#the magnus protocol theories

[niightegoblingtyime]

Jon in tma, as we all know: “Martin… you’re not… you didn’t die here, did you?”

Alice in the recent tmagp episode: “I was born down here and I’ll die down here”

All I’m saying is The Magnus Protocol has the opportunity to do the funniest thing right now

[the-lonely-crow]

Ok im a little late to magp6 busy day

But like

Celia has to be Celia from Archives right? And i dont just mean that in a grasping for straws wish fulfillment kind of way. I mean thetr is no way that is just coincidentally the protocol universe version of Celia from tma because if it was her name wouldnt be Celia. It would be Lynne Hammond, the woman who came in about a ghost and bullied martin out of his lunch money. She didnt start going by Celia until she had her name stolen from her during the events of season five. That said i was relistening to mag100 and mag190 and Lynne/Celia Archives doesn't really act anything like Celia Ripley, to which i would like to quietly point to the fact that she has already been associated with the stranger. Ling story short i do not trust her.

Also

"Oh, Sam. The sun is the enemy! It rules the world of light, but we who dwell in darkness feel only its wrath." Is giving so incredibly Manuela Dominguez i know it was a joke but i would like to point to my other post about Alice being Whatever The Fear Of/Desire For Darkness And Ignored Truth alligned

Calling it now Needles is going to get the Michael treatment and i for one can not wait

OH

Sam being almost disappointed when the recording was over??? SAM??? I am watching very closely.

Alright thats it thanks for coming to my ted talk

[miraculousmaker]

The thing about ep 65 (Binary) is that it was once of the truly visceral statements that most of the fans had deep reactions to, right? And I wonder just how much that influenced the writing on Protocol, because we know exactly how much it hurts. We know the pain that our guys must be going through, and we are all being rocked by the knowledge that, considering who writes the stupid podcast, our guys might never know peace. They may be destroyed, or are already destroyed (like the voices are the only thing left, and the web is using the voices for the same purpose now), or they may never escape. They may never hold one another again, or live happily ever after. And the fact that protocol starts with a warning feels like a dark omen. Like, Archives was a cathartic ending—it made sense thematically. But now we’re left with new stories, new plot, new fears… and I’ve made posts on what I think the new theme of Protocol is. But now we have to face the very real possibility that our two favorite characters, who deserve happiness and rest after everything… may be everything we wish to ignore as a possibility from Archives ending.

[dontbelasagne]

a terrifying thought would be what if Colin knows but just isn't conscious of it yet? with how adamant he was about not humanising the computer, about how no one else but him can fix the issue, how he has worked so closely with the software all this time and must be the one to take care of it. maybe over time hes picked up on the odd idiosyncrasies of the text-to-voice program. how sometimes they feel just a little too haunted by their own voices being made to narrate such terrible things.

or just maybe, how real they might be...

[teacupofgooglyeyes]

THE MAGNUS PROTOCOL. oh my GOD, the magnus protocol. (marginal spoilers up ahead for the tmp trailer + arg)

….i have a theory. its based on other possibly improbable theories but please indulge me as i connect the dots nobody else can see with red string and declare it a masterpiece.

WHAT IF…. something was trapped in the database? yes this is absolutely inspired by the theories bouncing around saying J.01 + M.01 are jon and martin- and possible J.02 is jonah. yes im going insane about it. yes i am distraught. BUT- what if its not just our silly little jarchivist and martin ‘knife crime’ blackwood trapped in the O.I.A.R. database? what if theres something that the O.I.A.R. takes ‘incident reports’ of to contain (and perhaps categorise) in encrypted files or the like in an attempt to rid the world of this something for good?

what if they had figured out a way to trap… the fears themselves in the database?

okokokok hear me out- it sounds insane but i promise i can provide evidence that proves with sufficient certainty that theres definitely SOMETHING (or someone) trapped in there. as to what that something is- i cant prove that for sure but i can absolutely try my darnedest! and whatever you choose to believe is up to you.

PROOF #1: THE ARG EMAILS

1. in the tmp arg, there was a small message at the end of every email. it read as follows: ‘In accordance with governmental guidelines we encourage you to consider the environmental impact before printing this email.’ All in all, this doesn’t seem too suspicious, right? Probably just rusty quill trying to be eco-friendly, right? right??

2. but that’s not all. in the middle of the environmental impact text in the first email sent, there is a section of random german text. it reads: ‘[NichtdurchkommenlassenEsistwichtigdasswirdieKontrollebehalten 🜶]’. this translates to: ‘Do not let (pronoun missing on purpose) come through. It is important that we remain in control 🜶’. Pairing the two makes it definitely seem like theres a reason for the O.I.A.R. to not want people printing things off of the internet that is absolutely connected to making sure certain things contained on internet in some way do not escape…

PROOF #2: THE TMP TRAILER

now that the arg has been solved, we now all have access to the tmp official trailer. i could rant about the contents of this trailer alone for HOURS but right now i just want to focus on a few specific details i noticed.

1. the epa pollution preventer. when the program is initiating, up in the top right corner there’s a logo for some company advertising anti-pollution… something. im mentioning this as this only furthers the strange obsession the O.I.A.R. has with protecting the environment, this incessant need to keep everything digital.

(SIDE NOTE: i have two other theories as to where this environmental obsession stems from:

1. paranoia from the archives burning down in this universe calls for the usage of any flammable items to record important data is STRICTLY forbidden!

2. the extinction has become the leading fear in this universe, prompting this very interesting concern for keeping eco-friendly.

these theories are enticing and i would love to expand on them later if i have the energy lol all these theories are rushing through my head and driving me even more insane.)

2. the files. THE FUCKING FILES!! yes, the ones that we are PRAYING contains our dearly beloved jon and martin (and probably jonah, but i doubt anyone else is as excited about that compared to the happy couple). this got me thinking- what if they trapped something ELSE in the files? something that maybe took the burning of the entire magnus institute, all those fears open and barely contained on paper, to contain digitally? something that maybe needs to be encrypted in files to keep it away, and to further contain it recordings of incident reports statements are made and also placed in the files archives? just saying. its a possibility.

PROOF #3: WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT JONNY

1. after listening to all the Q&As and extra content to recover from episode 200, i have LEARNT a few things. specifically, i know our good friend jonny sims loves creepypastas. fun fact- the actual s5 finale was itself inspired by creepypastas!

2. plus theres many episodes that do also have distinct creepypasta influences, one of which being mag 65: binary. this particular episode is about a fictional creepypasta/internet rumor about a man who placed himself and his sentience into a file on the internet that turns out to be true. internet horror stories often involved something trapped on the internet, interacting with users on the internet to attempt to escape or achieve whatever their goal may be. seems…. interesting. hmm. what if this sort of thing is influencing the podcast yet again? its a thought…..

IN CONCLUSION:

im insane. and-

[bluefox4]

Ok, so given the new episode me and my sister @emeraldmew have been talking about what's going on with Celia.

Looking at the transcript from last episode when Celia was introduced she says something interesting about fear.

Image Description: CELIA: Four Weirdos in a basement reading scary stories. Dream Job. ALICE: If you say so. SAM: Fair warning some of these cases are... They're not fun to read. CELIA: I appreciate the concern but I'm sure I'll be alright. I don't scare so easy these days. End Image Description.

Note that last sentence: I don't scare so easy these days. And well, that fits right in to a post my sister made a post about the post 200 MAG World. The idea being that everyone ended up like Georgie and can't feel fear anymore.

Bouncing off of that theory and the clues pointing to this being the same Celia, well what if she's on a recon mission?

My first thought was what if there was some point where they became curious about what they inflected upon other worlds. And Celia was sent to gather that information for them.

My sister's first thought was what if they want the fears back.

[emerlandlady]

Ok so let's suppose Georgie and Celia came to the tmp world after the events of tma

What does it all mean the Gertrude and Jerry are here?

Gertrude is obviously acting like tma Gertrude but is she like a variant? The Magnus Institute wanted to ask Jerry about the books he was reading? Could they be trying to make sure variant Jerry didn't "go bad" and but him under Gertrude's guardianship?

[vanilla-seaside]

so because i am incapable of enjoying something normally, i've made a probably too detailed notes document for the magnus protocol. i wanna share it with yall so you guys can vet my theories and share your own (and because i spent way too long on the formatting for me to be the only one who sees it) so here's a link if anyone's interested :) i'm trying to update as eps come out each week, so minor spoiler warning

[immaterial-pearl]

Out of nine episodes like four of them feature a couple divorcing or being torn apart. What the fuck???? Is it because The Lonely is more powerful in this universe? Im not sure if Im getting that right but please did someone else also notice this?

[spirallingdark]

What if in this universe the rituals actually worked?? Like circle of worms, meat pit... [Error] crawls out of the meat pit, dead worms everywhere? Maybe other rituals worked as well?

[rebeccaberry]

Current TMP Theory.

Alright, I've finished episode 7, and I've got a theory (don't let me know if this is disproved in the next 3 episodes). Spoilers ahead:

I reckon that Celia is from The Magnus Archives universe, and is trying to figure out what ways the fears have manifested in The Magnus Protocol universe. Also, I think that the fears are much closer together in The Magnus Protocol universe, like, they were already bleeding together in The Magnus Archives, but they feel REALLY connected now, if they even are the fears anymore.

[niightegoblingtyime]

Okay, real talk guys, the Chester = Jon and Norris = Martin stuff is a lot of fun. I would love to believe it. I pretend to believe it for my own shits and giggles.

I’m pretty sure it’s a red herring though.

I’m pretty sure, having seen the depth of thought put into The Magnus Archives, that they know exactly what will distract us enough that when they drop the real Big Bad it’ll be whiplash unlike anything.

Consider me distracted though lol I love my funky little computer gays

[the-lonely-crow]

Ok i was reading the protocol 8 transcript and

Hey what the fuck does this mean? Catalyst for what? Making someone an avatar?

Also and this might be kind of out there but "catalytics" could possibly be shortened to CAT couldnt it? If we are viewing the cases as events that start someone's transformation, as catalysts, then its possible thats what the CAT at the beginning of the number classification.

[updatebug]

I've seen the theories about how Chester and Norris aren't actually Jon and Martin following the most recent episode (or are and are evil / controlled by the web) and I'm not ruling it out but IDK.

To me, this could still be another case of Jon trying to warn Sam away (albeit one that goes horribly, horribly wrong). Like the statement starting immediately after Celia sort of convinces Sam to give up looking into the Magnus Institute is kinda damning and I can see why people are seeing it as a lure. But on the other side of things, Sam is still doing the same stuff that Alice keeps warning him is going to get him into trouble, he's engaging with the weird shit in the office. He's filling out the deeply cursed paper work and answering the deeply concerning questions.

So a statement about someone doing something seemingly innocuous (rolling a pair of dice) and being met with costly rewards and horrible misfortune doesn't exactly seem out of place. (we can all see the parallels between 'I refuse to give it the satisfaction of giving up', 'It's kind of compelling at this point.' and 'I still don't really know if they made me roll them' and 'I don't think I ever felt them calling me' right?)

Also insert small domino to big domino meme here but the first step to Jon destroying the world and possibly dooming the multiverse was literally him signing a contract (and the contract itself does have some supernatural significance based on the way daisy joined). I also think - given we don't know how much control Jon and Martin have over their statements (but there are thematic parallels) the Magnus Institute link might be at least in part Jon's own trauma - (please for the love of god this place is deeply cursed and the worse nothing good can come from this it only has eye mutilation and cursed dice) and part hey Sam remember your horrible hidden trauma about this place, it is so much worse than you think pls stop poking around while you still can.

Like I think the first statement, the 'canaries should stay above ground' was just a general warning. Look at this horrible thing that happened but don't look to hard, let's just move on, we're not even going to tell you what happened just allude to the horrors. Only Sam didn't take that warning. And Jon's been here before, in this exact position in fact, being kept ignorant never did him any favours it just meant he made things worse in his search for answers. So I think this is his way of saying look, this is the kind of thing the Magnus institute dealt with. This is how horrible it was, and how terrible it could be for you. STOP.

(I actually kind of think that the Gerry thing was another attempt to do this that backfired. Gerry was the one who properly clued Jon in about the world and if we assume that Jon has access to the supernatural files but only the supernatural files then he knows that Gerry was involved with the MI but not what happened to him after. So he might have been hoping that Gerry would give Sam this universe's version of colour theory only for Gerry to turn out to be a happy, friendly painter - better for Gerry but not as helpful as a haunted encyclopaedia)

[recentlylocal]

Not enough wild speculation happening about Gerry in mag protocol yet! I’m highly suspicious of any face value “oh he’s just cheerful and non-traumatized” theory. Other thoughts:

Gertrude is cold and distrustful from the get go. I think she knows about the Magnus Institute. Maybe worked for them or against them in this universe as well.

Gerry seems off in a way unrelated to the lack of trauma. Unphased by the complete strangers in house asking questions, very deferential to Gertrude, kind of … oblivious in a weird way? At least claims to have no memory of something that would have happened to him as a young teenager.

I also don’t love the way Gertrude is speaking to him, she’s speaking over him and speaking on his behalf like he’s a child. Tries to cut him off before he can talk about the institute and is audibly upset when he does. The “I don’t think they’ll have reason to visit” and “of course you do” are both very condescending.

Anyway I think the vibes are off and I’m distrustful of any straightforward reading of that whole interaction. Something Weird Is Up With Those Two.

[teacupofgooglyeyes]

ok so we all noticed those audio glitches in the newest episode right

just like when the tape audio static increases at specific important points in the magnus archives

my current theory is that they occurred whenever someone lied btw