Thread by @SquidFromSpace

Ahoy-hoy, fellow travellers. It's Wednesday evening, which means we're taking a few more steps towards Chelsea's own Towering Tower of Supernatural Snoops and Busybodies.

Still, it turns out there's worse roads to be taking.

It's #MagnusArchives Episode 5.08 - "Roots".

The End's domain is one of those I've been most looking forward to visiting. Obviously I'm keen to wander the lands of The Lonely and The Vast for my own twisted reasons, and I'm sure The Web has had something special laid on for us. #MagnusArchives

But The End is unique among the powers in that a world of deathless horror actually works to make it less scary. Even for those who wouldn't consider death a release at this point, it's no longer a pressing concern. What can that mean for a power? #MagnusArchives

Death may still be an inevitability, but it's become so on a merely abstract level. Eventually everything ends, as oppose to nobody ever gets more than a hundred and thirty swings around the sun. #MagnusArchives

(A truth underlined still further by the suggestion that the world's physical relationship to and with our local star is no longer necessarily in effect. #MagnusArchives)

The loss of the ability to die - and in particular to be killed - will admittedly have been a blow to other powers too, to a greater or lesser extent. #MagnusArchives

The Slaughter has been reduced to inflicting the comatose with visions of war, and I'm not sure The Hunt will be fully enjoying the fact that so much blood has been taken out of its blood sports. #MagnusArchives

Even less directly murderous entities like The Corruption have taken a hit, with its every deadly virus reduced to being chronic. #MagnusArchives

These are all secord-order problems, though, ways in which the fear has been diluted. The End, in comparison, risks having the bottom torn out of it completely. #MagnusArchives

So what's the living embodiment of no longer living to do? In a world where existence is as grim as its ever been, how can the reaper compete? #MagnusArchives

How does one make death into a fate worse than death? #MagnusArchives

The solution here seems to be to stretch it out. Take it slow. Pick out your finest vintages, and make them last. #MagnusArchives

Quality over quantity, in other words. While the other powers have become factory farmers, The End has become a connoisseur. #MagnusArchives

Which makes sense, I guess. Not simply because, even more so than The Slaughter and The Corruption, it had plenty of experience of bumper harvests back in the World That Was... #MagnusArchives

...But because, as the epsiode notes, The End's crops are no longer a renewable resource. #MagnusArchives

And so, a form of mortality austerity is imposed. By picking people like Danica, who spent their lives constantly convinced death lurked round every corner and behind every calendar page... #MagnusArchives

...Forcing them into a slightly less literal form of tunnel vision as that experienced by victims of the Buried, with sky replaced by the inevitability of death, is a smart choice. #MagnusArchives

It also confirms what was implied (sensible minds can disagree over to what extent) in "The Worms", which is that which domain you end up in is determined by what scared you most. #MagnusArchives

Hardly surprising, for sure, but until now it's not been completely clear whether people just got caught up in whichever power claimed the territory near them, or if some kind of Cursed Sorting Hat was employed to assign victims to the appropriate haunted house. #MagnusArchives

In truth, while I feel sorry for Danica, given just enough foreknowledge of her own death to be horrified by her inability to change course... #MagnusArchives

...It's only when the statement uses this as a launchpad for a more general discussion of the state of play that things get interesting. #MagnusArchives

I can't believe we're ever going to actually see it, but the idea of a coming war between The End and potentially every other power over its gradual draining of the finite number of remaining humans is fascinating. #MagnusArchives

I mean, declaring war on Death? That's some high-concept shenanigans right there. Makes me think of the Boom! Studios series, Fall of Cthulhu, which was good fun. #MagnusArchives

This Mythos link is strengthened by the cosmic scale of Oliver's musings. The realisation that, irrespective of whether Jon and Martin restore the world to "normal", ultimately everything will end, including the universe's capacity for life itself. #MagnusArchives

At which point death will no longer have meaning. As Racist Howie put it himself, "And with strange aeons, even death may die". #MagnusArchives

This takes The End from a rump concern on a world that is no longer completely or even predominantly under its shadow, to an intergalactic brooding presence, awaiting its inevitable, final triumph in an incomprehensibly distant future. #MagnusArchive

This decision to paint on the broadest canvas possible is precisely the right choice, in terms of giving The End the heft it deserves in this nightmare Jonah Magnus has wrought. #MagnusArchives

Also, for whatever reason, I just really love the idea that when Terminus reachers the point where it's put itself out of business, and realises there's only The End left to end, it will (metaphorically) breathes a sigh of happy relief. Job done. #MagnusArchives

That feels right. Though then again, I'm odd. #MagnusArchives

That's all I have to say on Oliver's report. I don't wanna finish up tonight without mentioning Martin's attempt to get Mr Bank's into his boyfriend's, ahem, sights. #MagnusArchives

I don't have a huge amount of sympathy for Martin's need to process his jealousy through murder. #MagnusArchives

The argument that the monsters in this new world need killing remains in effect, of course. But Martin's trying to turn this into some kind of "prove your love" BS, and the fact Jon *can* kill doesn't make him into a weapon Martin can point at whatever he likes. #MagnusArchives

But the problem is bigger than that. I've said this before, but Jon has realised what Martin is doing (without knowing it himself) - attempting to sort the avatars into two groups: those that deserves to die, and those that don't. #MagnusArchives

And again, this started off easy - Jon gets to live, Sasha doesn't. Then things got a little more complicated when Helen returned, and Anabel Cane started making phone calls. #MagnusArchives

But moving Avatars to the non-kill list isn't really what has Jon worried. It's movement in the other direction. Every time Martin makes up a new rule to justify why an avatar needs to die, the line drawn between them and Jon become more arbitrary. #MagnusArchives

Not!Sasha delighted in spreading terror, threatened Martin's life, and both killed the original Sasha and revelled in the pain she casued in doing so. Justifying killing her wasn't a tough job. #MagnusArchives

With Oliver, though, the justification is simply that he hasn't refused to take control of his domain. Something Jon has already basically said only Martin's influence has stopped him choosing himself. #MagnusArchives

So we've gone from revelling in torture to not happening to have Martin as a boyfriend. Which is a shitty reason for anyone to declare you deserving of death, but particularly when it's Martin *himself* making the call. #MagnusArchives

"Have I not saved you from your dark master. TOO BAD. KAPOW!" #MagnusArchives

From Jon's perspective, this journey to Jonah's tower is an exercise in watching Martin work his way through the people like him, and decding which of them get to live, and which of them don't. #MagnusArchives

A more or less literal iteration of "Don't worry; you're one of the good ones". A refusal to see complexity whenever it doesn't serve his purposes. Which in this case is having someone killed for the crime of helping his bohyfriend out of a coma. #MagnusArchives

And on top of all of *that*, there's the fact that Jon's smart enough to be worried that when he makes it to the new and improved institute, its pull on him will prove too strong to resist. #MagnusArchives

I doubt he actually thinks Martin will then immediately swap him into the "DIE FIEND" category - still less that he'll actually have any way of carrying out the sentence - but still. #MagnusArchives

Having your partner casually demand the death of someone for a) upsetting them and b) succumbing to their basic nature isn't going to be much fun when you're concerned about upsetting your partner by succumbing to your basic nature. #MagnusArchives

More as this story develops, as usual. For now though, let's end on the ordering. #MagnusArchives

1. The Sick Village
2. Dwelling
3. Revolutions
4. Curiosity
5. The Worms
6. Roots
7. A Cosy Cabin
8. In The Trenches

And we're through another week. C U Next Wednesday for some thoughts on #MagnusArchives Episode 5.09 - "Fire Escape".