Though The Magnus Archives is primarily focused on horror, it does have its more depressing moments, especially in later seasons. All spoilers are unmarked - proceed with caution.
- Episode 38, "Lost and Found" features a vase of The Spiral, which keeps taking things from its owner and erasing any memory of them from reality except for its owner's memories, leading to him doubting his own sanity. Eventually, it finally returns all of those things, but then it decided to take the man's husband. Tim, who tracked the man down, found his marriage certificate, half of which is blanked out, meaning it hasn't seen fit to return this one stolen thing for four straight years and probably never will.
- Episode 67, "Burning Desire" is about the short-lived relationship between Agnes Montague and Jack Barnabas, whom she met at the diner where he worked. It manages to pack a lot of sadness in.
- There is something deeply sad about the fact that Agnes chooses to spend a significant chunk of her free time playing at being a normal person, taking genuine delight in the simple act of ordering a coffee—not even bothering to drink it, just ordering it—and sitting in a restaurant for an hour each week. When Jack politely asks her for a date (in stark contrast to a jerkass she rejected earlier), she's genuinely shocked, but happily agrees. She must've known it couldn't last, but seemed to enjoy their time together. Tellingly, the last thing she says before granting his request for a kiss is to thank him.
- When Jack tells Agnes he doesn't think he has a destiny, she sadly says that he's lucky.
- As a result of his disfigurement, Jack is fired from his job and even his own father can't meet his eye. Fortunately, when Martin tracks him down for follow-up, he's gotten plastic surgery and is doing much better.
- In spite of everything, Jack was genuinely heartbroken over Agnes' death, and admits that, even if he'd known from the start how badly it would end for him, he probably still would've asked her out. He was just that drawn in by her.
- Mixed with heartwarming, but the fact that Jack unwittingly saved the world from the Desolation, simply by being nice to a girl he had a crush on and taking her out on dates. The affection he showed her sowed enough doubt into her mind to totally mess up everything for the cult.
- Episode 77 "The Kind Mother" is at first about Lucy Cooper's incredibly strained relationship with her mother Rose, who certainly wasn't kind; and just as they were starting to become more civil, if not close, Rose is replaced by the Not-Them and all Lucy's attempts to get other people to see the truth are to no avail. At the end of her statement, Lucy mentions how she keeps listening to the tapes of her interviews with Rose, knowing that they're likely the only way she'll ever hear her mother's voice again. Even worse, Lucy's father George dies because of a gas leak only a few days after she gave the statement (probably thanks to the Not-Them) and 'Rose Cooper' disappears without a trace, so Lucy has lost both her parents in rapid succession with no chance for any closure or comprehension of what destroyed her family.
- Jon's description of his childhood in episode 81, "A Guest For Mr. Spider". His parents died when he was too young to remember them, and he was raised by his grandmother, who actively resented him for making her raise another son. He had no friends as a kid; he describes himself as "a very annoying child" like he actually believes it, and blames himself for the death of his childhood bully despite having had no hand in it (the bully stole his book, which turned out to be a Web Leitner).
- Throughout season 3, the archival staff coming to terms with Sasha's death. Not only did none of them learn she'd died until a year after the fact (due to her being replaced by a Doppelgänger), because of the way the Not-Them work, none of them can remember what she originally looked like or how her voice sounded.
- Episode 100 is largely focused on humor because of the complete failure at extracting statements from the givers, but the last one who deals with Melanie just makes you kind of hurt. He's incredibly frightened and begins to spiral into a mental breakdown, and Melanie's people skills aren't helping (though she does try). Of all four statements, his actually seems to have the most verifiable details, and quite unfortunately deals with the Spider. And at the end of the episode, he's sent to an empty, people-less world by Peter Lukas for...well, no reason at all. Just for being there and being vulnerable.
- It's even worse than that. The man is beyond stalked by hundreds of spiders, which only go away if someone else is in the room with him. If he's in a world with no people...
- Michael's backstory, as revealed in Episode 101. He used to work at the Magnus Institute; he was one of Gertrude Robinson's assistants, and he looked up to her like a mother figure. Until she took him to Sannikov Land and sacrificed him to the Distortion without a second thought in order to stop a ritual.Michael: He cared for her. He trusted her. And she fed him to me.
- Gerry's statement from episode 111. His mother Mary abused him for years, then finally forced him to kill her and bind her to a Leitner. Then he started working with Gertrude, who, although she helped him get rid of Mary, treated him like a tool, presumably did nothing to help him as he slowly died of brain cancer, and bound him after he died to the same Leitner that Mary was in, condemning him to an eternity of agony.
- In episode 119, Tim blowing himself up in order to stop the Unknowing. Made even worse when, in episode 160, we learn that his sacrifice was ultimately pointless.
- The season 4 trailer: Martin, sitting by Jon's bedside at the hospital (while Jon is in a coma in the aftermath of the Unknowing), begging him to wake up.
- In general, the way Jon's coworkers treat him throughout season 4. In previous seasons, Tim and Melanie at least had fair (albeit misguided) reasons for why they treated Jon like a punching bag. But now, due to his ascension as the Archivist, nearly the entire cast constantly yells at him and treats him like the source of all their problems despite the fact that he's done nothing but sacrifice himself to protect them. The worst part is that he refuses to defend himself - his opinion of himself is so low that he's fully convinced they're right.
- Breekon's statement from episode 128. Despite all of the torment he and Hope indirectly caused as couriers for Fear-aligned objects, it's clear that the two of them were incredibly close for centuries, and his despondency after Hope's death is heartbreaking to listen to.Breekon: I am... without him now. I am. I can feel myself fading, weak, no reason to move, nothing to deliver. (...) I have never known hate before. I have never known loss. But now they are with me always, and I desire nothing but to share them with you.
- While in the coffin, trapped beneath an endless expanse of rock with no hope of even death freeing her, what's Daisy's main concern? Intense guilt over who she was while under the Hunt's influence - and a fear of falling back under it and becoming that person again that's so strong that, at a few points, she wonders if staying the coffin is the better fate."You know what I thought, when I woke up here? I thought this was hell. I was dead, and I was in hell. And I - I knew I deserved it."
- Jon and Martin's interactions throughout most of season 4. Jon's been in a coma for six months, and when he wakes up it's clear that Martin has missed him desperately and he's missed Martin as well... but because Martin's working with Peter Lukas, the two of them aren't allowed to talk to each other. Jon can only watch as Martin succumbs further and further to the Lonely, and can do nothing to help him.
- Among the more gut-wrenching scenes is at the end of episode 154: Jon goes to Martin after discovering how to free yourself from the Beholding, trying to convince him to go through with it with Jon and they can leave together. Martin, however, sees it for what it is: Jon trying to give himself an out for 'not doing it by hinging his decision on Martin, who he knows won't or can't do it. Martin sounds so disdainful as he calls Jon out on it, and Jon sounds genuinely shaken by the end.
- Melanie, in the beginning of episode 131. She's finally free of the Slaughter's influence, after having the cursed bullet taken out of her leg... but she realizes that for as long as she can remember, she's only ever been driven by anger, and she doesn't know who she is anymore without it. And she has nobody to talk to about it, because Tim and Daisy are gone, Martin is absent, and she can't look at Jon and Basira without envisioning them cutting into her leg.
- 120 statements later, we finally get to hear the statement alluded to by Marcus MacKenzie at the end of "A Sturdy Lock", and it's… so heartbreaking. Marcus genuinely believes that his father is just faking a stalker in order to get attention and keep his company, even while in the same breath, making his own statement on how his own childhood was ruined by what he stubbornly categorizes as mental illness—when it was actually the Spiral haunting them both. As Paul died two months after making his statement, and there's no rewarding follow-up in this one, it looks like Paul died alone, abandoned, and perceived as demented by anyone who could help him.
- Jon and Daisy's friendship, though also heartwarming, is rather depressing when you realize they're each other's Only Friend. The rest of the archival staff don't trust Jon on account of his unwilling transformation into the Archivist, and don't take Daisy seriously after she loses her connection to the Hunt and can no longer help defend the team. Jon confesses to her in episode 136 that he thinks the rest of the team is better off without him, and that when he went into the coffin to rescue her, he was hoping to die in the process.Jon: If I do die now, or get sealed away somewhere forever? I don’t know if that’s a bad thing. And I don’t want to lose anyone else, so if I can maybe stop that happening, and the only danger is to me, I’ll do it in a heartbeat. Worst case scenario, the universe loses another monster.
- Episode 77, The Kind Mother, introduces us to Adelard Dekker: "an exorcist, of sorts." We learn that he knows how to trap the Not!Them, that he was looking into a fifteenth power, that he was friends with Gertrude Robinson… and in episode 157 we learn how he dies. He was infected by John Amherst — part of the Corruption — while trying to investigate a supernatural epidemic outbreak. But he kills Amherst by burying him in concrete, decides to go out on his own terms (self-immolation), and just before doing so resists The Virus long enough to tell Gertrude what happened and bid her farewell.Goodbye, Gertrude. May you find your rest where no shadows are cast, and no eyes may see you slumber.
- Episode 160. Jon has saved Martin from the Lonely, they've escaped to Daisy's safehouse in Scotland, and they seem to be genuinely happy for the first time in years… and then Jonah Magnus forces Jon to read a statement that brings all the Fears into the world, effectively causing the apocalypse. Even after all of the trauma they've been through, the two of them really can't catch a break.
- Kind of mixed with Heartwarming, Episode 161 opens with Jon listening to a recording from the early days of the story where Martin, Tim, Sasha and even Elias(/Jonah) surprise Jon for his birthday with cake and wine, giving us a bittersweet little snapshot of their lives when they were all alive, well and blissfully unaware of all the horrors lurking in the world in which they lived.
- In episode 162 we have another recording of the early days, this time of Tim and Sasha when Jon was newly appointed. Not only there's the tragedy of knowing what will happen to them, Sasha's reaction about not having been chosen is also pretty hard to hear. She was also the one who realized there was a reason behind Gertrude's actions, although it ultimately didn't do her much good.
- Episode 170: Recollections. The power of the Lonely is both terrifying and incredibly upsetting. At its strongest, it's essentially nihilism and despair completely taking over. It gets inside your head and dims all your relationships with other people, highlighting all the parts that hurt and making you forget the parts you enjoy. It makes you both terrified of being hated or forgotten and also too afraid of connecting with other people to try. When the Change comes about, the Lonely is the first domain to seriously challenge Jon and Martin, and Martin has to go through several "Groundhog Day" Loop cycles to successfully fight it off—all while we get to hear him recall several distressing and saddening memories of his told from his point of view, such as his grandfather's death, his self-hatred, and his inability to remember the real Sasha. The other powers are scary, sure, but at least in the main venue of them, you can run away, or fight back. The Lonely uses your own doubts against you and traps you in its nothingness forever. It's... very sad.
- In Episode 173, we see that the children aren't any better off than the adults, even if their fears are more simplistic. Jon and Martin's relationship also starts to fray as Martin becomes increasingly frustrated about them not helping the victims, while Jon is just tired and resigned from seeing all the suffering and knowing there's little that he can do to directly make things better for the people trapped in the various domains.
- In Episode 176, seeing how Trevor is reacting in the wake of Julia's death. Neither were good people, but they were the closest thing either of them had to a family, and her death is clearly tearing him apart..Trevor: Should’ve been me. I’m old. Slow. It’s not fair, outliving her.
- Episode 177 has one that might hit hard for anyone with mental health issues, who've struggled with getting help for those issues; The domain is built around a sadistic psychiatrist who, as Jon puts it, reverse gaslights his patiens by telling them that they're completely sane. They don't have mental health issues, they don't need help. They're just bad people who make everyone hate them because they choose to be like this, and everything they struggle with is actually their own fault.
- In Episode 178, Jon confronts Basira with the crimes Daisy committed and the numerous people that she has killed, and the fact that Basira enabled her, corrupting their position as police officers. He also acknowledges that, even though Daisy had realised what she had done wrong and was trying to be better, he would never be able to forgive her for meaning to kill him back in Season 3. He finishes up by saying that Basira will have to kill Daisy; there's no bringing her back from what she's become, and she'll remain dead permanently.
- And in 179, they finally catch up to Daisy and kill her. There's nothing of the real Daisy left, and they all know it, and they still try to save her anyway—and, of course, they can't.Jon: Is...is it awful that I wish she'd recognized me?
- MAG 184, "Like Ants", offers two:
- If you haven't been trained to hate avatars on principle, you may find the plight of Lito somewhat pitiable. Like many drawn in by the Corruption, he succumbed because he was offered a feeling of joyous love, but he's not in charge of the domain he's found himself lost in, and cannot communicate with the being that rules it. As such, simply being there, he is forced to kill thousands of tiny lives he values, by accident or on purpose.
- Much more pitiable, however, is Jordan. Being entombed in a catacomb full of trillions upon trillions of ants lining every surface is depicted exactly as horribly as you'd think, and eventually, the colony... "gets" him. Whatever's happening to him is nightmarish enough given his screams, and Jon arrives to help. As he begins to chant, you think he's going to perform a Mercy Kill by turning the eye on him, until you remember that it wouldn't work, since he's not an avatar. Rather, Jon makes him an avatar, sparing him from a hideous death (or undeath) at the hands of one of the nastier Powers at the expense of his humanity. Every doubt, isolation, depressive episode, and alienation Jon experienced as he became an unwilling avatar? Jordan now has that ahead of him, except he's not been given the chance to work through it at a research institute—he's been switched from victim to tormentor on the flip of a coin right in the middle of the apocalypse. His only mercy was that he was traded one Fate Worse than Death for another.
- Episode 186, "Quiet", is a dialogue between two Martins that explores his emotional and mental state. This all takes place entirely in Martin's own domain, where he feeds off of the fears of about five people who are all scared of spending their entire lives unknown, unloved, and forgotten, leading Martin to make a decision about what he wants to happen if the world can't be fixed.Martin: But I can’t keep existing like this at their expense. It’s not… it’s not right. Whatever happens with Elias, W-with the rest of the world… I can’t live on the misery of others.Also Martin: They’ll suffer either way.Martin: I get it, okay? I can’t decide what happens to them. But… I just might be able to decide what happens to me. And… And if it comes down to it… I’ll get Jon to destroy me like the others.
- Episode 194, "Parting," has its share. Jon and Martin get into a huge fight, ending with Martin storming off back into the tunnels while Jon stalks off to have some statement time. Jon eventually realizes Martin is probably right, and goes to apologize, only to be told Martin was (sort of) kidnapped by Annabelle Cane. Jon spends the rest of the episode in a panic, unable to see where Martin is, what happened to him, or if he's okay.
- In Episode 198, "Precipice," Jon, Basira, and Martin return to the tunnels only to find that the hideout was raided by The Eye's servants. Georgie and Melanie are okay, but the cultists have all been returned to Domains, leaving the pair distraught.
- Episode 199, oh good lord episode 199. Jon, a normally very level and stoic man, breaks down crying. It's the first time since the beginning of the season where we see just how much of a toll ending the world has taken on Jon.
- The Finale. Jon abandons the plan to transfer the Entities to the multiverse, kills Jonah, and takes on the role as the Pupil of The Eye. Martin finds Jon, and loses it. He yells at Jon for breaking their promise by needlessly sacrificing himself. Newall really sells how angry and heartbroken Martin is, too. But the real whammy comes when Martin reveals that he knew Jon was going to abandon the plan, so he and the girls moved the timetable up, hoping to intercept him. The Panopticon begins to crumble, but Martin refuses to leave Jon's side. Jon eventually tells Martin to stab him, allowing The Fears to escape into the multiverse. The tape ends with Martin kissing Jon and then stabbing him, with both of them sobbing the whole time.
- The worst part is that all of this could have been avoided if Jon had stuck to the actual plan - they could have saved the world and survived to be together at the end of it all. Of course, it's possible the weight on Jon's conscience would have crushed him in that case.
