NotThem: Replacements in The Magnus Archives
The Magnus Archives, a horror anthology podcast written by Jonathan Sims and produced by Rusty Quill, has a lot to say about transformation. Specifically, a concept at its core is the relationship between transformation and trauma. The podcast begins as a series of short horror stories narrated by The Archivist (who is also named Jonathan Sims but for the sake of clarity will here be referred to as The Archivist), who works at The Magnus Institute, an organization dedicated to the study of the supernatural. As we come to learn more about the institute and its employees, it becomes apparent that there is more going on than meets the eye. The Magnus Archives is, as of early 2019, unfinished. This podcast deserves thousands upon thousands of words discussing its themes, which I plan on delivering as soon as it’s finished. In the meantime, I want to discuss one of The Magnus Archives’ recurring monsters, the NotThem, and examine how Sims uses it to narratively parallel the effects of trauma as experienced by the podcasts’ characters. (Be warned! Spoilers for seasons 1–4 from here on)
The NotThem, first introduced in MAG 3 “Across the Street”, is a sinister creature that replaces its victims in the spirit of the monsters from Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). However, unlike the aliens from Body Snatchers, this creature appears to edit reality. It doesn’t match the appearance or even basic mannerisms of the person it replaces, but replaces the victim nevertheless. Even all digital photos change to match the appearance of the NotThem. All the people who encounter the imposter are tricked by it, save for one seemingly random person per replacement. The NotThem appears in several statements in the archives, but it takes a far more active role when it replaces one of the main characters, Sasha, in MAG 39 “Infestation”. It then transforms into what is referred to in the podcast as “NotSasha”.
As previously mentioned, The Magnus Archives deals heavily in trauma as a form or method of transformation, with characters often questioning their own humanity as they descend into monstrosity (or, at least, perceived monstrosity). Characters transform, sometimes even physically, after experiencing traumatic events like those in MAG 39. However, trauma does not always lead to a slow and prolonged transformation, as it does in the case of The Archivist. Sometimes it’s rapid, like a replacement; you’re someone one second, and in the next you’ve suddenly become someone else. This version of the effects of trauma, a rapid before-and-after change, is seen in the parallels between the characters Tim and Sasha after MAG 39.
Tim begins the series as a happy and positive person but almost instantaneously changes after the incident in MAG 39. His voice actor Mike LeBeau describes this change in MAG 100.5 “Assistants Round Table”, saying “towards the end of season 2, everything kinda goes to pot and Tim becomes horrendously depressed to the point where my character was the polar opposite of what I was originally brought on to do.” In the same way that NotSasha is radically different from Sasha, so is pre-infestation Tim radically different from post-infestation Tim. In fact, director and fellow voice actor Alexander J. Newall says of LeBeau’s portrayal of Tim in the same episode, “you are not playing Tim anymore… you’re playing another person who is still called Tim.” This interpretation of the post-infestation changes in Tim directly parallels the operations of the NotSasha; it is someone who is still named Sasha, but who is very clearly not Sasha. Through this paralleling, Sims makes literal the drastic feelings of transformation that can sometimes come in the wake of trauma, making these effects into a monster all their own.
The metaphorical significance of the NotThem is perhaps best encapsulated in a quote from MAG 78 “Distant Cousin”:
“It’s weird to think about people who knew you as a child. You change so much, and when you talk to them again, they’re not talking to you. They’re talking to someone else, someone you used to be. The person they think they’re seeing has been dead for years, but they didn’t see the change. They’re looking at a complete stranger, and they have no idea.”
We are all changing, all the time, trauma or no trauma. Sometimes, certain events make that change more rapid or more apparent, but none of us are the same people we were a year ago, or even a day ago. The Magnus Archives asks its audience to consider their own transformations, small and large, and to ask themselves if they are, in fact, their own replacement.
For another look at trauma and transformation through the lens of cosmic horror, I highly recommend the 2018 film Annihilation. It interrogates some of the same questions of humanity and change that The Magnus Archives does, but through a very different medium and lens. All in all, I can’t recommend The Magnus Archives enough, and I’m incredibly excited to see how it all ends. I would say that I hope it is the person I am as I write this who gets to find out, but honestly, is it ever?
Note: Eternal thanks, credit, and glory in combat to The Magnus Archives Wikia and The Magnus Archives Transcripts
