]

Good Omens dropping hints that Crowley has apparently Forgotten at least some of his former high-and-mighty angelic status in heaven.

[billiebubb]

Two Clues in the Original Text

Clues with a captial 'C'. There are two places in the Good Omens novel which mention changing the already written plan plus, that minds and memories could be altered.

Firstly at the airbase Beezlebub and our antagonist Metatron argue with Adam Young, Crowley and Aziraphale over the thwarting of the already decided upon Great Plan (or is that the Ineffible Plan?)

Adam outright suggests that this plan can be changed and just because it is written doesn't stop this fact. Metatron is absent from this scene in the TV production but in the book he's right there, listening.

The second clue from the novel comes only a few pages later while our Ineffible Husbands are chatting away on a bench in St. James Park. Crowley comes up with something that might be just a touch too close to the truth:

This tall stranger is confirmed to be Death (here). Shame it's not Metatron as that would have been very neat and tidy! What it does demonstrate is that the minds and memories of Angel and Demon can be messed with as both forget what they had been talking about after Death interrupts them.

[mxstixdraws]

I was rewatching Episode 4 and I realized that there IS a tiny payoff for the joke ring that looks like Furfur's summoning ring. The zombies outside pantomime to the in-shop zombie to summon Furfur. But when he twists the ring, he twists the wrong ring and gets ink splattered in his face. This happens about 24 minutes in, I included a couple of screenshots below.

So, the ring setup is paid off in the same scene. It feels kind of meh compared to if the payoff was later during the bullet catch trick on stage.

[beckelliesden]

Yeah, got a theory about that. Wrote a whole post and everything. Hope I'm wrong though - because s03 is gonna be hardcore if I'm right.

WAIT A GODDAMN MINUTE!

Why has no one mentioned that the Metatron is the only angel clothed in BLACK????

[iminlovewithmybentley]

☆☆Some Crowley textposts I made!! ☆☆

Aziraphale version coming soon

[the-eurydice]

Listen what if the metatron erases Aziraphale and Crowley's memories and makes them human. And in this scene they don't remember each other but they meet and fall in love as humans.

[alivedean]

good omens crack → 8/?