let's examine TMA through the lense of a greek/shakespearean tragedy shall we?
(warning for major spoilers through the end of the show)
so the structure of greek or shakespearean tragedy has like 5 major points
the hero has a fatal flaw (Hamartia)
fatal flaw causes the reversal of fortune (Peripeteia)
reversal of fortune causes everything The hero had to fall apart
the way things fall apart brings the audience to a catharsis
the hero's actions and downfall cause collateral damage
so when we look at the magnus archives through this lens we see that actually, it's less one big solid tragedy and more like a dozen individual tragedies held together by the institute. for example, tim's arc and his death
tim's fatal flaw = not coping with his loss
not coping with danny's death led him to the intitute
after the reveal of sashas death and the stress of s2 jona being s2 jon he changes and gains a new fatal flaw, wrath
his wrath pushes everyone in the archives apart and makes things more difficult than they already were
tim sacrifices himself to destroy the thing that took both of his loved ones
Or for another example, micheal shelly
micheal's fatal flaw is trust and ignorance
micheal's trust in gertrude and ignorance of the supernatural causes him to go with her to sannikov land without questioning it
him going to sannikov land leads to gertrude sacrificing him
micheal becomes the distortion
him becoming the distortion pushes gertrude further down the road to her own tragedy
and of course, while most characters get their own individual tragedies there is the even bigger tragedy on top; the tragedy of jon and martin
i don't think i need to explain much. jons trusts too little, martin trusts too much. it's a wonderful balance between them, and what leads to their eventual tragic ending.
you watch jon and martin progress through the series, their fatal flaws impacting the people around them constantly. you watch them grow. jon learns to trust other people, martin learns to trust himself. (we dont think about how jon still thinks he knows best, only compounded by his powers. we dont think about how martin still puts his heart over his head most of the time. we dont want to).
and we think maybe this will be the one tragedy that doesnt end tragically. maybe they've overcome their fatal flaws.
and in the end, jon goes back on what he'd learned through the series because he believes he's right. in the end martin doesnt realize until it's too late whats going on because he trusted jon without logic or reason. in the end, their fatal flaws are still fatal, despite their growth. in spite of their best efforts, they still go back on the things they'd promised they could never do. and in spite of their best efforts, despite the fact they achieved what they set out to achieve, they still fail.
they fail because they're themselves. they fail because they love each other, and because they want to protect each other, and because not even monsters and gods and the apocalypse can change who they've always been at their worst. they fail because they put hope in their ability to create a happy ending that was never meant to be.
and that's what makes it so beautiful in it's tragedy. because we, the audience, fail alongside them. we have hope and optimism that it might turn out okay, despite having seen from the beginning the flaws that will ruin these characters. we hope because we love them so much that we want to see them succeed. and maybe deep down we know it'll never happen. but we hope. and we fail alongside them
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