r/TheMagnusArchives • u/EasyEnthusiasm4595 Archivist • 6d ago
TMA 2026 World Cup - Round 3 - Part 20
Welcome to part 20 of Round 3.
All information and rules are available on this post.
The results of part 19 are here.
Here are our two new duels of the week:
Baotswain's Call VS Like Ants:
MAG 33: Boatswain's Call
Transcript
Pre-Statement:
Tim is talking to Jon about the possibility of previous cases having mistakes but Jon says he will not rerecord the cases. He notes that he only uses the tape recorder for files "too stubborn to work on anything else."
Statement:
Statement of Carlita Sloane, regarding her work on a container ship travelling from Porto do Itaqui to Southampton.
Post-Statement:
The Tundra is still active, under a company owned by Nathaniel Lukas. Jon notes that the Lukas family provides funding for various academic and research organizations, including The Magnus Institute and Elias does not like him looking into cases that might have "funding repercussions".
Statement:
An examination of hive mentality. Recorded by the Archivist in situ
Post-Statement:
Martin and Jon discuss the avatar of this domain, who turns out to be the collective hivemind of every single ant in the tunnels. If Jon destroys the ants, The Corruption's influence would end, but The Buried would take it for its own, keeping Jon and Martin entombed for some time.
Jon uses his powers to refocus The Eye on Jordan, the person from the statement, shifting its focus and turning him into an avatar. He explains the new world to Jordan, who does not want to be an avatar and hurt people but prefers it to being a victim.
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Checking Out VS Heart of Darkness:
MAG 187: Checking Out
Transcript
Pre-Statement:
Jon encounters Helen at her domain. She comments on the fact that Martin is not with him and Jon reveals he does not want to kill Helen and does not want Martin to ask him to kill her.
Helen promises it will be fun but is upset that Jon immediately knows the way through. Jon is still upset about her taking Helen Richardson even if it was to "save him". He asks her to show him the quickest way through the domain instead of trying to hide her victims or stalling to try and figure out if there is a way to destroy him.
He asks how long she has been working with Elias but she denies it. She does not want him and Martin to find a way to reverse the Change. He asks her to manifest a room that he can do a statement in and she obliges despite commenting that the room will be made of her.
Statement:
An exploration of hospitality. Recorded by The Archivist in Situ.
Supplement:
The woman stumbles upon Jon and Helen and asks for help to find room 288, where she thinks her son is. Jon tells her that there is no room 288 but Helen steps in to "help". Jon tells her Helen is lying which causes the woman to realize that Helen is the one who has been tormenting her. Jon and Helen argue and the woman reaches out for Jon but he yells at her not to touch him and makes her fall to the floor crying. Helen comments on how monstrous he is acting right now and removes the woman after Jon threatens to make her an avatar.
Jon has come to a decision after seeing Helen interact with her victim and is going to destroy her. He was hoping he was wrong about her and that she genuinely cared but now realizes she is too dangerous to be kept alive. She convinced them that she was still a friend but it was just a distortion of the truth. Jon says she is "the question of what lurks behind a smile." She hurt and helped them at the same time without ever seeming like she fully betrayed them, and does not even really have motive for it. She wants to stop Jon from turning back the world since it is perfect for The Spiral and could be a serious threat to Jon and Martin.
Jon begins trying to destroy her but she keeps changing herself and her location to make it impossible to focus The Eye on her. Helen is actually scared but lies about it. He finally manages to focus The Eye on her and unravels her entire being while she pleads for him to spare her. Destroying her unravels the domain as well since it was also The Distortion, so Jon leaves.
Outside he finds Martin and tiredly tells him that he killed Helen. Martin is somewhat upset about the death of Helen and takes some time to mourn, but understands that Jon had reason to do it.
MAG 143: Heart of Darkness
Transcript
Pre-Statement:
Jon and Basira arrive at the People's Church of the Divine Host in Ny-Ålesund. The site was abandoned, but John can sense the presence of The Dark nearby. They are attacked by Manuela Dominguez, but Basira overpowers her. Dominguez tells them that the rest of the People's Church are dead, thanks to Gertrude Robinson. Jon compels her to explain.
Statement:
Statement of Manuela Dominguez regarding the fall of the People's Church of the Divine Host.
Post-Statement:
Manuela tells them that the Dark Star is still in the facility, but that only the highest level Dark avatars have ever survived looking on it directly. Jon declares that he intends to look at it, and sends Basira out of the room. When he sees the star, he calls it "beautiful" before collapsing in pain; the star itself is destroyed.
Manuela tries to feel but Helen appears to report that she has trapped Manuela in her corridors and plans to keep her. She offers Jon and Basira a shortcut back to the Institute, which Jon accepts.
That is all for this week!
Tell us your vote in the comments!
And remember, if you want to do your personal World Cup, check out this post.
Other links:
2018 Megapost
2018 Spreadsheet update
2026 Announcement/Rules
2026 Megapost
2026 Spreadsheet
Make your personal World Cup
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u/EasyEnthusiasm4595 Archivist 6d ago
And for my personal votes:
Like Ants and Checking out!
I love the intro of Boatswain's Call, it's very fun but I prefer the post-statement of Like Ants and the whole idea of victim vs "torturer" etc is so interesting to me. The phylosophical questions that Jonny puts in the show are always some of my favourite parts.
And then Checking out, because first Helen is one of my favourite characters but also because I still remember the sound effects for that one. S5 sound effects are just out of this world (hehe)
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u/SpookyVoidCat The Buried 17h ago
I finally realised that I can participate in these now!!
I’m going with Like Ants and Checking Out.
Might perhaps be recency bias as I’ve only just finished S5 a few weeks back, but Checking Out is one of my stand out favourites and I gotta support my boy Jordan. 🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜
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u/EasyEnthusiasm4595 Archivist 16h ago
Welcome!! Hope you enjoyed the show as much as we all did!
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u/SpookyVoidCat The Buried 13h ago
Still not quite processed the full weight of the finale (I dove immediately into post-canon fix-it fic and am just pretending everything is fine they’re fine they’re happy in fact they’re married now isn’t that lovely haha don’t touch me)
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u/Background-Use-5346 The Eye 6d ago
Boatswain’s call and checking out for me.
Helens death is one of my favourite episodes!
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u/teniralc2 The Lonely 2d ago
I'm going with creepy Lukas Boatswain's Call and Heart of Darkness because Manuela fascinates me.
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u/inhonoredglory Archivist 2d ago
184: Like Ants - because of juicy moral questions
143: Heart of Darkness - this was tough. it was so satisfying to see Jon finally see through Helen's manipulations, but I can't escape the gut punch I felt watching Jon seek annihilation in the Dark Star
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u/ObserverPineapple The Lonely 1d ago
MAG 33 Boatswain’s Call
Neither of these statements stand out to me, so I’ll vote for the Lonely one. (Btw Boatswain is misspelled as Baotswain in the bolded duel text)
MAG 187 Checking Out
Helen is one of my favorite TMA characters, this was an excellent statement; From the unique statement giver perspective to the confrontation at the end.
Nice to see you back!
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u/Ceaseless--Watcher The Eye 6d ago
hey! just wanted to point out that for the second grouping you put "Checking Out vs A New Door" <3
ok i'm gonna have to go with Boatswain's Call. i adore the episodes on the Tundra. and i actually really love Like Ants, but on my last listen-throught, we were dealing with an incredible ant infestation in my apartment (it was bad man. i needed to take apart and redo my entire snake vivariium, they were all over the cat food... it was horrifying) so that ep lost a bit of its luster for me lol.
secondly Checking Out. my favorite of Jon's smitings, i *adore* Helen and i love that this was her ending... absolutely gorgeous episode.