TMA 170 (SPOILERS) - on the tape recorders
This has been driving me to distraction anyway welcome to my evidence based Ted Talk on the god damn tape recorders…
Order of business number 1: MAG 170, Martin in the lonely, that god damn static, and what was causing it.
So in case you didn’t notice (you probably did) there’s a big old debate going on about the static that plays at intervals in episode 170, and whether that static is something happening with the tape recorders, or if it’s the sound cue for the lonely mind wiping martin.
Some folks seem genuinely confused about whether or not Martin could hear the static, which: no.
The static is an audio distortion caused on the tape itself, that we can hear because the tape is being played back for us.
Characters notice the tapes because they’re noisy, and because they have a notable physical presence. They audibly click on and off, and they hiss loud enough that the hissing is recorded back onto the tape itself.
You would think that this means that the audio distortion we hear in 170 is just The Lonely in action, interrupting Martin’s train of thought. It seems to coincide with Martin’s previous train of thought ending, and a fresh thought beginning. BUT the timing is important - in particular the first time it happens, at the very start of the episode
I listened to this back, and Martin speaking coincides with the static. He starts speaking with the static still playing.
For the static to be of the lonely, it would mean that the tape clicked on just at the very moment before the Lonely mind wiped martin for the nth time. And that would be quite the coincidence….
This happens again and again through the episode. Martin trails off. There is an audible pause, static plays, and then Martin starts speaking WITH the static.
Then, there’s Martin drawing attention to the tapes, as he remembers their function.
This is the only time in the whole episode where the static actually interrupts Martin.
It stops him from speaking, from going further. It presses him as he thinks of giving a statement, plays through his realisation that the tapes are no longer necessary for The Eye - and fades only when he gives up on that train of thought.
Martin’s attention is being drawn to the tape recorders through supernatural means
Something supernatural affected him when he thought of giving a statement
Something supernatural diverted his attention when he questioned the presence of the tape
You would think I would be done here, but I’m not. Because I have no clue what this means in the grand scheme, and I curse the name of Jonny and Alex both because I’m absolutely dead certain Web Paranoia is the entire god damn point of this season.
Fear of unseen manipulation is the Web’s bread and butter, and I’m being fed to the web like a gift wrapped fly this season, because I AM WORRIED.
People seem to fall into two camps when it comes to the tape recorders:
The tapes are of The Archivist, a kind of extra sense or physical manifestation of The Archivist’s powers
OR the tapes are of the web, and are the method by which the web gathers information and controls the archivist’s actions.
I prefer the first option in my head, because holy shit do I love the idea of Jon reaching out to Martin with the tapes, when he wants to check in with Martin.
I love the idea that Jon unconsciously felt Martin was about to give a statement, and that it was him that (without knowing) diverted Martin’s attention away from the tape to prevent a statement from being given.
I love the idea that it was Jon’s searching, and reaching for Martin that prompted the appearance of the tape. I love that it mirrors 126, where after a handful of episodes of Jon being miserable, and wondering what has happened to Martin, the tapes turn on, and finally prompt Martin to share a little of what is happening to him.
In support of this idea, we have the following exchange in MAG 127
Elias certainly seems to think that the tapes are directly connected to Jon’s presence.
Of course, what he seems to think and what he actually thinks are two entirely different things that should not be conflated. Lying bastard man that he is…
Unfortunately there’s plenty of subtle evidence pointing in a different direction, starting with the season’s cover art which, isn’t, I mean, it isn’t subtle…
We’ve also had a handful of Web stories which lay plenty of groundwork.
Web Development (123), where it’s shown the web is gathering statements via a website known as Chelicerae (Notably, Chelicerae are the pincer like jaws of a spider. They’re the part that injects venom, but I think the mouth connotation is an interesting one, as it relates to the idea of statements feeding the eye)
There’s also Creature Feature (110) where the director of a spider film is puppeted on strings made of film strips - from which you can take an almost
Direct parallel of the tape strips as strands of the web:
Other Web interactions with the tape recorders include 130, when they help Jon in his quest to retrieve daisy from The Buried directing him to a Meat statement -
And of course the very first appearance of the tape recorder, which suggest it was covered in cobwebs:
Finally, this Honorable Mention goes to the season 1 Q&A where Jonny Sims uses the word “Spinning” about six million times when he talks about crafting the five season plot arc of The Magnus Archives:
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