Rin Shar

So at this point it is pretty much confirmed that audio glitches = lies. A few random thoughts about that.

Alice saying she knows what is behind it all didn't trigger a glitch. That being said, it was very clearly tongue in cheek. It also didn't glitch for some of Alice's obvious sarcasm in EP. 1, so it could mean nothing. It could also mean that Alice honestly believed that she was working for the UK government.

Is it confirmed that the beeps are accurate against Lenna? There is one instance with Colin's ability to leave triggering Freddy, but Jon wasn't able to compel Elias, so perhaps she has the same variety of evil plot armor.

Freddy has never beeped for the statements themselves. Either it isn't able to, or due to spooky eye magic the statement givers can't lie. That being said, the statements are being stolen offline, so the eye isn't involved in their production. It is possible that nobody has lied in a statement yet.

Alright, so time to predict what entity Ep. 17 was caused by.

I'm ruling out The Stranger because A: I don't think that the stranger actually exists in this universe, and B: There was nothing uncanny about the alternate self, and there was no loss of identity on the statement giver's part. The ending was sort of not!them adjacent, but they were both clearly humans.

What is more likely to have happened is some alternative universe magic transporting the guy from either TMA's universe or some other universe. Notably, the point at which the transfer happened wasn't at Hilltop, unless Hilltop was a therapy center in a different universe.

The alternate universe's cruelty and eldritch torture is likely tied to this universe's version of the slaughter. The way he talked about his rage was very similar to how Melanie talked in TMA, and the calm, senseless brutality is exactly in line with what you would expect from the slaughter. The violin story has also established that this universe's slaughter feeds on pain more than death, which this episode fits in line with.

Some alternative theories: The incident with the father could have been caused by this universe's The End equivalent. Keeping someone from dying specifically to torture them seems in line with what it would do, but the statement fits The Slaughter much better.

This incident could also have been caused by the the entity that I am calling The Feast (scroll down in my blog for an explanation). The way that the statement giver's anger consumed his life, the way he experienced a huge time loss, and the sudden hunger all seem to be in line with what happened in this episode. That being said, I am not sure how the fear of being consumed relates to a torture chamber, but perhaps this is a Michal Crew type thing where he swore himself to one power to escape another.

Tldr: The Lack is an new fear in TMAP that feeds off of not being good enough and body horror.

A continuation of the theory I made here a bit ago. Link Here: https://www.tumblr.com/rinshar/750279508085669888/magnus-protocol-entity-theory?source=share

Ep. 16 seems to fit perfectly within the domain of The Lack, with the Goth Girl's need for attention causing her physical pain. It also seems that InkSoul is an avatar/monster of this power, although most likely an avatar since they seem to be more in line with what Jared would have done in TMA, while Needles acts as more of a monster, although he might be an avatar/victim.

Ep. 16 could also lend into the corrupted desires theory, but I don't really buy into that theory since from a meta perspective that is less cool and many statements (brutal liminality, perpetually drowning lady, snakes) have no major aspect of desire.

This is also the second time tattoos have come up in combination with graves. If The Deep is an entity that has taken some aspects of The Burried, maybe the rest also fell into the domain of The Lack? That being said, the order to dig is also likely a red herring from Jonny.

Also the fact that the tattoos belong mostly to one entity (unsure what the heck is going on with that The Deep tattoo) might disqualify them from being this universe's Leightner equivalent and instead make them a more thematic manifestation of one entity. There aren't enough of them to really draw conclusions there tho.

Less related to this episode's statement, but Lena's concern about the British Aristocrat's arrival makes me a bit concerned for Celia after the catch you later remark from Lady Maubury. Unsure exactly what it takes to get marked, but I expect she will have a close encounter with the Hunters soon, and Celia has already been marked by at least The Desolation and Stranger in her old world. Perhaps that is part of the reason she crossed universes.

Alr, so with TMP happening in an alternate universe, it seems fair to say that the fears have been split along different lines than before. I am working on the assumption that the fears are split into different categories like in TMA because it is more fun to theorize about, and because a few strongly reoccurring themes have come up.

The Eye: The eye seems pretty much unchanged, seeming to have caused Ep. 1's second half, probably Ep. 5, the OIAR itself, and the Magnus Institute. I will note that it seems to have lost it's ability to compel this time around, with people being able to leave freely, and Gwen relying on espionage to get her blackmail as opposed to spooky eldritch magic. That being said, it is still early, and this ability might still show up.

The Lack: The entity representing the fears of not being good enough and of bodily pain. I think it is the cause of Ep. 2 and Ep.6, with needles being an Avatar of this power due to his need for validation and the pain he inflicts. It seems to have similar properties to The Flesh in terms of body horror, but minus the fear of being eaten. Additionally, where The Flesh made you fear that there is no such thing as an ideal body because people are just walking meat sacks, The Lack is the fear that there is an ideal body, you just don't have it. Through needles, it also seems to have taken the toxic need for affection/ validation from TMA'S corruption.

The Twisting: The fear of being unwell, both mentally and physically, taking parts of The Spiral and Corruption. The entity responsible for Ep. 3 and Ep. 14. Something notable about this universe's corruption equivalent is that instead of it's end result being an incredibly painful death, this version seems to twist people's minds just as much as I does their bodies as it twists them away from who they used to be. Since The Spiral and The Corruption both had aspects of bad interpersonal relationships, I suspect this entity will inherit them.

The Slaughter: Seemingly the cause of Ep. 4 and the security firm from Ep. 7. I think it is possible that this universe's slaughter also feeds on the fear of fire as part of it's mindless destruction, in which case it could also be responsible for the destruction of the Magnus Institute. It may have lost it's war theming in this universe, but there isn't enough data to confirm this.

The Feast: The fear of being consumed, both literally and metaphorically. It feeds off of "hungry spaces" as seen in EP. 8, as well as the consuming void and the loss of time (via the liminal spaces itself, as well as the weird headlight time lapse thing). It is also possible that Ep. 8 was caused by a combination of fears at war with each other, but I think the linking factor between all the weirdness was the fear of something eating you.

The Dice: The fear that has seemingly taken the place of the web, the dice feeds off of addiction, especially with gambling, and the loss of financial control, similarly to the The Burried from TMA. Unlike the web, however, it doesn't seem like the fear here is of being controlled/manipulated as much as fate. It caused Ep. 9 and Ep. 13, as well as possibly Ep. 7? Idk why, it just seems like it has the same vibes.

The Deep: In TMA, both the buried and the vast seemed to have joint custody over water based fears, and this entity combines them, feeding off of the fear of drowning, the vastness of the ocean/things lurking within it, and probably some other stuff. I also suspect that tattoo guy from Ep. 11 may have been buried alive. Ep. 7 might also have been caused by this fear, with both aspects of the buried and a seemingly infinite amount of stuff to be buried in. The infinitely drowning woman from Ep. 15 also was a victim of this power, having aspects of The Vast (she seems to be in an endless ocean, with the so much air line) and The Burried (constantly surfacing only to drown again).

The Past: Not the best name, but it works. An entity that feeds off of the fear of corrupted childhood memories. I don't think that Mr. Bonzo is human enough to count as an entity of the stranger, but he does fit very well with the idea of corrupted nostalgia. This also might be the fear causing the first part of Ep. 1, with a corrupted version of a past love stalking her.

The Hunt: Ep. 15 brought back The Hunt in an almost unaltered form. It does slightly intrude on The Feast's fear of being eaten, but whatever. Also, this universe's hunters seem to have much more military imagery involved, although that might just be because they decided to hunt a war veteran in the one episode we saw them.

Uncanny People: I don't think there is any particular fear that matches the stranger in TMP. So far uncanny people have shown up 3 times (4 if you count Mr. Bonzo) in relation to various different fears. My guess is that all entities have access to summoning uncanny people in order to help fuel their fear, similarly to how Breeken & Hope worked with all fears in TMA. The violin peddler from Ep. 4 might fall under this category as well, but he seemed to be more connected to the eye. That being said, The Lonely was also shown to be able to summon uncanny people in TMA without overshadowing The Stranger's domain.