There's a war between the open eye and closed eye people.
Confirmed; the open eye is Beholding and the closed eye is the Dark, who do not get along.The nurse is evil and probably a cultist.
Anna Kasuma in ep8 and Anne Willet in ep19 are clearly the same person, but give different names. (Also Anika Suma?) She helpfully offers background information to Evo and Edwin that an innocent bystander could plausibly know. But she describes the house layout and Bethany's condition wrong, praises the mind-wrecking foster-father and demonises the innocent foster kids and Agnes. It could be (many) innocent mistakes, but she persuades both to mess with and be attacked by previously sealed evils.Supporting evidence jossed. Word of God says that Willet is her maiden name, Kasuma is her married name and people use Anne and Annie as shortenings of Anna.Archivists become immortal inhuman monsters if they live long enough.
That's where the monster in the Alexandrian archives came from.- Possibly why Gertrude was killed.
- Mikael Salaesa has a very similar name to Michael. Because curating powerful artefacts has warped him into one.
- Possibly confirmed, as the Archivists receive powers from the Beholding, meaning that, at least eventually, they must turn into the same kind of thing as Jude or Michael.
The Magnus Institute are the bad guys.
- They don't publicise their findings.
- Elias is weirdly unhelpful.
- The woman who tries to drive a burning lorry into it.
- Employees can't leave.
- The narrator of episode 62 drops by for a drink and a cordial chat.
Jonathon is magically compelled to read statements in character.
- It's stated he's able to feel the emotions of the statement-giver when he records, which isn't exactly the same thing as being forced to act, but is close enough to make no difference.
Confirmed by Word of God in the Season 3 Q&A, though the creators also mention that Jon himself is "a bit of a Drama Queen."
We hear the cassettes through the ears of the mysterious force watching the archive.
- The start and end music is louder to foil this force when it spies on statements.
- Statements are given at roughly the same time the podcast is released.
- Things have to be on tape because the listener doesn't like computers.
- The Beholding seems to be capable both of making Jon take a tape recorder everywhere, and of spontaneously manifesting/teleporting(?) them.
We hear the cassettes through the ears of the archivist who replaces Jonathon Simms.
- 19&20 use different names because one's been tampered with.
The Horsemen of the Apocalypse are around.
We've had personifications of war, death and insects/disease. All that's left is famine.- Famine is the meat-centred one.
mostly Jossed, as there's rather more than 4 Powers running around. It's possible that Horsemen-like figures could arise as Avatars or Entities, and you could link several of the Powers to various aspects of the 4 Horsemen (The Slaughter being Conquest, The Corruption being Pestilence, and The End being Death), but there's no real indication that deprivation or starvation are linked to any of the Powers.
Elias is not!Elias.
In the end of 49 Sims talked about Elias seeming different than some accounts given of him earlier.- "Elias" is indeed not the original Elias, but it's because Jonah Magnus possessed him.
Antonio Blake, the dreamer, is secretly everywhere.
- "Oliver" works in a tarot and crystal shop and gives Jane Prentiss a sad look for no apparent reason.
- His ex is called Graham. Like the gay man who gets replaced in Across The Street.
- Going off that: he was actually dating not!Graham (he gave his account in 2015, the breakup was about a year before, Graham was replaced in 2007), and the reason the end of the relationship was so bad it contributed to his nervous breakdown is that the Not-Them are jerks.
Melanie is right about Elias's Dead Man's Switch not existing.
- Since the main function of the Archives is to discover and catalogue things, and the Archivist seems to be more powerful than the Head of the Institute (possibly by a lot, since Jon is so inexperienced but already has a bigger scope of things he can "just know" than Elias), it wouldn't make sense for Elias, who is essentially a manager rather a researcher, to have that kind of power.
- If we believe Elias was being truthful in MAG 158, then his death would adversely affect Institute employees, but he's not actually sure it would kill them. So in that case, he was lying, just not to the extent Melanie thought.
Martin is being prepared as a new Archivist or some kind of mini-Archivist.
- The statements affect him more than the others, and he just knew who Peter Lucas was. Either he's a backup, in case Jonathan gets himself killed, or Beholding is beefing up its ranks. Or both.
- Elias agrees with Jon's demand that Martin not go along to stop the Unknowing, seemingly on the basis he expects they may be in need of a backup.
- It seems Martin is Beholding-touched enough to control its power, but not so touched that he can't also get powers from the Lonely, so partially Jossed.
Melanie has been or is in the process of being marked by the Frenzy.
- Her statement in "Testament" is mainly about how angry she is all the time and how she wants to fight back—and her response to being afraid has always been to lash out, albeit mostly verbally.
- Also, we learn that she was shot by what appears to be an avatar of the Frenzy when she went to India, and though the hospital did not find a bullet in her arm, since she was shot with a ghost gun, it's possible the ghost bullet is actually still in her arm, changing her.
- Martin has Elias arrested before telling her he's called the police. Elias phrases it as Martin being afraid she'll "make a scene", but it's implied this is an...understatement. Given that Melanie has tried to kill him on multiple occasions, and that at least some people at the Met are in on the supernatural (making Melanie spilling the beans not an issue), exactly what kind of "scene" is Martin scared of?
- As of s4, Melanie was not available when Georgie asked for her. Basira doesn't explain why, so listeners currently have no idea where Melanie is. Or what.
- The good news is that as of s4e3, Melanie is one piece. The bad news is that she nearly attacks Jon and took out some of the Flesh's footsoldiers with only a knife and some rage, which Jon notes might be good in the short term, but on further examination seems like a really bad sign.
- The Slaughter infecting Melanie with a ghost bullet is confirmed, although it was actually in her leg.
Peter Lukas is going to attack the Institute...and Elias planned things that way.
- In his new capacity as interim head, he's not only stealing away employees (Martin is avoiding people. Martin.), but also isolating the departments from each other, which is making it harder for everyone to do their jobs. Which is absolutely the last thing anyone needs with the Beholding's main avatar out of commission and other Powers attacking the Institute. But Elias knew Peter would do that if things ever got to this point, and that's exactly what Elias wants. Because when things come crumbling down at the Institute, he can blackmail his way out of prison somehow, swoop back in, and save the day, thus forcing everyone to accept that they need him even if they hate him. Depending on how badly Peter overreaches (for example, trying to use the Institute's resources to kickstart the Lonely's ritual), Elias might also be able to put a pretty big dent in Peter's powerbase in the bargain.
- Jossed, at least if you believe Peter and Simon Fairchild when they say the Lonely's ritual has already been attempted, recently enough that they still don't have enough gas in the tank for another try. Although Peter does have his own plans, they're about stopping what he believes is the birth of a fifteenth Power that will throw everything else out of whack, so while he may end up screwing over Team Archives, it won't be totally for his own benefit.
- As of Episode 158, the part about Peter plotting against the Beholding, or at least against Elias, is actually confirmed. He was lying about the Extinction, which is either nonexistent or not properly emergent yet, to get Martin to help him.
Basira has been marked by Beholding
She's in the Archives, having wholly if not entirely willingly embraced the Archives' work for months on end, and she's on the Archives' side against everyone else, even if only because everyone else seems worse to her. And she's apparently near-completely emotionless about all of this. This could be from trauma and grief, but a lack of caring is also a symptom of the Eye taking hold of someone, and with Elias and Jon away, It needed somebody onsite, right?- Elias also keeps addressing her as "Detective", even though she was never a detective when she was still a cop. It seems like a weird way to mess with her, and given that she's been gathering evidence for the Archives, it's possible that "Detective" is actually something akin to being head of the Institute or the Archivist.
Daisy isn't dead.
She's an agent of the Hunt, and it's well-established that the Fears can keep their agents alive or even resurrect them. She could very well still be alive in that coffin.- Confirmed; Daisy is alive but paralyzed. Although how much of her is Daisy after what happened last time we saw her is still up for debate.
- Post-rescue, being paralyzed seems to have mostly de-Hunted her.
- As of 179, she's officially dead, after being shot by Basira.
There's an alliance going on between the Web and the Beholding.
The web table and a lighter with a spiderweb pattern were sent to the Archives, the Web apparently sent Oliver to wake Jon up out of his coma, and while the Chelicerae site in "Web Development" is clearly a work of the Web, the story-telling aspect of the myth is textbook Beholding. All of these suggest the Web and the Beholding are cooperating.Jon can no longer be trusted.
To be fair, this is the guy who got mired in paranoia and started stalking his coworkers, so his dubiousness trustworthiness is not exactly new. However, it's definitely escalated with the strengthening of his powers and his increased acceptance of his role. He's fighting to stop the Dark's ritual, sure, but supposing Team Magnus wins, are we sure he can be counted on to fight the Watcher's Crown too? Jon is the Archivist. He chose that. What else is he going to choose?- Good news: Jon is pulling back from the monster precipice as hard as he can. Bad news: Martin might be the one who can't be trusted now.
- Jossed! Jon and Martin are both still anti-Fear, and Martin has never been in danger of slipping since Jon woke up.
Elias is going to put Jon in the Panopticon and start the Watcher's Crown as soon as Jon and Martin get back.
He wanted Jon to enter the Lonely's parallel dimension, and whatever else it did, it got Jon using his powers again, which is nothing but good for the Eye. When Jon comes back he'll be somehow powered up from snacking on another Avatar's brain, especially since he also chowed down on the Dark's failed black star and Elias will force him somehow to start the ritual, possibly by threatening Martin.- Mostly confirmed. Elias did want Jon to enter the Lonely, and he did force Jon to complete a ritual soon after the events of MAG 159, but it didn't happen in the Panopticon and, as far as we know, Jon killing Peter wasn't necessary to make the ritual work.
Joshua Gillespie from Do Not Open is going to be instrumental to healing the world post-The Eye Opens.
He fully defeated at least one Power (whose Avatar was named John!) through sheer ingenuity and was living in the same town as Jon, around the time Jon was marked by the Web, when he did it. That doesn't seem like a coincidence, especially given everything about the Web, and that Jonah, at least, seems to think the Web sent Jon to the Institute for its own reasons.In season 5, Jon will become the first Avatar of the Extinction.
The Extinction has to do with catastrophic change and the end of the human race, especially when caused by "man-made horrors". Jon definitely qualifies as a "man-made horror" at this point; he's been groomed into becoming the ultimate weapon for years by Jonah Magnus. Jon's actions in the season 4 finale definitely qualify as creating "catastrophic change", and will probably lead to the deaths of untold thousands of people. And while it's possible that Adelard was right and the Extinction isn't going to manifest anytime soon after all, it's equally possible that Jonah underestimated the power of the Extinction and has just unwittingly brought it into our world with the rest of the Fears. If it does manifest, it's only fitting that its first avatar be the man that helped bring it into existence.The series will end with one or more characters entering the crack between dimensions at Hilltop Road.
Thus far, every detail that's been introduced has had major plot relevance later on - and the crack between alternate dimensions at Hilltop Road (from MAG 114) hasn't been brought up again yet. It seems like it could be very useful as of season 5, now that the Entities have manifested in the real world and the apocalypse is nigh. If our protagonists can't find a way to undo Jonah's ritual, maybe they'll travel to the alternate dimension of the statement-giver from MAG 114 and seal the gate behind them in order to trap the entities in our world. This offers up possibilities for a Bittersweet Ending or Downer Ending if one or more characters have to stay behind in order to make sure the gate stays sealed.- 164 confirms both that the Fears cannot be destroyed, only removed and that they can't be sent back, because there is no more "back", which makes the crack even more important. Additionally, it reveals that Annabelle Cane was probably the one who tried to call Martin, and she happens to own the house on Hilltop Road.
- In 194, Annabelle either kidnaps or convinces Martin to come with her to Hilltop Road, meaning Jon has to go there to get Martin back.
Georgie is just fine (and is protecting Melanie)
Since Georgie can't feel fear anymore, and the apocalypse seems to run on personalized local nightmare pockets, probably nothing can get its hooks in her. This may also be why Jon can't See her.- Half-confirmed: Georgie is indeed protected by her inability to feel fear, but Melanie is protected by the fact she deliberately severed herself from the Eye, not Georgie. Georgie can rescue other people, though, just not that many.
The Extinction will be born and Jon will use it to cast the Fears away.
We know that right now the space the Fears were in doesn't exist anymore, and they can't be destroyed while there are humans around to fear them, and the Extinction isn't just about man-caused mass, well, extinction, but it's also about the fear of being replaced by something else. Something that would be outside the Fears' influence, at least long enough to get rid of them. The Extinction in general seems to be far too self-destructing and self-defeating for the Fears own good.- Partially confirmed as of MAG 175, where the Change seems to have given it the last "push" it needed to enter the world, but it now simply exists in the world as any of the other Fears (besides the Beholding, which oversees and rules the world now). Whether or not it can or will ever rise to a level of power where it can seriously affect the other Fears remains to be seen.
The Fears can now be a source of fear themselves
It might seem illogical, but we know that the Fears count more on feeling than strictly-defined rules (fear is, after all, a feeling), and it would make sense now that they are in our world. And at the very least the Eye knows that, even if their position is solid, it isn't actually impossible to get rid of them, which would give them something to fear.- Speculated upon in Episode 168 ("Roots"), where the avatar of the End, Oliver Banks, suggests that the End, which requires its victims to permanently die, could potentially start feeding on the other Fears if it were to run out of other minds to feed on, at which point the other Fears would be out of victims to feed on themselves and thus have a good reason to fear their own ends.
The End and the Web aren't happy after the end of season 4.
People can't die anymore, since an actual death put them outside of the Fears' influence, meaning the End doesn't have anything to prey on anymore. The only thing left who can actually fear its end are the Fears themselves. As for the Web, it relies on scheming itself, not on the result of the scheme, and now that the Fears won she doesn't really have much to do. The only thing it can do is start a new plan. It isn't unlikely that they will work to undo it, as we have seen Fears working against each other despite it being counterproductive, such as trying to disrupt each other's rituals and attempting separate rituals while the only possible way to succeed was to bring in all the Fears at once.- Episode 168 ("Roots") suggests that the answer is a mix of correct and incorrect guesses as far as the End is concerned: it has at least one domain of its own and feeds on the terror of people, like the other Fears. However, unlike the other domains, victims of The End actually have to die permanently and not be revived, like victims who die in the domains of the other Fears, in order for the fear to be valid. Because of this, Oliver Banks speculates that the End will eventually start siphoning off victims from the other domains and kill them, a process that eventually will lead to the other Fears being out of victims to feed off, at which point they will come to fear their own ends and fall prey to the End.
